AFI lists 2007 events that impact TV, film

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The Hollywood writers' strike and the deaths of Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni top a list of 2007 events to have a major impact on film and TV.

The American Film Institute Thursday announced the year's AFI Moments of Significance, a list of seven events that were determined to have had an impact on the world of the moving image during the calendar year 2007.

Also making the register of significant events is the release of Apple's iPhone, which functions as a phone, camera and computer, allows users to stream and download TV shows and movies and which became a symbol of a culture that demands content when and where they want it.

The list also includes the trend of filmmakers responding to the U.S.-led war on terror, while the conflict is still taking place; the Discovery Channel's broadcast of its 11-part "Planet Earth" series as landmark programming in high-definition; the "hyper-tabloidization" of TV news; and the redefinition of year-round TV programming, thanks to basic cable television which has been airing new shows in the summer.