Exclusive: The furor over a Chinese spy balloon that flew over U.S. airspace has further chilled D.C.-Beijing tensions, but the entertainment industry already has been swept up in the heightened atmosphere of American hawkishness.
Hollywood studios and producers are poised to get a new level of scrutiny over their dealings with China — reflecting a bipartisan hardline toward Beijing and escalating concerns over its influence.
A little publicized provision of a recently passed defense bill restricts the U.S. government from spending funds on movies that, to gain entry into the Chinese marketplace, are altered in the face of Chinese government dictates.
The provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, approved in a bipartisan vote of Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in December, is the latest example of an increased focus on China’s role, not just in the entertainment industry but also in sports and social media.
Hollywood studios and producers are poised to get a new level of scrutiny over their dealings with China — reflecting a bipartisan hardline toward Beijing and escalating concerns over its influence.
A little publicized provision of a recently passed defense bill restricts the U.S. government from spending funds on movies that, to gain entry into the Chinese marketplace, are altered in the face of Chinese government dictates.
The provision in the National Defense Authorization Act, approved in a bipartisan vote of Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in December, is the latest example of an increased focus on China’s role, not just in the entertainment industry but also in sports and social media.
- 2/6/2023
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Morgan Freeman and his producing partner Lori McCreary are set to produce “War Is Coming,” a short film from Nigerian filmmaking collective The Critics Company.
Freeman and McCreary are producing through their Revelations Entertainment production banner.
“War Is Coming” follows the story of Óla, a brash teenager who discovers he is the reincarnation of a demigod, and spirals into his destiny, unprepared for the events that come as a result of this discovery.
The film will debut at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art’s +234 Connect Festival: A Celebration of Nigerian Creativity. It will also be released simultaneously via The Critics Company’s popular YouTube channel.
Said McCreary: “The Smithsonian’s National Museum was a natural way to premiere the film and introduce the world to the uniquely talented Critics in-person.”
Ranging in age from 17 through 21 years old, The Critics became social media sensations following the 2019 release of their sci-fi short “The Chase,...
Freeman and McCreary are producing through their Revelations Entertainment production banner.
“War Is Coming” follows the story of Óla, a brash teenager who discovers he is the reincarnation of a demigod, and spirals into his destiny, unprepared for the events that come as a result of this discovery.
The film will debut at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art’s +234 Connect Festival: A Celebration of Nigerian Creativity. It will also be released simultaneously via The Critics Company’s popular YouTube channel.
Said McCreary: “The Smithsonian’s National Museum was a natural way to premiere the film and introduce the world to the uniquely talented Critics in-person.”
Ranging in age from 17 through 21 years old, The Critics became social media sensations following the 2019 release of their sci-fi short “The Chase,...
- 9/29/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: We can tell you first that Kevin Costner’s Territory Pictures will team with Morgan Freeman, Lori McCreary and their Revelations Entertainment to produce the Civil War spy drama The Gray House, a six-hour limited series for Paramount Global.
Both actors’ production shingles are partnering with Big Dreams Entertainment’s founder Leslie Greif, to tell the story of the three women General Ulysses S. Grant credited as helping the North win the Civil War. Costner is revisiting the Civil War era with his New Line ensemble western Horizon which he is currently shooting. Costner’s 7x Oscar winning movie, Dances With Wolves, was set during the Civil War frame, that pic earning the multihyphenate Best Picture and Best Director trophies.
Much like the women in the 2017 film Hidden Figures, in which Costner co-starred, The Gray House focuses on the unsung women who turned the tide of the American Civil...
Both actors’ production shingles are partnering with Big Dreams Entertainment’s founder Leslie Greif, to tell the story of the three women General Ulysses S. Grant credited as helping the North win the Civil War. Costner is revisiting the Civil War era with his New Line ensemble western Horizon which he is currently shooting. Costner’s 7x Oscar winning movie, Dances With Wolves, was set during the Civil War frame, that pic earning the multihyphenate Best Picture and Best Director trophies.
Much like the women in the 2017 film Hidden Figures, in which Costner co-starred, The Gray House focuses on the unsung women who turned the tide of the American Civil...
- 9/28/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
The battle over how Hollywood studios share profit with talent and creatives has been raging since the invention of movies. The current tensions have ratcheted upward due to the advent of the streaming wars and the new business models the deep-pocketed players have developed. While Disney recently settled a compensation spat out of court with actor Scarlett Johansson after shifting her starring vehicle “Black Widow” out of theaters and onto its platform within days, the Writers Guild won a wider victory over the talent agencies last year, phasing out packaging fees and cutting agency interest stakes in affiliated production companies to just 20% going forward.
Attention around the means of rewarding talent further spiked thanks to a modestly priced South Korean series that stormed the world last fall with an initial 142 million viewers for Netflix (and still counting): “Squid Game.”
Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, when confronted with the leaked $891 million Netflix-generated revenue metric,...
Attention around the means of rewarding talent further spiked thanks to a modestly priced South Korean series that stormed the world last fall with an initial 142 million viewers for Netflix (and still counting): “Squid Game.”
Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, when confronted with the leaked $891 million Netflix-generated revenue metric,...
- 1/15/2022
- by Angus Finney
- Variety Film + TV
The tea leaves aren’t difficult to read: China and Hollywood can bid adieu to any attempts at in-depth cultural collaboration for the foreseeable future as relations between Tinseltown and the world’s largest film market enter a new, unprecedented chapter.
In wide-ranging interviews conducted by Variety, a dozen producers, studio executives and industry org representatives have said that 2022 will be a chapter marked not only by bilateral friction between the two superpowers, but by the Chinese film industry’s decoupling from the broader global film industry as a whole, as the country turns inward under President Xi Jinping.
Under the veil of Covid-19 isolationism, the past two years have seen Beijing unwinding the Deng Xiaoping-era policies of reform, opening up its economy and shifting back towards a top-down management system for content creation in ways that will affect Chinese creatives in the years to come.
In this new frontier,...
In wide-ranging interviews conducted by Variety, a dozen producers, studio executives and industry org representatives have said that 2022 will be a chapter marked not only by bilateral friction between the two superpowers, but by the Chinese film industry’s decoupling from the broader global film industry as a whole, as the country turns inward under President Xi Jinping.
Under the veil of Covid-19 isolationism, the past two years have seen Beijing unwinding the Deng Xiaoping-era policies of reform, opening up its economy and shifting back towards a top-down management system for content creation in ways that will affect Chinese creatives in the years to come.
In this new frontier,...
- 12/21/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Brett Hawn had never really in vested in the stock market until his teenage sons tipped him off to GameStop earlier in the year. On Reddit, investors were talking up the distressed retailer and the AMC theater chain. Hawn, a 50-year-old network engineer from Phoenix, bought 50 shares of AMC, seeing it as a chance to fight back against the hedge funds on Wall Street.
“Every dollar that I spend is making them hurt a little more,” he says. “I’m Ok with that. I remember what happened in 2008 all too well.”
Reddit traders like Hawn have turbocharged AMC’s stock, vaulting it from $2 a share in January to nearly $75 last week. (The stock closed at $55 on June 7.) The surge has allowed AMC to boost its liquidity and put it in a better position to survive the pandemic, which caused it to lose more than $4.5 billion in 2020.
But on...
“Every dollar that I spend is making them hurt a little more,” he says. “I’m Ok with that. I remember what happened in 2008 all too well.”
Reddit traders like Hawn have turbocharged AMC’s stock, vaulting it from $2 a share in January to nearly $75 last week. (The stock closed at $55 on June 7.) The surge has allowed AMC to boost its liquidity and put it in a better position to survive the pandemic, which caused it to lose more than $4.5 billion in 2020.
But on...
- 6/9/2021
- by Brent Lang and Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Bankers are already starting to salivate over what other megadeals could be in the offing following this week’s surprise pair-up of WarnerMedia and Discovery.
AT&T’s desperation to drop a company that it spent $85.4 billion and a year and half in legal fights to acquire raises the immediate question of what else might be possible in an era when Wall Street is pressuring big media conglomerates to keep generating content for audiences hungry to stream their favorite dramas and comedies.
Sure, smaller entertainment companies like Lionsgate and AMC Networks have long been seen as potential acquisition targets — and Amazon just offered a reported $9 billion to buy MGM for its vast library — but financial minds are starting to indulge their greatest scenarios. What if Apple swooped in and picked up a big media name? Do NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS need to add more heft even though they are both products of sizable mergers?...
AT&T’s desperation to drop a company that it spent $85.4 billion and a year and half in legal fights to acquire raises the immediate question of what else might be possible in an era when Wall Street is pressuring big media conglomerates to keep generating content for audiences hungry to stream their favorite dramas and comedies.
Sure, smaller entertainment companies like Lionsgate and AMC Networks have long been seen as potential acquisition targets — and Amazon just offered a reported $9 billion to buy MGM for its vast library — but financial minds are starting to indulge their greatest scenarios. What if Apple swooped in and picked up a big media name? Do NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS need to add more heft even though they are both products of sizable mergers?...
- 5/19/2021
- by Brian Steinberg and Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
It was supposed to be the year in which female superheroes ruled the box office, with an assist from James Bond, a gritty street-racing Vin Diesel and a jet-flying Tom Cruise.
Instead, “Wonder Woman 1984,” Disney’s “Mulan” remake and more movies that were poised to be among the year’s biggest found themselves streaming online as others continue to be pushed far into the future in the hopes of outrunning the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s a reality that would have been unthinkable when these films were greenlit years ago. After all, traditional Hollywood studios don’t pump hundreds of millions of dollars into a movie for audiences to watch it for the first time at home.
But with theaters closed for a good portion of the year, Hollywood studios have been forced to recalibrate a film release calendar that’s been entirely upended by the ongoing global health crisis. Yet...
Instead, “Wonder Woman 1984,” Disney’s “Mulan” remake and more movies that were poised to be among the year’s biggest found themselves streaming online as others continue to be pushed far into the future in the hopes of outrunning the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s a reality that would have been unthinkable when these films were greenlit years ago. After all, traditional Hollywood studios don’t pump hundreds of millions of dollars into a movie for audiences to watch it for the first time at home.
But with theaters closed for a good portion of the year, Hollywood studios have been forced to recalibrate a film release calendar that’s been entirely upended by the ongoing global health crisis. Yet...
- 12/9/2020
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
While theater closures are moving blockbuster release dates to 2021 and 2022, many Hollywood agents are encouraging studios and clients to instead sell their films to the streamers, multiple insiders told TheWrap. “Agencies are pushing to sell to streamers because they can immediately get cash and their commissions rather than wait for it,” one studio insider told TheWrap. “The agencies are in such a crappy position that they are trying to push us to sell product — you are getting a premium if you are getting paid upfront.” Entertainment attorney Schuyler Moore at Greenberg Glusker agreed that the move toward streaming has accelerated this year. “Everybody’s going to the streamers, agents in particular. Previously, the stars and big directors looked down at the streamers almost like television, but that barrier has been broken, in part with ‘The Irishman,'” he said, referencing the Martin Scorsese drama that had a small theatrical run...
- 12/2/2020
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Solstice Studios has acquired worldwide rights to The Plane, an elevated action thriller that stars Gerard Butler. The film is currently booked for takeoff on June 28, 2021, shooting in Southeast Asia.
Deadline revealed earlier this week that Lionsgate exited the film because the production could not get Covid insurance and the risk became too great for the indie studio on the $50 million budget film. The picture was the hottest package at 2019 AFM that sold out every territory, and it was originally supposed to be shooting now in Malaysia but stalled because of a Covid spike there. Same thing happened when an attempt was made to move production to the Dominican Republic and then the U.S. The Plane illustrates the troubles facing any indie distributors and producer/financiers trying to mount pictures because insurance companies aren’t writing Covid policies now or are doing it for Covid and “civil authority” clauses at prohibitively high rates.
Deadline revealed earlier this week that Lionsgate exited the film because the production could not get Covid insurance and the risk became too great for the indie studio on the $50 million budget film. The picture was the hottest package at 2019 AFM that sold out every territory, and it was originally supposed to be shooting now in Malaysia but stalled because of a Covid spike there. Same thing happened when an attempt was made to move production to the Dominican Republic and then the U.S. The Plane illustrates the troubles facing any indie distributors and producer/financiers trying to mount pictures because insurance companies aren’t writing Covid policies now or are doing it for Covid and “civil authority” clauses at prohibitively high rates.
- 11/13/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Updated, 10:15 Am: 101 Studios is moving The War with Grandpa to Oct. 9. The Robert De Niro family comedy moves off the Sept. 18 weekend, where it was against Disney/20th Century Studios’ The King’s Man and to a weekend where there aren’t any wide releases. Given how movie theaters are reopening with auditorium capacity restrictions, few titles will be occupying the majority space of a multiplex in the near future. Still Tbd in regards to when California and New York reopen. As we reported yesterday, Canada is underway on Friday with Paramount’s SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run, Vvs/Solstice Studios’ Unhinged and Warner Bros.’ tenth anniversary re-release of Inception.
Watch the first trailer for The War with Grandpa here.
Previously, June 29: 101 Studios will release the Robert De Niro family comedy The War With Grandpa on Sept. 18 wide in conjunction with financier Brookdale Studios.
Marro Media Company...
Watch the first trailer for The War with Grandpa here.
Previously, June 29: 101 Studios will release the Robert De Niro family comedy The War With Grandpa on Sept. 18 wide in conjunction with financier Brookdale Studios.
Marro Media Company...
- 8/13/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
101 Studios has picked up the domestic rights to release “The War With Grandpa,” the family comedy starring Robert De Niro, this fall, the studio announced Monday.
“The War With Grandpa” stars De Niro alongside Oakes Fegley in a film from director Tim Hill (“The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run”), and it will open theatrically on September 18, 2020.
The movie is based on Robert Kimmel Smith’s popular children’s fiction novel of the same name and it’s the story of a grandfather and grandson who were once close but come to butt heads once grandpa moves in and has to share a bedroom with his grandson. The boy will stop at nothing to get his room back, scheming with friends to devise a series of pranks in order to drive his grandpa out, only for his grandfather to respond in all out war.
Also Read: Robert De Niro,...
“The War With Grandpa” stars De Niro alongside Oakes Fegley in a film from director Tim Hill (“The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run”), and it will open theatrically on September 18, 2020.
The movie is based on Robert Kimmel Smith’s popular children’s fiction novel of the same name and it’s the story of a grandfather and grandson who were once close but come to butt heads once grandpa moves in and has to share a bedroom with his grandson. The boy will stop at nothing to get his room back, scheming with friends to devise a series of pranks in order to drive his grandpa out, only for his grandfather to respond in all out war.
Also Read: Robert De Niro,...
- 6/29/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Deadline has learned that a reboot of Blake Edwards hit 1979 comedy 10 is happening at Warner Bros. with Legally Blonde‘s Karen McCullah and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith writing. Sue Kroll, through Kroll & Co. Entertainment’s exclusive deal at the Burbank, CA studio, will produce alongside Jeff Nathanson. Julie Andrews and Ashok Amritraj will serve as executive producers.
The original movie, which starred Edwards’ wife Julie Andrews, Dudley Moore and Bo Derek, followed a Hollywood composer going through a mid-life crisis who becomes infatuated with a newly married woman. 10 was a huge box office hit back in the day making close to $75M at the domestic box office.
The new project will take a comedic look at the question of what defines a “perfect 10” in today’s world. The new contemporary re-imagining will be inspired by the original film’s wit, humor and groundbreaking conversations around sexual politics.
“10 holds a special place in my heart.
The original movie, which starred Edwards’ wife Julie Andrews, Dudley Moore and Bo Derek, followed a Hollywood composer going through a mid-life crisis who becomes infatuated with a newly married woman. 10 was a huge box office hit back in the day making close to $75M at the domestic box office.
The new project will take a comedic look at the question of what defines a “perfect 10” in today’s world. The new contemporary re-imagining will be inspired by the original film’s wit, humor and groundbreaking conversations around sexual politics.
“10 holds a special place in my heart.
- 5/15/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Theater owners argue that the movie business has survived for decades, enduring new challenges from “peak TV” and streaming, because it offers up a communal experience. Nothing, they maintain, beats watching a comic-book epic or a suspense thriller in a darkened room full of fellow movie fans.
But the same qualities that have helped the film industry withstand a shifting media landscape may have audiences steering clear of multiplexes during a public health crisis. There is a chance that theaters in the United States could close if coronavirus continues to spread and the death count and infection rate keep rising.
“The last thing people are going to want to do is sit in a theater with a bunch of coughing people,” said Schuyler Moore, an entertainment industry lawyer with Greenberg Glusker. “That’s just not going to happen.”
So far, however, the exhibition sector has proved remarkably resilient. Domestic box...
But the same qualities that have helped the film industry withstand a shifting media landscape may have audiences steering clear of multiplexes during a public health crisis. There is a chance that theaters in the United States could close if coronavirus continues to spread and the death count and infection rate keep rising.
“The last thing people are going to want to do is sit in a theater with a bunch of coughing people,” said Schuyler Moore, an entertainment industry lawyer with Greenberg Glusker. “That’s just not going to happen.”
So far, however, the exhibition sector has proved remarkably resilient. Domestic box...
- 3/4/2020
- by Brent Lang and Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Randall Stephenson, At&T’s chairman-ceo, summoned all of his folksy Oklahoma earnestness as he made an enthusiastic pitch to Wall Street analysts about the telephone company’s bold efforts to transform itself into a multimedia powerhouse. It was late November, less than six months after At&T had wrapped up its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner. But before Stephenson could wax poetic about his plans to revitalize HBO, Warner Bros. or other newly acquired At&T subsidiaries, he felt compelled to address the elephant in the room.
“If you hear nothing else this afternoon, I want you to hear me on this,” Stephenson said at the company’s investor presentation in New York. “Our discretionary cash flow is going to go to one place. It’s going to be paying down debt.”
Stephenson had no choice but to try to appease those who are plenty anxious about the mountain of...
“If you hear nothing else this afternoon, I want you to hear me on this,” Stephenson said at the company’s investor presentation in New York. “Our discretionary cash flow is going to go to one place. It’s going to be paying down debt.”
Stephenson had no choice but to try to appease those who are plenty anxious about the mountain of...
- 1/15/2019
- by Cynthia Littleton and Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Shia LeBeouf, is that you under all that ink?
Director David Ayer (“Suicide Squad”) has tweeted the first look at LeBeouf in character for the indie crime thriller “The Tax Collector,” and he is barely recognizable under all the tattoos.
Plot details are bring kept under wraps, but the word “Creeper” is displayed across LeBeouf’s stomach possibly, revealing the name of his character.
#taxcollectormovie pic.twitter.com/t5bnCSrDRo
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) August 11, 2018
LeBeouf and Ayer last worked together on the 2014 World War II tank drama “Fury.” “The Tax Collector,” which is currently in production, also stars stars Bobby Soto, George Lopez, Lana Parrilla, Chelsea Rendon and Cheyenne Rae Hernandez. The film is being financed by Cross Creek Pictures and is a co-production between Cross Creek and Cedar Park Entertainment. Ayer is writing, directing and producing, with Chris Long producing for Cedar Park.
Also Read: 'Bright' Director David Ayer...
Director David Ayer (“Suicide Squad”) has tweeted the first look at LeBeouf in character for the indie crime thriller “The Tax Collector,” and he is barely recognizable under all the tattoos.
Plot details are bring kept under wraps, but the word “Creeper” is displayed across LeBeouf’s stomach possibly, revealing the name of his character.
#taxcollectormovie pic.twitter.com/t5bnCSrDRo
— David Ayer (@DavidAyerMovies) August 11, 2018
LeBeouf and Ayer last worked together on the 2014 World War II tank drama “Fury.” “The Tax Collector,” which is currently in production, also stars stars Bobby Soto, George Lopez, Lana Parrilla, Chelsea Rendon and Cheyenne Rae Hernandez. The film is being financed by Cross Creek Pictures and is a co-production between Cross Creek and Cedar Park Entertainment. Ayer is writing, directing and producing, with Chris Long producing for Cedar Park.
Also Read: 'Bright' Director David Ayer...
- 8/11/2018
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
In today’s film news roundup, Shia Labeouf is starring in “Tax Collector,” Scout Taylor-Compton joins “Abeyance,” and streaming service Docsville is expanding.
Castings
Shia Labeouf and Bobby Soto are starring in David Ayer’s crime thriller “Tax Collector,” which will be shot in Los Angeles this summer.
Cross Creek Pictures is financing “Tax Collector,” a co-production between Cross Creek and Cedar Park Entertainment, Ayer’s production company. Ayer and Chris Long of Cedar Park are the producers. The filmmakers are keeping the logline under wraps.
Ayer’s directing credits include “End of Watch,” “Sabotage,” “Fury,” “Suicide Squad,” and “Bright.” Labeouf worked with Ayer in the World War II action-drama “Fury.” Labeouf’s show business drama “Honey Boy” is in post-production.
Cross Creek is repped by CAA Media Finance and Schuyler Moore of Greenberg Glusker Fields. Cedar Park, Ayer, and Long are repped by CAA. The news was first reported by Deadline.
Castings
Shia Labeouf and Bobby Soto are starring in David Ayer’s crime thriller “Tax Collector,” which will be shot in Los Angeles this summer.
Cross Creek Pictures is financing “Tax Collector,” a co-production between Cross Creek and Cedar Park Entertainment, Ayer’s production company. Ayer and Chris Long of Cedar Park are the producers. The filmmakers are keeping the logline under wraps.
Ayer’s directing credits include “End of Watch,” “Sabotage,” “Fury,” “Suicide Squad,” and “Bright.” Labeouf worked with Ayer in the World War II action-drama “Fury.” Labeouf’s show business drama “Honey Boy” is in post-production.
Cross Creek is repped by CAA Media Finance and Schuyler Moore of Greenberg Glusker Fields. Cedar Park, Ayer, and Long are repped by CAA. The news was first reported by Deadline.
- 6/23/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: David Ayer is squeezing a gritty indie crime thriller in between directing Bright and its sequel. Ayer has begun pre-production on Tax Collector, a crime thriller he wrote and will direct in Los Angeles this summer with Shia Labeouf and Bobby Soto starring. Cross Creek Pictures is funding the film, which is a co-production between Cross Creek and Cedar Park Entertainment. Latter is led by Ayer and Chris Long, who just made a first look deal with eOne for television. Tax Collector harkens back to Ayer’s earlier gritty crime thrillers Training Day (which he wrote and Antoine Fuqua directed) and End of Watch, which Ayer directed. They are keeping plot under wraps. Cross Creek credits include Black Swan, Black Mass, American Made, and Hacksaw Ridge. Cross Creek has an overall deal at Sony.
Ayer wrote Tax Collector and Long (Mr. Mercedes) will be the producer. Cross Creek is...
Ayer wrote Tax Collector and Long (Mr. Mercedes) will be the producer. Cross Creek is...
- 6/21/2018
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
In today’s film news roundup, documentaries on Sly Stone and a Wisconsin police killing are moving forward and a CEO is named for the Afm & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund.
Documentaries
Network Entertainment and filmmaker Derik Murray have acquired the rights to produce a feature documentary on the life and legacy of musician Sylvester Stewart, better known as Sly Stone.
Production on the film has commenced, with the filming of an exclusive interview with the traditionally reclusive Stone.
“In the annals of pop music, certain artists are more than just innovators and more than just icons. Certain artists are avatars — the manifestation of an idea,” said Murray. “For Sly Stone, that idea was to create a diverse band that embraced a kaleidoscope of musical and cultural styles, that stand unparalleled to this day.”
“Sly Stone” will trace the musician’s journey from child prodigy to stardom to...
Documentaries
Network Entertainment and filmmaker Derik Murray have acquired the rights to produce a feature documentary on the life and legacy of musician Sylvester Stewart, better known as Sly Stone.
Production on the film has commenced, with the filming of an exclusive interview with the traditionally reclusive Stone.
“In the annals of pop music, certain artists are more than just innovators and more than just icons. Certain artists are avatars — the manifestation of an idea,” said Murray. “For Sly Stone, that idea was to create a diverse band that embraced a kaleidoscope of musical and cultural styles, that stand unparalleled to this day.”
“Sly Stone” will trace the musician’s journey from child prodigy to stardom to...
- 3/29/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Have you seen TheGrill conference agenda for September 26-27 at the Montage, Beverly Hills? Or all the new speakers just added? John Landgraf, CEO, FX Networks Andrew Howard, Partner, Shamrock Capital Advisors Nina Shaw, Founding Partner, Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein & Lezcano Carlos Jimenez, Managing Director, Moelis & Company Andrew Siegel, Evp, Advance Publications Inc Schuyler Moore, Partner, Stroock & Stroock Dan Schechter, Managing Director, L.E.K. Consulting LLC Brian Weinstein, Head of Global Client Strategy, Creative Artists Agency For a taste of the provocative conversations on deck, watch our Irving Azoff video above. 2016 Agenda When Gaming Goes Hollywood … Gamertainment and...
- 9/20/2016
- by TheGrill Staff
- The Wrap
Leading global producer of entertainment finance conferences Winston Baker eagerly anticipates their 3rd Annual Film Finance Forum China, to be hosted at the Shanghai Exhibition Center and the Crowne Plaza in Shanghai, China during the 18th Shanghai International Film Festival on June 16, 2015.
The latest event in Winston Baker’s highly successful international Film Finance Forum® series will feature a speaking faculty of seasoned leaders from American, Chinese and international entertainment industries who will discuss China’s growing film market. These top executives will address the expanding presence of China’s online giants in the business and the future of the country’s local film production, and consider the implications of the growing alliance between Hollywood and China through a case study of the recent deal between Hunan TV and Lionsgate. The conference’s program is designed to educate and connect high-level financiers, filmmakers, and other leaders in the entertainment business.
The forum will feature A Keynote Conversation with IMAX, delivered by industry juggernaut Rich Gelfond, the Chief Executive Officer of IMAX. Under Gelfond’s leadership, IMAX recently announced its plans for a Hong Kong Ipo for its booming business in China, news that sent the company’s stock soaring to all-time highs. Winston Baker’s special session is an invaluable opportunity to gain insight into Gelfond’s experience, savvy, and global success.
The conference’s speaking faculty includes other industry power players from top entertainment and finance companies, and professionals who have contributed to such notable and award-winning films as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "The Sea of Trees," "Paranormal Activity," "Godzilla," "Soul Surfer," "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," "The Golden Era," "The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven 3D," and more. These experienced and innovative executives include:
· Lindsay Conner, Partner, Co-Chair, Entertainment & Media, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Llp
· Zhao Fang, General Manager, Wanda Media
· William Feng, Chief Representative, China Office, Motion Picture Association
· Stuart Ford, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Im Global
· Patrick Frater, Asia Bureau Chief, Variety
· Ricardo Galindez, Co-Founder, Island Film Group
· Dave Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand Film Commission
· Jason Goldberg, Partner, Covington & Burling Llp
· Tom McGrath, Chief Operating Officer, Stx Entertainment
· Schuyler Moore, Partner, Entertainment Department, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan Llp
· Bennett Pozil, Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate Banking, East West Bank
· Franck Priot, Chief Operating Officer, Film France
. Eric Rong, President, Tik Films
· Qiu Jie, Chief Executive Officer, Lemous Pictures International
· Stephen Scharf, Partner, O’Melveny & Myers Llp
· Wang Juan, Editor-in-Chief, Tencent Video
· Li Yansong, President, iQiYi Motion Pictures
The Shanghai International Film Festival has become one the most influential film events in the Asian-Pacific area, drawing celebrities, renowned filmmakers, and executives from around the world. Winston Baker’s 3rd Annual Film Finance Forum China offers participants a unique way to forge connections with active industry deal-makers and learn from their experiences.
Sponsors and partners of Winston Baker’s forum include Im Global; O’Melveny & Myers Llp; Motion Picture Association; Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Llp; East West Bank; Covington & Burling Llp; Island Film Group; Stroock & Stroock & Lavan Llp; Digital Film Cloud Network; Vine Alternative Investment; The Chinese Film Market and Variety.
The latest event in Winston Baker’s highly successful international Film Finance Forum® series will feature a speaking faculty of seasoned leaders from American, Chinese and international entertainment industries who will discuss China’s growing film market. These top executives will address the expanding presence of China’s online giants in the business and the future of the country’s local film production, and consider the implications of the growing alliance between Hollywood and China through a case study of the recent deal between Hunan TV and Lionsgate. The conference’s program is designed to educate and connect high-level financiers, filmmakers, and other leaders in the entertainment business.
The forum will feature A Keynote Conversation with IMAX, delivered by industry juggernaut Rich Gelfond, the Chief Executive Officer of IMAX. Under Gelfond’s leadership, IMAX recently announced its plans for a Hong Kong Ipo for its booming business in China, news that sent the company’s stock soaring to all-time highs. Winston Baker’s special session is an invaluable opportunity to gain insight into Gelfond’s experience, savvy, and global success.
The conference’s speaking faculty includes other industry power players from top entertainment and finance companies, and professionals who have contributed to such notable and award-winning films as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "The Sea of Trees," "Paranormal Activity," "Godzilla," "Soul Surfer," "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," "The Golden Era," "The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven 3D," and more. These experienced and innovative executives include:
· Lindsay Conner, Partner, Co-Chair, Entertainment & Media, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Llp
· Zhao Fang, General Manager, Wanda Media
· William Feng, Chief Representative, China Office, Motion Picture Association
· Stuart Ford, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Im Global
· Patrick Frater, Asia Bureau Chief, Variety
· Ricardo Galindez, Co-Founder, Island Film Group
· Dave Gibson, Chief Executive Officer, New Zealand Film Commission
· Jason Goldberg, Partner, Covington & Burling Llp
· Tom McGrath, Chief Operating Officer, Stx Entertainment
· Schuyler Moore, Partner, Entertainment Department, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan Llp
· Bennett Pozil, Executive Vice President, Head of Corporate Banking, East West Bank
· Franck Priot, Chief Operating Officer, Film France
. Eric Rong, President, Tik Films
· Qiu Jie, Chief Executive Officer, Lemous Pictures International
· Stephen Scharf, Partner, O’Melveny & Myers Llp
· Wang Juan, Editor-in-Chief, Tencent Video
· Li Yansong, President, iQiYi Motion Pictures
The Shanghai International Film Festival has become one the most influential film events in the Asian-Pacific area, drawing celebrities, renowned filmmakers, and executives from around the world. Winston Baker’s 3rd Annual Film Finance Forum China offers participants a unique way to forge connections with active industry deal-makers and learn from their experiences.
Sponsors and partners of Winston Baker’s forum include Im Global; O’Melveny & Myers Llp; Motion Picture Association; Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Llp; East West Bank; Covington & Burling Llp; Island Film Group; Stroock & Stroock & Lavan Llp; Digital Film Cloud Network; Vine Alternative Investment; The Chinese Film Market and Variety.
- 6/3/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Dominic Cooper, who will be taking on the lead role of Jesse Custer in AMC’s Preacher
AMC has cast the lead role in its upcoming series Preacher. The adaptation of the Garth Ennis comic series has formally signed Dominic Cooper as the titular preacher Jesse Custer, as confirmed by executive producer and co-developer Seth Rogen.
We have Jesse Custer! @dominiccoop is gonna save our souls. #Preacher
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) April 17, 2015
This is not Cooper’s first foray into the world of comic books, as he has also played Howard Stark, father to Iron Man Tony Stark, on both the big and small screen. Cooper, whose formal signing comes after weeks of talks, joins a cast that already includes Ruth Negga, Joseph Gilgun, Ian Colletti, and Lucy Griffiths. A premiere date for Preacher has yet to be announced.
———
HBO made a number of moves over the past week. Key among...
AMC has cast the lead role in its upcoming series Preacher. The adaptation of the Garth Ennis comic series has formally signed Dominic Cooper as the titular preacher Jesse Custer, as confirmed by executive producer and co-developer Seth Rogen.
We have Jesse Custer! @dominiccoop is gonna save our souls. #Preacher
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) April 17, 2015
This is not Cooper’s first foray into the world of comic books, as he has also played Howard Stark, father to Iron Man Tony Stark, on both the big and small screen. Cooper, whose formal signing comes after weeks of talks, joins a cast that already includes Ruth Negga, Joseph Gilgun, Ian Colletti, and Lucy Griffiths. A premiere date for Preacher has yet to be announced.
———
HBO made a number of moves over the past week. Key among...
- 4/18/2015
- by Deepayan Sengupta
- SoundOnSight
It is now time for my complete list of The Suck In Today’s Film Biz. Earlier this week, I’ve dropped some bits on Keyframe and Filmmaker Mag. IndieWire picked it up. There’s so much that is wrong, it is easy to share the wealth. But here is all of those combined lists plus many more. Can’t you hear everyone screaming “Omg, there is so much too fix! It is time we made this really work for ambitious and diverse film once and for all!”? We wish, right?
I have been chronicling the negative in our film industry for sometime now — six years in these type of posts, but my original rant goes back to 1995 for Filmmaker Magazine. Much of what I have stated in years’ passed remains still in need of getting done. Dig in to my past lists and when you combine them you will...
I have been chronicling the negative in our film industry for sometime now — six years in these type of posts, but my original rant goes back to 1995 for Filmmaker Magazine. Much of what I have stated in years’ passed remains still in need of getting done. Dig in to my past lists and when you combine them you will...
- 12/4/2014
- by Ted Hope
- Hope for Film
The management team of Millennium Entertainment, led by CEO Bill Lee, and private investment firm Virgo Investment Group have partnered to acquire the Millennium Entertainment library and distribution platform.
The group is acquiring the assets from a consortium of investors including majority shareholder Nu Image led by Avi Lerner and Trevor Short, White Horse Pictures principals Nigel Sinclair and Guy East and Prentice Capital, who are understood to have owned 20% apiece.
The company will operate under a new name. Going forward the Millennium brand will be held solely by Nu Image subsidiary Millennium Films, the production arm that is not a part of the transaction.
Lee will continue as CEO and all existing management are expected to remain in place. The company and Virgo plan to grow the platform through investments in film content, distribution growth and corporate acquisitions. Millennium Entertainment had courted buyers since it was put up for sale in April 2013.
“I’m proud of our...
The group is acquiring the assets from a consortium of investors including majority shareholder Nu Image led by Avi Lerner and Trevor Short, White Horse Pictures principals Nigel Sinclair and Guy East and Prentice Capital, who are understood to have owned 20% apiece.
The company will operate under a new name. Going forward the Millennium brand will be held solely by Nu Image subsidiary Millennium Films, the production arm that is not a part of the transaction.
Lee will continue as CEO and all existing management are expected to remain in place. The company and Virgo plan to grow the platform through investments in film content, distribution growth and corporate acquisitions. Millennium Entertainment had courted buyers since it was put up for sale in April 2013.
“I’m proud of our...
- 8/19/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The management team of Millennium Entertainment, led by CEO Bill Lee, and private investment firm Virgo Investment Group have partnered to acquire the Millennium Entertainment library and distribution platform.
The group is acquiring the assets from a consortium of investors including majority shareholder Nu Image led by Avi Lerner and Trevor Short, White Horse Pictures principals Nigel Sinclair and Guy East and Prentice Capital, who are understood to have owned 20% apiece.
The company will operate under a new name. Going forward the Millennium brand will be held solely by Nu Image subsidiary Millennium Films, the production arm that is not a part of the transaction.
Lee will continue as CEO and all existing management are expected to remain in place. The company and Virgo plan to grow the platform through investments in film content, distribution growth and corporate acquisitions. Millennium Entertainment had courted buyers since it was put up for sale in April 2013.
“I’m proud of our...
The group is acquiring the assets from a consortium of investors including majority shareholder Nu Image led by Avi Lerner and Trevor Short, White Horse Pictures principals Nigel Sinclair and Guy East and Prentice Capital, who are understood to have owned 20% apiece.
The company will operate under a new name. Going forward the Millennium brand will be held solely by Nu Image subsidiary Millennium Films, the production arm that is not a part of the transaction.
Lee will continue as CEO and all existing management are expected to remain in place. The company and Virgo plan to grow the platform through investments in film content, distribution growth and corporate acquisitions. Millennium Entertainment had courted buyers since it was put up for sale in April 2013.
“I’m proud of our...
- 8/19/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Schuyler Moore appears to think so. The title of his recent Forbes post “Netflix Will Rip The Heart Out of Presale Financing” says it all. Or at least his view of it. There is certainly a lot more to the picture than just the reach of Netflix.
I pretty much got to make the majority of my 70+ films due to the strength of the foreign presales model. A few films went out through a global distribution system of one of the studios. Yet it has been clear for sometime now that this model not only was growing more limited but was also shaky legs — particularly for art house content. Schuyler’s prediction has appeared inevitable to me for some time now.
Sure, there are many great sales agents out there doing a tremendous service and being paid well for it. Foreign sales is a relationship business and there those that...
I pretty much got to make the majority of my 70+ films due to the strength of the foreign presales model. A few films went out through a global distribution system of one of the studios. Yet it has been clear for sometime now that this model not only was growing more limited but was also shaky legs — particularly for art house content. Schuyler’s prediction has appeared inevitable to me for some time now.
Sure, there are many great sales agents out there doing a tremendous service and being paid well for it. Foreign sales is a relationship business and there those that...
- 8/10/2014
- by Ted Hope
- Hope for Film
Hey, ever been at a Hollywood party and wanted to impress a member of the opposite sex with your mastery of Hollywood jargon? Just print out this article, fold it up, stick it in your wallet, whip it out at the opportune time -- after a drink or two -- and use it for speed seduction as a form of neuro-linguistic programming.
But brace yourself because there is a complete disconnect between what a word means in English and what it means in Hollywood. When Humpty Dumpty said, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean" in "Through the Looking Glass," he must have thought he was in Hollywood.
So here we go:
United States means the United States (including our 51st state, Canada, and, for the hell of it, all of the Caribbean).
Domestic means the United States (including our 51st state, Canada,...
But brace yourself because there is a complete disconnect between what a word means in English and what it means in Hollywood. When Humpty Dumpty said, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean" in "Through the Looking Glass," he must have thought he was in Hollywood.
So here we go:
United States means the United States (including our 51st state, Canada, and, for the hell of it, all of the Caribbean).
Domestic means the United States (including our 51st state, Canada,...
- 6/30/2010
- by By Schuyler M. Moore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Boy, the times they are a changin'. Just a few months ago, Disney fought a major battle just to move up the DVD window for "Alice in Wonderland" to 12 weeks after its theatrical release. But now, a cold wind of piracy and drooping DVD sales is forcing all the studios to look hard at closing the window and going day-and-date for at least VOD, though the first step might be a 30-day hold-back as a sop to theaters.
It is none too late to close the window because right now we have, in order, the theatrical window, the piracy window and the VOD/DVD window. Gee, I wonder whether there is any relation between increasing piracy and sagging DVD sales? Do you think the music industry might offer a useful analogy?
The first indication that studios are getting serious on this issue was the recent FCC waiver, permitting them to...
It is none too late to close the window because right now we have, in order, the theatrical window, the piracy window and the VOD/DVD window. Gee, I wonder whether there is any relation between increasing piracy and sagging DVD sales? Do you think the music industry might offer a useful analogy?
The first indication that studios are getting serious on this issue was the recent FCC waiver, permitting them to...
- 6/2/2010
- by By Schuyler M. Moore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The parties lined up against the proposed boxoffice futures exchanges are legion: the MPAA, the Hollywood studios, IFTA, the guilds, Sens. Boxer and Feinstein, Mother Teresa and Save the Whales. Who possibly could dare to support it? Certainly not me. So, in an effort to support this Holy War, let me offer reasons why the blasphemous idea of "The Exchange" must be squelched in its infancy:
-- Only studios should be allowed to gamble on films! We need to save the public from themselves. And if the public wants to lose money betting on films, they should be forced to do it indirectly by buying stock of film companies or investing in slate deals. There is just something un-American about the public being able to cut out the middle man.
-- We also need to save the studios from themselves, because a studio might be tempted to manipulate the Exchange...
-- Only studios should be allowed to gamble on films! We need to save the public from themselves. And if the public wants to lose money betting on films, they should be forced to do it indirectly by buying stock of film companies or investing in slate deals. There is just something un-American about the public being able to cut out the middle man.
-- We also need to save the studios from themselves, because a studio might be tempted to manipulate the Exchange...
- 4/26/2010
- by By Schuyler M. Moore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In my career, I have witnessed more people losing more money on more films than I ever thought possible -- "Billions and billions," as Carl Sagan would say. And it is all the fault of sex.
If you were trying to impress someone at a cocktail party, would you rather say, "I make movies," or, "I make widgets"? Face it, the film industry is sexy, and people like sex. Even if not of the direct ilk (a not-infrequent motivation), most people who produce films are driven by the conscious or subconscious sexiness of the industry, and the law of supply and demand takes it from there. There are a whole lot of people that made billions elsewhere and came to Hollywood to blow it, and precious few that made billions in Hollywood and blew it elsewhere.
Let's take a trip down memory lane and look at all the dead bodies:
-- In the 1980s,...
If you were trying to impress someone at a cocktail party, would you rather say, "I make movies," or, "I make widgets"? Face it, the film industry is sexy, and people like sex. Even if not of the direct ilk (a not-infrequent motivation), most people who produce films are driven by the conscious or subconscious sexiness of the industry, and the law of supply and demand takes it from there. There are a whole lot of people that made billions elsewhere and came to Hollywood to blow it, and precious few that made billions in Hollywood and blew it elsewhere.
Let's take a trip down memory lane and look at all the dead bodies:
-- In the 1980s,...
- 3/31/2010
- by By Schuyler M. Moore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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