Showbiz Sandbox 601: Middle East Film Industry On Display at Red Sea Film Festival
December 14, 2022
The second Red Sea International Film Festival just came to a close in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a country which didn’t even have movie theaters until four years ago. In fact, several Saudi films premiered at the event which put an emerging Middle East film industry on full display.
Meanwhile there is no debating that we are in the throes of the awards season. The National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics and the Golden Globes are handing out kudos even though none of them really matter when it comes to the Oscars.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why highbrow films are losing audiences, the Sight & Sound poll of best movies of all time is published and Ticketmaster messes up in Mexico.
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Showbiz Sandbox 415: Along With Box Office, Movie Star Salaries Are On The Rise In China
July 9, 2018
We’ve been told for years now that the theatrical box office in China will ultimately surpass that of North America, probably by 2017… or 2018, or definitely by 2020. But higher grosses have pushed the salaries for the country’s most sought after movie stars to astronomical proportions, something frowned upon in China. In fact, the Chinese government has now stepped in with a new set of regulations capping the salaries paid to talent on movies and television shows and have begun to scrutinize contracts more closely.
On the other hand, The Grammys have decided bigger is better. The Grammys are following the lead of most major awards and expanding its top categories. Instead of announcing the Best Five Album Of The Year nominees, they’ll be announcing eight. The same goes for Best Record and Best Song and Best New Artist. All other categories remain the same.
Meanwhile the group that votes on each year’s most coveted movie awards just got a little bigger. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences invited a record 928 people to their club with half the invites going to women and 38% to people of color.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Spotify hopes to earn revenue by selling movie tickets, credible rumors about new “Star Trek” series and MoviePass officially adopts surge pricing.
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Showbiz Sandbox 414: The MoviePass Effect Is Real and Here To Stay
June 25, 2018
The film industry can say what it wants about MoviePass, and it’s said plenty, but the subscription moviegoing service has made a huge impact on the market since lowering its price to just under $10 per month. Though skeptics abound on whether the company is financially sustainable, the subscription model it has popularized is quickly becoming a standard offering. Just last week AMC Theatres, the world’s largest cinema chain, announced its own subscription plan to compete directly with MoviePass.
Meanwhile, China is realizing that its growing movie and television industry is becoming overcrowded. With tens of thousands of film and TV companies having sprung up over the past decade and hundreds of films going unreleased each year, there is a fear that the country could be experiencing a media bubble that is about to burst.
Back in the United States, celebrities are suddenly are shocked to discover that the Fox News channel is peddling in propaganda and is not so concerned with actual news. While this may have been the case since the networks inception, creatives are now threatening to walk away from business with Fox Studios. Quick, somebody tell them that Fox Studios is about to have a new owner.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the above average TV ratings for World Cup matches, “Roseanne” officially gets a spinoff series and a Michael Jackson musical may soon be coming to Broadway.
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Showbiz Sandbox 244: Hollywood Faces An Epic Struggle Over the Future of Entertainment Distribution
July 29, 2014
Whether it’s movies streaming online before they premiere in theaters, the never-ending retransmission dispute between television networks and cable companies or the dwindling number of book retailers, how media companies are distributing their content has never been more in flux.
The Weinstein Company released their critically acclaimed release “Snowpiercer” on VOD just two weeks after the film opened in cinemas. Then they agreed to let “One Chance”, a biopic of talent show winner Paul Potts, stream free on Yahoo! ten days before the movie opens in the United States.
Meanwhile, rather than sell you books, Amazon is hoping you’ll be willing to pay a monthly fee for their new e-book subscription service. The only problem is the service’s limited selection (not to mention the company’s inability to make a profit), making us wonder whether such a business model is viable.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including how Weird Al Yankovic’s album wound up at the top of the sales charts, the Emmy’s snub broadcast networks and Garth Brooks comes out of retirement.
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Showbiz Sandbox 242: Supreme Court Fumbles Aereo Ruling
July 1, 2014
Last week the United States Supreme Court ruled that the television streaming service Aereo violated copyright laws by using mini-antennas to deliver broadcast signals to paying subscribers. Denise Howell, an intellectual property lawyer and host of “This Week in Law”, outlines a decision that will have long term and wide-ranging effects for the entertainment and technology industries.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are attempting to alter their demographics by inviting younger, more ethnically diverse artists to join the ranks of those who nominate and vote for the Oscars each year. What’s truly remarkable is some of the legendary veterans who are just now receiving invites.
Meanwhile, as the publishing industry watches Hachette Book Group go to war with Amazon over the price of their books, the country of France is trying to protect its bookstores by passing a law meant to combat the online retailers influence.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the gigantic opening of “Transformers: Age of Extinction”, why this summer’s domestic box office is considered anemic and “Community” heads to Yahoo for its sixth season.
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