Showbiz Sandbox 585: Entertainment Industry Stumble Into Sociopolitical Pitfalls
June 7, 2022
Social justice and political issues have been making life complicated for movie studios, record labels and concert promoters. Whether you’re casting a movie, choosing a director, booking a live performance or releasing a new album, you’ll also be having to deal with their past, present and sometimes even future behavior. Just ask Johnny Depp, filmmaker Cary Fukunaga and comedian Louis C.K.
Rolling Stone knows a thing or two about digging into the past of the musicians it covers. As the war in Ukraine marches on the magazine published a piece on all the big name pop stars who’ve been paid millions over the years to perform at private parties and events for Russian oligarchs.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Mariah Carey is being sued for plagiarism, the most watched television shows from the past year and musician Kate Bush has a new old hit thanks to “Stranger Things.”
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Showbiz Sandbox 572: Picking The Best Music From The Past Year
February 15, 2022
In an age when everyone with GarageBand and a kazoo is releasing a record, finding good new music isn’t always easy. Sal Nunziato, the curator of the Burning Wood music blog and the drummer for The John Sally Ride, tells us about some of the best music he’s discovered over the past year. Nunziato listened to hundreds of records each year to create his list, always coming up with a few surprises like Micky Dolenz and Brian Wilson.
None of the performers at this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show made Nunziato’s list, but that’s because most of the hip-hop artists on stage released their best music over 20 years ago. Even so, it was nice to see the NFL finally invite hip-hop to the big game.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how the Academy Awards are allowing fans to vote for their favorite film, Disney continues to grow their streaming service and MoviePass raises the curtain on its second act.
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Showbiz Sandbox 480: “Parasite” Infects the Oscars With Historic Win
February 10, 2020
Though many Academy Awards pundits believed that “1917” would win the Oscar for Best Picture, the prize went to filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite.” Anne Thompson of Indiewire joins us to explain how the industry united behind the South Korean film, giving it four top Oscars, in a historic win; the first foreign language film to ever win the Best Picture Oscar.
Surely none of the Oscar winners will be getting a bump at the box office in China, even if they managed to get a release date. Movie theaters have been closed for the past three weeks due to a coronavirus which has completely upended which films will get into cinemas and when in a tight calendar they’ll reach audiences.
Meanwhile, the WGA overwhelmingly approved their demands for the upcoming contract talks with producers and studios. The existing contract is set to expire in the middle of this year and just about everyone in Hollywood is expecting and gearing up for another writers’ strike.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why manufacturing vinyl records might get a lot harder, how YouTube is raking in revenue and Disney plans on bringing the Broadway musical “Hamilton” to movie theaters.
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Showbiz Sandbox 464: Warner Bros. Gets the Last Laugh With “Joker”
October 7, 2019
After winning the top prize at the Venice Film Festival last month, “Joker” shattered October box office records around the world. This was despite mixed critical reviews and concerns about violence that led to heightened security at movie theaters. The question remains whether the movie will be too dark for Oscar voters come awards season.
The box office in China also made headlines over the past week as the country celebrated National Day by heading to the movies. China’s biggest release for the holiday week even made it onto the North American box office charts.
Meanwhile, one of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies was hoping to raise a lot of money by going public and ultimately change how agents do business. However, Endeavor wound up pulling its initial public offering at the last minute as market makers began raising doubts.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how who will be performing at next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, Spider-Man rejoins Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and Apple will release (some of) its movies in theatres with a 90-day theatrical window.
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Showbiz Sandbox 462: Netflix and Amazon Take Advantage of Fall Film Festivals
September 16, 2019
Though the Cannes Film Festival avoids programming movies from streamers like Netflix and Amazon, internationally renowned festivals in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York embrace them. And no wonder. As Anne Thompson of Indiewire tells us, the streamers used the fall film festival circuit to premiere some of the year’s most award-worthy movies.
Just back from Toronto and Telluride (and on her way to the New York Film Festival), Thompson fills us in on what new releases movie lovers should look forward to as we kick off awards season. She explains how making a big splash at such festivals can turn a middling movie into a hit collecting both big box office and plenty of kudos. Yes, we’re looking at you, Hustlers.
Meanwhile, with the imminent launch of their own streaming service, Disney wants to rewrite the rules — or at least the contracts — on how the profits from hit television shows gets shared, or as the company would prefer it, not shared. If successful, other networks and studios are sure to follow Disney’s lead.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why YouTube is revamping its music charts, Apple announcing the price for its streaming service and “Saturday Night Live” stumbling in a casting move.
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Showbiz Sandbox 433: 2018 Was A Blockbuster Year at the Box Office
December 31, 2018
A string of big movie releases during the holidays helped the North American box office set a record in 2018, ending the year at $11.9 billion. Ticket sales also set a record in China where roughly $8.7 billion was earned. These two territories combined accounted for 48% of the $41.7 billion global box office.
However, growth in the second largest movie market in the world slowed to 9%, down from nearly 14% the year before. That’s why China ignored it’s quota on imported films at the end of 2018, allowing several Hollywood titles to be released. We’ll see if that trend continues into the new year.
In somewhat related news, a survey commissioned by the National Association of Theatre Owners showed that streaming services like Netflix do not adversely affect the frequency of moviegoing. Apparently people who watch a lot of movies at home, also like to watch movies in theaters. Go figure.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the Aretha Franklin’s back taxes, Ed Sheeran’s blockbuster tour and why CBS wants to dump Nielsen.
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Showbiz Sandbox 280: French Films Win Big In Cannes This Year
May 26, 2015
The 68th annual Cannes Film Festival wrapped up over the weekend with the French drama “Dheepan” winning the Palme d’Or. In a festival filled with artistic works commenting on modern social issues, director Jacques Audiard’s film tells the story of three Sri Lankan refugees who form a family-of-convenience while fleeing to France in hopes of a better life.
Anne Thompson, Editor-at-Large for Indiewire, joins us to discuss the highs and lows of this year’s Festival de Cannes, which include many of the films that took home awards, not to mention a 3D porno. But as Thompson explains, many of the big buzzworthy films were Hollywood titles screened out-of-competition; “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Inside Out” come to mind.
Time Warner Cable meanwhile, fresh from having broken up with their previous suitor, Comcast, may now be acquired in a $56.7 billion deal. Though this move was widely expected, it is an indicator of how the market is attempting to stay ahead of the fast changing ways by which audiences consume television content.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the David Letterman’s signs off the “Late Show” one final time, Jennifer Lopez is taking up residency in Las Vegas for a string of shows next year, and multi-hyphenate Barbra Streisand is penning her memoirs.
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Showbiz Sandbox 226: Back To The Future – Why TV Networks Suddenly Love Old People Again
February 24, 2014
Broadcast television networks are finally catching on to what most of us have known all along; people over the age of 50 actually watch a lot of TV. In a never-ending pursuit to attract younger viewers, networks discovered that baby boomers make up a large portion of their audience. Surely we’ll be seeing a lot more programming meant to appeal directly to this new found demographic.
Maybe some of these new, more mature shows can be turned into movies one day. That seems to be the new trend in Hollywood as studios get set to release two movies that are spun-off from canceled series (“Veronica Mars”) or are have actually already appeared on television as mini-series (“Son of God”).
Speaking of Hollywood studios, it turns out that despite crying poor on a perennial basis, they all managed to make hundreds of millions of dollars in profit during 2013. Not revenue… actual profit.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including Cee Lo Green quitting “The Voice”, CNN quitting Piers Morgan and the end of Moviefone’s movie listing service.
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Showbiz Sandbox 199: Comic-Con and Hollywood Is A Match Made In Nerdvana
July 22, 2013
Hollywood movie studios are no stranger to Comic-Con, the world largest pop-culture convention attracting 140,000 fans to San Diego each summer. For years they have showed up with new titles hoping to drum up pre-release buzz, though at times such calculated marketing moves have backfired in spectacular fashion. Even so, Entertainment Weekly’s Geoff Boucher says audiences always welcome Hollywood back to the Con with open arms.
Boucher gives us an inside look at this year’s event, filling us in on which movies, television shows and events were huge hits (or misses) with fans. Did the announcement of a film pairing of Superman and Batman go over well with the crowd? Was everyone surprised to see a trailer for the “Veronica Mars” movie.
Last week also saw the Television Academy announce their nominations for this year’s Emmy Awards. The big news was the Netflix series “House of Cards” which earned 14 nominations and marked the first time a show will vie for an Emmy without having aired on broadcast or cable networks.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including a public spat over Spotify streaming royalty rates, Keith Olbermann’s return to ESPN and a summer of big box office flops.
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Showbiz Sandbox 197: Studios Suffer A Summer of Blockbuster Flops
July 8, 2013
Hollywood is learning the hard way that big name movie stars don’t always guarantee the success of a tentpole release. This summer at least three mega-budget titles have tanked; Will Smith couldn’t save “After Earth”, Jamie Foxx and Channing Tatum couldn’t rescue “White House Down” and even the casting of Johnny Depp as Tonto wasn’t enough to rustle up an audience for “The Lone Ranger”.
On the other hand, filmmaker Lee Daniels’ next film may not have a blockbuster-size budget, but it does feature an all-star cast that includes the likes of Forest Whitaker, Robin Williams and Oprah Winfrey. Now all it needs is a new name, since a 1916 Warner Bros. short has already laid claim to “The Butler” causing Daniels and distributor The Weinstein Company to call out the lawyers.
Meanwhile, as we await the court’s verdict in the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple over the pricing of e-books, it turns out Amazon has quietly been raising the ante on a lot of titles, especially those from academic and small presses.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the Academy’s new members, Jennifer Lopez in Turkmenistan and the cost of purchasing a Tony Award.
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