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.
Moral turpitude? It’s a concept that showbiz talent soon will be wellacquainted with. The term, which means “an act or behavior that gravely violates the sentiment or accepted standard of the community,” is popping up in contracts of actors and filmmakers in the wake of the #MeToo movement that has rocked Hollywood. Fox is just one of the studios that is trying to insert broad morality clauses into its talent deals, giving it the ability to terminate any contract “if the talent engages in conduct that results in adverse publicity or notoriety or risks bringing the talent into public disrepute, contempt, scandal or ridicule.” A Paramount source says it long has had standards of conduct that it asks employees and talent to adhere to and that it’s reviewing its approach…
David Benioff & D.B. Weiss The Game of Thrones creators jump to light speed with Lucasfilm to write and produce new Star Wars films (separate from the Rian Johnson trilogy). Charles Harder The litigator for Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and Hulk Hogan sees partner Douglas Mirell quit, saying he was “uncomfortable” with the firm’s client list. Dana Walden & Gary Newman The Fox TV co-CEOs preside over a robust launch for Ryan Murphy’s 911 and see the broadcaster hit No. 1 for the first month of 2018 — before the Super Bowl put NBC back on top. Vincent Cirrincione The producer and manager of Halle Berry and Taraji P. Henson shutters his company after nine claims of sexual harassment are reported by The Washington Post. Showbiz Stocks $220.88 (+2.9%) THE…
Will Sony’s incoming CEO finally cut the cord on Hollywood? On Feb. 1, the conglomerate said top exec Kaz Hirai, 57, would hand over the reins to CFO Kenichiro Yoshida, 58, on April 1. The move ignited new speculation that Sony’s entertainment assets could end up auctioned. Hirai has been a passionate advocate for Sony Pictures Entertainment, while Yoshida, a veteran of corporate strategy who joined Sony in 1983, not as much. But despite Yoshida’s reputation for paring underperforming units, many Sony watchers say he’s unlikely to unload SPE right away. “I credit [Yoshida] with a big part of the turnaround of the past few years,” says Eric Jackson of EMJ Capital, which owns Sony stock. “He’s forced transparency on the different business units.” Yoshida and Hirai led Sony from…
This past spring, Clint Eastwood was grilling Spencer Stone, Alek Skarlatos and Anthony Sadler about their takedown of an armed Islamic State recruit on a train heading from Amsterdam to Paris. Eastwood was mulling actors to portray the real-life trio whose story informed his new film, The 15:17 to Paris, when it hit him: “I just thought, ‘I wonder if they could do it?’” says Eastwood, 87. “The faces just fit,” he added. The idea isn’t unprecedented, even if talent might not love being replaced by real people. Steven Soderbergh has done it more than once, with the indies The Girlfriend Experience (led by porn star Sasha Grey) and Haywire (toplined by MMA fighter Gina Carano). Gus Van Sant took a similar route with Elephant as well as with another…
Video will embrace the radio star this summer as 64-year-old Howard Stern will become a multimedia play for SiriusXM. In plans outlined during a Jan. 30 earnings call, CEO Jim Meyer cautioned that “we are not going into the Netflix business” but will be “wading into the video pool” before July. The satellite radio provider will draw on 30 years of Stern interviews as a blueprint to launch video of other talk hosts, comedians and musicians. The video product will be part of SiriusXM All Access, which at $20.99 a month is about a $5 premium to the regular service. “Management isn’t planning to launch the video product as a separate package but expects it to drive higher take rates of the All Access package,” says Evercore ISI analyst Vijay…
An ongoing effort to get advertising agencies to book more female directors for big-budget TV spots is starting to pay off thanks to Free the Bid, a campaign started in September 2016 by director Alma Har’el, who is responsible for this year’s Coca-Cola Super Bowl ad. Susan Credle, chief creative officer at FCB Global, whose clients include Clorox and Levi’s, says the proportion of FCB’s ads directed by women has risen from 10 percent to 30 percent since the agency took the pledge last year to consider hiring female directors. Ad giant BBDO has doubled the number of female directorshired on commercials, while CP+B has seen a fourfold increase. Airbnb, Visa and Twitter are among brands that have joined the campaign. “Advertising has always been a feeder to Hollywood,” Har’el…
