Showbiz Sandbox 590: New Warner Bros. Discovery Strategy Is A Little Batty
August 9, 2022
The newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery held its first earnings call last week making so many headlines it was all anyone in the entertainment industry could talk about. The company has a ton of debt, but a plan to get into better financial shape; stop producing expensive scripted shows, shelve pricey projects and layoff thousands of employees. Most controversially the media giant decided to completely abandon the nearly finished DC movie, “Batgirl.”
Speaking of comic book movies, the Wall Street Journal believes Disney’s Marvel titles are in a bit of a slump. Their movies are grossing less, getting worse reviews are not a big deal on social media. Do people even like superhero movies anymore?
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the story behind all those expensive Springsteen tickets, why Beyonce is changing the lyrics to one of her recent songs and why “To Kill A Mockingbird” is leaving Broadway.
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Showbiz Sandbox 551: The Significance of the Scarlett Johansson vs. Disney Lawsuit
August 10, 2021
Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney for breach of contract after the studio released “Black Widow” both in movie theaters and its own streaming service at the same time. The actress believes Disney’s distribution strategy is preventing her from earning millions in box office bonuses but instead enriches the company’s top executives. The outcome of the case could determine how or if back end deals on movies are offered to above the line talent in the future.
Meanwhile, as film and television production levels in Hollywood return to pre-COVID levels, the pandemic is once again dragging down the international box office. It may start doing so on Broadway and at concerts as vaccines will be required to gain entrance.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how comedian Louis C.K. hopes to make a comeback with a national tour, the game show “Jeopardy” may have found a replacement for Alex Trebek and Doctor Who plans a vacation.
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Showbiz Sandbox 545: Writer Paul Rudnick On The Royals, Romance And Rudin
June 15, 2021
When multi-hyphenate Paul Rudnick isn’t writing hit movies or award winning plays he is working on Broadway musicals with the likes of Elton John or busy writing novels. Rudnick joins us for a detailed and humorous conversation about his work and his latest novel, “Playing the Palace.”
We’ll also take a look at the final ratings figures for the primetime television season. Only four network shows increased in total viewers out of over 120 programs that aired during primetime. The numbers for key demographics don’t look much better.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Sony Music is changing up how they pay royalties to artists, country singer Morgan Wallen returns to radio and North Korea bans all things K-Pop.
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Showbiz Sandbox 537: The Positive Wave of Asian Media Comes To Comic Books
April 21, 2021
With a string of hit, award winning movies like “Parasite” and global pop-phenoms like BTS, Asian culture is having a moment in the spotlight. Thus it may be an opportune time for the publication of “The Good Asian,” a new comic book series about a detective in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1936. We talk to Pornsak Pichetshote, its creator, who is a big player in comics, having edited top titles for DC’s Vertigo and helping launch its new TV division.
Meanwhile, as Broadway tries to reopen after the pandemic, powerhouse producer Scott Rudin is facing some fallout after a media profile about his past abusive, bullying behavior. Rudin says he will now step away from day-to-day oversight of his ongoing and future productions to prevent talent from backing out.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including London’s West End prepares to reopen, Univision and Televisa announce a merger and the 46th annual IRA Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 536: Blockbuster Box Office Begins Pandemic Recovery
April 14, 2021
After remaining dormant for most of the past year “Godzilla vs. Kong” revived the box office with the best opening weekend since the COVID-19 pandemic bega. The monster movie has taken in over $350 million globally despite being available on HBO Max. in $38 million despite being available on HBO Max. Does this mean big blockbuster movies can open day-and-date and score big even if they’re available online via a streamer? Uh, no.
Meanwhile, politics is stressing out Hollywood. Whether it’s human rights issues in China or voting rights issues in Georgia, Hollywood is not happy about being forced to take sides.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including producer Scott Rudin being exposed as a bully after decades of bad behavior, “Game of Thrones” may be headed to Broadway and singer Lil Nas X stirs up some controversy with his latest chart topper.
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Showbiz Sandbox 440: Why The Writers Guild Battle With Agents Needs A Rewrite!
March 11, 2019
The showdown between the Writers Guild of America and talent agents is growing ever more heated. The WGA wants to upend the way business has been done in Hollywood for decades while agents continue to increase their conflicts of interest through lucrative television packaging fees. Thankfully we have Jonathan Handel, an entertainment attorney and a contributing editor at the Hollywood Reporter, to help figure out what all the bickering is about.
Actually, the WGA has been quite busy lately, making headlines after filing an arbitration claim against Netflix over how the streamer calculates (or more specifically, doesn’t calculate) residuals on residuals. Apparently Netflix has a conflict of interest too.
Meanwhile, the MoviePass rival Sinemia has jettisoned it’s one-movie-per-day subscription plan and replaced it with a buffet of options that are harder to explain but perhaps easier on the bottom line.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the creators of the hit 1970s TV show “Columbo” are taking Universal Studios to court, Amazon Prime gets serious about India and the nominees for this year’s Olivier Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 356: The Future of 4K Ultra HD Streaming Is Upon Us
February 20, 2017
FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly has a history of voting against raising the standard level of what constitutes high-speed broadband service. Now he’s publicly dismissed 4K video streaming as a figment of the future, so far off it won’t be adopted for many years. Could O’Rielly be correct in his dim forecast about the foreseeable future of Ultra HD? Short answer: no.
The arguments against media technology adoption revolve around the availability of content and devices. However, neither seems to be presently lacking. More and more consumer electronics manufacturers are phasing out HD televisions in lieu of new 4K models, while the likes of Netflix and Amazon offer 4K streaming of movies and television shows.
Meanwhile, we review the latest accolades handed out by the Writers Guild and the Berlin Film Festival as we gear up for next week’s Oscar ceremony by making a few haphazard predictions of our own.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including why Disney is dumping a YouTube star, the New York Times is ditching one of its longtime theatre critics and the reason Playboy magazine is going all in on nudity.
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Showbiz Sandbox 312: Scripting Those Perfect Grammy Moments
February 16, 2016
With nominees representing a wide range of genres including pop, country, hip-hop, R&B and rock, this year’s Grammy Awards had a little something for everyone. David Wild, one of the writers responsible for this year’s Grammy telecast and a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, takes a few minutes from his busy schedule to discuss Rihanna’s no-show, Kendrick Lamar’s electric performance and more.
It would seem that anyone who wasn’t watching the Grammys was at the movie theater watching “Deadpool”. The R-rated superhero movie that transformed from a comeback vehicle for Ryan Reynolds to a box office hit to a phenomenon, all in the space of five days.
Meanwhile China was also breaking box office records thanks to the Golden Week holiday associated with Chinese New Years. Plus, the Oscars are getting closer and we’ll report on the latest buzz generated by the BAFTAs and the WGA Awards.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including an autobiography from rocker Bruce Springsteen, Disney is sending “Frozen” to Broadway and why media stocks have suddenly taken a nosedive.
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Showbiz Sandbox 261: Sony Hack Gives New Meaning To The Term Box Office Bomb
December 16, 2014
As if Sony Pictures didn’t have enough to worry about with all their corporate emails and documents being leaked by hackers, now the perpetrators of the cybercrime have threatened movie theaters showing “The Interview” with terrorist attacks. What started out as a voyeuristic peek at the inner workings of a Hollywood studio has turned into a far more serious international incident. This has left the media questioning their own ethics and culpability for originally publishing portions of Sony’s stolen data.
With Sony’s dilemma getting so much attention, the announcement of this year’s Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations seemed rather subdued and tame by comparison. Maybe that’s because an awards season front runner has yet to emerge, or possibly because everyone is just tired of award shows.
Thanks to a listener email, we also discuss why the difference between screens and theaters matters when tallying up box office. The two words are often improperly used interchangeably.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including David Letterman’s final show, the latest inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and this year’s lack of platinum albums.
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Showbiz Sandbox 164: Geoff Boucher Knows More About Nothing Than Anyone
September 25, 2012
Geoff Boucher shocked the entertainment and media industries when he announced his resignation from the Los Angeles Times in mid-September. After all, Boucher has been credited with pioneering a new model for entertainment writers by melding print publications with both an online brand and live events; a format he’s dubbed “tradigital”. Why wouldn’t the Times want to keep him around. (They actually did).
Boucher spent 21 years at the paper, earning a stellar reputation as an entertainment feature writer and ultimately the editor of the Hero Complex, a blog covering all aspects of pop culture. In a wide ranging interview Boucher, who says he knows more about nothing than anyone, discusses his departure from the Times, how he landed at Entertainment Weekly less than a week later, and what his future plans are.
Meanwhile, the best and brightest talent on North American television was honored this past weekend at the 64th Annual Prime Time Emmy Awards. We’ve got a rundown of all the winners and a recap of the awards ceremony.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including an update on Universal Music’s purchase of EMI, electronic voting at the Oscars and how Major League Baseball is selling off its television rights for billions of dollars.
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