Showbiz Sandbox 465: Ang Lee’s Latest Science Project
October 14, 2019
Filmmaker Ang Lee is arguably one of the best directors to ever step behind a camera. He’s made acclaimed films such as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi,” winning three Oscars along the way. However Lee’s latest efforts have been more concerned with filmmaking technology than their script.
That was certainly the case with “Gemini Man,” an action film that stars Will Smith playing an assassin opposite a digitally de-aged version of himself. Geoff Boucher of Deadline spoke with Lee about the challenges of making the film, which was shot in high frame rate at 120 frames per second.
Meanwhile, China deleted “South Park” from the airwaves (and the internet) after a new episode mocked the country’s human rights record. Then China canceled the broadcast of an NBA basketball game being played in Shanghai after a league executive showed support for anti-government protestors in Hong Kong. We discuss what this means for all the businesses that want a piece of the Chinese market but don’t want to damage their brand worldwide.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the Nobel Prize for Literature is awarded to a controversial writer, a new K-Pop supergroup storms the music charts and Apple launches an in-house production studio with some big name talent.
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Showbiz Sandbox 464: Warner Bros. Gets the Last Laugh With “Joker”
October 7, 2019
After winning the top prize at the Venice Film Festival last month, “Joker” shattered October box office records around the world. This was despite mixed critical reviews and concerns about violence that led to heightened security at movie theaters. The question remains whether the movie will be too dark for Oscar voters come awards season.
The box office in China also made headlines over the past week as the country celebrated National Day by heading to the movies. China’s biggest release for the holiday week even made it onto the North American box office charts.
Meanwhile, one of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies was hoping to raise a lot of money by going public and ultimately change how agents do business. However, Endeavor wound up pulling its initial public offering at the last minute as market makers began raising doubts.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how who will be performing at next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, Spider-Man rejoins Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and Apple will release (some of) its movies in theatres with a 90-day theatrical window.
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Showbiz Sandbox 462: Netflix and Amazon Take Advantage of Fall Film Festivals
September 16, 2019
Though the Cannes Film Festival avoids programming movies from streamers like Netflix and Amazon, internationally renowned festivals in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York embrace them. And no wonder. As Anne Thompson of Indiewire tells us, the streamers used the fall film festival circuit to premiere some of the year’s most award-worthy movies.
Just back from Toronto and Telluride (and on her way to the New York Film Festival), Thompson fills us in on what new releases movie lovers should look forward to as we kick off awards season. She explains how making a big splash at such festivals can turn a middling movie into a hit collecting both big box office and plenty of kudos. Yes, we’re looking at you, Hustlers.
Meanwhile, with the imminent launch of their own streaming service, Disney wants to rewrite the rules — or at least the contracts — on how the profits from hit television shows gets shared, or as the company would prefer it, not shared. If successful, other networks and studios are sure to follow Disney’s lead.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why YouTube is revamping its music charts, Apple announcing the price for its streaming service and “Saturday Night Live” stumbling in a casting move.
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Showbiz Sandbox 461: A Crazy Example of Hollywood’s Gender Pay Gap
September 9, 2019
Pay disparity based on gender is not a new thing in the entertainment industry, especially in the movie business. History is rife with examples where leading men got paid multiples more than their leading ladies. However, gender pay gaps behind the camera aren’t often publicized. That wasn’t the case when Adele Lim, the co-writer of “Crazy Rich Asians” found out how much more her male co-writer was being paid for the sequels, she went public.
The good news according to a new study is that in front of the camera Hollywood is becoming more diverse. Women and people of color are being cast more than ever with 39 out of the top 100 films in 2018 featuring a female lead. Last year also marked a 12-year high for minorities being given speaking roles.
Meanwhile, advertisers and television networks are concerning themselves with a different set of numbers; viewership ratings. For the first time ever, Nielsen is counting all the people who watch TV in bars, airports and hotel lounges. Ratings will surely go up for some big categories such as sports. But will ad rates go up too?
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why author Walter Mosley quit his “Star Trek: Discovery” writers gig, music sales are up for the year and, despite lots of new competition, Netflix looks poised to maintain its dominance of the streaming market.
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Showbiz Sandbox 460: Spider-Man Exits The Marvel Cinematic Universe
September 2, 2019
The big-time Hollywood divorce that has the entertainment industry buzzing this summer is the acrimonious split between Sony Pictures and Walt Disney Studios over custody of the most popular character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Spider-Man. The agreement that allowed Sony to loan out the character for Disney’s Avenger films was unprecedented. But after Disney asked to share in the financing and profit of future Spidey films, Sony opted out of the relationship.
The latest Spider-Man movie was one of the biggest hits of the summer, though box office for the season was actually down. One might think that’s why AMC Cinemas is planning to experiment with dynamically pricing movie tickets, but actually it’s really because they just want to charge more for popular films.
Meanwhile, streaming giants like Netflix are premiering some of their high profile movies at the biggest fall film festivals just in time to kick off awards season. They even plan to show them in cinemas before allowing them to be streamed on their platform. Now all Netflix has to do is convince cinema chains to book them.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Eminem is suing Spotify, the Writers Guild takes its case against talent agents to federal court and why Taylor Swift wants to record all her old albums over again.
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Showbiz Sandbox 458: The Number of Music Copyright Lawsuits Is Sure To Increase
August 12, 2019
Are musicians ripping each other off more than ever? Accusations of plagiarism have been around a long time, but they exploded after musician Robin Thicke was successfully sued over lifting his song “Blurred Lines” from Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up.” Just ask Katy Perry who recently lost a similar lawsuit over her hit single “Dark Horse.”
Before that case, most legal experts said you needed specific lyrics or main melodies to constitute stealing. Now the courts have decided that beats and even the vague “feel” or “vibe” of a song can be copyrightable.
Meanwhile, Netflix lost subscribers for the first time since 2011 and you’d think the sky was falling. What with new competition from Disney, Warner Bros. and Apple about to launch, there are plenty of doomsayers prognosticating the demise of the streaming giant.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including “Doctor Who” heads to HBO Max, why Chinese studios are boycotting Asia’s most important movie awards show and two of Hollywood’s biggest public relations firm announced a merger.
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Showbiz Sandbox 451: With Streaming On the Rise, Apple Kills iTunes
June 3, 2019
Before the iPod, when Napster was turning casual music fans into criminals, Apple saved the music industry by launching iTunes. What the music industry feared would enable people to organize the music they’d already stolen, actually allowed people to start buying digital music legally. Within a few years Apple became one of the largest music retailers in the world.
Now that the software seems to have outlived its purpose Apple will launch new apps to handle music, video, books and podcasts and the once iconic all-purpose library known as iTunes will disappear. It turns out this may also be a way to force consumers into signing up for Apple Music, the company’s music streaming service.
Meanwhile, the state of film and television production has been turned upside down in Georgia thanks to the passage of a new law restricting abortion. Studios, networks, producers, directors and actors must decide whether to continue shooting in Georgia and accept its tax subsidies, or boycott the state entirely.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including a record setting season on Broadway, the “Game of Thrones” creators dump their manager and the Oscars announced this year’s Governors Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 442: Apple Finally Unveils Their Content Plans
March 26, 2019
After years of anticipation and endless speculation, the technology giant Apple finally announced its plans for its video streaming service. Not only will Apple TV now be available on all smart televisions and integrate with existing cable providers, it will offer a la carte over the top services. What’s more, Apple revealed a slate of six homegrown series marking its first foray into original content.
Apple is not starting small either, launching their service with shows from some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, to name just a few. The only thing they didn’t make public about Apple TV+ is its subscription price.
And while new digital streaming platforms are all the rage, there is still plenty of money to be earned at the theatrical box office. Official numbers for 2018 have now been finalized, with North American box office rising 7%, helping boost worldwide receipts 2% to over $41 billion.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the contentious talks between the WGA and talent agencies over packaging fees, Disney officially acquires Fox and the Library of Congress adds 25 new sound recordings to the National Recording Registry.
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Showbiz Sandbox 441: Music Industry Gets Into The Stream of Things
March 18, 2019
In February the RIAA reported that music sales in the United States reached $9.8 billion in 2018, up nearly 12% over the previous year. Total worldwide sales were up over 13% reaching $18.9 billion. What’s remarkable is of that figure $9.6 billion, or 51%, came from streaming revenue, the first time that figure has outpaced digital and physical sales.
While some might see this as just a bunch of numbers and sales figures, labels and artists are beginning to see more revenue from streaming. In fact, musicians selling directly to fans grew 35% last year, topping out at $643 million, none of which went to record labels or middlemen.
Meanwhile, “Captain Marvel” continues to top the box office and looks to be headed toward $1 billion with the release of “Avengers: End Game” just a month or so behind. In China, the Oscar winning “Green Book” is doing surprisingly well.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the head of Warner Bros. resigns amid a sexual misconduct scandal, Netflix cancels “One Day At A Time” and MySpace loses it’s music (or at least some of it) .
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Showbiz Sandbox 426: China Gets A Tighter Grip On Its Entertainment Industry
October 8, 2018
When movie star Fan Bingbing went missing in June there was little doubt that the Chinese government had her in custody for tax evasion. Confirmation came this week when the actress resurfaced, apologizing to the country and begging for “everyone’s forgiveness!”. Chinese authorities have announced Fan will pay at least $70 million in back taxes or face criminal prosecution.
The episode has shined a spotlight on the use of what are known in China as “yin-yang contracts,” wherein two different contracts for different amounts are used; one with the full value of the contract and one with a lower value used with tax agencies. Now that the government seems to have taken notice, the Chinese film and television industry has come to a standstill as everyone restructures their deals to comply with the country’s tax laws.
Speaking of China, Hollywood’s share of the country’s box office for the year is off by roughly $500 million and we wonder why. Back in North America, September grosses nearly set an all time record and October is off to a great start.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Apple is stumbling its way into original TV programming, the RIAA diversifies and Bill Cosby heads to jail.
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