☀️ Layoffs, Re-org Hits NETFLIX Films
What SKYDANCE is really buying with the PAR deal / Springsteen pic to DISNEY / The WNBA opportunity
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect with me on LinkedIn here if ya like), and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on TUESDAY, April 9, 2024.
Where a congrats goes out to UCONN for winning the men’s 🏀 tournament. Again.
AND: TCM is making all of us GenX’ers feel a little extra “classic,” reuniting the Pulp Fiction cast for a 30th anniversary screening on April 18 in Hollywood as a part of its annual film fest.
OH: Some slightly altered songs from UMG artists are still appearing on TIKTOK 👀 (i.e. sped up just a smidge to avoid detection), including those from Ariana Grande and Olivia Rodrigo. Songs are being uploaded by “fans” and then being used by the artists themselves in new TT posts . . . all with no payment going from the platform to the songwriters or label. Hmm.
The standoff is about 6 weeks into full effect at this point, with no end in sight.
BTW: TIKTOK will soon put a photo-based app into testing, according to The Information. Oh, hi META 👋.
PLUS: Local role model Morgan Wallen was arrested for reckless endangerment, accused of throwing a chair from a rooftop bar 6 stories above Nashville (supported by witness accounts), and for disorderly conduct.
THEN: Billie Eilish will drop her new album on May 17 — no singles beforehand.
HMM: DUDE PERFECT got a PE investment from HIGHMOUNT CAPITAL, valued to be at $100+ Million. So it looks like PE isn’t just interested in scripted . . . although anyone ever see a 💰 value for the DUDE PERFECT library? Or any creator’s library of videos for that matter?
ALSO: Local 700 (editors guild) is the latest to reach a tentative agreement with the AMPTP (9th of 13).
NO PRISON: Jonathan Majors instead got sentenced to a year of domestic violence counseling in his NYC court case.
BUT: A hats off to Sasquatch Sunset co-director Nathan Zellner for taking movie promotion up a notch 👏. Now that’s a showman!
The last 2024 March Madness game
WHO’S BUYING 💰📺:
UNI The Fall Guy, Abigail
AMAZON Fallout
DISNEYFOX Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
WBD did not have any spots in its own game, save for some announcer-read bumpers for MAX, B/R SPORTS, etc (sorry Furiosa, although you did have a pre-game spot).
BUT: WBD did use its in-house halftime inventory to plug: The Penguin, TBS’ Stupid Pet Tricks, AEW, MAX brand spot, HGTV show, MLB on TBS, GOT: HOTD . . . and probably some more, but I just stopped counting.
WHO’S WATCHING: We’ll see, but this game was not very close at all in the 2nd half, as coach Hurley also discovered.
SEPARATE, BUT NOT REALLY
KENTUCKY college hoops coach John Calipari is leaving after 15 years to be the head coach at U OF ARKANSAS, where he’ll have access to a $5 Million NIL fund, essentially via big U OF ARKANSAS booster, the Tyson family 🐓.
A fund that their college 🏀 players can “participate in” . . . which should perhaps make the idea of going to college in Arkansas a bit more of an attractive proposition.
OR HEY: Let’s just pay the f’in players already?
IN TODAY’S EDITION:
The new plan at NETFLIX Films has been put forth (minus any volume indication, yet).
Yes, the women’s hoops numbers are huge (see some comps for you too Hollywood), but what’s ahead for the WNBA, and how they could use their new rights deal window in 2025 to make some changes to capitalize on the momentum.
A #medianerd🤓 layout of the latest reported plans for PARAMOUNT . . . but also a look at the bigger picture here — remember what SKYDANCE is actually getting here in a PARAMOUNT deal #followthe💰, and what that portends for the size of the company should this all come together (any Brian Roberts-stans still out there?)
And, well it’s a busy day so there’s more but let’s get going.
THE PLAYERS’ TOURNAMENT WINNER 🏆:
A congrats to a young, on-the-rise talent in this town named Walt Disney for taking the crown in The Ankler’s ‘Players’ Tournament, defeating Steven Spielberg in the final round. A tough break Steven, but hopefully things will start going your way eventually.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
