☀️ CAA reportedly in majority sale talks
What Iger's TV biz comments portend / SAG & AMPTP don't seem close on AI / VICE pulled off SHO
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED-IN if ya like) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY July 14, 2023.
Where, hey how about a little inspiration from times past to round out the week… as Vinyl sales are +22% in the first half of the year thus far (and hey, no more than half of that can be Morgan Wallen records right?). That’s on top of what was already a great 2022 for the format.
Old business models may not be sexy (and yes, still dwarf in comparison to Music Streaming, which is +31% in from last year in the first 6 months of 2023), but business fundamentals are never dead.
ALTHOUGH 😬: A handful of Taylor Swift’s new Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) album were actually incorrectly pressed with British electronica music. Ah Vinyl business… you’re such a card.
AND: Audiences change over time - via the mid-year LUMINATE report (they’re essentially the new Billboard for tracking music industry data):
40% of music listeners enjoy music in a non-English language.
Spanish-music share of Top 10,000 songs since 2021: +3.6%
English-music: -4.2%
ALSO: The Just For Laughs festival kicks off today in Montreal. A rundown of some highlights is here for the inclined (it runs thru July 29).
NO: Jeff Zucker is not looking to buy CNN. A big thank you to REDBIRD Capital head Gerry Cardinale (who’s co-backing Jeff’s investment fund) for pouring water all over this idea that never should have gotten any oxygen in the first place.
Regarding all of the CNN/Zuck(er) talk, Gerry said: “I’m kind of amused and irritated by it.”
ALSO: Please don’t start new items saying he’s going to buy ABC.
PLUS: TWITTER may not be paying some of their uh, ya know, bills… but lo and behold! TWITTER is starting to pay an Ad Revenue share to some of the more popular Creators on the service, as per a plan Elon announced earlier in the year.
Creators must have 5+ Million impressions in the past 3 months to be eligible. Funny what competition does to a marketplace huh? (and yes, I know the plan was in motion prior to THREADS, but gotta admire the check delivery timing 👀).
Elon is also trying to get out of paying the Feds the $150 Million settlement TWITTER agreed to with the FTC pre-Elon in 2022 regarding user privacy violations.
ALSO: The FTC made another last ditch effort to halt the MICROSOFT-ACTIVISION deal, asking a Fed Appeals Court to issue a “stay” on the decision that went against the FTC this week. They’re up against a deadline of this Tues July 18.
WAKEUP BOX OFFICE POLL
MI:7 is already at $23.8 Million through the first two three days (I mean come on, it dropped on Tuesday at 2pm in theaters).
Where does the 2hr 43min film end up by the end of the weekend? The latest thinking after Wednesday numbers was about $71 Million… and previous thinking was $70 Mil to $75 Mil.
Let’s call it an even split.
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
CAA & Salma Hayek-Pinault’s husband are in majority stake talks.
Breaking down what’s likely ahead for DISNEY’s structure given Iger’s TV biz statements yesterday.
Saudis make more moves in Sports-washing.
The weekend preview of new things to watch and stream, and much more.
🪧🪧 STRIKE FORCE
While SAG-AFTRA hopefully soon puts out a document similar to what the WGA did after they went on strike, which specifically outlined the WGA proposal / AMPTP counter-proposal points…
The AMPTP has I suppose taken a lesson from that 🤷♂️, and released a list of conditions/offers they put on the table as of last call for deal negotiations.
AI is specifically addressed, any sharing of Streaming view data - or offer to agree on a metric to track Streaming data for Residual purposes is not…
ERR 🙋♂️: About that AI proposal - as Elaine reported in her Strikegeist roundup of the big Fran Drescher speech yesterday, SAG Chief Negotiator Michael Crabtree-Ireland noted afterward:
“They proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned and paid for one day’s pay and their companies should own that scan, their image, their likeness, and to be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation.
So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal I suggest you think again.”
Elaine also has a great thorough Strikegeist roundup of the day’s events yesterday, again free to read (and subscribe to) for all here.
LIST OF DONT’S: SAG outlined the full list of work that can no longer be done by its members… just in case there are any questions. Wait, no podcast appearances? Well, director publicists just got a lot busier this Summer…
UK EQUITY PRODUCTIONS: WBD productions in the UK operating under EQUITY contracts will continue, including House of the Dragon, Industry, and Dune: The Sisterhood.
Union striking rules are much different in the UK, under which EQUITY operates - they issued a statement here reinforcing that, and broadly what it means for members.
ELSEWHERE IN WORKER PAY 👀: You know those tech-driven food delivery services everyone uses? UBER, DOORDASH, GRUBHUB? Yeah, they’re now suing to suppress an effort in NYC that was set to raise worker pay to $18 an hour this week, arguing that “higher wages would raise prices for customers, decrease work for the delivery workers, and harm restaurants” per Axios.
No mention of the, ya know, “increase in the rate of transfer of money from company pockets to workers pockets” that would result.
Anyone wanna guess how much their execs take home?
FINALLY 🥵: Actors - please be careful out there on the Strike lines today in the LA & NYC heat! Take the survival notes from the Writers to heart. Taking their notes on your sign messages is optional.
AND: Think I may need to take a rewatch of this one over the weekend - gotta love this line… from 1992.
🤝 THE (Potential) HOLLYWOOD DEAL SUITE
