HOLLYWOOD
Matthew Belloni
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September 27, 2024
Comp Wars: Netflix vs. The Agents
As the streamer prepares to introduce its new contingency compensation model, Netflix executives are giving the same old spiel about the company’s marketing and hit-making potential. But everyone, especially the people who represent talent, would benefit from an honest conversation about aligning interests.
Scott Mendelson
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September 24, 2024
‘Transformers’ & The Limits of I.P. Exploitation
Despite some incredible prerelease buzz around ‘Transformers One,’ the latest entry in the toy franchise proved to be another cautionary tale about what happens when a studio keeps exploiting franchises past their sell-by date.
Matthew Belloni
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September 20, 2024
Ted’s Transparency Soapbox
After years of advocating data obfuscation, Netflix’s Sarandos is focusing on transparency with his twice-a-year data dumps to frame the competition in a way he knows he can win, then advocating for his rivals to play his new game.
Matthew Belloni
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September 17, 2024
The Plan to CAA-ify Talent Managers
TPG leveraged its investment in an agency into a $7 billion sale and $2.4 billion return. Can it run the same playbook in the management space?
Ken Basin
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September 13, 2024
A Path Back to Sanity in TV Deals
“Cost plus” is the licensing model on which the Peak TV era was built. It has also become one of the drivers of the business’s decline. How can better dealmaking help set the industry back on a path toward sustainability?
Scott Mendelson
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September 10, 2024
The ‘Beetlejuice’ Boomerang
Not all legacy sequels work out, but ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ had a number of factors guiding its success—multigenerational appeal, the return of Tim Burton, and a pair of stars who are nearly as relevant now as they were more than 30 years ago.
Matthew Belloni
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September 6, 2024
Hollywood’s 10 Percent Problem
According to a new study, only one-tenth of the 500+ movies either released or scheduled for release by the major studios and streamers between 2022 and 2026 actually came from an internal development slate. Is this the new normal, or a wake-up call that the system has become far too risk-averse?
Matthew Belloni
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August 30, 2024
How the Zaz Fire Sale Could Play Out
Coming off a stock price nadir, with its legacy TV business cratering, Warner Bros. Discovery has reached the point where it may need to sell some stuff. Herewith, a rating of marketable assets and the highly speculative likelihood that David Zaslav will part with them.
Eriq Gardner
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August 27, 2024
Rapino’s Email Trail & Iger’s Musk Suit Headache
Live Nation’s fight to keep its C.E.O. from being deposed over the 2021 Astroworld concert tragedy appears to have backfired. Meanwhile, after a setback in the Gina Carano case, Disney is grappling with a deposition headache of its own.
Scott Mendelson
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August 27, 2024
Assessing MGM Under Amazon Rule
From August 2022, when Amazon officially acquired MGM, through to this past weekend’s flop Blink Twice, the studio released copious features greenlit by predecessors Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. So, how’d they do? Not great… but not awful considering the grim new normal.
Lesley Goldberg
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August 27, 2024
The Best and Worst Deals of the Peak TV Era (Part 3)
The third and final (for now) installment of our semi-conclusive and detail-rich list of the most costly showrunner deals, nine-figure pacts that led to zero new shows, and biggest underperformers of Hollywood’s hyper-inflated Peak TV era. Plus, the ones that really worked, too.
Lesley Goldberg
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August 23, 2024
The Best and Worst Deals of the Peak TV Era (Part 2)
The latest installment of our semi-conclusive and detail-rich list of the most costly showrunner deals, nine-figure pacts that led to zero new shows, and biggest underperformers of Hollywood’s hyper-inflated Peak TV era.
Eriq Gardner
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August 21, 2024
CAA Hits the Mattresses Against Its Defectors
Bryan Lourd’s CAA is lobbing serious allegations at its former employees, accusing them of contract breaches, loyalty breaches, and tortious interference by coaxing clients and at-will employees to jump ship.
Scott Mendelson
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August 21, 2024
7 Lessons From Hollywood’s Good-Not-Great Summer
Overseas matters more than online controversies, younger moviegoers already want to relive their youth, audiences are hungry for old-school movie stars, and other revelations from this year’s better-than-expected blockbuster season.
Lesley Goldberg
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August 20, 2024
The Best and Worst Deals of the Peak TV Era (Part 1)
A conclusive and detail-rich list of the most costly showrunner deals, the nine-figure pacts that led to zero new shows, and the biggest underperformers of Hollywood’s hyper-inflated Peak TV era.
The Editors
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August 19, 2024
The Making of ‘True Detective: Night Country’
A lively conversation with the talented filmmakers and actors behind the fourth season of the hit HBO and Max show.
Matthew Belloni
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August 16, 2024
It’s Go-Shop Time for Paramount
Edgar Bronfman Jr. may be publicly kicking the tires, but the special committee of the board has so far delivered what Shari Redstone wants. There’s little reason to think the committee won’t deliver again.
