Showbiz Sandbox 458: The Number of Music Copyright Lawsuits Is Sure To Increase

Are musicians ripping each other off more than ever? Accusations of plagiarism have been around a long time, but they exploded after musician Robin Thicke was successfully sued over lifting his song “Blurred Lines” from Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up.” Just ask Katy Perry who recently lost a similar lawsuit over her hit single “Dark Horse.”

Before that case, most legal experts said you needed specific lyrics or main melodies to constitute stealing. Now the courts have decided that beats and even the vague “feel” or “vibe” of a song can be copyrightable.

Meanwhile, Netflix lost subscribers for the first time since 2011 and you’d think the sky was falling. What with new competition from Disney, Warner Bros. and Apple about to launch, there are plenty of doomsayers prognosticating the demise of the streaming giant.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including “Doctor Who” heads to HBO Max, why Chinese studios are boycotting Asia’s most important movie awards show and two of Hollywood’s biggest public relations firm announced a merger.

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Showbiz Sandbox 375: The Seedy Side of Show Business is Revealed in “Walking Dead” Lawsuit

Six years after AMC fired Frank Darabont from “The Walking Dead,” the hit TV series he created and oversaw, details about why he was axed are emerging during a lawsuit filed by the filmmaker over profit participation. Citing unprofessional and erratic behavior AMC provided profanity filled emails Darabont sent to producers and executives during his tenure as showrunner. This has lead to many in Hollywood asking whether Darabont’s behavior was out of line or if he was simply trying to defend his show?

The lawsuit itself hinges on Darabont’s deal and whether the revenue AMC earns from “The Walking Dead” is significantly lower because the network is making deals with itself at a significantly reduced cost per episode. This is not the first self-dealing lawsuit to be filed by a creative in Hollywood, but given the $280 million being sought, its outcome could affect how the business operates in the future.

Meanwhile, under pressure from the Chinese government, the Dalian Wanda Group says it will no longer seek to acquire international entertainment properties, causing AMC Theatres, one of its own subsidiaries, to publicly distance itself, and leaving Hollywood wondering if funding from China might be drying up.

Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Amazon will start to distribute its own movies theatrically, Hulu gets nostalgic and Daniel Craig is set to return as James Bond in the next 007 movie.

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Showbiz Sandbox 370: Tony Awards Prove Unnecessary For Some Broadway Shows

Historically winning a Tony Award can make a big difference in the financial success of a Broadway production. This year’s awards were handed out on Sunday, but some shows may not need to win a Tony to win on Broadway. Ticket sales for “Anastasia”, “A Bronx Tale” and “Come From Away” have been doing just fine without all the accolades.

And when Broadway shows leave the Great White Way to tour the world, they are attracting record audiences. In North America alone 14 million people attended live theatre productions in roughly 200 cities, bringing in $981 million.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift is making her entire back catalogue available via on-demand streaming services such as Spotify. That she announced this news the same day as Katy Perry released her latest album led many to wonder if this was another round in an old pop-star rivalry.

Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why the Amazon Prime Video app is coming to the Apple TV, satellite radio giant SiriusXM makes a huge investment in Pandora and Bob Dylan finally delivers his Nobel Prize speech.

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Showbiz Sandbox 368: Virtual Reality is a Big Winner at the Cannes Film Festival

This year’s Cannes Film Festival came to an end over the weekend with the Palm d’Or being awarded to “The Square”, a comedy with socio-political overtones directed by Sweden’s Ruben Östlund. Sofia Coppola won the award for Best Director for “The Beguiled”, only the second time in the festival’s 70-year-history the prize went to a woman.

Though critics found the films selected by Cannes programmers to be underwhelming this year, there was unanimous praise for a virtual reality project created by director Alejandro González Iñárritu which was installed at the festival. We’ll take you inside the unique VR experience and tell you why the fuss being made over it is legitimate.

Meanwhile, this year’s upfronts were held over the past two weeks giving us a pretty good picture about the state of modern television. Here’s the question, if we are presently in the era of peak TV, how come all the new shows networks are trotting out seem so boring.

Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the controversy over a women-only screening of “Wonder Woman,” Katy Perry signs on to judge the “American Idol” reboot and Steven Soderbergh returns to the directing movies… as we predicted.

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Showbiz Sandbox 366: Shifting TV Viewership is Affecting Ratings, Ad Sales and Future Programming Decisions

All the major television networks are preparing their dog-and-pony shows for advertisers at this year’s upfront presentations as they look to sell $9 billion worth of commercial time for the upcoming season. However with viewership continuing to become more fractured, the industry has grown concerned that falling ratings over the past year will lead to lower ad sales. Which raises the question about just how accurate audience measurement is these days.

Networks have begun taking measures to shore up potentially weaker ad sales by demanding harder bargains from production companies, owning more of their own series and making untold fortunes internationally with certain shows. They’re also dabbling more and more with live television specials including musicals such as “A Christmas Story”.

The 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will also begin this week, though not without some controversy over two Netflix titles screening in competition, but not in French movie theaters. This has led Cannes to create a new rule beginning in 2018 that any film selected for the festival must have a theatrical release in France.

Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why Spotify might abandon plans for its IPO in lieu of a direct list o the stock market, Cheryl Boone Isaacs decides not to run for another term as head of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Kelly Clarkson joins “The Voice” just as ABC announces the return of “American Idol.”

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Showbiz Sandbox 253: Nielsen Is Rating TV Shows By The (Wrong) Numbers

The method by which television ratings are collected and tabulated has long been criticized as imperfect. Now Nielsen, the research firm which provides the ratings, admitted this past week it had been reporting inaccurate audience figures to broadcast networks for the past seven months. Turns out viewership of this year’s season premieres was lower than originally thought. We’ll try and explain what the heck is going on here?

Comedian Adam Sandler is back in the news, though this time it’s for a movie which isn’t being made… even by Netflix. And just as she hits her stride as an action star, actress Scarlett Johansson (temporarily) gives up movies to appear in a television mini-series.

Even the world of live theater is a bit bizarre lately, at least according to composer Stephen Sondheim who is working on a new musical based on two surreal movies by the late Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel. If that’s not crazy enough, the biggest box office winner on Broadway this fall has been “The Lion King”, a musical that has been running for 17 years.

Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including Katy Perry books a trip to the Super Bowl, e-book software that spies on you and the fifth season of “The Walking Dead” premieres to record numbers… or so we’ve been told.

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Showbiz Sandbox 181: Why The Grammys Telecast Matters More Than Ever

While winning a Grammy Award can boost a musician’s record sales temporarily, a knockout performance during the widely viewed ceremony can launch a career. Simply ask Mumford & Sons who stole the show during the 2011 telecast and on Sunday took home the 2013 Grammy for Album of the Year. Will the Lumineers, who performed at this year’s ceremony, follow in their footsteps?

David Wild, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine, helped write the Grammy telecast as he has for the past 12 years. He joins us to discuss how the show was put together, working with host LL Cool J and some of the elements that came off without a hitch (projecting images onto Carrie Underwood’s dress comes to mind). Wild even reveals John Mayer’s secret life as a joke writer.

Meanwhile, digital downloads are already outpacing physical sales in music and will surely do so with books and movies in the not too distant future. But what happens when you want to sell off all those media downloads in the now non-existent digital secondhand market? Amazon is trying to patent technology that will make such sales possible.

Of course we cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how “The Walking Dead” continues to increase viewership, an end to Don Johnson’s lawsuit over “Nash Bridges” and why some concerts may be sold out before tickets ever go on sale.

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Showbiz Sandbox 138: Lessons Learned At This Year’s Oscars

Predicting who will win Academy Awards each year isn’t as easy as it looks. Just ask IndieWire’s Anne Thompson. She managed to pick 19 out of 24 winner’s at this past weekend’s Oscar ceremony, but there were a few categories which had everyone guessing. Thompson takes us backstage on Oscar night and explains how easy it is for someone covering the awards season, like herself, to over think how Academy voters will respond when ballots are cast.

Meanwhile, Google filed applications last week to become a cable television provider in Kansas City. What remains to be seen is whether the tech giant can obtain enough programming to attract customers.

Maybe Hollywood will welcome Google with open arms as they have with the glut of streaming video providers all vying to license premium content. Ironically, the industry seems to be ahead of the curve on a new technology they hope will make up for falling DVD sales.

We also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including a new book from J.K. Rowling, Barbara Streisand’s new record deal and how advertising at movie theaters is being taken more seriously.

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Showbiz Sandbox 116: Will Hollywood Miss Steve Jobs?

Last week’s news that Steve Jobs was stepping down as the CEO of Apple caused headline writers all over the world to work overtime. Sure Jobs became a household name by helping revolutionize personal computing, but he also helped shape the modern entertainment industry with products such as iTunes, the iPod and the iPad. And we shouldn’t forget his role in founding a little animation company called Pixar. We discuss what Jobs departure from Apple means to Hollywood and why some entertainment execs may be secretly relieved to see him exit the stage.

On the other hand, news that filmmaker Ridley Scott was working on a sequel to his sci-fi masterpiece “Blade Runner” didn’t seem to please anyone. Some showbiz pundits went so far as to call the idea “catastrophically bad”. We’ll explain why.

Over in the world of television, one of the husbands on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” committed suicide causing Bravo to re-edit episodes for the upcoming season. Will the death of Russell Armstrong cause networks to rethink how they handle reality television?

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Showbiz Sandbox 73: Handicapping This Season’s New TV Shows

With the new television season already underway our hosts debate which of the new series will get a full season order from the networks and which won’t make it to October. Will the revival of “Hawaii Five-O” make the cut? What will be the first show to get canceled? Let the arguments begin.

Oliver Stone got passing grades this week with “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”. The sequel to his iconic 1987 film topped the box office with just over $19 million. Of course, if Hollywood studios have their way, video-on-demand might start being included in opening weekend numbers. In an effort to supplement sagging DVD sales, the studios are planning to offer movies via premium VOD shortly after their theatrical release. At $25 per film audiences may just be willing to wait a few months.

Meanwhile, shares in Netflix soared when Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy, though the DVD-by-mail powerhouse may be facing some stiff competition as it migrates to a movie streaming business model.

Read more

Podcast: Play in new window | Download