Showbiz Sandbox 426: China Gets A Tighter Grip On Its Entertainment Industry
October 8, 2018
When movie star Fan Bingbing went missing in June there was little doubt that the Chinese government had her in custody for tax evasion. Confirmation came this week when the actress resurfaced, apologizing to the country and begging for “everyone’s forgiveness!”. Chinese authorities have announced Fan will pay at least $70 million in back taxes or face criminal prosecution.
The episode has shined a spotlight on the use of what are known in China as “yin-yang contracts,” wherein two different contracts for different amounts are used; one with the full value of the contract and one with a lower value used with tax agencies. Now that the government seems to have taken notice, the Chinese film and television industry has come to a standstill as everyone restructures their deals to comply with the country’s tax laws.
Speaking of China, Hollywood’s share of the country’s box office for the year is off by roughly $500 million and we wonder why. Back in North America, September grosses nearly set an all time record and October is off to a great start.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Apple is stumbling its way into original TV programming, the RIAA diversifies and Bill Cosby heads to jail.
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Showbiz Sandbox 310: Diversity Makes A Comeback At Sundance
February 2, 2016
This year’s Sundance Film Festival wrapped up over the weekend in historic fashion by awarding the dramatic competition grand jury and audience prizes to “The Birth of a Nation”, a historical biopic a Virginian slave revolt. The film made headlines earlier in the week when Fox Searchlight purchased the film for a record $17.5 million after beating out Netflix in a heated bidding war.
We’ll tell you about all the big Sundance awards and continue the Oscar season slog, in which this year’s front runners are as mixed up as a Republican presidential primary. SAG added to the confusion, making “Spotlight” this week’s hero, after “The Big Short” looked like a winner the week before.
Meanwhile the Federal Communications Commission is about to vote on ending the monopoly of set top boxes for US cable subscribers, a decision that could have big ramifications for everything from what you watch to the stock prices of numerous tech companies, including Apple and Roku.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including Louis CK bypasses television networks and brings his new series directly to viewers, Pope Francis gets ready for his closeup in a feature film and sales of new music were outpaced by catalogue titles over the past year.
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