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Behind the Headlines Four years ago, President Barack Obama took the oath of office on the fifth day of the Sundance Film Festival. To mark the occasion, most dealmakers halted negotiations for a few hours and happily tuned in for the inauguration ceremony, while the Producers Guild even hosted a viewing-party breakfast on Main Street. At the same time, such ardent Obama supporters as Harvey Weinstein and Jake Gyllenhaal wrapped business early in order to hop a flight from Park City to Washington, D.C., to cheer on POTUS in person. This year, a different type of logistical conflict looms: How will Sundance’s famously liberal and outspoken crowd mark the occasion when Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, the second day of the country’s most influential independent film…
↑ Digital Amazon Acrimony Good Girls Revolt and a streamer’s issues p. 18 Deals Merger Mania AT&T-Time Warner seeks Trump’s blessing p. 20 Beyonce Queen Bey tops the Grammy nominations with nine, and her Lemonade will face off against Adele, Justin Bieber, Drake and Sturgill Simpson for the coveted album of the year. Scott and Deirdre Gurney The Duck Dynasty producers are put on leave at ITV amid a fraud investigation said to concern billing practices at their Gurney Productions. Jimmy Kimmel The ABC star will become the 10th person to host both the Oscars and Emmys but the first to do it in one year. Mike Lazzo The Adult Swim executive vp cancels controversial comedy Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace after its co-creator Sam Hyde’s connection to the…
You’re canceling us, aren’t you? I t’s not uncommon to see a freshman TV show canceled mere weeks after its debut — except, of course, if that show airs on a streamer, where ratings are guarded tightly and additional seasons are all but guaranteed. But on Dec. 2, Amazon’s feminist period drama Good Girls Revolt was axed by one of the town’s most prolific (and elusive) outlets despite the trappings of success. “We were all so surprised because we were a hit,” creator Dana Calvo tells THR, citing two metrics that Amazon execs told her they cared about: a high Rotten Tomatoes score (Good Girls has a 96 percent audience rating) and the ability to spur purchases on Amazon’s retail arm: “Of the people driven from the entertainment sections to…
Behind the Headlines When the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee summoned the CEOs of AT&T and Time Warner to testify Dec. 7 about their proposed merger, it mistakenly sent an invite to Time Warner Cable CEO Robert Marcus. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes later was invited, but the error might be a metaphor for the intricacies and confusion surrounding the planned $85.4 billion deal. Now Bewkes and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson are beginning the long process of government approval under an Obama administration, but will conclude it under President-elect Donald Trump. During his campaign, Trump called AT&T-Time Warner “a deal we will not approve in my administration because it’s too much concentration of power in the hands of too few.” But Stephenson told Wall Street analysts Dec. 6 that “when it…
With a crowded midseason lineup, CBS is taking a page from an old playbook and has scheduled an original scripted program for the TV wasteland known as Saturday. Ransom, a procedural from producer Frank Spotnitz (The Man in the High Castle), will air at 8 p.m. Saturdays starting Jan. 7, marking the first time since Walker, Texas Ranger aired in 2001 that CBS has broadcast a scripted original series on the night now known as TV’s dumping ground. Of course, Saturday once was a hot programming night, with such hits as The Honeymooners, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Taxi. Broadcasters pulled out of Saturdays as viewers turned to premium cable networks for movies and, eventually, original programming. Ad dollars shifted to Thursdays and Sundays as viewers under…
AWARDS SEASON 2 0 1 6 So it’s Manchester by the Sea? No, wait, it’s La La Land! Hold on a sec, it’s Moonlight! There’s just no consensus among the first wave of critics’ groups By Scott Feinberg PICTURE Arrival Denis Villeneuve’s brainy sci-fi movie made an unexpectedly strong showing at the Critics’ Choice nominations, earning 10, behind only La La Land and on par with Moonlight. It also crossed $100 million worldwide. The Founder Early critical response to the saga of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, played by Michael Keaton, mostly has been positive — it’s at 84 percent on Rotten Tomatoes — but it has yet to get any mention from the critics groups that have weighed in. DIRECTOR Clint Eastwood • Sully Normally a darling of the National…
