Showbiz Sandbox 622: Actors and Writers Agree That AI Ain’t So Smart
July 11, 2023
The Writers Guild of America members have been on strike for over two months now and might soon be joined by the Screen Actors Guild. When it comes to artificial intelligence however both guilds agree; when their members’ work is used to train AI, actors and writers should be paid. Some writers are now taking matters into their own hands and filing lawsuits against companies for training their A.I. models using their work without permission.
Meanwhile, we’ve known how big music streamers have become on a global level, but now the National Music Publishers Association announced it has cracked the code on figuring out how many subscribers each major service has in the United States.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how a movie that Disney dumped five years ago beat out Indy 5 at the weekend box office, NBCUniversal promotes some senior executives and Elton John finally wraps up his farewell tour after earning $900 million.
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Showbiz Sandbox: Streaming Through the 2022 Sundance Film Festival
February 2, 2022
For the second straight year the COVID pandemic forced the Sundance Film Festival to move its 2022 event online. Even so, its organizers did a great job of putting on a virtual festival programmed with movies from emerging filmmakers and important documentaries on timely subjects.
Joining us to discuss the 2022 Sundance Film Festival is Stephen Garrett, a writer for the Book & Film Globe and the founder of Jump Cut, a marketing company that specializes in creating compelling trailers and posters for a wide variety of acclaimed motion pictures. We discuss the entries that will surely see some life after the festival, a few that won’t and the likelihood that any of them will ever be seen in movie theaters.
As expected, streamers such as Apple, Netflix and Hulu opened up their checkbooks to acquire Sundance titles for their subscription services, perhaps signaling a pause, if not an end, to big theatrical acquisitions being made at the festival.
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Showbiz Sandbox 543: Amazon Grabs a Lion’s Share of MGM
June 1, 2021
In a move that had been rumored for weeks, Amazon became the first tech company to purchase a Hollywood movie studio in an $8.45 million deal. The acquisition will arm Amazon with over 4,000 movies like the Bond Franchise, “The Pink Panther” and “Robocop,” not to mention upwards of 17,000 television episodes. The real question is why did it take so long for a tech giant to buy a movie studio?
Meanwhile, a holiday weekend helped spark the post-pandemic North American box office as movies that were originally scheduled for release last year opened in theaters. Some new titles like “Cruella are also available on VOD at the same time. Is day-and-date releases hurting the box office prospects of such films?
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including the Academy Awards returns to its normal schedule, HBO Max is moving into Latin America and why “Friends” was censored in China.
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Showbiz Sandbox 469: Hollywood Unions Set For Fight Over Streaming Residual Payments
November 17, 2019
As television networks turn from linear broadcast methods to consumer streaming platforms a brewing battle over residual payments has the potential to spark a dual union strike in the middle of next year. Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney and a contributing editor at The Hollywood Reporter, joins us to discuss how the lack of data coming from streaming giants could lead to a standoff between major guilds and producers.
Indeed, in mid-2020 the master contacts between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Directors Guild of America, The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA are set to expire. By now negotiations on new contracts would be well underway. Instead talks have stalled as unions try to revise the formulas used by streamers to make residual payments to their members. Given the timing, it’s a perfect storm for a potential massive industry work-stoppage.
Meanwhile, the Broadway musical “Tootsie” is closing long before it recoups its production costs. Michael Riedel of the New York Post has a host of reasons for why this critic’s darling didn’t click, however only one of them makes sense; the show’s music wasn’t all that great.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Amazon has followed Netflix in deciding not to publish box office figures for its films, George Lucas revises the original “Star Wars” once again and Taylor Swift gets into a public spat with her former record label.
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Showbiz Sandbox 450: Once Upon A Time… in Cannes
May 28, 2019
This year’s Cannes Film Festival will be remembered for presenting a selection of titles from around the world that were, for the most part, really good movies. The premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film, “Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood,” was one of the highlights, but it was “Parasite” from Korean director Bong Joon-ho that stole the show, as well as the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or. We take you to the Croisette in the French Riviera to cover the entire festival and all the films to look out for over the coming months.
Harvey Weinstein used to be one of the movie moguls that showed up in Cannes each May, but these days he’s busy negotiating a reported $44 million settlement with those accusing him of sexual harassment and assault.
Meanwhile, when some of those films from Cannes make it to cinemas, audiences will likely check Rotten Tomatoes to see what critics and moviegoers have to say about them. We give a 95% Fresh Rating to how Rotten Tomatoes plans on protecting their website from being manipulated in the future.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including a new name for Warner Bros. Records, why film and television productions are boycotting the state of Georgia and Lil Nas X cuts a deal for a new pair of Wranglers.
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Showbiz Sandbox 449: Staying Up Late In Cannes
May 20, 2019
Stories about women empowerment and a growing discontent among the middle or working class have taken center stage at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. A spotlight has also been given to diversity with the 2019 program filled with titles by filmmakers from all over the world, as well as a number of women, including the first female African director. Some selections from legendary filmmakers such as Pedro Almodovar and Terrence Malick are being hailed as masterpieces, despite any dissenting minority.
Keep in mind we are only half-way through the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, which is always a marathon, more than a sprint. Attendees watch hundreds of movies across more than four different categories and, as of this year, the press no longer gets to see the films ahead of their premiere. We discuss what that means for the filmmakers and why journalists may be losing sleep over the new protocol.
Meanwhile, it seems that some talent agencies have begun to sign the Writers Guild of America’s new code of conduct contract, albeit none of them are firms that package television shows or are even in the Association of Talent Agents. Are the agencies going to crack or are writers beginning to realize that maybe agents aren’t as important as they once were.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Disney takes full control of Hulu, the entertainment industry continues to work out how or whether to shoot their productions in Georgia and ITV cancels the Jeremy Kyle Show after one of its guests commits suicide.
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Showbiz Sandbox 437: Sinemia Seeks Profit In Subscription Moviegoing
February 11, 2019
Sinemia is taking on MoviePass in hopes of achieving what no movie subscription service has ever attained before: profitability. We are joined by Rıfat Oğuz, the CEO of Sinemia, who discusses the history of the service, how they chose their $30 price point and what lies ahead for this emerging business. If it catches on, it could dramatically change when and how often people go to the movies.
Meanwhile, in a complete reversal of fortunes, this year’s Grammy Awards finally honored female musicians as well as handing out prizes to hip-hop artists. Maybe next year some of the big stars won’t shrug off the ceremony like they seemed to do this past Sunday.
In the United Kingdom “The Favourite” was the favorite at the BAFTA Awards winning seven prizes, but it was Alfonso Cuaron’s Netflix film “Roma” which took home Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the deal between Actor’s Equity and the Broadway League, why NBC is dumping its live telecast of “Hair” and Spotify finally turns a profit.
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Showbiz Sandbox 419: Best Popular Film Oscars Category Proves To Be Rather Unpopular
August 13, 2018
It may come as a surprise after the #MeToo movement but it isn’t often Hollywood unites to agree on an issue. Last week when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed they would be adding a Best Popular film category to the Oscars the response was universal and swift; everyone hates the idea. In a train wreck of an announcement about proposed changes to the awards show, the Academy appeared to cede control to the network broadcasting the ceremony.
Speaking of changes, the moviegoing subscription service MoviePass doesn’t let a week go by without instituting a new set of rules for its customers. First they were going to raise prices and limit attendance to new releases. Before they could roll those changes out, MoviePass altered its policy once again, keeping the price at $10 per month, but limiting the number of movies that can be seen to just three.
Meanwhile, music fans appear to be spending more money on music than ever before. At least according to a new report from Citigroup which says the industry is now pulling in a combined $43 billion in the United States, of which $5 billion goes to artists. Naturally, arguments over the accuracy and validity of the report are sure to follow.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including more on Jeffrey Katzenberg’s New TV venture, the dispute over star salaries on the latest “Star Trek” and Lady Gaga heads to Las Vegas. Read more
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Showbiz Sandbox 399: Why Can’t Hulu and Spotify Turn A Profit?
February 12, 2018
As consumers abandon physical media like compact discs and DVDs they are signing up for streaming services like Hulu and Spotify by the tens of millions. Even so, profitability has proven elusive for such companies. We’ll try and understand why, despite all their earnings and tons of headlines, such services continue to be in the red.
Meanwhile the movie awards season has reached a fever pitch, with the Writers Guild handing out their top awards to “Call Me By Your Name” and “Get Out.” Could the horror flick be gaining momentum in the Oscar race just like “Moonlight” did last year?
The Grammys may be over but Michael Giltz just finished his list of the best albums of 2017. Oce you move beyond the big prize for Album Of The Year, his picks have a lot in common with the winners at this year’s ceremony.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why Russia has launched a smear campaign against an Oscar nominated documentary, a hiccup in the sale of The Weinstein Company and a respected television executive gets picked to head up Amazon Studios.
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Showbiz Sandbox 387: Has Star Wars Turned Disney Into The Evil Empire?
November 6, 2017
Last week it was released that Disney would be charging movie theaters a record high percentage of box office and a minimum guaranteed run in order to book “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” At the same time, the studio has blacklisted the Los Angeles Times from reviewing and covering its films. We’ll explain why.
In television news, the Nielsen ratings company is giving us a peek into viewership for the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” And the BBC is opening up its digital platform to different sports leagues so more games can be seen for free by more people.
We also continue to provide updates on the sexual harassment allegations that have plagued the entertainment and media industries over the past month. The rap sheet of people fired or quitting over revelations they’ve been sexually harassing and assaulting people for years grows longer and longer…starting with Kevin Spacey, who has seen his life collapse in just one week.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including discussion of a “Lord of the Rings” television series, how YouTube has become a leading music curation platform and the Country Music Awards try and squelch the debate over gun control.
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