Showbiz Sandbox 631: Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals Kick Off Unusual Awards Season

September 20, 2023

Every annual awards season has its own strange rhythm and unexpected twists. But with both actors and writers on strike, unable to promote certain movies, surely this year’s awards season will be the strangest of all. At the heart of the madness is Anne Thompson, the Editor-at-Large of Indiewire. The awards season expert is back from both the Telluride and Toronto International Film Festival and she fills us in on which movies managed to drum up some buzz during the fall festival circuit.

Meanwhile, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes roll on without any contract negotiations taking place. Drew Barrymore and Bill Mahr both got into hot water with the guilds by trying to start up production of their talk shows without writers. They quickly reversed course.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Dua Lipa’s book club, music sales hit a new record and why the founder of Rolling Stone magazine was booted out of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Showbiz Sandbox 594: Fall Film Festivals Set The Stage For Awards Season

September 20, 2022

The annual film festivals in Venice, Telluride and Toronto overlap not only in their timing but often in their official selections and this year was no exception. As usual, titles that begin their festival tour as anticipated awards season contenders sometimes wind up as afterthoughts while unexpected discoveries gain wide recognition. The movie that took home the top prize in Toronto comes from a distinguished filmmaker who might be headed for a close encounter with an Oscar come Academy Awards time.

Speaking of filmmakers, and despite widespread reports to the contrary, Woody Allen says he’s not retiring after his next film, which is being shot in Paris entirely in French. He just said he was thinking of not making movies since most of them go straight to streaming services these days, which for a filmmaker, is kind of like… you know, retiring.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences plans to get its act together, big changes at CNN and The Phantom of the Opera winds up its historic Broadway run.

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Showbiz Sandbox 556: The Emmys Crown the Streaming Era

September 21, 2021

When “The Crown” took home the prize for best drama at the 73rd Emmy Awards on Sunday it capped a years-long campaign mounted by Netflix to win one of television’s top awards. The streamer picked up a record-tying 44 Emmys including best limited series for “The Queen’s Gambit.” With the Apple+ series “Ted Lasso” winning best comedy, streaming services swept the awards.

Joining us to discuss the Emmys as well as all the movies she saw at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals is Anne Thompson, editor-at-large of Indiewire. She gives us a preview of all the films that were creating a buzz on their way to stirring up this year’s awards season.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the West End is ditching matinees, Christopher Nolan heads to Universal Pictures and Fox picks up TMZ.
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Showbiz Sandbox 511: The Emmys and TIFF Pull Off the Virtual

September 22, 2020

When COVID-19 shut down the worldwide entertainment industry many wondered how it would affect annual events such as awards shows as well as film and music festivals. While the pandemic led to the cancelation of the Cannes Film Festival, the Emmy Awards honoring excellence in television and the Toronto International Film Festival both managed to hold virtual events that were received quite positively.

Anne Thompson, Indiewire’s Editor at Large, has been attending and covering TIFF for decades, though this year she didn’t have to leave her home to do so. She fills us in on what it was like to attend TIFF virtually, what the standout films were, how they will likely get released in theaters and which ones will be up for (a virtual) Oscars next year.

Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including complete coverage of the Emmy Awards, a new music video for a beloved Louis Armstrong song and Madonna will direct her own biopic.

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Showbiz Sandbox 502: The Entertainment Industry’s Slow News Week

July 14, 2020

With concerts and live performances canceled, cinemas closed, movie studios delaying releases, and streaming video or music the only entertainment audiences can enjoy, the industry is slowly grinding to a halt. Perhaps show business folk were recovering from the Fourth of July holiday weekend or are preparing for Bastille Day, but there was hardly any entertainment news to report.

Even so, we tell you why North America’s largest cinema chains are suing the state of New Jersey, what is happening to the release of the latest “Halloween” horror films and why music may be disappearing from elevators.

Plus, proving just how strange a year 2020 has become, the Venice, Toronto, Telluride and New York Film Festivals – usually fierce competitors – have decided to collaborate on what entries they present, not to mention how to do so safely.

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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 424: Talking Telluride, Toronto and Emmys with Indiewire’s Anne Thompson

September 18, 2018

Every September the annual awards season begins to take shape at three major film festivals; Venice, Telluride and Toronto. Anne Thompson, Indiewire’s editor at large, was at the latter two and she joins us to explain how this year’s Oscars race looks like it will be filled with a bounty of great movies, including one from director Alfonso Cuaron, which is looking for a way to overcome the stigma of being released by Netflix.

Speaking of awards, the timing works out to have Thompson also give us her thoughts on the recent Emmy Awards, honoring the best and brightest prime time television series from the past year.

Meanwhile, the European Union passed reforms to copyright law that have proven to be contentious given that it could mean big changes for tech platforms such as Google, Youtube and others. Content owners, on the other hand, are delighted with the outcome.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including Time magazine gets another new owner, Spotify allows users to download more music and Paul McCartney enjoys his first #1 debut for his latest album.

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Showbiz Sandbox 381: Telluride and Toronto Continue To Shape Awards Season

September 18, 2017

Each year the Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals are held so closely together their programming often overlaps as each vies to land titles that will be in the running for major awards (read: Oscars). Anne Thompson, Indiewire’s editor at large, has just returned from Telluride and Toronto and she fills us in on all the festival season favorites.

While Thompson was in Toronto enjoying movies like “The Shape of Water” from director Guillermo del Toro, film buyers were struggling to find anything to pick up. There was a general sense that all the worthwhile titles had been cherry picked before the festival even began.

Meanwhile the Emmy Awards were held over the weekend honoring the best television from the past year. At this year’s ceremony a disruptive streaming video provider made a big splash, though not the one everyone expected. Hulu took home the Best Drama Emmy for “The Handmaid’s Tale”, despite Netflix having three shows nominated in the category.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the head of NBC admitting most of its primetime viewership is not watched live, George R. R. Martin’s new TV series and MoviePass surpsasses 400,000 subscribers in under a month.

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Showbiz Sandbox 336: Telluride and Toronto Reaffirm the Importance of Film Festivals

September 20, 2016

With an ever increasing number of high profile movies competing for awards at the end of each year, film festivals such as those in Telluride and Toronto have never been more important in helping promote a release. Anne Thompson, Indiewire’s editor-at-large, has just returned from both festivals and gives us a complete rundown of all the films creating the most buzz.

And just as the number of movies worth seeing has grown, so too has the number of television shows. There’s so much good TV these days that in fact, the Emmys are more and more like the Academy Awards, where viewers haven’t even seen most of the Best Picture nominees. Maybe that’s why the Emmys keep honoring the same old shows year-after-year.

Meanwhile, the number of books on offer has grown at least 21% recently thanks to self-publishing. That includes both e-books and print. The crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has been responsible for thousands of titles, enough to make them the unofficial fifth largest publisher in North America.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why Argentina is sending school-aged children to the movies, how the Rio Olympics proved profitable for NBC after all and the Lady Gaga is booked for the Super Bowl half time show.

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