The Hollywood Reporter Tuesday, April 30, 2019

About a year ago, I was chatting with Stephen Galloway, a longtime THR editor and writer, about the current moment in Hollywood activism. A decade ago, Stephen had spearheaded the launch of our successful Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program, which teams THR with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University to offer high school girls powerful female mentors in Hollywood. Since 2009, the WIE program has provided $7.8 million in college scholarships and made an immeasurable impact on the lives of hundreds of girls (and mentors). So, I asked, “What’s next?” As we all know, the past few years have seen an unprecedented push for a more inclusive entertainment industry — race, gender, sexual orientation and more. Most of us have seen the depressing stats…

THR awards editor Rebecca Ford (left) and senior reporter Rebecca Sun curated THR’s first-ever “Agents of Change” list (page 70) to highlight talent, executives and others creating opportunities in the industry for those from marginalized backgrounds. “The difference between this and other power lists is people are using their power to elevate others,” says Sun. “We wanted to find those who are willing to push for change even when it is beyond the scope of their job title.” In December, THR profiled the Black Women Who Brunch writers networking group, founded by Lena Waithe (The Chi), Erika L. Johnson (Queen Sugar) and Nkechi Okoro Carroll (Bones). In this issue, Nisha Gopalan, former staffer at Entertainment Weekly, reports on similar groups that have since sprung up (page 58), including the Asian…

“I don’t want to be in this program. I need to be.” Those are the words of Ty, 15, one of 120 high school sophomores who applied for THR’s Young Executives Fellowship. The program aims to prepare L.A. teens from diverse and low-income backgrounds for careers in Hollywood’s executive suites — providing them with high-level mentors, private tutoring and scholarships to top colleges. Pictured here are 10 members of the inaugural group of 20 (including Ty), who’ll start their journey at THR’s Empowerment in Entertainment gala April 30.…

MATTHEW BELLONI Editorial director, The Hollywood Reporter AJA BROWN Mayor of Compton MEGAN COLLIGAN President, Imax Entertainment ELIZABETH DALEY Dean, USC School of Cinematic Arts OLIVIA DIAZ-LAPHAM CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles ARIEL EMANUEL CEO, Endeavor WAYNE FREDERICK President, Howard University ERIC GARCETTI Mayor of Los Angeles BONNIE HAMMER Chairman, NBCUniversal Direct-to-Consumer and Digital Enterprises BISHOP T.D. JAKES Author and pastor JON JASHNI Media Investor BARRY JENKINS Writer-director SHERRY LANSING CEO, Sherry Lansing Foundation MARTIN LUTHER KING III President, King Center KWEKU MANDELA Producer THELMA MELÉNDEZ State administrator, Inglewood Unified School District TINA PERRY President, OWN JENNIFER SALKE Head, Amazon Studios NICOLE SEXTON CEO, Entertainment Industry Foundation NINA SHAW Attorney DARREN THROOP President and CEO, Entertainment One CASEY WASSERMAN Chairman, LA28 Olympics/Wasserman Foundation STEVE ZIMMER Former…

Is Endgame just the beginning? Even after the Avengers extravaganza snapped its metaphorical fingers and obliterated opening-weekend box office records, North American revenue is still down 13.3 percent year-over-year during the January-to-April corridor, throwing cold water on predictions that 2019 could eclipse the best-ever $11.9 billion of 2018. (Before Disney’s Endgame unfurled April 26, revenue year-to-date was running nearly 17 percent behind last year, its lowest clip in at least six years.) Nonetheless, analysts remain cautiously optimistic that Hollywood can at least match, if not best, 2018’s mark by Dec. 31, with predictions for the global haul setting a new benchmark of north of $41 billion. That’s based on a bullish assessment of the summer slate, which is populated by as many promising tentpoles as Endgame has latex suits. Disney…

Lil Nas X The rap-country artist tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a fourth frame as his “Old Town Road” draws 114.4 million U.S. streams in the tracking week, per Nielsen Music. Drew Barrymore/Timothy Olyphant The actors’ zombie comedy, Santa Clarita Diet, becomes the latest Netflix series to get axed after just three seasons. Daniel Ek The Spotify CEO leads the service to the 100 million paid subscriber mark — topping rivals including Apple Music — while losses in the first quarter narrow to $158 million. Michael Lang The Woodstock 50 concert organizer scrambles to salvage the all-star event amid backers pulling out. Showbiz Stocks $50.25 (+6%) SONY (SNE) The parent of Sony Pictures reports better-than-expected quarterly earnings on strong revenue related to its PlayStation gaming platform. $82.48 (-14%) WORLD…