☀️DISH Sale to DIRECTV Nears Finish Line
DISNEYFOX adds to '80s remake cavalcade / NEON in talks for TIFF winner / NETFLIX orders Pugh limited series
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED-IN if ya like) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY, September 27, 2024.
Where it has been 0️⃣1️⃣ days since our last significant industry layoff. Man, I hate resetting that sign — Richard, next time it’s your turn.
ALSO: The Tribeca Festival 2025 will be June 4-15 in NYC of course, and submissions are now open until Dec. 4. There will also be a CREATORS FORUM within it, featuring networking and mentorship opportunities for filmmakers with industry execs.
AND: Just when you thought META couldn’t get any creepier — or stuff your IG and FB feeds full of more garbage — get ready to see yourself in AI-generated posts in your feed.
Yes according to Axios, META AI will start “imagining” content it thinks you may like to see — this should be fun — including some images that feature your image “so you can be the star of your own story and share your favorites with friends.”
This is of course without getting your specific permission first 👀, although you can of course opt-out (I’m sure very easily, if its track record is any precursor) — gotta love Silicon Valley’s perception of consent.
It’s kinda fun when you see a PR disaster right from the inception of a new “test” idea, isn’t it?
OH: The CNN website’s metered paywall era will begin in October.
WELL: WNBA Playoffs, it’s been real — the INDIANA FEVER ended its season on Wednesday night with 2.5M viewers, the biggest WNBA game ever on cable, and its biggest game since 2000 (this year’s All-Star game excluded, which was on ABC).
KUDOS: To MLB’s OAKLAND A’S for winning its final home game in Oakland ever. The team will be moving to Vegas 🤞 #BaseballInTheDesert — that is, after playing 3 seasons in . . . a minor league ballpark in balmy Sacramento (the future Vegas ballpark site still has the TROPICANA hotel & casino on it).
The A’S will actually share the Sacramento stadium with the minor league ⚾️ team, a stadium with about 14k seats . . . or about 3x smaller than the A’S current stadium.
And yes, this was all bungled about as badly as you can possibly imagine.
AND: FUBO is introducing a multi-view feature for the app on ROKU devices.
THEN: SMARTMATIC settled its lawsuit against NEWSMAX right as jury selection was beginning yesterday — no word on the 💰. The FOX case is still alive and well, and NEWSMAX still faces a case from DOMINION. Hmm, wonder if they’ll take a similar reporting tack in November? 🤔
HUH:Yellowstone is breaking the bundle! Or I guess there’s probably a cattle analogy I should think of here, but uh — the Nov. 10 Yellowstone season premiere will also air on CBS at 10 p.m. after its 8 p.m. premiere on PARAMOUNT NETWORK. Smart idea! Although uh . . . what if it gets a huge rating? 🤔
REST IN PEACE: Goes out to legendary actress Maggie Smith — the two-time Oscar winner and four-time Emmy winner died at the age of 89 this morning.
WAKEUP POLL RESULTS
Here are the results for the big Clooney-Pitt re-teaming in Wol . . . ah sorry, forgot to replace that copy. I mean, we have The Wild Robot results!
Lotta optimism heading into the weekend! Count me in with the 29% but I really hope the 33% are right.
NEW ANKLER PODCAST EPISODE
Given that I sat out this week’s pod — I’m as interested to listen as you are!
THANKS! To LIONSGATE for the invite to the NYC screening of White Bird last night (and for the aisle seat for this 6’4” guy 👍) — the kinda film that people say Hollywood doesn’t make anymore . . . but indeed they do!
One of those rare movies that’s great to bring your pre-teen or teenager along with you, that could open the door to a great life conversation afterward — especially in today’s political climate.
🎥 THE SILVER SCREEN
