Showbiz Sandbox 646: A Slimmed Down Sundance Still Shines

This year’s Sundance Film Festival reflected the current state of the contracting industry itself, offering fewer films at fewer venues for fewer in-person attendees. Yet, as festivals like Sundance work toward rekindling post-pandemic financial support, this year’s official selections were just as noteworthy as those that have appeared throughout its 40 year history. We’ll give you a rundown of the titles too look out for over the next year and fill you in on all the Sundance winners.

Speaking of winners, this year’s Oscar nominations were announced and they included a few titles from last year’s Sundance and Cannes film festivals. The only thing missing for most were nominations for “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig and its star Margot Robbie.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Jon Stewart’s return to “The Daily Show,” the influential music website Pitchfork suffers layoffs and Netflix continues dominate the streaming landscape with a stellar quarterly earnings report.

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Showbiz Sandbox 635: Deciphering Hollywood Hits and Misses

Hollywood studios often try to camouflage the success or failure of their movies. Sometimes they claim a film is unprofitable, yet go on to make several sequels, as Nu Image did with the “Has Fallen” franchise. Other times a studio insists a movie is a modest box office hit despite paying hundreds of millions for the underlying property, as with Universal Pictures’ recent “The Exorcist: Believer.” It many not matter to moviegoers, but it does to those with profit participation.

There is no denying that Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert film is a huge success after its weekend in cinemas around the world. Though it didn’t live up to early box office forecasts, its opening was three times bigger than any concert movie in history. It became the highest grossing such film of all time in North America after just three days.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the latest on the actors’ strike, some questions over Spotify’s audiobook offering and Microsoft finally completes its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

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Showbiz Sandbox 570: The Realistic Future of a Mature Netflix

When Netflix was just shy of meeting its estimated new subscriber growth during the last financial quarter it faced immediate repercussions as its stock price plummeted over 20% in a single day. We explain why Netflix is not suddenly a failing company, it’s just one in a mature market of its own making. Even so, Netflix’s sudden deflation has given Hollywood’s media giants cause for concern, since most of them followed the company’s lead by launching their own streaming services.

Meanwhile the Sundance Film Festival, which usually takes place in Utah each January was forced by COVID forced to go virtual for the second year in a row. However, even remotely, the festival remains one of the premiere launching pads for independent film and, at the halfway point, we’ll tell you what titles are generating all the buzz.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Microsoft’s big video game acquisition, YouTube stops paying for original content and Adele postpones her Las Vegas residency.

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Showbiz Sandbox 551: The Significance of the Scarlett Johansson vs. Disney Lawsuit

Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney for breach of contract after the studio released “Black Widow” both in movie theaters and its own streaming service at the same time. The actress believes Disney’s distribution strategy is preventing her from earning millions in box office bonuses but instead enriches the company’s top executives. The outcome of the case could determine how or if back end deals on movies are offered to above the line talent in the future.

Meanwhile, as film and television production levels in Hollywood return to pre-COVID levels, the pandemic is once again dragging down the international box office. It may start doing so on Broadway and at concerts as vaccines will be required to gain entrance.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how comedian Louis C.K. hopes to make a comeback with a national tour, the game show “Jeopardy” may have found a replacement for Alex Trebek and Doctor Who plans a vacation.
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Showbiz Sandbox 438: The Oscars Play It By The Book

In a year when diversity took center stage at the Oscars, with people of color and women taking home some of the major prizes, the Academy awarded Best Picture to “Green Book,” a film partially about race relations that has been faulted by some as being whitewashed. Anne Thompson, Indiewire’s Editor-at-Large, attended the Oscar ceremony and joins us to discuss all the winners, including how “Green Book” managed to overcome a number of obstacles to walk off with the top award.

Though “Roma” was a frontrunner throughout the Oscar race, and wound up winning three awards including Best Director for Alfonso Cuaron, it didn’t win Best Picture to the relief of some in the industry who did not want to reward a film which shunned a traditional theatrical release. The film caused quite a stir when it took home the top BAFTA award earlier in the month.

Meanwhile, in China, the Lunar New Year box office was extraordinary but it came at a price: record grosses and record ticket prices were matched with record piracy.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the layoffs at Activision Blizzard, why Celine Dion parted ways with her long-time agent and millions attend a virtual concert on the video game Fortnite.

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Showbiz Sandbox 301: The Current Reality of Virtual Reality

Until the past few years virtual reality felt more like actual fiction, as proponents offered up underwhelming demonstrations which requiring expensive and cumbersome equipment. The days however, the ongoing work by the pioneers developing VR has transformed the technology into a viable platform for more than just the odd hardcore gamer.

As VR products and content make their way into the consumer market, it seems no industry trade show or film festival is complete without addressing the technology in some way. In fact, just last week, the Sundance Institute announced they would begin a residency program in VR and the New York Times launched their own VR initiative. We dive into the hype behind VR and try to make some sense out of what all the fuss is about.

Meanwhile, as the MPAA confirmed a new agreement for film distribution in China, and with the country on track to surpass North America as the world’s largest movie market in 2017, a number of organizations are claiming China isn’t abiding by international trade rules to which it had originally agreed.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the nominees from this year’s European Film Awards, Showtime’s plans for the revival of “Twin Peaks” and why a number of police departments are calling for their officers to boycott Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming movie.

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