Showbiz Sandbox 634: Spotify Gets Book Smart

October 10, 2023

Spotify, the music streaming service, is going all in on audiobooks in hopes of attracting and maintaining subscribers. Previously, Spotify offered some audiobooks for sale. Now the company’s 220 million premium subscribers get 15 hours of free audiobook listening each month. The service is launching with 150,000 titles and will pay publishers based on consumption.

Meanwhile, while the writers’ strike may be over, actors continue to walk picket lines outside Hollywood studios, networks and streamers. The good news is that SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are finally sitting down to negotiate a new contract.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Taylor Swift’s film is breaking records even before its release, Dreamworks Animation plans to outsource production and why Wall Street financiers are souring on investing in entertainment companies.

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Showbiz Sandbox 608: The Television Landscape Is Changing FAST

February 22, 2023

Major television networks, cable channels and even streamers are all reeling from all of the changes the industry has been undergoing recently. New shows are being canceled before they air. Others disappear after only a single season with all their episodes yanked from streaming libraries. Ratings for linear and cable are way down causing every stakeholder to earn less money from advertising and carriage fees.

All of this has caused the industry to get super excited by FAST – Free Ad Supported TV. These are streaming platforms built around existing properties like “Westworld” or original series like “Die Hart” which can be watched on-demand, only with ads peppered in. Annoying perhaps if you subscribe to HBO Max and expected to be able to binge shows that are no longer available on the platform.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Roald Dahl’s books are being updated, box office in India rebounds nicely in 2022 and the big winners at this year’s BAFTAs.

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Showbiz Sandbox 602: Avatar Sequel Makes A Splash at the Box Office

December 20, 2022

Filmmaker James Cameron delivered his long-awaited sequel to “Avatar,” the highest grossing movie of all-time and it delivered the blue Christmas movie theaters were hoping for. “Avatar: The Way of Water” is getting mostly glowing reviews for its visuals, less so for its story, and opened to huge admissions figures around the world. Whether it will surpass the success of the original film is questionable, but it should reign over the box office through the end of January.

Meanwhile, it turns out Warner Bros. Discovery wasn’t done making post-merger cuts. The media conglomerate increased the write-down of its existing content, pulling shows off of HBO Max and upending the DC Universe in the process.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the latest entrants to the National Film Registry, an update on Bad Bunny’s Ticketmaster fiasco and an early prediction for the 2023 global box office total.

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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 578: The Oscars Get Slappy With It

March 29, 2022

If there was ever a year to speak with Indiewire Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson the day after the Oscars it would be this one. In what should have been a celebration of first’s; from the first deaf actor to win an Oscar (Troy Kotsur), to the first openly gay actress to win a prize (Ariana DeBose) to the first streaming film to win Best Picture (CODA). Instead, all of this was overshadowed by Will Smith taking the stage to assault comedian Chris Rock over a joke about his wife.

Thompson tells us what it was like to be in the room where it happened (she was), the industry’s response to Smith’s actions and what the incident means for the future of the Academy Awards.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including audiences (and profits) returning to Broadway, the music industry pulls in $26 billion in 2021 and an Indian Telugu language action film nearly tops the worldwide box office.

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Showbiz Sandbox 576: Director Frank Marshall Strikes A New Note With Jazz Fest

March 15, 2022

Frank Marshall is probably best known as a producer of some of Hollywood’s biggest films, but he has also directed four successful narrative features throughout his career. More recently he has turned to directing documentaries, including “Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story,” which he co-directs with Ryan Suffern. Marshall joins us to discuss the film, which premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival ahead of its theatrical release.

Meanwhile, as we inch our way closer to this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, the Directors Guild, BAFTA and the Critics Choice Awards were all announced over the weekend, helping to better define who may take home an Oscar.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how compact disc sales are on the rise (sort of), Amazon launches a live DJ streaming service and this year’s Olivier Award nominations.

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Showbiz Sandbox 575: Should Movie Theaters Charge More For Blockbusters?

March 8, 2022

The opening weekend of “The Batman” was the anticipated blockbuster everyone was expecting, though an ongoing pandemic and a political crisis in Europe softened its global take. AMC Theatres on the other hand saw an opportunity to raise ticket prices, but only for the latest entrant to the Batman franchise. Is this a strategy that was a long time coming or one that will keep casual moviegoers at home.

Meanwhile, the cultural boycott of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine has escalated over the past week with film festivals banning Russian delegations, movie studios pausing new releases and Netflix halting its streaming service in the country.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including video game publisher Epic gets into the music business, Amazon closes its physical bookstores and the big winners at this year’s Spirit Awards.

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Showbiz Sandbox 574: Entertainment Industry Shuns Russia

March 1, 2022

After Russia invaded Ukraine it didn’t take long for various sectors of the global entertainment industry to respond by canceling concerts, sporting events and film releases in the territory. While this is insignificant in comparison to the loss of life and liberty currently taking place in Ukraine, it still serves to show how art, culture and sports can play a role in protesting unprovoked military aggression.

Back in Hollywood, France held it’s annual César Awards and the Screen Actors Guild shook up the awards season race by handing out a few prizes that made history.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the Oscars are cutting with award presentations from the live telecast, why China’s moviegoing declined from last year during its Spring Festival and CNN gets a new leader.
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Showbiz Sandbox 564: Film Critics Start Selecting the Best Movies of 2021

December 7, 2021

It’s that time of year when Film Critics Start Selecting the Best Movies of 2021 for newspapers, magazines and websites begin naming their favorite movie releases. The National Board of Review named its favorite film of the 2021, then proceeded to name 32 more in various categories. The New York Film Critics were tougher however, naming five top films in categories like nonfiction, debut film, animated feature and foreign language. We discuss where any awards season favorites are beginning to stand out.

Thankfully, movie theatres around the world are mostly open, allowing audiences to catch up with some of the critics top picks. However, a new COVID variant named after what would appear to be a character out of a Transformers movie, is temporarily shuttering cinemas in various parts of the world such as China and Russia.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why CNN fired the host of its highest rated news program, the Grammys clarify who can be nominated as a songwriter and the reason Middle Eastern countries won’t show Steven Spielberg’s take on “West Side Story.”

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Showbiz Sandbox 541: AT&T Hangs Up On WarnerMedia

May 18, 2021

Not even three years after AT&T spent $85 billion to purchase Time Warner and form WarnerMedia, the telecom giant is calling it quits, agreeing to merge the content side of its business with Discovery. The deal would create a new media company positioned well to compete in the streaming market and a management team that is well versed in the entertainment business. The original acquisition of Time Warner always seemed questionable for AT&T, and ultimately left Warner Bros. in a bit of a mess.

Meanwhile, some music streaming services are adding hi-def audio to their offerings and, perhaps more importantly, not increasing the cost to subscribers. Since most new music can be found on all the streaming platforms, will high quality audio become a differentiator that attracts new customers or causes them to switch providers?

Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Ellen DeGeneres is leaving her daytime television show, Disney’s new theatrical release strategy and this year’s entrants into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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