Innholdsfortegnelse for October 25, 2023 i The Hollywood Reporter

Like the rest of the world, Hollywood is rattled and on high alert following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed at least 1,400 people and saw the abduction of hundreds of hostages into Gaza. In its wake, attention has turned to beefing up security among Hollywood’s Jewish community. “We’ve had a sharp increase in requests from our Jewish clients,” says Kenneth Bombace of Global Threat Solutions, which services billionaires, stars and Fortune 500 corporations. “They’re afraid they could be a target.” The crisis comes amid a backdrop of already heightened antisemitism — both worldwide and within L.A. The Anti-Defamation League released a study in March that found recorded incidents of anti-Jewish hate in L.A. had increased 30 percent in 2022 over the previous year. (In total, there were 237…

On Nov. 8, Disney will change how it reports its quarterly financials. Previously, ESPN had been lumped in with the company’s linear TV and streaming assets in the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division (a Bob Chapek-era structure, R.I.P.). Before that, ESPN was folded into other TV assets, including ABC and Disney cable channels. Now, as CEO Bob Iger weighs whether to seek a strategic financial partner for ESPN amid cord-cutting and a sale of such linear TV assets as ABC, the brand will occupy its own division, led by chief Jimmy Pitaro. Per an Oct. 18 filing, ESPN delivered $16 billion in revenue in fiscal 2022 and profits of $2.9 billion. For comparison, the new “entertainment” division, which includes Disney’s TV networks and streaming services as well as its…

In the history of the Grammys, first presented in 1959, female acts have counted for less than one-third of the winners in the coveted album of the year category — but things look different this year. Women or female acts should comprise the majority of the eight nominees in the top category, with albums like Taylor Swift’s Midnights, SZA’s SOS, Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts, Karol G’s Mañana Será Bonito, boygenius’ the record and Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd being the strongest contenders. Other possibilities include Bell Bottom Country by breakthrough country singer Lainey Wilson, Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation and the Barbie soundtrack, featuring contributions from Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Lizzo and more. Some men may make a splash on the album of…

Pink lipstick. Milk nails. French manis. The strawberry girl look. Curtain bangs. French bobs. From the Oscars, Met Gala and Barbie to Beyoncé’s and Taylor Swift’s mega tours, to celebrity makeup brand success and viral Instagram and TikTok trends, it was a colossal year for beauty. In THR’s 2023 Beauty Issue, the spotlight is on a star-loved roster of 40 hair stylists, makeup artists, nail artists and groomers, with some photographed getting ready with their celebrity clients, including Zoe Saldaña, Adam Driver, Michael B. Jordan, Ashley Park, Lola Tung, Gabrielle Union and Dakota Johnson. These beauty pros — chosen for the visibility of their client roster as well as their own social media reach — share their favorite moments of 2023 and what it was like to put together standout…

When a major disruption hits the entertainment industry, Hollywood business managers often see themselves as canaries in the coal mine — moving at, or even before, the first sign of a threat to guard and grow their clients’ assets. Sounding the alarm without provoking panic has been no easy task in recent years as dual union strikes ground film and television production to a halt on the heels of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The goal, of course, is to prepare the A-list stars and top creatives on their rosters to weather financial storms before they hit — though that’s often easier said than done. “It’s one thing to say you want to save money,” says Robert Salzman of David Weise & Associates. “But it takes commitment and hard work. David…

Some of the most desirable locations to live in L.A. are also some of the riskiest, at least as far as insurance companies are concerned. Think of those densely packed, heavily wooded neighborhoods (Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills north of Sunset, Malibu …) where, due largely to climate change, wildfire season has become a year-round threat. The increasing possibility of major financial losses from natural disasters in California — the 2018 Malibu fires caused more than $3 billion in damages — is driving up the costs of homeowners insurance dramatically and causing a major freakout to homeowners across the financial spectrum, but perhaps especially among the well-to-do. “A policy on an $8 to $10 million home north of Sunset can start anywhere from $50,000 to $70,000 a year at the low…

Being a famous CEO has some downsides. Media and entertainment companies are inherently public and can stoke strong reactions from consumers. Consider Fox Corp. and its CEO, Lachlan Murdoch. “A core aspect of our business involves broadcasting extensive news coverage of elections, sociopolitical events and public controversies and related opinion programming, which sometimes produces strong reactions from viewers and critics,” Fox wrote in its 2023 proxy filing to the SEC, adding that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch “are synonymous with the Fox brand.” The result? Fox pays more than $1.5 million annually for Lachlan Murdoch’s residential security. Security Spending $5.9M ALPHABET/GOOGLE for Sundar Pichai $1.6M AMAZON for Jeff Bezos $1.4M NETFLIX for Ted Sarandos $830K DISNEY for Bob Iger (sorry, Bob Chapek) $591K APPLE for Tim Cook $181K SPOTIFY for Daniel…

Rivians are all the rage in L.A. — and the influx of the electric trucks and SUVs has put a spotlight on an old IRS provision as people casually brag over lunch about claiming them as farm vehicles for the tax benefits. When it was enacted in 1958, Section 179 was aimed at trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of over 6,000 pounds that are used for business — such as commercial vans, workoutfitted pickup trucks and farm equipment — but what the IRS didn’t see coming was the crop of oversized personal vehicles that hit the road in the early aughts and met the weight standard, like a luxurious 2001 Range Rover weighing in at 6,130 pounds. Keen-eyed CPAs started classifying these luxury SUVs as business vehicles and…

If death is an art, as sword maker Eiji (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) tells his erstwhile assistant Mizu (Maya Erskine), it’s one that Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai renders particularly beautiful. The adult animated series savors the peal of clashing swords like it’s music, frames blood spatters like brush strokes, twirls around battling warriors like they’re dancers. This graphic, gorgeous violence is what grabs a viewer’s attention first, before we understand who Mizu is or what she wants. But what sustains the series are its compelling characters and engaging drama, even if the end results land as more fun than profound. Blue Eye Samurai takes place in Edo-era Japan, two decades into an isolationist policy banning foreigners from its borders. The hostility toward outsiders is not entirely without reason: The show’s sole white…

Ever since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, celebrities from Amy Schumer to Michael Moore have weighed in on the crisis, with mixed results. Stars are increasingly wading into hot-button topics, but who is swayed by their opinions? According to a THR/Morning Consult poll of over 2,000 U.S. adults from Oct. 18-20, more people than you might think. Forty-one percent of American adults think stars are effective at influencing the public on political subjects. (That’s 17 percentage points more than 2018, when THR last polled on the subject.) But a plurality of Americans (47 percent) still think political celebrities are shouting into the wind. There’s now more potential for backlash: 25 percent of respondents said they would not watch a show or movie if they didn’t like a castmember’s politics,…

Shia LaBeouf Talks David Mamet, Career Struggles and Recovery in Impromptu Parking Lot Interview The scene in the parking lot outside Venice’s Electric Lodge on a recent Sunday night could easily have been mistaken for a film premiere. The hubbub followed the final performances of David Mamet’s new play, Henry Johnson, starring Chris Bauer, Dominic Hoffman, Evan Jonigkeit and — the main attraction despite his secondary role — Shia LaBeouf. The actor politely granted THR’s request for a brief parking lot interview about his turn as the brooding cellmate of the show’s title character. That parking lot, LaBeouf says, has become “a pretty fertile little chat station,” where he’s huddled with peers like Sam Rockwell after they’ve checked out the production, which was sold out during its extended run. “I’m…

With the lead-up to and release of his sophomore solo album, Set It Off, Offset is paying homage to his biggest inspiration, Michael Jackson. From his red carpet looks to the video for the single “Fan” — in which Offset sports looks that call back to such M.J. hits as “Thriller” and “Smooth Criminal” — the rap star and streetwear-meets-high-fashion trendsetter is looking to make his own “long-lasting” impression, he tells THR, by channeling the King of Pop’s legendary fashion through his own unique style. “When I say ‘set it off,’ I mean blowing shit up — my career, the songs, the energy, the vibe, and creatively taking it to the next level where nobody has seen,” says Offset of his new album. While the album’s cover shows the former Migos…

Beyond the compensation portfolio, private jet and security, top execs are comped basics that rank-and-file employees shell out for without a second thought. Cable Comcast gives its top executives (and, in fact, all of its employees) free cable service, provided they live within its footprint. Tickets Disney executives get theme park tickets to Disneyland and Disney World for free, as well as merchandise discounts. MSG executives, likewise, get free tickets to games and concerts at the company’s venues. But just like some bonuses, those tickets are “integrally and directly related to the performance of their duties,” lest anyone get the wrong idea. Country club memberships Lionsgate paid nearly $16,000 for CEO Jon Feltheimer’s club membership dues last year, with Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel also scoring coverage of a club membership.…

After Jen D’Angelo’s first feature (a script she describes as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead meets Titanic) made The Black List, she received industry attention but quickly realized the endeavor would be obscenely expensive — and a rights nightmare. She instead decided to write a film inspired by her brother, a longtime Jeopardy! whiz who has never made it on the show. From there, Quiz Lady — a sweet, slapstick story about two polar-opposite sisters looking to pay off their mother’s debts by scoring a spot on a game show — was born. D’Angelo details the casting and real-life dynamics of Sandra Oh and Awkwafina, as well as the movie’s R rating. Did you write this with Awkwafina and Sandra Oh in mind? I wrote it with the understanding that…

When it comes to the post-summer box office blues, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has helped shake it off. The film’s phenomenal success — it’s already the top-grossing concert film of all time in North America, not adjusted for inflation — as well as its unique rollout, in which Swift teamed directly with AMC Theatres, bypassing traditional studio distribution, is a bright light in an independent movie market sorely in need of some good news. Sadly, there is only one Taylor Swift. The rest of the independent film world, which will soon be gathering in Santa Monica for the American Film Market, sees few reasons to dance in the aisles. The market’s new location, at Le Méridien Delfina on Pico, exchanges the seaside views and beach vibe of the Loews…

On July 1, nearly three months into the writers strike, FilmL.A. rolled out rate hikes on a slew of fees to obtain permits to shoot in the region. Some of the increases, like with application fees and authorization to shoot at certain locations, were tied to inflation. Others — for rider, photo and notification fees — represented markups of roughly 8 to 17 percent. The agency also introduced a host of entirely new administrative fees for complex filming requests, including for drone, helicopter and special effects use, lane and street closures, and simulated gunfire. Among the service pricing changes were additional limitations imposed by the guidelines that may further aggravate location budgets. A permit that used to accommodate up to 10 locations for $863 over 14 consecutive days now allows…

Clarissa Ward was about to begin a top-of-the-hour CNN live shot in Sderot, Israel, when a Red Alert siren started to blare. The alert is “telling us to find shelter,” Ward said, as her crew hurried toward a bomb shelter. They didn’t make it in time. As Hamas rockets whizzed overhead and Israel’s Iron Dome intercepted some, creating explosions in the sky, Ward and her colleagues ducked in a ditch. The pulse-pounding scene showed that, as Ward said on air, “even with the most sophisticated military technology, the Israelis are still up against a really tough fight.” The world’s biggest news outlets, now in 24/7 war coverage mode, are up against a parallel fight against disinformation and defamation. Reporters say they have never seen it this bad. Ward’s compelling Oct.…

By the time the final episode of The Office aired on May 16, 2013, the NBC sitcom already had inked lucrative TV syndication deals. And its parent company, NBCUniversal, had decided to sell the streaming rights, too, to Netflix. Over the next few years, Netflix’s subscriber base discovered the show, ultimately forcing NBCU to buy back the rights for $500 million and make it a centerpiece of its new streaming service Peacock. Since 2013, there has been a whole lot of change in the streaming space. But you might not know it if you look at the streaming ratings charts. Once again, Suits, an NBCUniversal show, is finding new life on Netflix, as the service reestablishes itself as the place to find TV shows and movies from every company. But…

One night, Barbara invited Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick,” remembers Pamela Gross, the former CNN producer and close friend of the late Barbara Walters. “She had a beautiful piano in her living room, and after dinner, Barbara and Sarah and Matthew gathered around the piano and started singing old tunes, and the rest of us were just pinching ourselves. It was such a special night, but that’s the way Barbara lived.” The newswoman, who died in December 2022 at the age of 93, also counted luminaries like Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Diane von Furstenberg and Barry Diller, Hugh Jackman, and Andrew Lloyd Webber among the coterie of friends who flocked to her Upper East Side apartment for dinners and parties. Her home’s thoughtful decor, overseen by famed interior…

Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine company hosted its inaugural Shine Away event Oct. 21 in L.A., featuring conversations with friends and collaborators including Jennifer Garner, Mindy Kaling, Tracee Ellis Ross and comic Fortune Feimster. After explaining that she launched Hello Sunshine with the idea that “women get to tell their own stories,” Witherspoon talked about choosing her projects, saying she realized, “I’m not meant to be doing dark, heavy, intense, horror, gore, darkness movies. People like to see me do light movies, and I was like, ‘OK.’ It doesn’t put you in the cool kids club a lot, but I don’t care, I don’t want to be in the cool kids club. I want to make optimistic stuff that makes girls excited to be women in this world, because…

In mid-May, with the writers strike still in its infancy, UTA partner and media rights co-head Jason Richman found himself trying to gauge the industry’s appetite for dealmaking. A few years earlier, indie studio A24 had scooped up the rights to his client David Gauvey Herbert’s 2021 Esquire article, “Daddy Ball,” but the option had lapsed, and he was eager to test the market. So, Richman sent around the 6,700-word piece, about two Little League dads with complicated pasts who took a deep rivalry way too far. In a matter of weeks, there were eight offers, some of them with major talent like Ben Stiller or Jason Bateman attached. Netflix, which was already in business with Bateman via his Aggregate Films, ultimately proved triumphant, plunking down what multiple sources say…

Each November, Brunello Cucinelli and his wife, Federica, open the doors of their immaculately restored villa in the medieval town of Solomeo, outside Perugia in central Italy, for a true American event — Thanksgiving. “We organize a dinner for at least 30, 40 people, and whoever has a property nearby is invited,” Cucinelli says over Zoom in late September while seated inside company headquarters, a 14th century castle in the same area. The holiday menu features a turkey prepared by Federica, with an extra one that’s roasted “four or five days in advance of the big day” as a test run. “Ryan Seacrest comes with his own olive oil, his own wine,” continues Cucinelli. “I really like this relationship that we have forged with people from L.A. and even Silicon…

On May 5, 1979, the writers of Fantasy Island made a strange decision. After 35 successful episodes in which guests paid to live out dreams such as being a king, marrying a millionaire, finding the fountain of youth and having a harem, they offered viewers “The Comic,” in which a guy gets to be a stand-up. Over the next decades, industries would rise to whisk money from middle-aged middle management in exchange for fulfilling their deepest wishes. They got to put on Dodger uniforms with their names on the back and practice grounders with Steve Garvey at baseball fantasy camps. Play guitar in a band with Roger Daltrey at rock fantasy camps. Get B-12 shots in their ass with Gwyneth Paltrow at the In Goop Health conference. Which makes sense.…

Most companies define private jet travel purely for work purposes as an essential part of the job (and many companies cite the security of their execs as making private jets a necessity), but CEOs often can bring their spouses or children along for the ride and may get to use the company jet for personal travel, too (sometimes reimbursing the company, sometimes not), so it’s often reflected in proxy filings as extra compensation. Company cash spent on exclusive air travel META $2.3M Mark Zuckerberg ENDEAVOR $592K Ari Emanuel NETFLIX $1M Reed Hastings $336K Ted Sarandos DISNEY $283K Bob Chapek $48K Bob Iger (before Iger’s return as CEO) AMAZON $975K Andy Jassy (also includes private security costs) LIONSGATE $218K Jon Feltheimer WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY $826K David Zaslav COMCAST $196K Brian Roberts…

Most Unrealistic “Living on One Dollar.” EVAN BELL “All of them!” HOWARD ALTMAN “Friends — probably the best sitcom of all time, but they all have large apartments in NYC and sit in a coffee shop or their apartments all day!” SCOTT LANDESMAN “Ozark.” SHANE GLASS Most Realistic “The 1987 classic film Wall Street is still one of my favorite financial films ever. It truly depicted the ‘old boys club’ of yesteryear.” BELVA ANAKWENZE “The Big Short.” HOWARD KRANT “Shark Tank provides some insight into the dedication and commitment required of entrepreneurs.” LAURA GORDON “I recently watched Dumb Money. It was fascinating, intriguing and insightful when it was all taking place.” ANDREW MEYER…

In the most lacerating episode of Max’s dearly departed comedy The Other Two, the characters attend the premiere of a Broadway show titled 8 Gay Men With AIDS: A Poem in Many Hours. Wondering about future roles for his Method-actor boyfriend, who stars in the play, Drew Tarver’s Cary wonders, “Is there anything coming up that is prestigious and gay, but doesn’t have, like, nonstop trauma in it?” The fact is, we’re not at a point, as a society, where we can stop telling stories of trauma. There remains a cultural need for narratives that foreground the AIDS epidemic, that acknowledge the horrors of the Holocaust and slavery. That said, if you’re going to do a trauma-fueled, decades-spanning odyssey of gay life from McCarthy to Reagan, weaving in the Red…