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.
Heat Index Lisa Collins Amid an exodus of top DEI officials, Warner Bros. Discovery promotes the executive to oversee U.S. diversity programs related to recruitment and retention. Daniel Ek Yes, the Spotify CEO grew paid subs to 220 million, but operating losses increased to roughly $273 million in the latest quarter despite the profitability push this year. Dan Patrick Even as sports media tightens its belt on spending, the star anchor lands a new multiyear contract extension with NBC Sports and iHeartMedia through the end of 2027. Tom Cruise The star can’t be thrilled that his well-reviewed Mission: Impossible sequel was collateral damage to Barbenheimer and Sound of Freedom. Can it bounce back? Showbiz Stocks $23.74 (+1.7%) ENDEAVOR (EDR) The owner of WME and UFC may be hit by the…
The ongoing actors and writers strikes are creating a paradox for major studios and streamers, one that will become more apparent over the coming months, when each company reports quarterly earnings. As the impasse wreaks havoc on the entertainment economy, the companies that SAG-AFTRA and the WGA are striking against will see their cash flows rise and their profit margins (or losses) improve. It makes sense, after all: With the vast majority of film and TV sets shut down, the companies are keeping cash in their treasuries that normally would be funding those productions. And with Wall Street analyst firm MoffettNathanson estimating that total media industry content spend in 2022 was nearly $135 billion, there’s going to be a lot of cash sitting idle. In fact, the impact of the…
On July 5, the major crew union IATSE, which reps 160,000-plus entertainment workers from grips to animation to makeup artists, unveiled a set of “core principles” for applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning in its members’ work ahead of its 2024 contract talks with studios. The list set off a debate among union members on how they’re already encountering AI in their day-today work — and what to do about it in the future. “At least everybody that I’ve talked to, we don’t want AI to be a tool,” says animation writer and comedian Joey Clift, a member of IATSE local The Animation Guild (TAG). “We just don’t want it to be a part of our creative processes because the second you start using it as a tool is…
The extraordinary success of Barbie and Oppenheimer was a needed shot of adrenaline for Hollywood and theater owners as domestic box office revenue hit $311.1 million over the July 21-23 frame, the fourth biggest weekend of all time. Never in history has one movie opened to $100 million or more, and a second one to more than $50 million. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie strutted to a stupendous $162 million, while Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer earned an equally stunning $80.4 million, well ahead of all expectations for a three-hour biographical drama. But will it be the last major cinematic event of 2023 if the actors and writers strikes aren’t resolved in the coming weeks and studios consider relocating the big fall and winter tentpoles? The box office ecosystem is still incredibly fragile and…
BARRY DILLER The typically candid former studio chief and IAC mogul floated an idea that the C-suite will hate: Hollywood executives and top paid stars should take a 25 percent pay cut as a “good faith” gesture. Did we mention he’s a former studio chief? BRYAN LOURD The CAA leader showed up in a “SAG-AFTRA Strong” T-shirt on a New York picket line July 19, a move that telegraphs solidarity but avoids actually giving a press interview where he’d be peppered with questions about his view on the specifics of the negotiations. TED SARANDOS Given the near-constant demonstrations outside Netflix’s L.A. headquarters, the co-CEO was well aware he’s a target of criticism amid the impasse, so he chose to lead off his company’s July 19 earnings call with a story…
The “double strike” of 1960 — the last time the Writers Guild and SAG marched shoulder to shoulder in a labor action against the owners of the means of production and, crucially, distribution — is the clear precedent to the ongoing reboot. Yet for all the parallels between the two walkouts, the differences are stark. Today, the tone is more rancorous, the stakes more serious. The connecting thread is the upheaval wrought by a new communications technology. In 1960, the disrupter was TV; today, it’s digital streaming. In both instances, the new revenue source for the producers makes the old terms of service for the talent look like a pact with the devil. Then, as now, the artists seek a bigger slice of the pie, or crumbs really, parceled out…
