Showbiz Sandbox 622: Actors and Writers Agree That AI Ain’t So Smart
July 11, 2023
The Writers Guild of America members have been on strike for over two months now and might soon be joined by the Screen Actors Guild. When it comes to artificial intelligence however both guilds agree; when their members’ work is used to train AI, actors and writers should be paid. Some writers are now taking matters into their own hands and filing lawsuits against companies for training their A.I. models using their work without permission.
Meanwhile, we’ve known how big music streamers have become on a global level, but now the National Music Publishers Association announced it has cracked the code on figuring out how many subscribers each major service has in the United States.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how a movie that Disney dumped five years ago beat out Indy 5 at the weekend box office, NBCUniversal promotes some senior executives and Elton John finally wraps up his farewell tour after earning $900 million.
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Showbiz Sandbox 616: Movie Theaters Celebrate Recovery at CinemaCon
May 2, 2023
Movie theater operators from around the world gathered in Las Vegas last week for CinemaCon. Though the last two pandemic suppressed editions of the conference were filled with artificial optimism about the business, this year’s event showcased an industry that had survived and is indeed thriving thanks to a robust release schedule with plenty of new films to show.
Meanwhile, the cable news landscape was shaken up last week when Fox News fired its highest rated personality Tucker Carlson and CNN parted ways with longtime host Don Lemon. This came only one week after Fox News paid out $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Disney is suing the state of Florida, what caused the head of the BBC to step down and Netflix announced the end of its original DVD rental business.
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Showbiz Sandbox 588: Keeping Track of Ever-Shifting Streaming Strategies
July 5, 2022
Though the entertainment industry may be infatuated infatuated with streaming, the legacy media companies behind all the new subscription services haven’t quite found the right way to profit from them. NBC/Universal earned nearly a billion dollars in committed ad revenue with Peacock this year, causing them to take a hard look at all of their low-rated cable channels. And HBO Max is thinking twice about producing original programming in countries like Turkey and Sweden.
Meanwhile, the “Minions: The Rise Of Gru” is the lates blockbuster release that is proving the box office is back for everyone, even families. The worldwide gross of “Top Gun: Maverick” continues to soar, but will Paramount leave it in theatres long enough to fully capitalize.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the Creative Artists Agency completes its acquisition of rival ICM, Disney renews CEO Bob Chapek and Alec Baldwin commiserates with Woody Allen.
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Showbiz Sandbox 517: Movie Theaters Brace For A Dark Winter
November 10, 2020
With a second wave of COVID sweeping through Europe, cinemas in England, France and Germany have begun to shut down. Can movie theaters in North America and elsewhere soon follow their lead as infection rates rise? Even if cinemas remain open, they won’t have many new movies to show with studios moving major releases into next year.
As major cinema chains around the world report cratering third-quarter revenue they have begun to accept they may have to play titles with shorter release windows, at least until the pandemic is over. This has led to the National Association of Theatre Owners saying that if Congress doesn’t pass a relief bill soon, some 70% of cinemas in North America will declare bankruptcy or go out of business entirely.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Jay-Z is looking to get high on his own supply, Johnny Depp gets dumped from “Fantastic Beasts” and Netflix goes linear (at least in France).
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Showbiz Sandbox 507: Movie Theaters Come To Terms with Christopher Nolan’s “Tenant”
August 25, 2020
After COVID-19 forced movie theaters around the world to close for nearly six months, they are now set to reopen with one of the most anticipated films of the year; Christopher Nolan’s “Tenant.” There’s only one catch, the film rental terms Warner Bros. is asking for may make cinema operators want to manipulate time and go back to the simpler days when a studio got 50% of the box office and was happy. What’s more, increased film rental terms may be the new normal for movie theaters.
Meanwhile China may be showing the world how to reopen movie theaters as the historic drama “The Eight Hundred” rockets to more than $100 million at the box office. And to think just a few months ago the Chinese government banned the film.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including how the Berlin Film Festival is going gender neutral, Ron Meyer is out at NBCUniversal and the Tony Awards may happen this year after all.
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Showbiz Sandbox 505: The Marvel and Mao Effect: A Hollywood Exec Heads to China, Hijinks Ensue
August 11, 2020
In his 17 years as the President of DMG Entertainment Motion Picture Group, Chris Fenton helped bring 20 Hollywood movies to China, facilitating co-productions, financing and distribution on blockbusters such as “Iron Man 3” and “Looper.” In his new book, “Feeding the Dragon,” the former William Morris agent details his time working in the entertainment industry and China. Fenton helps us read the tea leaves about the future for the relationship between the major studios and China.
Meanwhile, the entertainment industry is undergoing some seismic shifts. In a single week the Paramount Consent Decree was killed for good, television packaging is heading into the sunset and theatrical release windows for studio films just collapsed.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including an executive shakeup at NBC, Taylor Swift sets a new chart topping record with her new album and the Eurovision song contest is coming to the United States.
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Showbiz Sandbox 402: How the 90th Annual Oscars Took Shape
March 5, 2018
The 90th Academy Awards went down pretty much as everyone expected it would. After a lengthy awards season there were few surprises over who would go home with Oscars. There were no upsets (or mistakes) when it came time to announce Best Picture, as Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” won the honor.
During a year which saw the rise of the #MeeToo movement, the vociferous calls from the Oscar stage for gender inclusion and racial diversity within the motion picture industry were also highly anticipated. Anne Thompson, Indiewire’s editor-at-large, was backstage during the ceremony and she joins us to share her insights about.
Meanwhile, though Comcast may have been turned down by 20th Century Fox, the cable giant hasn’t given up on growing its conglomerate through acquisitions. Last week they made a $31 billion offer to buy Europe’s Sky Broadcasting, something Fox has been struggling to do for some time now.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Spotify is finally going public, the Swiss back public broadcasting and why YouTube is punishing a prominent conservative conspiracy theorist.
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Showbiz Sandbox 390: The Government Takes Aim At Media Mega Mergers and Net Neutrality
November 27, 2017
The Justice Department filed suit to block the merger of AT&T and TimeWarner. Since President Donald Trump promised to oppose the deal and repeatedly complained about CNN news coverage many see this as political payback. Ironically, however, many impartial observers agree with the Trump administration’s stance, just not for the same reasons. They see the merger as a questionable convergence of media power and vertical integration.
At the same time the Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission wants to kill net neutrality regulations that he claims are crippling the internet. Pai’s proposal, which is certain to pass in December, is despised by consumer groups, tech companies and just about everyone other than the handful of giant telecommunications companies it is aimed to help.
Meanwhile, the number of sexual harassment allegations against power players in Hollywood, the media and politics continues to grow, though now we’re calling it sexual misconduct. We’ll touch on the latest entrants to the list including journalist Charlie Rose and Pixar’s John Lasseter.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including Netflix’s first Colombian production, Time Inc. gets a new owner, and the nominations for this year’s Spirit Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 389: The Ever-Growing List of Hollywood’s Sexual Harassment Accusations
November 20, 2017
Six weeks after allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against media mogul Harvey Weinstein were first reported by the New York Times, there seems no end to the number of Hollywood players being accused of misconduct. Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K. may be the biggest stars to have their careers upended thus far, but they won’t be the last as everyone from actor Jeffrey Tambor to talent agents to politicians and even journalists are having similar claims made against them.
The unanswered question is how the entertainment industry will implement changes to ensure sexual harassment will come to an end. Instead, there is concern of a backlash should the public grow tired of hearing about the latest offense to come out of Hollywood’s ranks.
Meanwhile, suing someone these days as become the industry’s second favorite past-time, right after wondering whose vile behavior will finally come back to haunt them. The hit TV show “Supernatural” is apparently losing money after years on the air, while director George Miller says “Mad Max: Fury Road” did not go over budget and he’s suing Warner Bros. to prove it.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including some new FCC media ownership rules, Sony nabs Quentin Tarantino’s next movie and the NFL is still proving attractive to advertisers.
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Showbiz Sandbox 371: Apple and Facebook Get Serious About Original Content
June 19, 2017
Both Apple and Facebook made headlines this week as details of their plans to produce original television content began to emerge. Apple announced the hire of two well-respected development executives to head up their efforts to participate in the golden age of TV, while Facebook closed deals on their first two shows.
It’s a good thing that both Facebook and Apple have deep pockets. If either hopes to upend the television industry the way Netflix and Amazon have, they’ll need to spend billions of dollars on original content, just like these other disruptors.
Spotify is also spending a small fortune to license music as its active worldwide user base suprasses 140 million. They plan on shelling out $2 billion over the next few years, a figure that is sure to rise as the streamer reaches agreements with more record companies.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including Yoko Ono finally getting songwriting credit on John Lennon’s biggest solo hit, “Imagine”, why IMAX is downsizing its workforce, and industry response to Sony’s decision to offer “clean versions” for 24 film titles in their back catalogue.
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