NETFLIX hires Video Games head, said to launch games by end of 2022
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NETFLIX hires Video Games head, said to launch games by end of 2022
Meghan Markle sets NETFLIX animated show / AMAZON getting Lear's 70s + 80s sitcoms / FB giving creators $1 Bil over 18 mos
Mornin! This is Sean McNulty and here’s the Hollywood + Media news to know on THURSDAY July 15, 2021.
Where a judge allowed Britney to pick her own lawyer yesterday (which she did) in her conservatorship case. And what better way to celebrate than an INSTA post using #FreeBritney with a montage of… repeatedly riding a horse and doing cartwheels set to the catchy guitar stylings of KT Tunstall.
AND: The FOO FIGHTERS postponed their “re-opening THE FORUM” concert on Saturday in LA after someone in the FOO’s camp came down with Covid. New date TBD.
📽 THE SILVER SCREEN
MGM sets writer for remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” with Michael B. Jordan
The 1999 version starred Pierce Brosnan as a rich guy who likes to steal art, and Renee Russo as the detective on his trail.
Wes Tooke (Roland Emmerich’s “Midway”, USA Net’s “Colony”) writing the script, Jordan also producing. /Deadline
HBOMAX adds Zach Braff to NEW LINE sci-fi rom-com “Moonshot” with Lana Condor
Mars is being colonized with Earth’s best and brightest. 2 college kids sneak onto a Mars shuttle to reunite with their signifcant others. Tom Green curious if there’s a cameo role available. #MarsRoadTrip
Braff plays the guy leading the Mars colonization efforts. Greg Berlanti / Sarah Schechter producing (they recently signed a new film deal at NETFLIX). /THR
ALSO IN MOVIES
BLEECKER STREET buys US rights to Israel PM Golda Meir biopic “Golda” starring Helen Mirren. Will center on how she handled a 1973 surprise attack launched by Syria, Egypt and Jordan in retaliation for the 1967 Six-Day War. Shooting in October, no price disclosed. /THR
THE RINGER doing an 8 episode docu podcast series on SISKEL & EBERT. /Deadline
Coupla first look deals:
Joey King (“The Kissing Booth”) sets first look Film deal with NETFLIX. /Deadline
Peter Dinklage (“I drink and I know things”) sets a first look TV deal at eONE, re-uniting him with former HBO Exec Mike Lombardo who now heads up eONE. /Variety
📺 THE TV SET
AMAZON PRIME & IMDBTV set big 1970’S & 80’s shows licensing deal with SONY TV
Basically the Norman Lear TV catalog:
The free IMDBTV streaming service will add “All In the Family”, “Good Times”, “Maude” and “One Day at a Time” (OG version) starting tomorrow.
AMAZON PRIME adding“227” and “Different Strokes” starting tomorrow. “The Jeffersons” and “Sanford & Son” will be added later this year TBD.
Meghan Markle creating, producing animated series at NETFLIX
Called “Pearl”, will center on a 12 year-old girl who finds inspiration from women throughout history. /Netflix
ALSO IN TV
EPIX renews Ed Burns coming-of-age dramedy“Bridge & Tunnel” for Season 2. Will shoot this Fall. /THR
TBS renews the “Go-Big Show” and adds DJ Khaled as judge for Season 2, replacing Snoop Dogg on the big stunts show. 10 eps, will shoot next month in Georgia. /Deadline
Lilly Singh joins Kat Dennings HULU show “Dollface” for Season 2 in a recurring role. Now shooting in LA, character details in the link for any fans of the show. /THR
Jerry O’Connell becomes first male co-host of “The Talk” at CBS. /The Wrap
FOX promotes Darren Schillace to Prez of Marketing, will also now oversee TUBI marketing. /Variety
💻 THE MEDIA BIZ
NETFLIX hires gaming exec Mike Verdu as VP of Game Development
He was the former lead of OCULUS content at FACEBOOK, and an SVP at ELECTRONIC ARTS prior. He reports into NETFLIX COO, Greg Peters. Word is they’re looking to add games to the app by end of 2022. /Bloomberg
FACEBOOK setting aside $1 Billion dollars over the next 18 months to reward “creators” on FB and INSTA
Will be given to those who hit yet-to-be-specified metrics around content engagement, as well as seed funding for others - how this will be given out was not specified, kinda just “by invitation” at this point… but some other particulars in the piece for the inclined, including the eventual launch of Bonus Program areas on FB and INSTA.
Works out to about $1.8 Million a day. Assuming they don’t take Christmas off. Any bets on how soon the stories begin about how FB is now paying people creating abhorrent content? “Hey come on, we’re just a platform man, not a media company.”
Also $1 Billion = 20% of FB’s profit… from just the first 3 months of this year. /Variety
ALSO: APPLE’s new iOS 14.5 “do not track me” feature is causing big issues for FACEBOOK advertisers as expected, apparently making it much more difficult for companies to advertise products to you for several weeks on end after you already bought them. /Bloomberg
ALSO IN MEDIA
TWITTER ending “Fleets” (their take on a SNAPCHAT ripoff). These were essentially tweets that disappeared after 24 hours. lol Basically - TWITTER discovered that your regular tweets disappear just fine as is. Unless you get a job in the media business and had an active TWITTER account as a teenager. “Fleets” will completely disappear come August 3, eight months after launch. /THR
CLUBHOUSE adds a DM feature. It’s called the Backchannel. May be eventually open up ability to also send pics/videos/files, but for now just messages, or links to things within CLUBHOUSE. /THR
ROKU CHANNEL launching a 6 episode branded-partnership talk/interview show hosted by Randall Park called “The Show Next Door” presented by MAKERS MARK, where Randall will pour a drink of at the top of each show and do 2 celebrity interviews.
MAKERS will also distribute the show across their social channels… and the first 2 episodes are also apparently now up here on the FUNNY OR DIE YT channel 🤷♂️ . /Next TV
🏦 STOCK NOTES:
Another bad day in a bad week thus far… Most media stocks down, but mildly (1-4%). However Movie Theater stocks punished again:
AMC THEATERS -15%
CINEWORLD (REGAL CINEMAS) -8%
CINEMARK -4%
IMAX -4%
👩💻 NEW TO WATCH:
Chip & Joanna’s MAGNOLIA NETWORK launches on DISCOVERY+
FX ON HULU “American Horror Stories” - 7 separate self-contained/anthology style episodes. First 2 drop today, Watch or add to your List here
NETFLIX “Never Have I Ever” Season 2 - Watch or add to your List here
BET+ “First Wives Club” Season 2 - Watch or add to your List here
PEACOCK PREMIUM “Dr. Death” - Based on the popular podcast, series stars Josh Jackson, Alec Baldwin, Christian Slater. Watch or Add to your list Here (I believe the first ep is free for everyone?)
🥳 TODAY’S FUN READ:
Gonna add this new tab on occasion for just something I read that was interesting or fun outside of Hollywood & Media. No seriously - that’s a thing.
A year of no weddings is resulting in… a year of too many weddings, especially for people around 30 years old +/-. A LENDING TREE poll found that 1/3 of people who were in at least one bridal party this year have taken on debt just to attend weddings/related events .
If you were sent this newsletter or… just kinda found it:
🎥 TRAILER HOUSE
Another quiet day… but somehow we have a 2nd entry in the “actors drink and do interviews” genre on the same day - certainly was always my favorite way to do ‘em at HBO so I’m all for it.
PEACOCK “Hart to Heart” - First 3 episodes drop Wed Aug 5.
NETFLIX “Outer Banks” Season 2 trailer. Premieres Fri July 30.
🎧 PLAYING ME OFF
New THE KID LAROI with an assist from The BIEBS - “Stay”. High tempo catchy tune that is… thankfully mostly LAROI. So - check out what the kids are digging these days, you Old you.
Listen to the song here on Spotify or:
If you need new tunes:
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-Sean McNulty
@theseanmac on TWITTER
@TheWakeupNews on INSTAGRAM
or I’m also here on CLUBHOUSE