Showbiz Sandbox 285: Why the Film Academy Is Becoming More Diverse and International
June 30, 2015
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited over 300 new members to join their ranks this year, many noted not only the number of young women and minorities among the group, but also 36 international invitees. According to Oscars pundit Scott Feinberg of the Hollywood Reporter, that’s the highest number of new international members than at any other time in the Academy’s 88-year history.
We explain why the organization is looking to filmmakers and craftspeople from around the world when adding to their ranks, as well as how that might change the demographics of the Academy moving forward. At a time when international box office has never been more dominant and important, it is nice to see the Academy’s membership become a little more diverse.
E-commerce giant Amazon is also making a few changes, especially in the way it pays authors of titles in its monthly book rental offering. Instead of paying writers for every book a user starts but may not finish, the company will pay based upon how many actual pages a subscriber reads.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including why NBC and Univision fired Donald Trump, Harry Potter heads to London’s West End and Apple signs a deal with indie record labels for its new music streaming service.
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Showbiz Sandbox 284: Taylor Swift Takes A Bite Out of Apple
June 22, 2015
When Apple announced its new streaming music service earlier this month certain members of the music industry were quick to voice their dismay over the terms the tech giant was offering. Specifically, indie record labels weren’t happy to see that Apple wouldn’t be paying licensing fees during the three month trial period the company was offering new subscribers. As the chorus of opposition grew louder it was none other than Taylor Swift who pushed Apple to reverse its payment policy.
In an open letter published to her website, the country musician turned pop star criticised the world’s largest music retailer for not compensating writers, producers, or artists during a new subscriber’s three month trial period. She says new artists, young songwriters and independent producers depend on such royalties to survive. In a move that some will argue demonstrates Swift’s influence within the industry, Apple actually relented.
Another entertainment business model currently being disrupted is that of television. With more consumers opting to cut their cable cord for over the top solutions, the NBA announced they would let basketball fans purchase out-of-market games on a per-game and per-team basis. This has huge implications for the broadcast industry as programming continues to slowly become unbundled.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the box office success of “Jurassic World” and “Inside Out”, a big payday for Jennifer Lawrence on her next film and gambling on who will be the next actor to play James Bond.
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Showbiz Sandbox 283: Why Apple Is Cannibalizing Its Own Music Sales
June 16, 2015
Apple finally announced its long rumored music streaming service last week, which is meant to compete with market leaders Pandora and Spotify. The offering seems in direct conflict with the ongoing business of the largest music retailer in the world, but as Ryan Faughnder of the Los Angeles Times points out, Apple may have had no choice since iTunes digital music sales have significantly decreased.
Now, the music industry is hoping that Apple can ride to their rescue once again, as they did with digital music previously, by attracting the large subscriber base required to make music streaming profitable. Faughnder gives us his thoughts on what the new service means to the business, and tells us how competitors have responded to Apple’s entrance into the market.
There seemed to be no competition for “Jurassic World” during its theatrical debut. The film was released globally and gobbled up opening weekend box office records both in North America and internationally, earning more $500 million in just three days. That gross is more than the combined weekend receipts for every other film currently in theaters worldwide.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including Rupert Murdoch steps down as CEO of 21st Century Fox, video games get their own hall of fame and what happened when Dave Grohl of the rock band Foo Fighters broke his leg in the middle of a concert.
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Showbiz Sandbox 282: Broadway’s Not So Big Night at the Tony Awards
June 8, 2015
A musical about family, sexuality and suicide along with a play about an adolescent with Aspberger’s syndrome won the top prizes at this year’s Tony Awards over the weekend. Based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir, “Fun Home” was awarded Best Musical and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” earned Best New Play. On paper, both could have been marginal longshots to win Tonys, which can at times go to more commercial productions.
We go over the list of this year’s Tony Award winners and choose a few highlights from a ceremony in which they were quite sparse. It was great to see Kelli O’Hara win a Tony for Best Actress In A Musical after she had been overlooked the last five times she was nominated. Yet, in a year which saw Broadway break box office records, the telecast flirted with all-time low ratings.
Meanwhile, as we record this episode Apple appears set to announce their streaming music service which some big record label executives see as a tipping point that could save the industry. That seems like a tall order given how late the company is getting to market, but it’s never a good idea to underestimate Apple.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including how Netflix is heading to Spain, Senator Chris Dodd is staying on as head of the MPAA and Showtime is going over the top with its new streaming service.
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Showbiz Sandbox 281: Literati Get Down To Business at BookExpo and BookCon
June 2, 2015
BookExpo America and BookCon are two of the most important events in the North American book publishing business. BEA is a trade show where the publishing industry talks to itself. Editors, writers, publicists, librarians and bookstore owners all get together for meetings and professional seminars.
BookCon is where the publishing industry talks directly to the world through a conference aimed at book lovers. There are loads of author talks, book signings and even movie screenings. Our own Michael Giltz attended both shows last week and fills us in on all the emerging industry trends and hot new titles.
Meanwhile, Broadway is gearing up for the Tony Awards next weekend to honor the best and brightest productions from the past year. They have a lot to celebrate too, as the most recent Broadway season set a number of records, grossing a record $1.3 billion and selling 13.1 million tickets in all.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including why Iggy Azalea canceled her upcoming tour, why film composers are suing Hollywood studios and China cracks down on reality television.
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