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.
1 GAL GADOT (RIGHT) AND ELIZABETH STEWART Photographed by Sami Drasin on March 1 at the Beverly Hills Women’s Club. “Fashion comes and goes. But style is something that’s in you,” says the Wonder Woman star. Adds Stewart, her Santa Monica-based stylist: “Gal is very confident, so fittings go quickly. She’ll put something on, and she knows it looks good, and we are done.” 2 CHADWICK BOSEMAN AND ASHLEY WESTON Photographed by Zenith Richards on March 1 at 632 on Hudson in New York. The Black Panther lead tops best-dressed lists thanks to the bold hues and graphic prints chosen for him by his bicoastal stylist. “With Ashley, I don’t have to think about it — and that’s the whole point,” says Boseman. The pair have worked together since 2014.…
In May 2015, Shane Smith made an eyebrow-raising admission: He told the Financial Times that he was considering stepping down as CEO of Vice Media even as the brand was in the midst of a campaign to reach near-global ubiquity through its digital brands, eponymous HBO show and forthcoming cable network. The following year, Smith and his family decamped from New York to a renovated $23 million home in Santa Monica as he took a step back from daily management of Vice. It would take another two years, a revenue shortfall brought about by an industrywide advertising slowdown and a sexual harassment scandal that vaulted Vice into the crosshairs of the #MeToo movement before Smith finally was ready to let go. In his March 13 memo revealing that he would…
Television ‘No Quotes’ How a new law is impacting talent negotiations p. 24 Moguls Where’s Rupert? Injured Murdoch may be testing retirement p. 28 Kevin Mayer (left) and Bob Chapek The Disney executives earn expanded portfolios in a reorg that puts them in competition to replace CEO Bob Iger when his contract expires in 2021. John Bailey The Academy president stays mum as the organization begins an investigation into claims of harassment leveled at the cinematographer. John Oliver HBO’s Last Week Tonight host hits No. 1 on Amazon with his gay bunny children’s book taking aim at Vice President Mike Pence. Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg The Facebook founder and COO face a harsh spotlight from Congress after reports reveal 50 million user profiles were accessed by a U.K.- based…
California’s new law banning employers from asking potential hires about their previous salary is helping to close the gender pay gap among actors this pilot season. It’s also uncovering a pervasive inequality in what non-white stars were earning as well as boosting the paydays for below-the-line employees. The legislation, which went into effect Jan. 1, bans studios from seeking salary history — aka an actor’s “quote” — in a bid to help narrow the gender pay gap and achieve parity. That instead forces the negotiation to focus on an actor’s skill, stature, social media profile and the demands of the role, among other factors. This is a fundamental change in how business has been done during the broadcast networks’ annual pilot season, when more than 70 comedies and dramas compete…
In fall 2015, Verizon held a star-studded party headlined by Kanye West as part of a no-expenses-spared launch of streaming app go90, a plan that included spending hundreds of millions of dollars on shortform programming. Dozens of streaming services — including now-defunct ones like Comcast’s Watchable and Fullscreen — joined to produce 10- to 15-minute shows. That market was short-lived, however, as subscribers failed to materialize and digital-advertising competition from Google and Facebook made it hard to recoup budgets. Now Hollywood’s digital producers are betting big on buyers with even deeper pockets: Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. In recent months, the major streamers have experimented with show formats and lengths, whether through Amazon’s deal to fund Funny or Die-produced short films or Netflix’s plan for 15-minute comedy specials — not to…
Even by Hollywood standards, MGM’s firing of CEO Gary Barber on March 19 was dramatic, catching Barber himself off-guard. While the company remains mum, insiders tell THR that an unbridgeable gap had grown between Barber and board chairman Kevin Ulrich, whose Anchorage Capital Management is MGM’s largest investor. When Barber was hired to run the then-struggling home of the James Bond franchise in 2010, it was on the assumption he’d whip the studio into shape, then sell it. But eight years later, Ulrich has had a change of heart, while Barber still believes a sale is in the best interest of shareholders, which include himself, Highland Capital Management and Solus Alternative Asset Management. Ulrich had been sizing up an exec to replace Barber about a year ago, but unable to…
