Behind the Scenes at Rotten Tomatoes
A look at the popular film review aggregation website.
The ‘Downton Abbey’ Economy: How One Costume Drama Reinvented British TV
A look at the cottage industry that has spun up around Downton Abbey and more broadly around the Edwardian version of Britishness it evokes. The story expands its scope to an analysis of the show’s significant impact on British television and its ability to generate global hits.
A Party Room and a Prison Cell
A look inside the Friends writers’ room and the challenging creative process behind one of the biggest TV hits of all time.
What goes right and wrong when games like Diablo 3 take a decade to make
The story of the 10 year project to deliver the next instalment in an iconic game series.
Inside China’s Global Entertainment Ambitions – and What Might Get in the Way
A look at the entertainment industry in the country with 60,000 movie screens.
How an Augmented Reality Game Escalated into Real-World Spy Warfare
Ingress is an augmented reality game set in a world with two competing factions – The Enlightened and The Resistance. It involves people in the real world undertaking extraordinary acts of organisation and skill to wage a global war of daring missions, espionage and subterfuge.
The Inside Story of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s George Magazine
A healthy dose of 90s nostalgia pervades this story about John F Kennedy Jr’s at-the-time trailblazing magazine blending lifestyle and politics.
How to Write a History of Video Game Warfare
An interview with the author of an unusual history book. It is the history of a great galactic conflict that involved many thousands of people and lasted several years. All the participants were real people, but the world they fought in – New Eden – was not.
Plastic Surgery With a Mouse Click
An article that looks at how deep the special effects industry’s abilities run in changing the way that film and TV stars appear. Beyond simply documenting how this industry works, the piece raises some questions about what viewers actually want – reality or artifice?