☀️NETFLIX Nabs Shawn Ryan As TV Deals Show Life
WB's surprise sequel to 1998 mid-level hit / Why is PAR saga getting new entrants now / 'Acolyte' can't top 'Ahsoka' at DIS+
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, June 11, 2024.
Where welcome to the APPLE GPT era y’all, as the forthcoming iOS 18 (fall 2024) will have its own AI integrated into it and offer the option to use OPENAI’s CHATGPT — just be sure to still call it Siri so its feelings aren’t hurt, mmmkay?
As for CHATGPT protections — APPLE being a business which has prided itself on privacy and tightly protected closed systems, of course — APPLE says OPENAI’s integration to its core operating system will all be handled in a “completely private and secure way,” with obscured IP addresses and such.
So the newly branded APPLE Intelligence product will likely steal “learn” from your creative — but hey, it won’t know it was yours. Problem solved.
Although to note — if you don’t have an iPhone 15 (or upgrade to new models starting this fall), you can’t use this new feature anyway as it needs the latest chips to do so. But ya know, APPLE has never stopped supporting old phones or deliberately slowed them down to force an upgrade, right?
The new and improved iOS18 will also help you copy generate images as CHATGPT does (but not photo realistic ones, though animation is okay — I mean animation isn’t created by people anymore, right?).
It’ll also sort your mail (WME Mailroom, it’s been real), search across all of the information in your apps, photos and messages to find things (don’t worry, I’m sure it won’t remember anything that it sees), and summarize messages . . . so when The Wakeup becomes just a series of gifs in your inbox come November, you’ll know why.
Okay, fine . . . yes okay, I’m being a bit of a GenXer here. I mean, clearly we all totally won’t be contributing to our own demise by using our iPhones & iPads to feed the product that is going to replace untold number of creative jobs in our industry, through arguable copyright theft.
After all, the company still pays the town billions of dollars a year in deals for TV, movie and music creative — so we can trust APPLE, right?
OH: APPLE TV also added a SHAZAM-like feature where you can find out what song is playing in a given scene (and listen to it/add on APPLE MUSIC of course).
The In-Sight feature also has very similar functionality to AMAZON’s X-Ray feature where you can find out info on actors in a scene, etc.
THEN: IATSE and the AMPTP set a June 24 date to return to talks for the Hollywood Basic Agreement and the Area Standards Agreement, about 5 weeks before the deal expires.
PLUS: The ad biz forecasting experts who were telling us 2024 was looking bad 6 months ago are now telling us the 2024 ad spends (and 2025 forecasts) are looking quite good. Nice cottage industry ya have there, folks.
AND: While NY governor Kathy Hochul may not be too concerned about improving air quality for NYC residents — she appears to be prioritizing the protection of kids under 18 from “addictive” social media algos.
She is likely to sign a bill coming to her desk which would prohibit social media platforms from using algorithmic content recommendations for users under 18 in the state of NY, claiming their “addictive” nature — adults, we’re totally fine with the mental effects that has on you.
The platforms would need to use chronology or some other basis to sort what’s presented in feeds.
It also calls for age-verification methods to be set once the law is passed. And all the tech companies sue to block it. See ya in 2026.
ALSO: A couple of women’s pro sports attendance numbers to note this weekend.
WNBA 🏀: The FEVER vs. MYSTICS game on Friday had 20,333 folks in the stands, the biggest regular season WNBA audience since 1999.
NWSL ⚽️: Set a new single game attendance record for the BAY FC vs. RED STARS game at Wrigley Field on Saturday, with 35,038.
ADD: Mr. Rogers to the list of folks who have have their own FAST channel — PLUTO just launched one with his more than 390 episodes in case you want to put your kids in front of something other than Bluey.
TONYS WEEK CONTINUES! 🎵
Next up — this performance of “Great Expectations” from Tony nominee Brody Grant in The Outsiders. Hard to believe this show is his Broadway debut — quite a voice and performance here! 👏
IN TODAY’S EDITION
NETFLIX sets a new A-List TV showrunner overall deal . . . although at post-strikes 💰 rates. This caps off a rather active period of TV overall / first-look dealmaking in Hollywood . . . following a strike, where one of the popularly held notions was that studios wanted to clear their decks of these things. While there may be an “It’s dead out there” notion afoot — clearly some folks are getting new and/or renewed homes.
Yes, the PARAMOUNT drama continues — a rundown of the latest to note, and some curious things to note about the timing here.
Comp WBD’s new tennis check 💰 vs. existing deals in the sport, which will now have a curious distinction come 2025.
