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 540: Time’s Up for the Golden Globes
May 11, 2021
It’s hard to believe we are still talking about the Golden Globes in May, when an argument could be made that they hardly matter in January. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group behind the Globes, said they would be adding 45 new members over an unspecified period of time with a focus on people of color in an attempt to overcome diversity issues in their ranks. However, this didn’t satisfy Hollywood studios, streamers and TV networks who have publicly begun walking away from the annual awards ceremony.
Meanwhile, the stars and filmmakers behind some upcoming movie releases are crying foul. With theaters at limited capacity and studios sending films to streaming services in as little as 17 days, box office for these titles will surely be depressed. This will, in turn, impact the money creative talent receives if their compensation is tied to a movie’s gross.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including when Broadway will raise the curtain again, rankings of the top streaming content and the Chinese box office just won’t quit, even if it’s hard to figure out which movies are earning all that money.
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Showbiz Sandbox 533: Behind The Scenes At The Most Challenging Grammys Ever
March 16, 2021
Working within strict health and safety guidelines the producers of the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards telecast were uncertain how the show would come together or even when it would take place. David Wild knows this first hand. He was the lead writer and one of the producers on this year’s show. Wild joins us to detail all the challenges of pulling off music’s biggest night amidst a global pandemic.
Meanwhile, nods for outstanding achievements in motion pictures were announced en masse over the past week with the BAFTAs, Cesars, Directors Guild, American Society of Cinematographers and many more leading up to, finally, this year’s Oscar nominations.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including a trip to this year’s Berlin Film Festival, how Drake is dominating the music charts and Disney+ continues its staggering growth.
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Showbiz Sandbox 531: Uncovering A Diverse Set of Problems at the Golden Globes
March 2, 2021
A week before the Golden Globes, Stacy Perman and Josh Rottenberg of the Los Angeles Times wrote investigative pieces detailing conflicts of interest and a lack of diversity within the Hollywood Foreign Press Association; the tight knit and tight-lipped group of 87 international journalists who nominate and choose the winners each year. Perman joins us to discuss her work on the story, which was picked up by every major media outlet, and the immediate impact it had on this year’s Globe’s ceremony. Whether it will be enough to change the behavior and makeup of the HFPA remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Viacom announced a slate of programming for their new streaming service, Paramount+. Along with 2,500 movies, 30,000 episodes of television and live sporting events, the company will be rebooting hit series such as “Fraiser” with their original cast. The company also revealed that blockbuster films such as “Mission:Impossible 7” and “A Quiet Place II” will debut on Paramount+ just 45 days after their theatrical release.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including this year’s Art Directors Guild Award nominees, why kill fees might be coming to international film sales and recorded music grosses passed $12 billion in North America during 2020.
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Showbiz Sandbox 401: Redbox Beats Disney At Their Own Copyright Game
February 26, 2018
In the first round of a copyright infringement lawsuit, Disney failed to win an injunction preventing the DVD rental company Redbox from selling digital copies of its films. Instead, a judge ruled that since Redbox is forced to buy retail copies of Disney films, they have the right to sell the digital copy that accompanies each disc. To make matters worse, the federal court faulted Disney for copyright misuse, making the studio vulnerable to an existing countersuit filed by Redbox.
While Disney and Redbox duke it out in court over copyright issues, the cinema-going subscription company MoviePass is suing an upstart competitor named Sinemia over patent infringement while at the same time trying to straighten out its customer service.
In China the Lunar New Year closed out by bringing in $500 million at the box office, the highest weekend tally ever recorded in a single market. In total, the country took in whopping $901 million during the Spring Festival.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why actor Brendan Fraser disappeared from Hollywood, The Weinstein Company is forced into bankruptcy and Netflix debuts its first Arabic content.
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Showbiz Sandbox 217: In Hollywood You’re Nobody Till Somebody Sues You
December 17, 2013
The entertainment industry is marking the end of 2013 with a flurry of lawsuits all having to do, one way or another, with profit participation. Moguls Harvey and Bob Weinstein have filed suit against Warner Bros. over profits from sequels to “The Hobbit”, a property they originally owned. Then there’s the fired creator of “The Walking Dead” who is suing AMC claiming the network owes him tens of millions of dollars for the hit television series.
Filmmaker James Cameron is no stranger to legal battles since he is constantly having to fend off plagiarism lawsuits. Last week the director said he struck a tax deal with New Zealand to film not one, but three “Avatar” sequels in the country.
Golden Globe nominations were announced last week helping solidify awards season frontrunners such as “12 Years A Slave”, “American Hustle” and “Gravity” among others. Keep in mind, only about 90 international entertainment journalists get to nominate and vote for the Globes.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the new additions to the National Film Registry, the new members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and how Beyoncé surprised fans with a new album.
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