Showbiz Sandbox 646: A Slimmed Down Sundance Still Shines

January 30, 2024

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 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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Showbiz Sandbox 191: The Misunderstood Math Behind Movie Ticket Prices

May 13, 2013

The average cost of a movie ticket dropped to $7.94 in North America during the first quarter of 2013. That’s according to the National Association of Theatre Owners, the trade group that keeps track of such figures. Patrick Corcoran, the vice president and chief communication officer of NATO, explains how the average ticket price is calculated and the perennial complaint that such a low amount can’t possibly be correct.

Meanwhile, television networks have been working overtime putting together their schedules for next season. That also means they’ve been making public which shows didn’t make the cut, a.k.a. got canceled. Did your favorite show survive for another season, or did it go the way of series such as “Smash”, which was axed as had long been predicted.

Such bad news isn’t something the Rolling Stones have to worry about. According to the legendary rock group’s concert promoter reports that tickets to shows aren’t selling is completely untrue. In fact, tickets were priced at an exorbitant $600 on purpose to keep the secondary market at bay.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including YouTube’s pay channels, Barbara Walter’s retirement and legislation that calls for a la carte cable offerings.

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Showbiz Sandbox 162: Did The Justice Department Destroy The Literary Ecosystem With E-Book Settlement?

September 10, 2012

Despite strong opposition from authors, publishers, retailers and the public, the U.S. Department of Justice settled their anti-trust case with three major publishers over e-book price fixing. Even an explanatory comic strip from a well regarded copyright attorney couldn’t prevent a ruling that some industry analysts say will enable Amazon to dominate the market. However, not all involved parties have settled, with Apple, Macmillan and Penguin awaiting trial on the charges.

The headlines weren’t any better for the movie business, where theatrical attendance over the past weekend was the worst on record in more than 10 years. It probably doesn’t help that Fox announced they would make movies available for digital download shortly after they hit theaters.

On the other hand, magazine publishers have a lot to cheer about for a change, especially when it comes to the skyrocketing sales of overseas titles.

Of course we cover all the week’s top entertainment news including the return of ratings powerhouse “Sunday Night Football”, Daniel Craig’s future as James Bond and why the Oscars telecast will be singing a new tune next year.

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