☀️Ari, Bryan & the Feds, oh my! SAG deal goes down to the wire
AMBLIN cuts 20% of staff in new UNI deal / New DC Universe adds cast / Int'l a no-show on NETFLIX Films chart
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on WEDNESDAY July 12, 2023.
Where the adage that HOLLYWOOD is a lot like high school doesn’t disappear when we leave the cafeteria and go back to class… where we’ve all suddenly realized the term paper is due tomorrow, and we haven’t even called the Feds yet!
Ok maybe that was just my high school (although in my case, the Feds would be the Christian Brothers - although let’s please not start dragging religious leaders into Union matters next 🙏). But yes here we are, nearing 12 hours to a SAG-AFTRA already-extended deadline that SAG indicates they have no intentions of extending and… I’ve yet to hear any tone of surprise in anyone’s voice that I talk to.
Publicists have been briefed as to what this means for the precious Summer Movie Season PR tours and COMIC-CON, among other things (thanks to The Ankler’s Strikegeist newsletter for a link to a handy list here).
Even enemies come together during a time like this, with Ari & Bryan have already been making calls trying to help make a deal happen, and now the Feds are here for… some reason.
SO: We’ll see what the FMCS (that’s the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, as we now all know 😉) can do with 24 hours in a business culture it very likely isn’t very familiar with - #NoSelfies has been added to the list of negotiation requirements.
In the end - there’s no replacement for the ⏳… and in situations like this I’m reminded of a West Wing episode involving inside negotiations around the pending impeachment of the President for lying about his MS, where even the top Presidential staffers keep asking each other “Are on you on the inside?” - and most answering no.
Eh, I just hope it doesn’t kill the vibes at the Sun Valley BBQ Hoedown tonight on a perfect sunny 83 degree day in IDAHO 😎.
PLUS: The NETFLIX Todd Haynes pic May December with Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman will open the NYFF on Sept 29. It hits streaming Dec 1.
OH: So much for regulation - the MICROSOFT-ACTIVISION deal looks likely to get US clearance thanks to a Federal Judge denying the FTC’s preliminary injunction to stop it.
HEY BABY! Dual baby news, with Claire Danes & Hugh Dancy welcoming their 3rd kid, and Naomi Osaka and rapper Cordae having their first.
AND: Nicole Avant is releasing a memoir in October.
ALSO: WBD UK is turning the Gwyneth skiing trial into a 2-part movie, Gwyneth vs Terry: The Ski Crash Trial.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
