Showbiz Sandbox 654: CinemaCon Promotes A Bright Future for Movie Theatres
April 16, 2024
CinemaCon, the annual gathering of cinema operators in Las Vegas, was filled with anxiety this year thanks to a lack of wide releases due to the recent labor strikes. However, most Hollywood studios showed up with a few movie stars to hawk an increasing number of big titles due later in the year and into 2025. As well, technology companies introduced some exciting new advances in projection and image quality. In all, the conference pointed toward better days ahead for movie theaters.
In even better news, it looks as if the many behind-the-scenes craft people who work on films and television shows may not go on strike like the writers and actors did last year. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) appears to be having very positive negotiations with Alliance of Motion Picture Television Producers on a new contract.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Disney won its shareholder battle, the winners of this year’s Writers Guild Awards and CBS whips up a new streaming news service.
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Showbiz Sandbox 648: Judging This Year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Nominees
February 20, 2024
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame announced their 2024 nominees, including some musical acts previously shortlisted for inclusion. Musician and music writer Sal Nunziato joins host Michael Giltz to argue over which of these acts should be included in the Hall of Fame and why. Plus they give us a rundown of their favorite albums from the past year.
Meanwhile, “Oppenheimer” solidified itself as the obvious and only leader during this year’s awards season by winning seven BAFTA awards, including Best Film. At this point, the movie seems destined to top the upcoming Academy Awards.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including the math behind this year’s movie release schedule, how Microsoft is spreading some Xbox love and ESPN is going long on college football.
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Showbiz Sandbox 616: Movie Theaters Celebrate Recovery at CinemaCon
May 2, 2023
Movie theater operators from around the world gathered in Las Vegas last week for CinemaCon. Though the last two pandemic suppressed editions of the conference were filled with artificial optimism about the business, this year’s event showcased an industry that had survived and is indeed thriving thanks to a robust release schedule with plenty of new films to show.
Meanwhile, the cable news landscape was shaken up last week when Fox News fired its highest rated personality Tucker Carlson and CNN parted ways with longtime host Don Lemon. This came only one week after Fox News paid out $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why Disney is suing the state of Florida, what caused the head of the BBC to step down and Netflix announced the end of its original DVD rental business.
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Showbiz Sandbox 613: Author James Patterson Questions New York Times Best Seller List
April 4, 2023
James Patterson has been a perennial presence on the New York Times best seller list after his most recent book failed to make the list, he accused the newspaper of “cooking the books” in the way it compiles its lists. According to BookScan, which uses actual sales figures, Patterson’s latest book should have made the list, but the Times uses a proprietary formula and method for determining its list and now he’s publicly calling them out.
Meanwhile, we signed up for the new version of MoviePass just to find out what it offered. It turns out it is very hard to pull off a moviegoing subscription service when you don’t have deals with movie theaters.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Cineworld, the owner of Regal Cinemas, plans to restructure and exit bankruptcy, why the cast of the television series “Blue Bloods” took a pay cut, and the stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor Totoro” wins six Olivier Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 596: The Compact Disc Turns 40 Years Old
October 4, 2022
It’s hard to believe that the compact disc format was first launched forty years ago this week. Billboard has a great oral history about the launch of the CD format and how it initially faced stiff resistance from record labels before kicking off a boom in music sales that lasted until digital MP3s took over 20 years later. We discuss our own
Meanwhile, the Washington Post has a very lengthy, multi-media feature about the search for the best sound in music, and whether that means lossless audio digital files, a newly remastered album on 180-gram vinyl or maybe, or just maybe, an old LP you find for $10 in a record store.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Netflix plans to license comedy specials rather than own them outright, Trevor Noah steps down as host of “The Daily Show” and why September was the worst month at the domestic box office in 26 years.
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Showbiz Sandbox 562: The Death of Network Television Is Greatly Exaggerated
November 16, 2021
While the entertainment industry and Wall Street may be distracted by the growth of streaming services and their subscriber numbers, senior network television executives are reminding everyone that linear TV is far from dead. In fact, according to the latest viewing metrics, more audiences are tuning into network television programs on a consistent basis than actually watch streaming content.
Meanwhile, while the fall film festival season may be dominated by events in Toronto, Telluride and Venice, there are still a number of festivals taking place that are just as noteworthy, including the AFI Fest and Doc NYC. We’ll discuss some of this year’s official selections at both of these festivals.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why a high profile director walked away from the next Star Wars movie, Peter Jackson sells his special effects toolkit and Spotify starts a new chapter in streaming.
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Showbiz Sandbox 556: The Emmys Crown the Streaming Era
September 21, 2021
When “The Crown” took home the prize for best drama at the 73rd Emmy Awards on Sunday it capped a years-long campaign mounted by Netflix to win one of television’s top awards. The streamer picked up a record-tying 44 Emmys including best limited series for “The Queen’s Gambit.” With the Apple+ series “Ted Lasso” winning best comedy, streaming services swept the awards.
Joining us to discuss the Emmys as well as all the movies she saw at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals is Anne Thompson, editor-at-large of Indiewire. She gives us a preview of all the films that were creating a buzz on their way to stirring up this year’s awards season.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why the West End is ditching matinees, Christopher Nolan heads to Universal Pictures and Fox picks up TMZ.
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Showbiz Sandbox 555: Modern Media Consumption Metrics Are A Big Mess
September 14, 2021
Keeping track of television ratings, streaming viewership and music revenue has become a hopeless task in the digital age. Everyone is mad at Nielsen though how can they realistically capture all the eyeballs content on TVs, phones, laptops and tablets? Meanwhile, Billboard keeps changing the formula they use to count album sales by working in various flavors of streaming. What the most popular shows, movies, albums or songs are at any given moment has become impossible to decipher.
The good news is, according to new data from the Recording Industry Association, music revenue for the first half of 2021 grew $1.5 billion driven by music streaming, which accounted for 84% of the $7.1 billion earned.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including an executive shakeup at Paramount Pictures, the outcome of Apple’s epic legal battle and the Venice Film Festival kickstarts this year’s awards season in a big way.
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Showbiz Sandbox 553: CinemaCon Makes A Case for the Big Screen
August 31, 2021
After more than a year in which most blockbuster releases headed to streaming services, movie theater operators gathered in Las Vegas last week for CinemaCon, their annual convention. Ryan Faughnder of the Los Angeles Times moderated a panel discussion at the event featuring the heads of major movie chains, distribution executives and director Patty Jenkins. He tells us what he learned at this year’s show.
One consistent headline to come out of CinemaCon was the call from both exhibitors and distributors for an exclusive theatrical release window. When it comes to China however, Hollywood studios are relieved to get any type of release these days, even if they only have a week to prepare for it.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how Apple is buying into classical music, women top the music charts for the first time in ten years and why China is canceling celebrities.
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Showbiz Sandbox 540: Time’s Up for the Golden Globes
May 11, 2021
It’s hard to believe we are still talking about the Golden Globes in May, when an argument could be made that they hardly matter in January. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group behind the Globes, said they would be adding 45 new members over an unspecified period of time with a focus on people of color in an attempt to overcome diversity issues in their ranks. However, this didn’t satisfy Hollywood studios, streamers and TV networks who have publicly begun walking away from the annual awards ceremony.
Meanwhile, the stars and filmmakers behind some upcoming movie releases are crying foul. With theaters at limited capacity and studios sending films to streaming services in as little as 17 days, box office for these titles will surely be depressed. This will, in turn, impact the money creative talent receives if their compensation is tied to a movie’s gross.
Of course we also cover some of the week’s top entertainment headlines including when Broadway will raise the curtain again, rankings of the top streaming content and the Chinese box office just won’t quit, even if it’s hard to figure out which movies are earning all that money.
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