Showbiz Sandbox 431: India Is Set for A Battle Over Streaming Market Share
December 3, 2018
By 2023 the country of India is forecast to have 550 million people streaming content, earning $18 billion in video streaming alone. Of course, most of people will be watching on their mobile devices, but big players like Amazon, Disney, Netflix and Spotify don’t care, so long as they wind up with the largest piece of the Indian market. One major hurdle; India makes its own content and doesn’t need Hollywood.
That is why streaming companies have begun to produce their own India-centric shows, though that can be challenging in a country with more than 20 languages and wildly diverse cultures. Plus all the major providers have to compete with the likes of YouTube, which is by far India’s most popular streaming service thanks to its advantageous price point; free.
Meanwhile, the awards season is clearly upon us with the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics weighing in on their favorites. Los Angeles Film Critics will be making their picks shortly and Golden Globe nominations will be announced this week.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including a lucrative new deal at Warner Bros. for director and producer Ava DuVernay, actor Hugh Jackman is planning a worldwide concert tour and the collapse of independent bookstores.
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Showbiz Sandbox 430 – Taylor Swift Helps Fellow Artists With Her New Record Deal
November 26, 2018
When her current recording contract expired at Big Machine, Taylor Swift went looking for a new label. After a heated bidding war, Swift wound up at Universal Music landing a deal that allows her to retain control of her masters. Swift also demanded that if the label ever sold its share in Spotify that she get a cut. More importantly, she insisted on this for every single act in Universal’s roster.
This is especially notable because Swift is not a big player in music streaming, because she holds back her albums with a window to urge fans to purchase them instead. Unfortunately, the sales of physical albums, like vinyl LPs and CDs, is collapsing, causing many artists to get out of the habit of actually creating them. Instead, some big acts release a constant stream of singles, videos and live cuts since that’s how their fans listen to music these days.
Meanwhile the North American box office continues to chug along at 10% over last year’s tally, with a record breaking $12 billion in sight. That growth rate is keeping pace with the Chinese box office, which is up 11% this year, earning $8.1 billion thus far. Maybe the date for when China’s theatrical box office will surpass that of North America’s needs to be pushed back a year or two.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including why pop stars may be headed to Broadway, how YouTube has begun showing blockbuster movies (with ads) and the winners of this year’s International Emmy Awards.
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Showbiz Sandbox 422: Hollywood Ponders Second Chances In #MeToo Era
September 4, 2018
Nearly a year after Hollywood was rocked by a wave of sexual misconduct allegations some of those who have been accused of, and in some cases admitted to, transgressions are looking to make a comeback. This is forcing the industry to figure out if and when certain entertainers and executives deserve a second chance. There are no rules about how to handle #MeToo redemption.
Take the case of comedian Louis C.K. whose career imploded after admitting to years of sexual misconduct last November. When he turned up for an unannounced 15-minute set at the Comedy Cellar in New York last week, the response to his first public appearance was a standing ovation from those in attendance, but protest from others who think it’s too soon for C.K. to be making a return.
Meanwhile, after one of the worst summer box office seasons in over a decade in 2017, this summer’s receipts saw an uptick in North America of 14%. China too has seen its box office increase 16% since the beginning of the year. Unfortunately for Hollywood imports actually dropped by 18%.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Johnny Depp’s lawsuit against his former lawyer could end the practice of oral contracts throughout the industry, Lana Del Rey pulls out of a concert in Israel and the emergence of 8K televisions.
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Showbiz Sandbox 412: Canceling “Roseanne” Was A No Brainer for ABC
June 4, 2018
Never before has a major broadcast network canceled a number one rated television show, let alone done so within hours of a brewing controversy sparked by one of its stars. Yet that’s exactly what happened last week when a racist tweet from Roseanne Barr caused ABC to ax the popular reboot of her eponymous hit sitcom. What’s remarkable is not only the unprecedented nature of the move, but more so the speed at which the decision was made and carried out.
Meanwhile the Tony Awards are being held next week to honor the best new Broadway productions, however there is little suspense over who will win since it’s already seen as a foregone conclusion. That’s why we look ahead to next year’s theater season and tell you which shows we’d back as investors.
And MoviePass is once again in the news, though this time it’s not for their subscription movie ticket service but rather a film they are co-distributing in North America. Turns out they may have an indie-hit on their hands.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why YouTube stars are so stressed out, how much Taylor Swift is raking in with her latest tour and Neil Portnow will step down as the head of the Recording Academy.
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Showbiz Sandbox 411: Everybody Has An Excuse For Lackluster “Solo”
May 28, 2018
On paper Han Solo seemed like the most obvious character for which to pursue a standalone Star Wars spinoff, however the resulting movie, “Solo,” opened to less than stellar numbers. What’s worse, the movie didn’t fly internationally either. Whether it was the film’s highly publicized production troubles or a case of franchise fatigue, everyone involved will be able to point the finger at someone else for the end result.
Meanwhile, just as Disney begins reexamining how many Star Wars films they should release in a single year, they may have to revise their offer for Twentieth Century Fox. Comcast came along last week and beat Disney’s purchase price, upping the ante to $60 billion in what would be an all-cash deal.
Production coordinators aren’t asking for that kind of money, but they are asking to be unionized. Such a move might help those who are employed in what has become an essential position on any film or television crew from having to renegotiate their fees on every new production.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including a K-Pop band tops the billboard charts, Harvey Weinstein is charged with sexual assault and James Bond heads to Universal Pictures.
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Showbiz Sandbox 410: In a Global Landscape the Cannes Film Festival Remains as Relevant as Ever
May 21, 2018
Despite all the griping over the lack of glitz and glamour, or at the very least big movie stars, at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the event lived up to its reputation for programming some of the most artistic movies currently being made around the world. When the Palm d’Or was handed out over the weekend it went to Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda for his touching family drama “Shoplifters.” Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” won the Grand Jury Prize and the Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki was awarded the Jury Prize for her movie “Capernaum,” about a scrappy young boy dealing with the hardships of life ont he street in Beirut.
China too is becoming more diverse when it comes to the movies it is allowing in multiplexes. While Hollywood was quick to dominate the market with big blockbusters, Chinese distributors showed up in Cannes to acquire mid-budget titles from around the world.
Meanwhile, the mounting number of mergers and acquisitions of global media companies have begun to cause a chain reaction where each deal may affect the next. The latest merger has caused CBS to sue its parent company to prevent a merger with Viacom.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including a movie deal for a Lin Manuel Miranda musical, YouTube tweaks its music subscription service and Congress looks to extend copyright protections.
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Showbiz Sandbox 408: CinemaCon Shrugs Off Unwanted Disruptions
April 30, 2018
Movie theater owners from around the world descended upon Las Vegas for CinemaCon last week. Studios wooed exhibitors with clips from upcoming film releases while industry manufacturers lured attendees with the latest technology, including high-resolution LED screens as a method of showing movies to the masses. Much like the subscription service MoviePass, the screens left cinema operators wondering if they were just one more “innovation” nobody had asked for.
Meanwhile “Avengers: Infinity War” broke box office records both in North America and globally when it opened over the weekend. The latest Marvel superhero movie earned over $640 million in just three days, putting it on track to pass the billion dollar mark.
Speaking of “war,” one is brewing between the Writers Guild of America and talent agencies. The WGA wants to cancel their current agency agreements and rewrite them to prevent franchised agents from profiting off of packaging deals with television networks. Such arrangements currently allow agents to double dip and at times earn more than their clients for a project.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including Steven Spielberg signing on to direct the movie adaptation of DC Comic’s “Blackhawk,” the next “Star Trek” film lands a female director and Bill Cosby is found guilty of sexual assault.
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Showbiz Sandbox 405: Hollywood Adopts A Queer Gaze as LGBTQ Films Go Mainstream
March 26, 2018
Hollywood studios are no strangers to coming-of-age romantic comedies (see any John Hughes film), but never before has a mainstream film centered around a gay teenager. Even so, Twentieth Century Fox didn’t cover up the subject matter of “Love, Simon” and instead used it in their marketing campaign.
What’s more, such films are now being made by members of the LGBTQ community lending them a sense of credibility through what Los Angeles Times film reporter Tre’vell Anderson calls the “queer gaze”. Anderson joins us to discuss the present state of queer films and the future of a genre that is becoming more prominent.
Meanwhile the music industry has something to celebrate as 2017 marked the second year in a row with double digit revenue growth. Streaming services accounted for more than half the year’s total earnings, which are finally back at 2008 levels.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including some of the changes taking place at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Bruce Springsteen extends his stay on Broadway and online piracy continues to grow.
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Showbiz Sandbox 404: Faith-Based Films Are Competing For the Choir’s Attention
March 19, 2018
It used to be that to promote a faith-based film release, especially one geared toward Christian audiences, all a distributor had to do was screen the film for church groups or pastors, and maybe create some study material. But once studios saw there was money in faith-based movies, they began making more of them. As Ryan Faughnder, a film business reporter for the Los Angeles Times, explains, promoting such titles in a crowded market has become a lot more difficult.
In China, regulators are cracking down on marketing agencies that use hundreds or thousands of fake accounts to promote (or bash) products, movies, personalities… almost anything really. Known as the “internet water army” or “cyber navy,” they have made it hard to gauge the public’s true sentiment about a movie, actor, etc. via social media.
MoviePass meanwhile continues to make headlines, though this time it’s for something they’re not doing. Despite claiming two weeks ago that their mobile app tracks subscriber’s every move, it turns out MoviePass doesn’t really do that and the company had to apologize
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including why YouTube is teaming up with Wikipedia, IHeatMedia files for bankruptcy and Netflix looks to get into the news game.
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Showbiz Sandbox 402: How the 90th Annual Oscars Took Shape
March 5, 2018
The 90th Academy Awards went down pretty much as everyone expected it would. After a lengthy awards season there were few surprises over who would go home with Oscars. There were no upsets (or mistakes) when it came time to announce Best Picture, as Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” won the honor.
During a year which saw the rise of the #MeeToo movement, the vociferous calls from the Oscar stage for gender inclusion and racial diversity within the motion picture industry were also highly anticipated. Anne Thompson, Indiewire’s editor-at-large, was backstage during the ceremony and she joins us to share her insights about.
Meanwhile, though Comcast may have been turned down by 20th Century Fox, the cable giant hasn’t given up on growing its conglomerate through acquisitions. Last week they made a $31 billion offer to buy Europe’s Sky Broadcasting, something Fox has been struggling to do for some time now.
Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Spotify is finally going public, the Swiss back public broadcasting and why YouTube is punishing a prominent conservative conspiracy theorist.
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