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.
Behind the Headlines Not so long ago, John Stankey could hardly answer when asked to name a TV show or movie that he liked. But the 54-year-old head of AT&T’s entertainment group — who will run Time Warner, assuming AT&T’s $85.4 billion acquisition wins federal approval, as expected — says it became clear to him in the past year or two that he had to buckle down and watch some entertainment. “I realized I had to spend more time getting exposed to what’s out there,” he tells THR in his first interview since he was tapped July 28 to run the to-be-renamed Time Warner. “It’s part of my work routine.” But he still doesn’t seem to have much of a list of favorites. Looking for programs to watch with his…
On Aug. 7, the HBO data breach took a troubling turn as hackers leaked emails of a network executive in what they dubbed a second wave of dumps. To that point, the company had kept the leaks contained by deploying an army of bots to pull down leaked content. But with pilfered emails, HBO has fewer options to fight the spread. “There are a lot of tools now to rapidly respond when something that violates copyright law pops up on the internet, thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,” says Nathaniel Gleicher, former director of cybersecurity policy for the Obama White House and ex-senior counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice’s computer crimes division. “With emails, it’s not exactly clear.” With the first wave of dumps, HBO was able to…
Behind the Headlines As Donald Trump wages war against “fake news,” his administration has been elevating conservative media to fill the void — and not just the Murdochs’ Fox News Channel. One of the outlets now getting White House attention? The Christian Broadcasting Network, dedicated to preparing “the nations of the world for the coming of Jesus Christ.” While CBN’s news division has had a Washington, D.C., bureau since the 1980s, the office recently was renovated and 10 staff positions — including correspondents, videographers and producers — have been added since Trump’s election. CBN founder Pat Robertson, 87, interviewed Trump on July 12 in what CNN noted at the time was the president’s first non-Fox News interview in two months. Trump said he’s mistreated by the mainstream media, but, he…
Americans are cutting the cable cord at an alarming rate, and it could get worse. At least that’s the message from second-quarter earnings reports, and Wall Street appears a bit spooked, with shares of Comcast, Charter Communications, Dish Network and AT&T (home of DirecTV) all down in the first week of August. Craig Moffett at MoffettNathanson estimates a whopping 941,000 subscribers cut the cord during the quarter, up from 809,000 in the same time frame a year earlier, a clear indication cord-cutting is accelerating. “The rate of pay TV subscriber erosion worsened, rising sequentially from 2.5 percent last quarter to 2.7 percent in the second quarter, the fastest rate of decline on record,” notes Moffett. The major providers have been countering the decline with skinny bundles of TV channels online…
Though they might be among the most reviled figures by Hollywood’s largely liberal crowd, the Koch brothers have been silent investors in Warner Bros.’ slate of movies for four years. Sources say Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch — who are worth a combined $96.2 billion and wield enormous power in backing conservative politicians — took a significant stake valued at tens of millions of dollars in RatPac- Dune Entertainment, the finance vehicle fronted by Brett Ratner and Len Blavatnik (formerly James Packer). As part of a $450 million deal struck in 2013, now-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin brought the brothers in — a move that was never disclosed because RatPac- Dune is a private company. Though Mnuchin is no longer involved with the slate financing facility, having recently put…
Behind the Headlines EMMY: THE RACE Iheard the term very early in my career. It was at lunch with an agent — not my agent but one of several on my team at the time — and at one point she just looked over at me and said: “Well, let’s face it. You’re a character actor.” This was not meant as a compliment. What she was saying, what most people mean when they call you a character actor, is that you’re going to live off of small parts. There are no lead roles in your future. Whatever is meant by it and regardless of who it comes from, it’s come to have no relevance to me. It’s a label, a category. And what most actors come into the world with,…
