It looks like a ray of light has started to shine through the stubborn conflict between the Writers Guild of America and the major talent agencies. The results appear to hinge on a conditional deal that involves hard but significant concessions on both sides. Packaging deals, the practice at the heart of the conflict, offer…
Hollywood union leaders have recently issued industry-wide guidelines that recommend motion picture studio production changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to those who have drafted the protocols, if reopening is to happen safely, actors, crew, and everyone who participates in the process will need to be protected from infection, and these guidelines are…
How Studios are Choosing Release Dates During the COVID-19 Outbreak As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, movie theaters have closed for the time being, but consumers have not lost any appetite for the movie-viewing experience. So with streaming services temporarily taking over as the primary option for movie watching, how can the concept of…
Esports (real-time multiplayer video games) are a relatively new entrant to the sports entertainment industry. And as a newcomer, the credibility of the esports enterprise has been subject to no shortage of scrutiny and controversy. People continually debated the primary question: Are esports “real” sports? But the COVID-19 outbreak may have made that question moot.…
Streaming services overall tend to demonstrate a preference for animation over live-action productions, especially when it comes to children’s content, primarily because of lower production costs. Without production and sets, the cost difference is wide enough to appeal to streamers. Among shows for children, animation makes up about 62% of streaming service content, versus 32%…
The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing epic shake-ups to various aspects of our lives, changes that are rapidly making their presence known in every corner of almost every industry. The world of TV production has not been spared, of course, and one of these changes may affect—even end—a storied institution: pilots. Pilot season typically runs throughout…
Streaming video on demand (SVOD) businesses are streaming, literally, into the marketplace, as new services like Disney Plus, HBO Max, and Apple TV Plus rush forward to satisfy an insatiable customer demand for streamed viewing options. Each service looks for ways to define its value proposition and set itself apart in a crowded field, but…
Television network and studio executives, and major producers for existing programs are about to make some strategic hiring decisions, according to industry commentary, like this article from Deadline. As the WGA (Writers Guild of America) faces the end of its current contract with television and film production companies this spring, television networks and studios are…
During the final months of 2015 and first half of 2016, Netflix made a bold move by hiring Tara Flynn and Marcos Waltenberg, two employees who were both working at the executive level for Fox at the time. Both executive employees were in the middle of two-year contracts with Fox, and the contracts gave the…
If you’re following the motion picture and television industry drama surrounding Netflix and its adopted practice of theatrically releasing potential award-winning feature films within a short release window—too short for many theater owners and creative contributors–then you know that Scott Stuber has recently been sharing his thoughts publicly with the industry trade press and other…