Showbiz Sandbox 179: How To Gamble And Win On Broadway
January 28, 2013
This year alone there are at least 15 new shows being mounted on Broadway including adaptations of movies such as “Diner” and “Big Fish”. At one point or another all were in search of financial backing, however well known productions with big name stars often don’t pay dividends. We review which upcoming stagings smart, experienced Broadway investors should be banking on.
A very successful Sundance Film Festival came to an end last week as distributors left Park City having acquired a dozen or more independent films. We discuss the reason behind the frenzied sales activity and why some films came with steep seven-figure price tags.
Since we’re on the subject of paying out or investing money, it looks as if the cable bill for Los Angelenos will be going up again thanks to the L.A. Dodgers deal with Time Warner Cable for a new sports channel. Does one market really need six sports networks. More importantly, why are the customers in a single market forced to pay for them whether they want them or not.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including Warner Bros. new CEO, JJ Abrams signs on to direct the new “Star Wars” and Fox begs viewers to use their DVRs.
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Kevin Tsujihara Named CEO of Warner Bros, Taking Over For Barry Meyer
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kevin-tsujihara-named-ceo-warner-415860
‘Hansel and Gretel’ No. 1 With So-So $19 Mil; ‘Movie 43’ Bombs With $5 Mil
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-hansel-gretel-wins-415679
Foreign Box Office: ‘Django Unchained’ Retains No. 1 Spot, Flying Past 100-Million Mark
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/foreign-box-office-django-unchained-415691
SAG Awards 2013: ‘Argo,’ Jennifer Lawrence, Daniel Day-Lewis Score Victories
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sag-awards-2013-argo-jennifer-415722
PGA Awards and SAG Give Argo Oscar Momentum
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/pga-award-victory-cements-argo-415677
‘Fruitvale,’ ‘Blood Brothers’ Lead 2013 Sundance Film Festival Awards
http://www.indiewire.com/article/in-progress-the-2013-sundance-film-festival-awards
Sundance 2013: What’s Behind the 7-Figure Spending
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sundance-2013-don-jons-addiction-414675
A Bawdy CAA Party at Sundance Shocks Guests
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-sundance-caa-20130125,0,6555866.story
It’s Official: JJ Abrams To Direct Star Wars VII
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/official-jj-abrams-closes-deal-415603
J.J. Abrams to Direct ‘Star Wars’: the Best Twitter Reactions
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/jj-abrams-direct-star-wars-415306
HBO Orders Third Season of ‘Girls’
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/hbo-orders-third-season-of-girls/
Girls Season Two Opens Lower
http://www.deadline.com/2013/01/hbos-girls-dips-in-season-two-premiere-enlightened-up-in-new-night-return/
Netflix Stock Surges
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-stock-surges-as-earnings-414906
A Resurgent Netflix Beats Projections
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/netflix-adds-subscribers-posts-quarterly-profit/?ref=business
Viacom CEO takes 22% Pay Cut
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/viacom-ceo-philippe-daumans-compensation-415487
Amoeba Records Expands Online Presence
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118065137/
Parsing Coachella 2013: Lineup Highlights By Genre
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-parsing-coachella-2013-lineup-highlights-by-genre-20130125,0,6255316.story
Breaking With Tradition, Fox’s Following Promos Acknowledge the Existence of DVRs
http://www.vulture.com/2013/01/fox-is-totally-cool-if-you-dvr-the-following.html
CBS Seeks To Unwind Retrans Agreement
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/cbs-seeks-unwind-retrans-agreement-414605
Barnes & Noble Insists It Is Committed To Bricks And Mortar
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/55695-b-n-to-shrink-to-450-500-stores.html
Newberry and Caldecott Winners Announced
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/tale-of-gorillas-renewed-life-wins-newberry-award/
South Park Doing Ten Episodes In The Fall
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/south-park-reduces-episode-order-415858
Dodgers Near TV Rights Deal With Time Warner Cable
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/23/business/la-fi-ct-dodgers-tv-20130123
I wonder how I’ll do as an imaginary Broadway mogul, deciding which shows I will or won’t invest in? It will take a year to find out but others can play along and decide whether I’m foolish not to put money into, say, the jukebox musical “Motown” or smart to lay money on “Cinderella.” Hopefully I’ll do better on Broadway than on my Oscar forecasts.