Latest Business News
CAA’s Bryan Lourd Fires Back at Ari Emanuel: He’s “Erratic” and “Self-Serving”
CAA chairman and CEO Bryan Lourd has responded to his longtime agency competitor Ari Emanuel. Emanuel on Wednesday criticized CAA — and specifically Lourd and his colleague Kevin Huvane — over a lawsuit accusing the agency of being complicit in Harvey Weinstein’s crimes. Emanuel said that Lourd should step aside pending an independent investigation. “Look, […]
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Actors React to Studio Talks Breaking Down After 90 Days of Strike: “It’s Just So Disappointing”
Morale following the breakdown of the negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and SAG-AFTRA on Wednesday evening seemed depleted as actors and supporters walked back and forth in front of Hollywood studios, carrying “SAG-AFTRA on Strike!” signs that have been omnipresent at company entrances over the past three months. Outside of […]
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The NFL’s Taylor Swift Era: Who Wins the Most?
While the summer of 2023 had a blockbuster with Barbenheimer, fall is in the nascent stages of its own phenomenon. Call it: Football (Taylor’s Version). This NFL season has been anything but ordinary thanks to superstar Taylor Swift, who has attended two Kansas City Chiefs games after being linked with the team’s All-Pro tight end, […]
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Duncan Crabtree-Ireland on Why SAG-AFTRA Talks Broke Down: “It Is Mystifying to Me”
One day after Hollywood’s top companies announced that talks with performers union SAG-AFTRA would be suspended for the foreseeable future, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland was back on the picket lines at Netflix, rallying members. The national executive director and chief negotiator for the union gave a speech at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue, […]
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Gerard Butler’s $10M ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ Profits Lawsuit Settles
Gerard Butler has resolved a legal fight over allegations that he’s owed at least $10 million in profits from the 2013 blockbuster Olympus Has Fallen. Defendants Nu Image and Millennium Media notified the court on Tuesday of a settlement, which is conditioned on the completion of certain terms within 45 days. Specifics of the agreement […]
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Ted Sarandos: SAG-AFTRA Talks Fell Apart After Proposal of Levy on Each Streaming Subscriber
Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said the talks between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP fell apart Wednesday because of an additional “levy” the actors union was proposing to put on every streaming subscriber. Sarandos has been one of the four CEOs, alongside Bob Iger, David Zaslav and Donna Langley, who sat in on negotiations with the […]
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Spotify Partners With Alex Cooper’s The Unwell Network
Spotify is launching a partnership with Alex Cooper’s The Unwell Network. As part of the pact, Spotify’s enterprise platform, Megaphone, will host and distribute the popular podcasts, Hot Mess with Alix Earle and Pretty Lonesome with Madeline Argy. Spotify will also serve as the sales partner for the Unwell Network, a subsidiary of Trending, the […]
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AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron Was Target of Blackmail and Extortion Plot
AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron was the victim of a blackmail and extortion plot. The unconventional CEO disclosed the plot Thursday morning on X (formerly Twitter), adding that the perpetrator has already been convicted. “By definition, I live my life in the public eye. Unfortunately, last year I became the victim of an elaborate criminal extortion by […]
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Paramount Donates $1M to Humanitarian Relief, Condemns Hamas Attack on Israel
Paramount Global has condemned the Hamas terrorist organization in the wake of its deadly attack in Israel and a retaliatory conflict now underway in Gaza. “Let us be clear that Paramount condemns the terrorist attacks by Hamas. We stand in support of the global Jewish community, and the innocent people in Israel and the region whose lives are […]
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Vancouver Film, TV Production Slipped to $3.4B in 2022 Amid Labor Action Against U.S. Producers
Surging Hollywood production levels in and around Vancouver took a hit last year in part due to local labor action against North American producers, and the current industry shutdown around the Writers Guild of America and the SAG-AFTRA strikes will lead to additional losses, according to the Vancouver Film Commission. Overall film and TV spending […]
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UTA Undergoes Another Round of Layoffs
United Talent Agency is undergoing another round of layoffs, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Although it is unclear how many staffers have been let go, the latest cuts should impact less than one percent of UTA’s agents and employees, a source tells THR. “We’ve made the difficult decision to part ways with a small number […]
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SAG-AFTRA Accuses Studios of “Bully Tactics” as Talks Suspended
On Wednesday night, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers declared that negotiations with SAG-AFTRA are suspended, given that the gap between the parties is “too great.” “Negotiations between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA have been suspended after SAG-AFTRA presented its most recent proposal on October 11,” the trade association representing studios and streamers in […]
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Donna Langley on SAG-AFTRA Talks: Execs Will Spend “As Much Time As It Takes” Until There Is a Resolution
Top Hollywood executive Donna Langley addressed the ongoing SAG-AFTRA negotiations Wednesday night, saying that the studio side will spend “as much time as it takes” in the bargaining room until the parties can reach a resolution. Declining to speak in specifics at a scheduled appearance at Bloomberg’s Screentime event, the NBCUniversal Studio Group chairman and […]
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Ari Emanuel Takes Aim at CAA Over Alleged Weinstein Ties: “They Didn’t Apologize”
Endeavor and TKO Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel appeared at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference to talk business — and a lawsuit impacting rival CAA — but it was impossible to ignore the story dominating geopolitics. Emanuel was asked by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw for his thoughts on the attacks in Israel, given his status as one of […]
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Directors Guild to Members: Our Contract Deal Was Good, Too
The Directors Guild of America is defending its latest three-year contract agreement with studios and streamers amid criticism on social media and, it claims, in the press. In an email message to members on Wednesday with the subject line “Setting the Record Straight,” the union decried “a number of recent news articles and social media […]
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Indie Movie Producer Wonderfilm Sued by ‘Hard Matter’ Partner For Breach of Contract
Indie production shop The Exchange, also known as BOS Entertainment, is suing Wonderfilm for breach of contract related to their partnership on Harvey Keitel and Tyrese Gibson-starrer Hard Matter, which appears to be stuck in limbo for failure to pay a visual effects vendor. The lawsuit filed on Tuesday in California federal court arrives in […]
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