Showbiz Sandbox 392: Awards Season Begins To Take Shape
December 11, 2017
You know you’re in the thick of the awards season when you have to complain about who was snubbed and overlooked when the Golden Globe nominations were announced. “The Shape of Water” and “Big Little Lies” led this year’s nominees, as women filmmakers were shut out. Then there is the nomination for “Get Out,” a horror film, in the music and drama category, which makes even less sense.
One filmmaker who probably won’t be attending the Golden Globes this year is Bryan Singer. The filmmaker behind the X-Men franchise was fired from his latest film “Bohemian Rhapsody” after disappearing from the set. Singer cried foul and said he was caring for an ill parent, though it turns out a civil case was filed against him over a 2003 sexually assault of a 17-year-old boy.
Speaking of sexual misconduct, Time magazine named all the women who have come forward to tell their own stories of sexual harassment and assault, especially in Hollywood, as their person of the year. Accusations continue to surface about those in front of and behind the camera with the number of incident showing no sign of abating anytime soon.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including J.K. Rowling defends casting Johnny Depp in the “Fantastic Beasts” movie, why the release of John Travolta’s mobster biopic “Gotti” was delayed and Alec Baldwin preps a talk show.
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Showbiz Sandbox 388: Contemplating A Fox In The Mouse House
November 13, 2017
The Walt Disney Company reported earnings for the past year fell 1% as media networks help drag down profits. With revenue from its sports network ESPN declining, the entertainment conglomerate is now looking to get even bigger through acquisitions that will bolster its streaming media service. Specifically, Disney has been eyeing key assets of 21st Century Fox’s film and television holdings.
As the media landscape shifts, becoming more fractured, so too have the ways in which content such as movies and television shows is monetized. In an age where new entrants make their money selling electronic devices (Apple) or other products (Amazon) it would appear that size matters. Thus the reason investors are bullish on a deal between Disney and Fox.
Once again we can not avoid discussing the sexual harassment allegations that have erupted in Hollywood and started to spread into other industries, even politics. With each passing week another celebrity or power player sees their life fall apart amidst accusations of misconduct. The latest is comedian Louis C.K. who says the claims against him are all true.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including Taylor Swift’s latest album shattering sales records, Jennifer Anniston starring in Apple’s first scripted television series and Vanity Fair names a new editor-in-chief.
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Showbiz Sandbox 361: Forget Release Windows, CinemaCon Proves the Screen is the Future
April 4, 2017
Cinema operators gathered in Las Vegas last week to attend the annual CinemaCon trade show where they were able to preview upcoming film releases and learn about some of the new technology on offer for their theatres. Naturally, box office was a big topic with global ticket sales (barely) hitting a record $38.6 billion. Even with a strong U.S. dollar, international box office still made up 71% of the total.
Another issue on everyone’s mind were theatrical release windows; studios want to introduce a premium video on demand offering that brings new releases to the home sooner, though exhibitors are understandably pushing back.
Meanwhile, there may be no movies to show in cinemas if screenwriters goes on strike. The Writers Guild of America has been meeting with producers and studios, however the sides are far apart in their negotiations and a strike is looking more likely.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. Dolittle, why major advertisers are upset with YouTube and Adam Sandler reups with Netflix.
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Showbiz Sandbox 333: Predicting The Biggest Box Office Flops of 2016
August 31, 2016
Much has been made about the decline in box office this summer, with franchise sequels underperforming and certain pricey movies failing to attract an audience. Kevin Lincoln, a senior editor at New York Magazine and Vulture, takes a look at this summer’s biggest flops and predicts which mega-budget releases might suffer a similar fate as we round out the year.
In China it might be more difficult to know which movies are box office disappointments or crowd favorites since online and mobile ticketing companies have been offering hefty subsidies to cinemagoers in their heated battle for market share. This means the gross of any release is almost always higher than what moviegoers actually paid to see it.
We’ll also dip back into audience figures from the recently completed Summer Olympics in Rio. This time however we have some data about viewership in Europe, Canada and elsewhere. To nobody’s surprise, more people streamed coverage online than ever before.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Netflix international subscribers will soon outnumber those in the United States, a changing of the guard at Twentieth Century Fox gets expedited and the late Prince’s home and music studio is set to become a museum.
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Showbiz Sandbox 325: Keeping Track of Who’s In Charge at Hollywood Studios
June 20, 2016
It would seem keeping one’s job as a senior executive at a major Hollywood movie studio has become much harder of late. Last year both Paramount and Sony Pictures replaced their studio heads. Now the executive shuffles at Sony and Fox, as well as the turmoil at Viacom, have our heads spinning. We’ll be joined by Anne Thompson of Indiewire who explains why Hollywood is in turnaround.
We also breakdown the past week’s worldwide box office, where a little fish swam a long way. Apparently audiences hadn’t forgotten the forgetful character from “Finding Nemo” and thus turned the Pixar movie “Finding Dory” into a box office smash.
Amazon plans to expand its streaming music service, but will it be worth listening to? Meanwhile, CBS won a potentially significant lawsuit when it argued successfully that a remastered album can in fact be considered a brand new work in terms of copyright.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the Tony Awards telecast get a ratings bump, Disney opens a theme park in Shanghai and ESPN devotes itself to soccer (or football, depending where you live).
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Showbiz Sandbox 323: Trends From the 2016 TV Upfronts
May 30, 2016
Each May all the U.S. television networks invite major advertisers and the media to New York so they can pitch all of the new and returning shows on their fall schedules. Known as the upfronts, a good chunk of the prime time advertising inventory is sold during these meetings as promotional buzz about each series commences in earnest. We’ll take a closer look at some of the big trends coming out of this year’s upfronts.
Meanwhile, a much beloved series might be starting a trend of its own by increasing viewership in its 12th season. Usually long-running shows lose audience in their latter years, however “Grey’s Anatomy” is the perfect example of how new technology can boost viewership.
Viacom and CBS are likely to have kept a close eye on the recently completed upfronts, given their dominance in television. CBS was originally a Viacom property, but was spun-off more than a decade ago. Now, amidst leadership turmoil at Viacom, there is speculation the two companies may merge, once more becoming a single entity.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is criticizing Disney, Spotify’s big success in helping subscribers find new music and why the next James Bond film is in search of a director.
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Showbiz Sandbox 320: Is Comcast the New Disney?
May 2, 2016
Comcast announced last week that it would acquire Dreamworks Animation for $3.8 billion, taking another step toward transforming themselves from a cable giant into a full fledged media conglomerate. Meg James, a corporate media reporter for the Los Angeles Times, join us to discuss how, though the deal may not have been anticipated, it makes a lot of sense for both companies.
The purchase is the most recent in a string of acquisitions that have closely mirrored the strategy Disney has executed over the past decade as they gobbled up companies such as Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm. Comcast has proven quite adept at turning undervalued assets such as NBCUniversal and Universal Studios theme parks into profitable entities.
Meanwhile, as the Tony Awards season officially kicks off, Broadway is suffering from what is being referred to as The Hamilton Effect. This is a condition in which you open a musical that blends hip-hop and history in a way that not only makes the show a cultural phenomenon, but the inevitable winner of this year’s much coveted Best Musical Tony.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the Daytime Emmy winners, why Fox is pulling out of this year’s Comic-Con convention and how French law enforcement is preparing for the Cannes Film Festival.
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Showbiz Sandbox 319: The Changing Tide of Music Distribution
April 25, 2016
Almost three years after Beyoncé made a big splash by releasing a secret album via iTunes, the pop star has snuck up the world once again with her latest work, a video album called “Lemonade”. This time however Beyoncé was strategic in how she distributed her album, premiering it with an HBO special, then exclusively to the streaming music service Tidal, before ultimately turning back to iTunes. More and more, big name acts are controlling how and to whom their music gets distributed.
Multi-genre musician Prince was way ahead of his time when it came to controlling how his music reaches the world. The legendary artist died suddenly last week leaving behind a lifetime of work a great deal of which was never released. We discuss the many fascinating ways the unexpected death of Prince was covered by the media and his sometimes unique distribution methods.
We’ll also take a look at the introduction of a new cinematic camera that has the potential to revolutionize filming and post-production by allowing to filmmakers “to effectively capture the color, direction and placement of every ray of light”.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including some behind the scenes drama at the morning talk shows, why China shut down some of the Apple iTunes stores and how Hollywood is making its way to West Africa.
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Showbiz Sandbox 301: The Current Reality of Virtual Reality
November 9, 2015
Until the past few years virtual reality felt more like actual fiction, as proponents offered up underwhelming demonstrations which requiring expensive and cumbersome equipment. The days however, the ongoing work by the pioneers developing VR has transformed the technology into a viable platform for more than just the odd hardcore gamer.
As VR products and content make their way into the consumer market, it seems no industry trade show or film festival is complete without addressing the technology in some way. In fact, just last week, the Sundance Institute announced they would begin a residency program in VR and the New York Times launched their own VR initiative. We dive into the hype behind VR and try to make some sense out of what all the fuss is about.
Meanwhile, as the MPAA confirmed a new agreement for film distribution in China, and with the country on track to surpass North America as the world’s largest movie market in 2017, a number of organizations are claiming China isn’t abiding by international trade rules to which it had originally agreed.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including the nominees from this year’s European Film Awards, Showtime’s plans for the revival of “Twin Peaks” and why a number of police departments are calling for their officers to boycott Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming movie.
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Showbiz Sandbox 286: The 2015 Mid-Year Box Office and Music Sales Report
July 6, 2015
With the year now half over we join the rest of the entertainment industry in reviewing how 2015 is shaping up at the box office and for music sales. As predicted, the worldwide box office is on track to set another annual record thanks in part to three blockbuster releases that have each earned more than a billion dollars.
China continues to be an ever more important movie market as the country’s box office surged more than 50% during the first six months of the year with imported titles leading the way. Meanwhile, Hollywood movies have fared better in India than in past years with two passing the billion rupee level, a well-established benchmark of box office success.
The picture isn’t as rosy when it comes to music revenue. North American album sales are down 4% and digital downloads have fallen more than 10%. The declines may be caused by on-demand music streaming which has increased 74% so far this year. Whatever the reason, Taylor Swift isn’t sweating it since her most recent album has sold more than 2 million copies this year alone.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the Grateful Dead perform one final concert, massive layoffs at the BBC and HBO Now is a huge hit in the iTunes app store.
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