Showbiz Sandbox 613: Author James Patterson Questions New York Times Best Seller List
April 4, 2023
James Patterson has been a perennial presence on the New York Times best seller list after his most recent book failed to make the list, he accused the newspaper of “cooking the books” in the way it compiles its lists. According to BookScan, which uses actual sales figures, Patterson’s latest book should have made the list, but the Times uses a proprietary formula and method for determining its list and now he’s publicly calling them out.
Meanwhile, we signed up for the new version of MoviePass just to find out what it offered. It turns out it is very hard to pull off a moviegoing subscription service when you don’t have deals with movie theaters.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Cineworld, the owner of Regal Cinemas, plans to restructure and exit bankruptcy, why the cast of the television series “Blue Bloods” took a pay cut, and the stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor Totoro” wins six Olivier Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 601: Middle East Film Industry On Display at Red Sea Film Festival
December 14, 2022
The second Red Sea International Film Festival just came to a close in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a country which didn’t even have movie theaters until four years ago. In fact, several Saudi films premiered at the event which put an emerging Middle East film industry on full display.
Meanwhile there is no debating that we are in the throes of the awards season. The National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics and the Golden Globes are handing out kudos even though none of them really matter when it comes to the Oscars.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why highbrow films are losing audiences, the Sight & Sound poll of best movies of all time is published and Ticketmaster messes up in Mexico.
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Showbiz Sandbox 562: The Death of Network Television Is Greatly Exaggerated
November 16, 2021
While the entertainment industry and Wall Street may be distracted by the growth of streaming services and their subscriber numbers, senior network television executives are reminding everyone that linear TV is far from dead. In fact, according to the latest viewing metrics, more audiences are tuning into network television programs on a consistent basis than actually watch streaming content.
Meanwhile, while the fall film festival season may be dominated by events in Toronto, Telluride and Venice, there are still a number of festivals taking place that are just as noteworthy, including the AFI Fest and Doc NYC. We’ll discuss some of this year’s official selections at both of these festivals.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why a high profile director walked away from the next Star Wars movie, Peter Jackson sells his special effects toolkit and Spotify starts a new chapter in streaming.
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Showbiz Sandbox 561: After “Squid Game,” Korea Wants Netflix to Pay Up
November 9, 2021
Though Netflix’s expensive blockbuster “Red Notice” is getting little notice in movie theatres, the company’s signature streaming service is thriving. In fact, its series “Squid Game” is so popular around the world that in Korea Netflix is being barraged with questions about paying for the cost of the increased streaming traffic it continues to generate.
Meanwhile, a music festival in Houston headlined by Travis Scott left at least eight concertgoers dead and scores injured after they were crushed when the audience surged toward the stage. We’ll explore the poor choices made by Astroworld’s promoters that lead to the tragedy.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the BBC may lose funding, Netflix launches its mobile games and the Justice Department wants to stop two of the world’s largest book publishers from merging.
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Showbiz Sandbox 506: Apple Gets Into An Epic Battle Royale
August 18, 2020
Online gaming allows participants to take part in massive multiplayer battles, but no one ever gets hurt. Well, in real life, Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite is taking on both Apple and Google with an antitrust lawsuit and one of these companies is definitely going to get hurt where it counts most…the bottom line.
Meanwhile, as movie theaters around the world start to re-open after being shut down for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the box office is sputtering back to life. Even Comscore has started publishing a weekend box office report again. Still, the industry has lost billions of dollars and is far from returning to normal grosses.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including why thousands of actors may lose their health insurance, women are ruling the Billboard music charts and how Warner Music Group is getting a bit more social.
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Showbiz Sandbox 373: Is the Academy’s Diversity Fix Misguided?
July 3, 2017
After a controversy that faulted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for being too white, too male and too old, the organization has made great strides to broaden the diversity of its membership over the past two years. During that time the Academy invited over 1,450 new members to join its hallowed ranks, many of whom were women and people of color. Yet there are now grumblings that in the rush to bring in fresh blood the Academy may have lowered its standards for membership.
Major Hollywood studios are less concerned with the Academy’s membership than they are with whether Chinese exhibitors are reporting box office correctly. The MPAA and U.S. trade organizations have forced the Chinese government to let an international firm audit ticket sales for imported films at cinemas throughout the country.
We also review a listener email which goes to great lengths in explaining why satellite radio giant SiriusXM would want to purchase a stake in the online radio streaming service Pandora. The deal is setting up a senior management showdown over the digital music pioneer’s future business model.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why Adele is canceling the final two shows of her tour at Wembley, how Sony plans on pressing vinyl records again after nearly 30 years and Oscar winning actress Olivia de Havilland lets FX know she doesn’t appreciate being portrayed in “Feud” by filing a lawsuit.
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Showbiz Sandbox 322: Cannes Film Festival Spurs Critical Debate
May 24, 2016
This year’s Cannes Film Festival ended over the weekend with the awarding of the Palm d’Or, the festival’s top prize, to an unlikely, albeit quite solid, movie from director Ken Loach. A critically panned movie from filmmaker Xavier Dolan was given the runner up award, the Grand Prix, leaving many in Cannes baffled over how the jury made its selections. However festival director Thierry Fremaux has always said, Cannes is not set up for critics.
The Broadway season also came to a close last week earning a record $1.3 billion in ticket sales. Musical productions took in most of the revenue over the past year, though it was “The Lion King” and not “Hamilton”, which only opened in August, which ruled the box office.
Over at HBO Michael Lombardo, the longtime head of programming for the premium cable network is stepping down, whereas at Viacom Sumner Redstone has stirred up a hornets nest by ousting his longtime protogé, the company’s chief executive, from the trust that will eventually control the company.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including whether the wave of summer blockbusters will prove to be too much competition, rumors of Adele’s massive record deal and Bill Cosby gets his day in criminal court.
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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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Showbiz Sandbox 70: Digital or Bust – The Future of Reading
September 6, 2010
It seems a new electronic reading device is released every week. It’s no wonder the sale of e-books has begun to outpace traditional print copies. Ryan Chapman, the online marketing manager for publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux, talks about how the industry is dealing with the new technology and in certain instances, using it to their advantage.
Print editions are no longer a problem for Josh Jackson, the editor-in-chief of Paste Magazine. He discusses the recent decision to suspend print publication of the indie pop culture magazine.
In the television world, everyone seems shocked that the latest cast of “Dancing With The Stars” included the likes of Bristol Palin, the daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. They must be putting quotation marks around the word “star” in her case. Maybe her participation will cause politicos to rent a few episodes on their new Apple TV.
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