Showbiz Sandbox 495: Coming Up With A Popular Method To Calculate Streaming Residuals

May 26, 2020

With audiences spending countless hours streaming video during the coronavirus pandemic, and with some movies once bound for cinemas bypassing theaters and going directly to video-on-demand, the issue over residual payments to those that make all the content has once again become a hot button issue. This especially true since global streaming subscription revenue doubled in four years to $37 billion in 2019 and is expected to hit $62 billion by 2024.

Rather than being based on box office, ratings or profits, when it comes to streaming, residuals turned into a low fixed annual payment, no matter how big a hit your series or movie was. Now the Writers Guild of America has proposed a tiered system based on viewership to make sure residual payments reflect the new streaming reality when it comes to the likes of Disney+, HBO Max and Netflix.

Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including why “Batwoman” lost its star, People magazine heads to television and Joe Rogan’s podcast payday.

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Showbiz Sandbox 487: For Performing Arts, the Show Must Go On

April 2, 2020

Impresario Evans Haile has decades of experience as a producer, artistic director and performer of live theater and opera, yet nothing could have prepared him for how the coronavirus pandemic would disrupt the industry.

As the executive director of the York Theatre Company in New York, the executive director of Opera North in New Hampshire and the producing director of the Gainesville Symphony in Florida, Haile gives us his unique perspective on the impact COVID-19 is having on arts institutions from Broadway to Off Broadway and even regional theaters.

In China, the few cinemas that began to open back up are now re-shuttered for fear of another coronavirus outbreak. This means that 94% of commercial movie theaters around the world are now closed.

Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including the historic audio recordings that the Library of Congress has entered into its registry this year.

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Showbiz Sandbox 472: The Growing Dominance of Netflix Movies During Awards Season

December 16, 2019

As Hollywood’s major guilds begin announcing their nominations for best films of the year a trend seems to be emerging; Netflix is becoming a player in prestige cinema. Similar to how cable networks disrupted the domination of broadcast companies at the Emmys, the streaming giant has a growing number of entries vying for top awards.

In China the government has had to pivot from censoring basketball to worrying about how to deal with soccer now that one of the sports star players has spoken out over the protests taking place in Hong Kong. Can the government continue to pull sports off the airwaves without creating a huge programming problem?

Meanwhile, there has been some industry murmurings about the lack of big titles from Marvel or Lucasfilm on next year’s release schedule, leading some to believe box office will be down significantly. We take a quick look at some of the upcoming 2020 releases and explain why there is no need to panic.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the controversy that might break the reality show “Survivor,” why Billboard is adding video streaming to its album charts and the National Film Registry announces its latest selections.

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Showbiz Sandbox 285: Why the Film Academy Is Becoming More Diverse and International

June 30, 2015

When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited over 300 new members to join their ranks this year, many noted not only the number of young women and minorities among the group, but also 36 international invitees. According to Oscars pundit Scott Feinberg of the Hollywood Reporter, that’s the highest number of new international members than at any other time in the Academy’s 88-year history.

We explain why the organization is looking to filmmakers and craftspeople from around the world when adding to their ranks, as well as how that might change the demographics of the Academy moving forward. At a time when international box office has never been more dominant and important, it is nice to see the Academy’s membership become a little more diverse.

E-commerce giant Amazon is also making a few changes, especially in the way it pays authors of titles in its monthly book rental offering. Instead of paying writers for every book a user starts but may not finish, the company will pay based upon how many actual pages a subscriber reads.

Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including why NBC and Univision fired Donald Trump, Harry Potter heads to London’s West End and Apple signs a deal with indie record labels for its new music streaming service.

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