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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Showbiz Sandbox 58: Celebrities Take Over Broadway

June 14, 2010

The Tony Awards were held on Sunday evening honoring the year’s best Broadway productions and performances. Brian Scott Lipton the editor-in-chief of TheaterMania.com was there and he stops by to fill us in on all the big winners, memorable moments and why so many movie stars are currently working in theater.

The 11th Annual Golden Trailer Awards also took place this past week and Stephen Garrett of Kinetic Trailers won two big prizes. He joins us to discuss the current state of movie promos and what its like to win the award for Trashiest Trailer.

At the box office “The Karate Kid” knocked “Shrek Forever After” out of first place after three weeks and provided a little hope for this summer’s poor ticket sales. “The A Team” on the other hand opened to poor reviews and even worse box office receipts.

In television news, the final ratings for this past season’s television shows have been released. We’ll fill you in on which shows finished on top as well as the ones nobody cared to watch. You’ll never guess where “The Jay Leno Show” came in (hint: it’s not in the top 100).

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Showbiz Sandbox 56: What You Talkin’ Bout Guillermo?!

June 1, 2010

The past week’s entertainment news was filled with surprises. First Gary Coleman, star of the hit 80’s sitcom unexpectedly died at the age of 42 from a brain hemorrhage. Then, after more than two years of work, the ongoing turmoil at MGM causes director Guillermo del Toro call it quits on the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”. A question lingers over whether Peter Jackson will step in to helm the film himself?

Meanwhile, the Hollywood Reporter, one of the industry’s big trade papers, left many mouths agape when they hired former Us Weekly editor Janice Min to transform the film into a broader weekly publication.

Maybe not such a surprise was the tepid box office results over the North American Memorial Day Weekend. Customarily the start of the summer blockbuster season, this year audiences stayed away from theaters, probably because they don’t find any of the new releases, including “Sex and The City 2” and “Prince of Persia” all that interesting. Another expected, though sad, turn of events was the passing of actor Dennis Hopper, who had been battling prostate cancer since last October.

Over in the music world, Germany’s Lena Meyer-Landrut won the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest with her catchy pop song “Satellite”.  Read more