The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
IF YOU LISTEN CLOSELY, YOU can hear a hint of pessimism in the predictions of Steve Hulett, business rep of the Animation Guild, about what will happen after NBCUniversal completes its acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. Thanks to Disney’s 2006 purchase of Pixar, for example, Hulett has seen versions of this movie before. “Usually they spend a period of time trying to soothe nervous hearts,” says Hulett of acquirers. “They lie to the crew because they’ve got a picture to get out, and they can’t have people jumping ship. … They use whatever argument they can use to calm you down, [but] I suspect there will be 200 or 300 fewer people working there in the next 18 months.” DWA is a union shop, and NBCU’s animation operation, Illumination Entertainment, isn’t.…
APPLE CEO TIM COOK SAYS HE’S “PRETTY confident” the tech giant can persuade the Chinese government to flip the switch back on after its popular iMovies and iBooks services abruptly went dark in April. But how confident can one of America’s top executives really be? China’s government pulled the plug on the services as part of a crackdown on Western cultural influence. The move also has the benefit of boosting local industry. Cook might be expressing confidence in a resolution, but experts say Apple might have a long wait. China President Xi Jinping has given a succession of speeches ordering strict adherence to the Communist Party line while arguing for the elevation of “China’s core socialist values” over the West’s. The government also passed a sweeping law in late April…
SUPERHERO MOVIES long have taken a chance on unproven actors in their 30s and 40s for lead roles. Marvel’s Captain America star Chris Evans is 34; Batman v. Superman’s Henry Cavill is 32; Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr. was 41 when he first donned the suit. But now there’s a new class of more pedigreed actors reaping the rewards of the superhero craze — and many of them get the senior discount. Michael Douglas was 69 when he joined Marvel’s Ant-Man; Robert Redford, the patriarch of indie film, took a supporting role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier at 76; and Glenn Close was 66 when she signed on to Guardians of the Galaxy. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice featured Laurence Fishburne, 54, Kevin Costner, 61, and Jeremy Irons,…
THE ANNUAL NewFronts (May 2-13) are filled with lofty announcements from digital media companies looking to steal ad dollars from TV. But many projects never go farther than a press release as financing fizzles or talent loses interest. THR looks at 2015 track records of six majors. AOL Shows announced 26 Shows debuted 21 Celebrities drove many of the Verizon-owned company’s projects that got made, including second seasons of Park Bench With Steve Buscemi and Making a Scene with James Franco. HuffPost also streamed a few shows. DEFY MEDIA Shows announced 11 Shows debuted 11 Follow-up was 100 percent! Super Fan Builds, where Hollywood propmakers turn popculture images into reality, recently sold to Verizon’s go90; spoof series Honest Trailers remains popular for the ScreenJunkies brand. MACHINIMA Shows announced 14 Shows…
THOUGH THE APRIL 21 death of Prince ripped a painful hole in our cultural landscape, it has brought one unexpected, potentially positive development: shoving opiate abuse into the news. Though autopsy results are not yet available, initial reports suggest that prescription painkillers were a factor. Only a week before his death, Prince had his private jet make an emergency landing in Moline, Ill., where he reportedly received an injection of Narcan. This powerful antidote instantly knocks opiates off the corresponding receptors in the brain. People who overdose from opiates can stop breathing. But if Narcan is administered in time, patients who have stopped breathing literally awaken, alive and sobered up. As a pediatrician — and a television writer and producer on such shows as ER and Law & Order: Special…
Female Filmmaker Scorecard April studio movies directed or written by women* Melissa McCarthy, co-writer, The Boss Lily Hollander, Anya Kochoff, co-writers, Mother’s Day 3 WRITERS DIRECTORS O *Nine total movies evaluated; in both cases, there also were male co-writers. AN ACCESS HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER butchered the second verse of “Genie in a Bottle” during an NBC-hosted karaoke “happy hour” as Christina Aguilera surprised him onstage to salvage the hook. It was one of several surreal moments, even by entertainment press standards, during an April 21 mixer for The Voice to drum up coverage during the increasingly chaotic Emmy campaign season. Yes, Peak TV is prompting full-scale for-yourconsideration warfare as the 2016 Emmy cycle takes schmoozing to near-Oscars levels ahead of the June 13 start of voting. That means celebrity sing-alongs, hotticket cast…
