☀️DISNEY Ax Chops; Hundreds More Looming
MATTEL, AMAZON, NFLX's key new hires / AMAZON + Sydney Sweeney / 3 ARTS enters sports
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LINKEDIN here if ya like or email me at seanmcnultynyc@gmail.com), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
Where TINDER is changing things up in a bid to alter its business fortunes (paid subs are -700k YoY to 14.2M in 2024 — hmm, have they tried dating shows with balloon popping?).
Now, it’s running a trial where folks who pay to use TINDER can sort their future paramours by height to try and its reverse fortunes (something you can already do on some other apps). No word on how much TINDER is charging to certify that your date is the actual height they claim to be when they show up.
THEN: PARAMOUNT scheduled its annual meeting for July 2, which includes voting for 3 new proposed board members to round out the 7-member collective for the year ahead. Or . . . uh, maybe the week ahead, who really knows at this point.
Those 3 folks are: anti-trust and corporate litigation attorney Mary Boies (those skills could come in handy), ex-judge from MA Roanne Sragow Licht and venture capitalist Charles Ryan.
That July 2 date is just 5 days ahead of when the final 90-day extension for the SKYDANCE deal would kick in on July 7.
PLUS: Remember when everyone was moving to South Florida, driving up housing demand? Yeah, not so much anymore. Austin, TX — we see you too.
BUT: It seems the Port Authority in NYC is a pretty hot location! VERSANT will make 229 W. 43rd Street its temporary home starting in August, as the search for a permanent NYC location continues.
CONGRATS: Goes out to the TEXAS TECH and UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS women’s softball teams for making the Women’s College World Series (WCWS), with TEXAS TECH winning in thrilling fashion last night . . . thwarting an attempt at a 5th straight championship by OKLAHOMA.
The 3-game WCWS begins tomorrow night.
Who says $1M NIL deals for star pitchers don’t pay dividends?
THEN: This WSJ story got a lot of 👀 yesterday about how META is planning on using AI to essentially do the whole ad agency process for ad buyers within the next 18 months:
Submit your product artwork
AI creates your ads for you (video, text, image), including some individual customization based on things like user geolocation etc.
AI also handles your ad buys and placements on META based on your audience targeting preferences.
OH: SAMSUNG looks like our newest AI investor, putting its 💰 bet on PERPLEXITY, with aims of integrating the AI into its electronics products, including cell phones . . . potentially as early as H1 ‘26.
AH: Elon is rolling out a new version of DM’s on X, called XCHAT . . . which is essentially a SIGNAL or WHATSAPP “homage” with features like disappearing messages, file sharing and encryption.
AND: Marc Maron is ending his WTF podcast in the fall.
FINALLY: This one just goes out to anyone who’s ever produced an interview . . . and had to choose the chairs. So close! Kimmel had a fun bit on it here for anyone inclined, and gotta say I’m kinda curious how FBI Director Kash Patel got down from there after the interview (I’m gonna go with a nearby applebox, but coulda been a hop-off).
IN THIS EDITION
A busy day in the executive suite . . . as DISNEY cuts yet again, layoff rumblings emerge at WBD and also remain (not too far) in the background at PAR.
Plus, MATTEL makes some changes, the alluded to 3 ARTS growth begins and more.
Oh, right, TV and movie deals! Yeah, those are still goin’:
AMAZON is lining up another movie deal . . . as it maintains tight PRIME VIDEO turnarounds on theatrical windows
PAR keeps the feature spec market heat going and more.
PLUS: It’s Tuesday, so that means it’s JOB BOARD day!
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
DISNEY strikes yet again with more layoffs
Efficiency rears its head once again at the Mouse House! Quite a tally here accumulating at DISNEY over time — with seemingly more to come around town as well.