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Striking a confident note onstage at CinemaCon on April 24, National Association of Theatre Owners president John Fithian hit back at the idea that “disruption” is necessary to “save” the film business. “The movie industry is not a zero-sum game,” Fithian told exhibitors in Las Vegas. Left unsaid in the theater chief’s remarks was any mention of the meteoric rise of MoviePass, the subscription service with the potential to disrupt the exhibition industry, if not the entire ecosystem of film. Since Helios and Matheson first invested in MoviePass in August, double-digit gains, and drops, in its weekly stock price have been commonplace. The MoviePass parent company, which provides customer data to companies including BMW and TD Waterhouse, has been trading publicly on the Nasdaq exchange since 1997, and in the…
↑ Academy Board Struggle A fiery resignation exposes internal rifts. p. 12 Labor Agents vs. Writers The WGA wants new terms for talent agencies. p. 12 Beyonce Queen Bey reigns over two weekends at Coachella in performances that solidify the chart-topper’s status as the most influential figure in music. Sean Hannity The Fox News star is revealed to be a client of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen as The Guardian reports he benefited from a federal mortgage guarantee program via a shell company for real estate. Lars von Trier Seven years after being banned from the Cannes Film Festival for saying he could “sympathize” with Hitler, the controversial Danish director gets the green light to return. Charlie Corwin The Imagine CEO quietly exits the Brian Grazer- and Ron Howard-led company after…
During the 2016 Academy Awards, the year of #OscarsSoWhite, host Chris Rock provided the most subversive wake-up call that unwoke Hollywood ever received. He showed a video of himself interviewing African-Americans outside a Compton movie theater. When he asked one man if he’d seen the best picture contender Spotlight, he frowned, “What the hell is that?” When he asked a woman if she’d seen it or Bridge of Spies, she laughed, “Where did you get these movies from? You’re making them up.” But they had seen Straight Outta Compton. Since those Dark Ages of two years ago, changes in Academy rules and more nonwhite faces on the screen suggest progress. The real change — more films by and about people of color that compel them to go to the theaters…
6% of moviegoers 18-to-74 are MoviePass subscribers 48% of moviegoers 18-to-74 are aware of MoviePass More male That compares with a 50-50 split for nonsubscribers. Among male subscribers, 10% are between the ages of 21 and 24. Diversity profile 10% of subscribers are Asian, compared with 4% of nonsubscribers 8% of subscribers are African-American, compared with 15 percent of nonsubscribers They’re parents 42% of subscribers have children, compared with 28% of nonsubscribers Not just millennials 44% of subscribers are between the ages of 30 and 44…
A state of wary confusion has drifted over Hollywood’s major talent agencies since the Writers Guild of America notified them on April 6 that it was terminating the franchise agreement and demanding changes to the pact that governs relations among agencies, the guild and the town’s writers. The key issues for the guild and its executive director David Young: packaging, a half-century-old system in which agencies assemble the creative elements of a television series in exchange for receiving fees from the studio rather than commissions from the client; and production, a practice in which agencies or their affiliates finance or produce a series. The WGA calls both a conflict of interest. But Association of Talent Agents president Karen Stuart counters, “Many of the practices that the WGA presents as problematic…
He stirred up a hornet’s nest,” says one Motion Picture Academy insider of studio chief turned producer Bill Mechanic’s explosive resignation letter from the organization’s 54-member board of governors that became public April 17. Seemingly aimed at Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, it illustrated a long-simmering divide. Hudson, who has pushed for change since her 2011 appointment, enjoys the backing of what one board member describes as a “sisterhood” led by Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy, actresses Laura Dern and Whoopi Goldberg, writer Robin Swicord, composer Laura Karpman and Fox Searchlight co-chief Nancy Utley — plus Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. On the other side is a more tradition-minded contingent that feels Hudson is moving too quickly. They helped elect current Academy president John Bailey and, according to sources, are believed to…
