Showbiz Sandbox 647: Disney Teams Up For Sports Streaming Service

February 13, 2024

Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox are teaming up to deliver a new subscription streaming service that will combine all of their sports programming on a non-exclusive basis. It will have 14 channels including ESPN, ABC, FS1, Fox, TNT and TBS. The surprise announcement has generated more questions than answers, especially over whether any antitrust laws are being broken.

Meanwhile, awards season chugs along with the Directors Guild of America handing out its top prize to Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer.” Plus, the Oscars add a new category for casting directors.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Universal Music pulled all of its music from TikTok, Disney invests in “Fortnite” developer Epic Games and Paramount starts pulling content off its streaming service.

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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 557: Talent Agents Strike A Deal… for Themselves

October 5, 2021

In yet another sign that the entertainment industry is consolidating, Creative Artists Agency, one of Hollywood’s most powerful talent agencies, announced it would acquire ICM Partners, the fourth largest player in the space. Is the move meant to help CAA gain leverage when negotiating with streaming giants like Netflix, or is it all about ensuring success on Wall Street for its biggest investor? And what will this mean for smaller agencies which may actually stand to benefit from the deal?

Meanwhile, this year’s Tony Awards honoring Broadway’s brightest were finally held with a live audience. However, some productions in both New York and London are stumbling as they turn on their marquees for the first time since the COVID pandemic began.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how James Bond and Venom are competing for box office glory, Scarlett Johansson settles her “Black Widow” lawsuit with Disney and the labor strike that could shut down Hollywood.
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Showbiz Sandbox 535: Theatrical Release Windows Get A Little Clearer

March 30, 2021

With North American movie theaters starting to reopen with limited capacity and European cinemas set to follow in the months ahead what new theatrical releases will be available to them, and for how long, is becoming more apparent. Studios are not only deciding when they are going to release their blockbusters, but more importantly whether they will launch them simultaneously on streaming platforms. In the process they are reaching agreements with cinema operators over the future of theatrical release windows.

Meanwhile, what counts as this year’s awards season continues to chug along with the Producers Guild handing out their awards. Though many of the same movies keep taking home the big prizes with each new ceremony, it’s always important to remember that this doesn’t mean they are guaranteed Oscar trophies.

Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including the list of this year’s new entries to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress, Warner Bros. Music heads to China and who is guest hosting the television game show Jeopardy in the absence of the late Alex Trebek.

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Showbiz Sandbox 527: Sundance Film Festival Overcomes Pandemic Hurdle

February 4, 2021

How do you hold a film in the midst of an infectious health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic? Just ask the Sundance Film Festival who managed to pull off a virtual film festival that felt quite similar to the real deal right down to the blockbuster acquisition deals for this year’s most popular titles. There was even a virtual bar for attendees to hang out and network with one another. We’ll fill you in on all the movies from this year’s festival that you’ll be hearing about throughout 2021.

Meanwhile, last year’s noteworthy movies and television shows are heading into a delayed awards season with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announcing their Golden Globe Nominees. If the Globes are any indication, which is not always the case, then streaming services may dominate this year’s round of awards.

Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including the AMC stock price surge, Warner Music goes solo and we may finally have seen the end of Peak TV.

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Showbiz Sandbox 506: Apple Gets Into An Epic Battle Royale

August 18, 2020

Online gaming allows participants to take part in massive multiplayer battles, but no one ever gets hurt. Well, in real life, Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite is taking on both Apple and Google with an antitrust lawsuit and one of these companies is definitely going to get hurt where it counts most…the bottom line.

Meanwhile, as movie theaters around the world start to re-open after being shut down for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the box office is sputtering back to life. Even Comscore has started publishing a weekend box office report again. Still, the industry has lost billions of dollars and is far from returning to normal grosses.

Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including why thousands of actors may lose their health insurance, women are ruling the Billboard music charts and how Warner Music Group is getting a bit more social.

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Showbiz Sandbox 496: Hollywood Jumps On the TikTok Bandwagon

June 3, 2020

Even after the platform helped Lil Nas X turn “Old Town Road” into one of the most successful popular songs of all time, there are some (mostly older) demographics that are unfamiliar with the explosive popularity of the social media platform. Natalie Jarvey, the Senior Digital Media Editor at the Hollywood Reporter, joins us to discuss how TikTok is doing YouTube one better as a launching pad for new talent.

In fact, TikTokers with tens of millions of followers, many of whom are still teenagers, have begun to attract Hollywood talent agencies, record labels and major brands, ultimately leading to big paydays. However, as fast as TikTok became the social media flavor of the moment, could its star fade just as fast.

Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including which major entertainment conglomerates are backing #BlackLivesMatters during recent civic protests, the Writers Guild of America takes aim at international residuals and “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” sets a new record for a sitcom.

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Showbiz Sandbox 480: “Parasite” Infects the Oscars With Historic Win

February 10, 2020

Though many Academy Awards pundits believed that “1917” would win the Oscar for Best Picture, the prize went to filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite.” Anne Thompson of Indiewire joins us to explain how the industry united behind the South Korean film, giving it four top Oscars, in a historic win; the first foreign language film to ever win the Best Picture Oscar.

Surely none of the Oscar winners will be getting a bump at the box office in China, even if they managed to get a release date. Movie theaters have been closed for the past three weeks due to a coronavirus which has completely upended which films will get into cinemas and when in a tight calendar they’ll reach audiences.

Meanwhile, the WGA overwhelmingly approved their demands for the upcoming contract talks with producers and studios. The existing contract is set to expire in the middle of this year and just about everyone in Hollywood is expecting and gearing up for another writers’ strike.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why manufacturing vinyl records might get a lot harder, how YouTube is raking in revenue and Disney plans on bringing the Broadway musical “Hamilton” to movie theaters.

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Showbiz Sandbox 419: Best Popular Film Oscars Category Proves To Be Rather Unpopular

August 13, 2018

It may come as a surprise after the #MeToo movement but it isn’t often Hollywood unites to agree on an issue. Last week when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed they would be adding a Best Popular film category to the Oscars the response was universal and swift; everyone hates the idea. In a train wreck of an announcement about proposed changes to the awards show, the Academy appeared to cede control to the network broadcasting the ceremony.

Speaking of changes, the moviegoing subscription service MoviePass doesn’t let a week go by without instituting a new set of rules for its customers. First they were going to raise prices and limit attendance to new releases. Before they could roll those changes out, MoviePass altered its policy once again, keeping the price at $10 per month, but limiting the number of movies that can be seen to just three.

Meanwhile, music fans appear to be spending more money on music than ever before. At least according to a new report from Citigroup which says the industry is now pulling in a combined $43 billion in the United States, of which $5 billion goes to artists. Naturally, arguments over the accuracy and validity of the report are sure to follow.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including more on Jeffrey Katzenberg’s New TV venture, the dispute over star salaries on the latest “Star Trek” and Lady Gaga heads to Las Vegas. Read more

Showbiz Sandbox 410: In a Global Landscape the Cannes Film Festival Remains as Relevant as Ever

May 21, 2018

Despite all the griping over the lack of glitz and glamour, or at the very least big movie stars, at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the event lived up to its reputation for programming some of the most artistic movies currently being made around the world. When the Palm d’Or was handed out over the weekend it went to Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda for his touching family drama “Shoplifters.” Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” won the Grand Jury Prize and the Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki was awarded the Jury Prize for her movie “Capernaum,” about a scrappy young boy dealing with the hardships of life ont he street in Beirut.

China too is becoming more diverse when it comes to the movies it is allowing in multiplexes. While Hollywood was quick to dominate the market with big blockbusters, Chinese distributors showed up in Cannes to acquire mid-budget titles from around the world.

Meanwhile, the mounting number of mergers and acquisitions of global media companies have begun to cause a chain reaction where each deal may affect the next. The latest merger has caused CBS to sue its parent company to prevent a merger with Viacom.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including a movie deal for a Lin Manuel Miranda musical, YouTube tweaks its music subscription service and Congress looks to extend copyright protections.

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