In The News

Events planned for January 18-20 scrapped amid nationwide COVID surge.

NATPE said Saturday (January 8) it has canceled the upcoming NATPE Miami Conference and Marketplace, slated for January 18-20, after weighing health and safety concerns and the experience of an event that would no doubt have diminished attendance amid the latest nationwide surge of COVID-19. 

The National Association of Television Program Executives will look to smaller virtual and possibly (where appropriate) in-person events in 2022 at no charge to attend, NAPTE CEO JP Bommel said in a statement. 

TikTok — the hugely popular mobile video app with more than 1 billion users — has been taking its first steps to break into a new screen, the TV screen, launching and integrating a new app called TikTok TV first with Amazon Fire TV, and then Google TV and other Android TV OS devices, LG Smart TVs, and Samsung Smart TVs. Today comes news of another front in that strategy: TikTok has inked a partnership with Atmosphere, the startup that provides licensed and curated streamed video content for commercial venues like Westin, Taco Bell and Texas Roadhouse, as well as doctors’ offices, gyms and other venues where people spend dwelling time.

Initially, the partnership will see Atmosphere develop a new channel on its platform dedicated to curated TikTok videos. It will be the first time that TikTok content is being used for an out-of-home video service.

Heather Hemmens says her off-the-grid childhood helped her get the roles she has now, in Hallmark Channel’s ‘Christmas in My Heart’ and on the CW Network series ‘Roswell, New Mexico.’

Lots of people can recite lines from their favorite holiday special or movie that they watched on TV every year growing up. That’s not the case for Maine-born actress Heather Hemmens, even though she’s now starring in one.

Hemmens, the lead actress in Hallmark Channel’s “Christmas in My Heart,” grew up in the woods of Waldo, a small town near Belfast, in a house that was off the grid. So her family had no electricity and no television, meaning there were no Christmas movie repeats. But Hemmens feels the discipline and focus she learned from her childhood in Maine have contributed to her success as an actress. So, in a way, her lack of TV helped her get on TV.

The festival will still take place virtually as previously scheduled beginning Jan. 20.

Sundance has canceled its planned in-person events in Park City, Utah for 2022 and for the second year in a row will move its screenings fully online.

Sundance had attempted to stage a hybrid festival for 2022 and host screenings both on the ground and virtually. But with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spreading at rapid rates and forcing the cancellation of other awards shows and events across the industry, the festival’s hand was finally forced.

After more than 30 years of growth and ardent support from Maine’s music scene, Bull Moose founder Brett Wickard has sold the music, books and pop culture retailer to its employees through an employee stock ownership plan. 

Through the transition Wickard will remain the interim CEO and chair of the board of directors.

During a company-wide meeting on Monday night, Wickard said he laid out three goals for the sale: to build a platform for employees to have more control and input into company operations, to create financial security for their future, and to provide more earning opportunities.