Not long ago, when you were casting a television show, you had a "concept meeting" with officials at the network, in which everyone sat around a table and threw out names of actors who were right - "in concept" - for each role.
These meetings were, of course, as pointless as they sound. The problem was this: while everyone might agree that Robert De Niro was exactly right, in concept, for the role of the beleaguered dad in the television sitcom, the chances of getting him to do a half-hour show were pretty slim, unless he had been unbelievably bad with his money.
Being "bad with money", actually, used to be what determined whether a movie star might be open to television. That's actually the phrase we used - "open to television" - as if it required some kind of intellectual or emotional adjustment made under duress, as in "I'm not a cannibal, but if I were in a plane crash in the Andes, after a month or two of no food, I might be open to cannibalism."
But that was a long time ago, back when the entertainment business could sustain a huge number of idle movie stars. Not too long ago, the big movie studios regularly released 30 pictures a year. Now, most are stretched thin releasing a dozen or so. The result is, a lot of movie stars haven't worked in years. Suddenly, a lot of them are "open to television".
And they're getting more open. This summer has seen more than the usual number of high-priced box-office flops. Some very big names took a tumble this summer. There's nothing more depressing to a movie star than realising, in those awful and gut-churning days after his latest movie is released, that he can no longer "open a film", to use the industry term for, well, "movie star".
Movie stars are expensive. But so are computer-generated effects. And some big effects-heavy movies such as Battleship and Total Recall disappeared with a sad whimper from movie screens this summer.
The result: fewer movies are going to be made next year, which means more movie stars looking for work. And where will they be looking? Television.
I say this because I just finished watching the first four seasons of the hit serial television drama Breaking Bad, and I have friends who are diving into the five years of The Wire.
That's how a lot of people enjoy television now: in big gulps of episodes, in lost weekends of obsessive viewing. And as someone who makes his living in the television business, I think this is a very good thing. It's always nice to have loyal and passionate customers.
So if you're an actor - even a big actor - you probably aren't waiting to have money troubles before you're "open to television". If you're smart, you're open to it now. Because there's some great stuff on television - great material, great characters to play - and there isn't, really, all that much great stuff in the cinemas. And there will be a lot more of the former, and a lot less of the latter, in the next few years.
Not too long ago, I was having dinner with a certified movie star - a card-carrying member of the Hollywood elite for several decades, at least - and he was lamenting the parts and the dialogue and the stories in the feature scripts he was reading, and instead expressing jealousy that some of his peers were doing wonderful work on television.
"I love what I'm seeing on television," he told me. "Lots of dialogue and words and jokes - pages of people talking and making each other laugh and cry. Scenes between adults with no explosions or monsters from outer space."
"Movies," he told me, "have got so big. So loud. So over-scaled."
His words reminded me of that moment in the old movie Sunset Boulevard when a cynical screenwriter, played by William Holden, says to the over-the-hill silent-movie star played by Gloria Swanson that something was popular, "back when you were big".
"I am big," she says. "It's the pictures that got small."
But nowadays, with all the big summer movies chock full of CGI and superheroes and exploding planets, it's sort of the other way around.
"I'm small," a lot of movie stars must be saying to themselves. "It's the pictures that got big."
And that's what's best, right now, about television: it's small. Or better, it's human-sized. If you like that sort of thing.
Rob Long is a writer and producer based in Hollywood. On Twitter: @rbcl
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Pathaan
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About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Bawaal%20
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Company%C2%A0profile
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
MATCH INFO
Jersey 147 (20 overs)
UAE 112 (19.2 overs)
Jersey win by 35 runs
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
End of free parking
- paid-for parking will be rolled across Abu Dhabi island on August 18
- drivers will have three working weeks leeway before fines are issued
- areas that are currently free to park - around Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Maqta Bridge, Mussaffah Bridge and the Corniche - will now require a ticket
- villa residents will need a permit to park outside their home. One vehicle is Dh800 and a second is Dh1,200.
- The penalty for failing to pay for a ticket after 10 minutes will be Dh200
- Parking on a patch of sand will incur a fine of Dh300
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
The biog
Name: Atheja Ali Busaibah
Date of birth: 15 November, 1951
Favourite books: Ihsan Abdel Quddous books, such as “The Sun will Never Set”
Hobbies: Reading and writing poetry
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets