Showbiz Sandbox 589: Should Music Be Produced and Sold Like Fine Art?
July 20, 2022
In an effort to make music valuable again, producer T Bone Burnett is getting behind a technology that allowed him and Bob Dylan to create a one-off re-recording of “Blowin’ In The Wind” and then auction it off for $1.8 million. But can recordings be treated the same way as paintings are in the art world? If musicians limit the reproduction of their work will it really become more valuable?
Meanwhile the Emmy Award nominations were announced last week with hit series from HBO and HBO Max helping the network garner 140 nods. Netflix made history with “Squid Game” becoming the first non-English language show to be nominated for Best Drama Series.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why comedian Lewis Black is suing Pandora, the reason Shawn Mendes is pausing his world tour and how Iran is jailing its leading film directors.
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Showbiz Sandbox 588: Keeping Track of Ever-Shifting Streaming Strategies
July 5, 2022
Though the entertainment industry may be infatuated infatuated with streaming, the legacy media companies behind all the new subscription services haven’t quite found the right way to profit from them. NBC/Universal earned nearly a billion dollars in committed ad revenue with Peacock this year, causing them to take a hard look at all of their low-rated cable channels. And HBO Max is thinking twice about producing original programming in countries like Turkey and Sweden.
Meanwhile, the “Minions: The Rise Of Gru” is the lates blockbuster release that is proving the box office is back for everyone, even families. The worldwide gross of “Top Gun: Maverick” continues to soar, but will Paramount leave it in theatres long enough to fully capitalize.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the Creative Artists Agency completes its acquisition of rival ICM, Disney renews CEO Bob Chapek and Alec Baldwin commiserates with Woody Allen.
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Showbiz Sandbox 587: How To Succeed on Broadway After a Global Pandemic
June 28, 2022
With this year’s Tony Awards having been doled out, the 29 shows currently running on Broadway are taking stock of what’s working, which ones should stick around and which should stop raising their curtains. At least 14 have announced closing dates or are expected to soon, including some big musical productions. Others are recasting their big stars. But hope springs eternal on Broadway as new plays and musicals gear up to light up the Great White Way.
Meanwhile, “Top Gun: Maverick” has crossed into the billion dollar club making it the first film in Tom Cruise’s career to hit such a milestone. The actor showed up at CineEurope last week for a bit of a victory lap. We’ll bring you all the latest news from the event.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the future of K-Pop superstars, BTS, the winners of this year’s BET awards and Apple’s big bet on sports broadcasting.
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Showbiz Sandbox 586: Tony Awards Help Broadway Get Its Groove Back
June 14, 2022
After all of the obstacles the pandemic forced plays and musicals to deal with, this year’s Tony Awards looked to raise the curtain on a revived Broadway. The ceremony managed to honor some of the best productions and performances from last season while celebrating the efforts the Broadway community made just to stay in business. We’ll look at how they might help and hurt this year’s batch winners and mention a few of our favorite performances.
Meanwhile, just as movie theaters are looking to rebound from the pandemic, exhibitors in the United Kindom found themselves in a difficult position over a film depicting the early days of Islam. And Disney is saying au revoir to theatrical in France unless that country changes its rules on theatrical release windows.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including some new categories for the Grammy Awards, the rare disorder forcing Justin Bieber to cancel tour dates and why a top executive at Disney is being forced out of the company.
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Showbiz Sandbox 585: Entertainment Industry Stumble Into Sociopolitical Pitfalls
June 7, 2022
Social justice and political issues have been making life complicated for movie studios, record labels and concert promoters. Whether you’re casting a movie, choosing a director, booking a live performance or releasing a new album, you’ll also be having to deal with their past, present and sometimes even future behavior. Just ask Johnny Depp, filmmaker Cary Fukunaga and comedian Louis C.K.
Rolling Stone knows a thing or two about digging into the past of the musicians it covers. As the war in Ukraine marches on the magazine published a piece on all the big name pop stars who’ve been paid millions over the years to perform at private parties and events for Russian oligarchs.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Mariah Carey is being sued for plagiarism, the most watched television shows from the past year and musician Kate Bush has a new old hit thanks to “Stranger Things.”
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Showbiz Sandbox: Movies Were the Stars at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival
June 5, 2022
After the COVID pandemic hampered the Cannes Film Festival over the last two years, the 2022 edition moved back to its usual May time frame with all the glamor and artistry that has made it one of the most important annual cinematic events in the world. Despite critics’ complaints about what was deemed a weak official selection, the festival featured its fair share of impressive films from noteworthy auteurs.
What’s more, many of these movies will find audiences as distributors were rather active in acquiring titles to release theatrically over the next 12 months.
On this special episode of Showbiz Sandbox we are joined by Karen Krizanovich, an independent journalist and broadcaster, not to mention a member of the London Film Critics Circle, as well as Stephen Garrett, the founder of the movie marketing firm Jump Cut who covered the festival for the New York Observer. Both attended this year’s Cannes Film Festival and we’ll discuss the highs and lows of the latest edition, which concluded last weekend.
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Showbiz Sandbox 584: Cannes Film Festival Showcases Industry Revival
May 31, 2022
Unlike some years, there was no frontrunner or obvious favorite to win the Palme d’Or at the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival which concluded over the weekend. Instead, the social satire “Triangle of Sadness” from Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund took the festival’s top prize, the second time he has won the award. We discuss the highlights and big winners from this year’s Cannes.
Meanwhile “Top Gun: Maverick,” which was shown at Cannes, finally premiered in movie theaters setting all kinds of box office records. It is far and away the biggest opening weekend its star Tom Cruise has ever had as it looks to go on and become his biggest hit.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the winner of this year’s Eurovision song contest, Justin Timberlake sells his recording catalog and politicians hope to strip Disney of its Mickey Mouse copyright.
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Showbiz Sandbox 583: The Long and Winding Road to Box Office Recovery
May 10, 2022
With each new superhero blockbuster that hits multiplexes it is clear that big well-done movies can score big at the box office. However it is a huge mistake to treat every new release as the barometer of whether cinema is back. Especially when smaller films like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and family movies like “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” are proving just as successful in getting post-pandemic audiences back into theaters.
Meanwhile, record labels and streaming services have been fighting with music publishers over mechanical royalties for years now.
However, in a tentative deal on actual music sales, the mechanical royalty will rise more than 30% from 9.1 cents per track to 12 cents. Moving forward, the royalty will be pegged to inflation.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including this year’s Tony Nominations, Dave Chappelle gets attacked on stage during a performance and a new class of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.
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Showbiz Sandbox 582: Movie Theaters Come Roaring Back at CinemaCon
May 3, 2022
When cinema operators from around the world gathered in Las Vegas for CinemaCon last week, it quickly became obvious that movie theaters ain’t dead yet. Though a global pandemic may have decimated their business model for several years, audiences seem to slowly be returning to movie theaters. So have Hollywood studios who are starting to realize they can’t survive on streaming revenue alone.
Speaking of streaming, a poor earnings report in which Netflix announced they lost subscribers for the first time in a decade, has served as a moment for self-reflection for the company as well as the industry-at-large.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including an abrupt end to CNN+, “Fast & Furious 10” loses its director and Europe’s new media laws.
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Showbiz Sandbox 581: Streamers Double Down On Original Programming
April 19, 2022
A new industry study claims the five largest producers of original content in the United States also happen to be some of the biggest streamers in the world. Nearly half the content offered by Discovery, Disney, Paramount, the former WarnerMedia and Comcast are original productions which increasingly premiere on their subscription streaming services. Turns out Netflix and Amazon license much of their programming from other companies.
Meanwhile, we are delighted to see the Indian film industry leading the world back to moviegoing. And it’s not just Bollywood! Films of every genre and from all parts of the country are topping the worldwide box office.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including a talent shuffle at newscaster MSNBC, the Library of Congress adds recordings to its national registry and how Coachella found itself being censored in China.
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