☀️Longtime NETFLIX Film execs out as Stuber streamlines division
DISNEY cuts hit ABC NEWS & CHINA divisions / WBD exec payouts in event of sale / TIKTOK enlists former DISNEY exec for help
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty (connect here on LINKED IN if ya like) and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on FRIDAY March 31, 2023.
Where since this week of ‘impromptu inspiration’ has largely drawn from stories outside of Hollywood … hey it’s time to dial it in to us right? Plus have some Friday morning coffee ☕️… and as I always say - what better place than by Colin Farrell’s pool?
Colin just sold his longtime Los Feliz home for $5.3 Million, moving to a new larger house in the area. Definitely some inspiring views, but also inspiring that a kid from a Dublin suburb could make his way here in life, and then some.
BUT: Another source of inspiration from Hollywood is from the Inevitable Foundation who has set a partnership with WME. They’ll not only provide funding to the organization, dedicated to helping people who are disabled find work & mentorship, but also help those folks find development & writers room opportunities, and connect their clients for mentorship. I look forward to the follow up with employment success stories.
AND: Ms. Lauryn Hill and Megan The Stallion will be headlining this year’s ESSENCE FEST in NOLA, June 29 to July 3.
ALSO: Utah #OutfitWatch is over… as Gwyneth’s wardrobe choices testimony put her over the top to win her skiing collision case, plus $1 in damages, per the terms of her countersuit.
PLUS: Just kind of a bizarre thing, but 3 of the 4 members of late 90s boy band LFO have now died, as founding member Brian “Brizz” Gillis died this week at 47.
THEN: Covid protocols on sets will end starting May 12, along with the vaccine mandate - although the mandate can continue for any productions already started by May 12.
CORRECTION: David Zaslav was granted about $12 Million in Stock award compensation in 2022, not $1.2 Million - Deadline put a decimal place in there inadvertently, but I should have caught the error so - my apologies. Now the math adds up to $39 Million ($3 Mil base + $22 Mil bonus + $12 Mil stock + $1 Mil other + $1 Mil stock options = $39 Mil).
More color on WBD Board pay, and the payouts top WBD execs would get in the event of a “change of control” (i.e. sale), plus details on the music biz exec getting $100 Million in stock options are down in THE MEDIA BIZ section.
WAKEUP Box Office Poll results:
Well there hasn’t been this close of a split in quite some time… but the bulls won out slightly over the bears:
54% of voters think Dungeons & Dragons will clear $35 Million this weekend, 46% of voters took the under.
ALSO IN TODAY’S EDITION:
NEW LINE triples (quadruples?) down on new horror projects, setting Evil Dead Rises director for a melting polar ice caps scarefest.
Minnesota’s Regional Sports Network shows just how drastically the business has gone in the toilet.
Mike Fleiss’ Bachelor departure reportedly due to misconduct investigation.
Rights to latest Taylor Jenikins Reid book are sold.
Austerity hits the BBC.
TIKTOK enlists former DISNEY exec for help with US Gov’t.
NETFLIX courting Megan Thee Stallion for new pic, as Films group streamlines exec structure, laying off veteran execs in the process.
A look at all the new things to watch / stream this weekend and more.
READY TO RUMBLE: Sponsorship money for this weekend’s Wrestlemania in LA doubled to $20+ Million, with 12 sponsors for the 2-day event.
OH!: Congratulations! We’ve made it to the end of Q1 (or we will by end of day). So I guess today is the LIONSGATE-STARZ deal/new structure announcement day?
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
