Showbiz Sandbox 628: An Inside Look at Streaming’s Microscopic Residual Payments
August 30, 2023
The recent success of the television series “Suits” on Netflix has shined a spotlight on how much money writers make on a cable or broadcast hit versus one on a streaming service. Last week one of the show’s writers revealed the vast difference in residual payments he received between linear and streaming underscoring why the WGA is currently on strike.
Meanwhile, with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA striking in strong solidarity, the AMPTP has hired a public relations crisis management firm. Studios, realizing the strike shows no sign of ending, have begun postpone tentpole releases such as “Dune 2” into 2024.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Amazon has shown interest in partnering with Disney on ESPN, how preview screenings are messing up box office calculations and why musicians seem to be dumping manager Scooter Braun.
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Showbiz Sandbox 319: The Changing Tide of Music Distribution
April 25, 2016
Almost three years after Beyoncé made a big splash by releasing a secret album via iTunes, the pop star has snuck up the world once again with her latest work, a video album called “Lemonade”. This time however Beyoncé was strategic in how she distributed her album, premiering it with an HBO special, then exclusively to the streaming music service Tidal, before ultimately turning back to iTunes. More and more, big name acts are controlling how and to whom their music gets distributed.
Multi-genre musician Prince was way ahead of his time when it came to controlling how his music reaches the world. The legendary artist died suddenly last week leaving behind a lifetime of work a great deal of which was never released. We discuss the many fascinating ways the unexpected death of Prince was covered by the media and his sometimes unique distribution methods.
We’ll also take a look at the introduction of a new cinematic camera that has the potential to revolutionize filming and post-production by allowing to filmmakers “to effectively capture the color, direction and placement of every ray of light”.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including some behind the scenes drama at the morning talk shows, why China shut down some of the Apple iTunes stores and how Hollywood is making its way to West Africa.
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