Showbiz Sandbox 452: The Tony Awards Go To Hell
June 10, 2019
The 2018-19 Broadway season was a banner year as the Great White Way broke box office and attendance records, earning $1.89 billion from an attendance of 14.8 million patrons. The Tony Awards were handed out to the season’s best productions and performances as “Hadestown,” a musical about Hell, took home eight prizes including Best Musical and “The Ferryman” won four trophies including Best Play.
During this episode we take a different approach to reporting box office; rather than report which movie topped the worldwide charts, we look which title earned the most money over the past week. Why only count Friday through Sunday, when there are four may days to every week in which people are seeing movies.
We are also joined by Patrick von Sychowski, the editor of Celluloid Junkie, who tells us how he put together an exclusive story of how Chinese authorities spent three years tracking and shutting down one of the largest movie piracy rings of all time. After uncovering piracy being done on an industrial scale, the question remains, could it happen again.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Netflix was told to stop poaching employees from its competitors, YouTube starts pulling hateful content off its platform and Entertainment Weekly magazine goes monthly.
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Showbiz Sandbox 423: After New Allegations Time Was Up For Les Moonves at CBS
September 10, 2018
When CBS head Les Moonves was accused of sexual misconduct this past summer his firing seemed inevitable. Instead he over the weekend after six additional women came forward with allegations dating back decades. Now the question is not how much severance Moonves will get but how much money can CBS pay him to go away and avoid a drawn-out lawsuit without angering activists .
Ultimately Moonves may have lost the battle but won the war. His stepping aside allowed for the settlement of an ownership lawsuit which prevents National Amusements, the network’s parent company, from trying to merge CBS and Viacom for at least two years.
Meanwhile Netflix scored big at the Venice Film Festival when their movie “Roma” picked up the Golden Lion, the festival’s top prize. Director Alfonso Cuarón’s film seems like just the type the Academy might fall for come Oscar time, but first it has to find a movie theater willing to show it.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why there won’t be a Best Popular Film category at next year’s Oscars, a new “Law & Order” series and all the history made at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 422: Hollywood Ponders Second Chances In #MeToo Era
September 4, 2018
Nearly a year after Hollywood was rocked by a wave of sexual misconduct allegations some of those who have been accused of, and in some cases admitted to, transgressions are looking to make a comeback. This is forcing the industry to figure out if and when certain entertainers and executives deserve a second chance. There are no rules about how to handle #MeToo redemption.
Take the case of comedian Louis C.K. whose career imploded after admitting to years of sexual misconduct last November. When he turned up for an unannounced 15-minute set at the Comedy Cellar in New York last week, the response to his first public appearance was a standing ovation from those in attendance, but protest from others who think it’s too soon for C.K. to be making a return.
Meanwhile, after one of the worst summer box office seasons in over a decade in 2017, this summer’s receipts saw an uptick in North America of 14%. China too has seen its box office increase 16% since the beginning of the year. Unfortunately for Hollywood imports actually dropped by 18%.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Johnny Depp’s lawsuit against his former lawyer could end the practice of oral contracts throughout the industry, Lana Del Rey pulls out of a concert in Israel and the emergence of 8K televisions.
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Showbiz Sandbox 415: Along With Box Office, Movie Star Salaries Are On The Rise In China
July 9, 2018
We’ve been told for years now that the theatrical box office in China will ultimately surpass that of North America, probably by 2017… or 2018, or definitely by 2020. But higher grosses have pushed the salaries for the country’s most sought after movie stars to astronomical proportions, something frowned upon in China. In fact, the Chinese government has now stepped in with a new set of regulations capping the salaries paid to talent on movies and television shows and have begun to scrutinize contracts more closely.
On the other hand, The Grammys have decided bigger is better. The Grammys are following the lead of most major awards and expanding its top categories. Instead of announcing the Best Five Album Of The Year nominees, they’ll be announcing eight. The same goes for Best Record and Best Song and Best New Artist. All other categories remain the same.
Meanwhile the group that votes on each year’s most coveted movie awards just got a little bigger. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences invited a record 928 people to their club with half the invites going to women and 38% to people of color.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Spotify hopes to earn revenue by selling movie tickets, credible rumors about new “Star Trek” series and MoviePass officially adopts surge pricing.
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Showbiz Sandbox 414: The MoviePass Effect Is Real and Here To Stay
June 25, 2018
The film industry can say what it wants about MoviePass, and it’s said plenty, but the subscription moviegoing service has made a huge impact on the market since lowering its price to just under $10 per month. Though skeptics abound on whether the company is financially sustainable, the subscription model it has popularized is quickly becoming a standard offering. Just last week AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema chain, announced its own subscription plan to compete directly with MoviePass.
Meanwhile, China is realizing that its growing movie and television industry is becoming overcrowded. With tens of thousands of film and TV companies having sprung up over the past decade and hundreds of films going unreleased each year, there is a fear that the country could be experiencing a media bubble that is about to burst.
Back in the United States, celebrities are suddenly are shocked to discover that the Fox News channel is peddling in propaganda and is not so concerned with actual news. While this may have been the case since the networks inception, creatives are now threatening to walk away from business with Fox Studios. Quick, somebody tell them that Fox Studios is about to have a new owner.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the above average TV ratings for World Cup matches, “Roseanne” officially gets a spinoff series and a Michael Jackson musical may soon be coming to Broadway.
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Showbiz Sandbox 400: The Long, Slow Death of Barnes & Noble
February 19, 2018
As Barnes & Noble loses an ever increasing number of customers to Amazon, the largest bookstore chain in the United States continues struggles to remain a viable business, if not relevant. Now comes word the retailer has cut 1,800 workers representing all of its full-time in-store staff. Should this last ditch effort to stay in business fails, the publishing industry is in for a world of hurt.
Meanwhile, “Black Panther” roared into theaters, shattering records as it came out on top of this week’s worldwide box office, despite Chinese New Year releases earning over half a billion dollars. Will the success of a big budget movie with a minority cast change the culture of Hollywood and the kinds of projects it chooses to make?
The BAFTA Awards were held on Sunday, reinforcing what everyone is saying about this year’s Oscar race: the acting categories look to be locked in stone, but Best Picture is still up for grabs.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news with special guest Karen Woodward, including television producer Ryan Murphy’s rich deal at Netflix, musician Justin Timberlake’s upcoming tour is a huge hit even before tickets go on sale and why MoviePass is in the news yet again.
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Showbiz Sandbox 391: For Your Consideration – Grammy Marketing Campaigns
December 4, 2017
Hip-hop artists lead the nominees for this year’s Grammy Awards with Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar the front runners for Album Of The Year. Steve Knopper, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and author of several books about the music industry, joins us to explain how musicians have taken a lesson from Hollywood and begun mounting marketing campaigns to snag music’s highest honor.
Accolades for the year’s best movies have also begun to be doled out with critics groups announcing their picks. “Call Me By Your Name,” “The Florida Project,” and “Lady Bird” seem to be the big favorites as we head into awards season.
Meanwhile, allegations of sexual misconduct continue to pile up against entertainment and media personalities. Just when we thought it couldn’t get much worse, “Today” anchor Matt Lauer was fired by NBC News over sexual harassment and famed Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine was suspended over accusations of sexual abuse.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Stephen Colbert continues to win the late night wars, director Bryan Singer disappears from the set of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and why Disney is suing Redbox.
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Showbiz Sandbox 380: Hollywood Gets Pummeled by Rotten Tomatoes
September 12, 2017
With North American box office declining 15 percent over last year, Hollywood suffered its worst summer box office in 20 years. One main reason, studios believe, is the popularity of the movie review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, which brands titles as either “fresh” or “rotten”. The site has become so influential studios now try and game the system by handpicking critics for certain releases.
Disney, on the other hand, isn’t waiting for reviews to be in on its latest Star Wars movies before tweaking them. “Episode IX” is just the latest to lose its director over creative differences with Lucasfilm, which is quickly gaining the reputation as a tough place to be a filmmaker.
Meanwhile, one of North America’s largest brick-and-mortar book retailers reports that sales are off 6% in the latest quarter as consumers shift to buying online. Don’t worry however, the company has a great plan for fixing their sales problem; open more stores.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Amazon wants to produce a hit television show, the end of an era at Vanity Fair magazine and the mystery behind who will distribute the next James Bond movie.
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Showbiz Sandbox 372: Firing Movie Directors Has Become A Complicated Business
June 26, 2017
Hollywood history is littered with tales of filmmakers being replaced on projects in the middle of production. But when LucasFilm fired directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the stand-alone Han Solo project with just a few weeks before principal photography was completed, it raised a host of questions that needs to be addressed by the industry at large.
For instance, who will receive directing credit now that Ron Howard has signed on to complete the movie? And how will residuals and profit participation be handled? In an age when blockbusters are being manufactured by media conglomerates with oversight committees, the frequency with which these questions need to be answered is likely to increase.
Meanwhile, in China the government may have its own questions about where Wanda is finding all the money to acquire cinema chains such as AMC, Odeon and Hoyts, not to mention production companies such as Legendary. There are rumors that the country’s banking regulators are looking into whether all that debt financing is on the up-and-up.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including Time Warner’s plans to start making shows for Snapchat, “NCIS” continues to win awards for being the most watched television series in the world and three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis announces his retirement from acting.
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Showbiz Sandbox 370: Tony Awards Prove Unnecessary For Some Broadway Shows
June 12, 2017
Historically winning a Tony Award can make a big difference in the financial success of a Broadway production. This year’s awards were handed out on Sunday, but some shows may not need to win a Tony to win on Broadway. Ticket sales for “Anastasia”, “A Bronx Tale” and “Come From Away” have been doing just fine without all the accolades.
And when Broadway shows leave the Great White Way to tour the world, they are attracting record audiences. In North America alone 14 million people attended live theatre productions in roughly 200 cities, bringing in $981 million.
Meanwhile, Taylor Swift is making her entire back catalogue available via on-demand streaming services such as Spotify. That she announced this news the same day as Katy Perry released her latest album led many to wonder if this was another round in an old pop-star rivalry.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why the Amazon Prime Video app is coming to the Apple TV, satellite radio giant SiriusXM makes a huge investment in Pandora and Bob Dylan finally delivers his Nobel Prize speech.
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