☀️ New Absurd WBD Exec Payday Details
Walden sets DIS exec teams / Ron Meyer's Jeff Shell chats / Whitesell's WTSL adds partner / New jobs Tuesday!
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, March 17, 2026.
Where I promise the GUINNESS I’m having while I write this is a GUINNESS 0 🤞. A Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all!
BUT: Here’s a #funfact for ya — Ireland’s emphasis on luring tech businesses in the 2010s resulted in data centers now consuming 20% of the country’s power, according to the FT (any new projects need to find ways to generate 80% of their own electricity).
THEN: Tina Fey will host the first SNL U.K. this Saturday night, with Wet Leg as the musical guest (you can watch it here on PEACOCK on Sunday). She’ll be followed by:
March 28: Jamie Dornan with musical guest Wolf Alice
April 4: Riz Ahmed with musical guest Kasabian (“U.S.” SNL is back on this week, too)
The rest of the 6-episode order is TBA.
ALSO: CA isn’t the only state hurting from a combo of overseas production 💰 exodus and the streaming bubble bursting — spending on film and TV production in Georgia was $2.3 billion in FY25. It was $4.4B in 2022. A #goodread from the AP on the effects being felt in the GA production community.
AND: If you had any doubt that America is now a services-based economy — over 50% of leased retail square footage is to services businesses (spas, gyms, restaurants, etc.) for the first time ever, according to industry tracking firm COSTAR.
At the turn of the 2010s, that share was 40% (vs. traditional retail/selling actual goods, etc).
KUDOS: To Wendy McLendon-Covey for keeping it real on why she wasn’t at the Bridesmaids reunion at the Oscars on Sunday. Well done!
WELL: Not a great night for Kevin O’Leary on Sunday:
BUT: Gonna hand the keyboard over here to The Ankler’s Matthew Frank for the roundup of Oscars betting #funfacts from Sunday night on some of the biggest profit generators.
If you had bet $100 on Amy Madigan to win Best Supporting Actress, you would have net a $92 profit (you’d have $192 now).
If you had some foresight back on March 4 to know that Sean Penn would be going to the Zelenskyy Oscar party — a $100 bet on Sean Penn to NOT attend the ceremony would have netted you a $625 profit.
I, for one, bet on Conan O’Brien not to say the word “Hulu” during the Oscars, which — on a $100 bet — netted a $54 profit. (I’m betting $1,000 of The Ankler’s money over the course of the year as part of a recurring segment on our podcast Ankler Agenda.)
Sadly, I also placed some other impulsive wagers mid-show that … did not pan out so great (looking at you, Delroy Lindo and the word “Warner”).
This is largely anecdotal, but the best actor race seemed to be the first truly mainstream entertainment gambling moment we’ve had — thanks, Timmy!
On KALSHI, Best Actor ($25.5M) topped Best Picture ($25.3M) in total bets.
This doesn’t even account for sportsbooks like DRAFTKINGS and FANDUEL in the U.S. — and at least in my social circles, a lot of people rode Chalamet . . . including, yes, impulsively me.
BTW: Turns out KALSHI and POLYMARKET experts aren’t better than the real ones in Hollywood, as their success rate was just under 80%.
💼 THE EXECUTIVE SUITE
WBD C-Suite: Mission Accomplished!
In a fitting theme here on St. Patrick’s Day . . . it turns out, when you run a Hollywood studio, you don’t need any luck — just a board that grants you shares like they’re as made up as a pot of gold.