Latest Business News
Directors Guild Reaches Tentative Deal With Studios and Streamers
After less than a month of negotiations, the Directors Guild and Hollywood’s top studios and streamers have struck a tentative deal on a new three-year labor contract. The agreement between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) includes gains in wages and benefits, streaming residuals, AI protections and more. (Full […]
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BuzzFeed Receives Nasdaq Delisting Notice After Poor Stock Performance
BuzzFeed has until Nov. 27 to improve the performance of its stock or risk getting delisted from Nasdaq, according to a Friday filing with the Securities Exchange Commission. The media company received a notice from Nasdaq on Wednesday warning that for the past 30 business days, the bidding price for BuzzFeed’s common stock has closed […]
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CNN CEO Chris Licht Exposed: Five Takeaways From Bombshell Profile
On June 2, The Atlantic published a deeply reported look at the rocky tenure of Chris Licht, who took over as chair and CEO of CNN Worldwide last year. The colorful 15,000-word profile features his unvarnished opinions, as well as intimate access, including a morning session with the polarizing executive’s physical trainer, who Licht refers […]
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Disney Takes $1.5B Write-Down After Removing Shows Off Disney+ and Hulu
Disney is set to take a $1.5 billion write-down during the fiscal third quarter after the entertainment giant removed more than 30 shows off of Disney+ and Hulu last month in an effort to bring down costs, according to a Friday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On May 26, Disney pulled shows like The […]
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Anonymous Strike Diary: The ‘Well-Known Creator’ on Actually Missing Development Hell
This is part of a series of accounts of the strike from Hollywood writers at different levels in their careers. The diarists have been granted anonymity to encourage candor. You can read previous entries by ‘Well-Known Creator’ and others here. I wasn’t in production when the strike started nor was I running a writers room. For the last half […]
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New York State Senate, Assembly Members Call on AMPTP to “Negotiate in Good Faith” With WGA Amid Stalled Contract Talks
Over 50 members from the New York State Senate and Assembly have signed two separate letters calling on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to return to the bargaining table with the Writers Guild. One letter from the senate and one from the assembly were delivered to AMPTP Friday morning, which marks one […]
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Tavi Gevinson: Auditions Are Work. Pay Us. (Guest Essay)
It is both obvious and radical to say that auditions are work. Actors are even supposed to be paid for them. SAG-AFTRA’s contract with the studios states that we’re entitled to half our scale day rate for every audition we perform but don’t book for a TV show, studio feature or high-budget indie. Since our […]
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WME Buys D.C. Literary Agency Ross Yoon, Bringing Over Authors and Journalists
Talent agency WME is establishing a foothold inside the Beltway. The Beverly Hills-based representation giant has acquired the literary agency Ross Yoon, the company said on Friday. Led by Gail Ross and Howard Yoon, the agency focuses on the non-fiction space, and has a roster of author clients including Time journalist Molly Ball, Mother Jones’ […]
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Ron DeSantis Gets a New Judge in Disney’s Free Speech Suit
In an early blow to Disney’s suit against Ron DeSantis for control of the district that oversees development around the company’s theme parks, the Republican governor has won a bid to disqualify the judge who was initially assigned the case. The judge denied DeSantis’ motion to disqualify him, but then recused himself anyway. U.S. District […]
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Netflix Shareholders Reject Exec Pay Packages, Days After Writers Guild Urged “No” Vote
In a rare rebuke of corporate executive compensation, Netflix shareholders rejected the pay packages for top executives at the company, including co-CEO Ted Sarandos, former co-CEO Reed Hastings, and Greg Peters, who was COO of the company last year and was elevated to the co-CEO role earlier this year. The “no” vote on the “Say […]
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A+E Networks Group Chief Paul Buccieri Joins Elton John AIDS Foundation Board
Paul Buccieri, president and chairman of the A+E Networks Group, has joined the Elton John AIDS Foundation board of directors. Buccieri leads the multiplatform global entertainment business that encompasses A&E, Lifetime, The History Channel, A+E Networks International, A+E Studios, Six West Media and Category 6 Media. “Raising awareness of the ongoing global AIDS epidemic, and […]
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Verizon Bundles Netflix and Paramount+ With Showtime
Amid calls to build back the pay TV landscape, streaming rivals Netflix and Paramount+ are being bundled together via Verizon +Play. The telecom giant will see its subscription bundling platform for a limited time offer Netflix’s premium plan and the Paramount+ with Showtime in a bundle for $25.99 a month. Verizon is pointing to annual […]
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AMC Networks CFO Outlines Three Steps to “Economic Repair” in the Streaming Age
AMC Networks CFO Patrick O’Connell elaborated on how media and entertainment is pivoting to streaming sustainability, telling an investor conference on Thursday that “there needs to be economic repair to the media business.” Speaking at TD Cowen’s 51st Annual Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in New York in a session that was webcast, he said that […]
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All3Media Up For Sale From Warner Bros. Discovery, Liberty Global
Entertainment conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery and John Malone’s cable and telecom giant Liberty Global are considering alternatives for their production joint venture All3Media, the largest TV production firm in Britain, whose titles include the likes of Fleabag, The Traitors and The Tourist, as well as the 2019 film 1917. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that […]
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David Leavy Tapped as COO of CNN
Warner Bros. Discovery is turning to a veteran of the company to help bolster CNN’s leadership team. On Thursday the company announced that David Leavy, currently WBD’s chief corporate affairs officer, will become COO of the news brand, reporting to CNN CEO Chris Licht. Leavy is a 23-year veteran of Discovery Inc., having been one […]
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Saudi Production Hub Neom, Studio Telfaz11 Strike Partnership for Up to 9 Film, TV Projects
Neom, the burgeoning production hub in northwestern Saudi Arabia, and Telfaz11, a studio specializing in content from the Middle East that was behind this year’s Saudi Oscar submission Raven Song, have struck a partnership for the creation of up to nine TV and film projects over the next three years. “The collaboration between Neom and […]
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