Latest Business News
Paramount CEO Bob Bakish’s 2023 Pay Falls to $31.3M
Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish saw total compensation in 2023 of $31.3 million, compared with $32.0 million in 2022. The company filed its annual proxy statement Monday, disclosing the latest pay packages for the Paramount boss and other top executives. Bakish’s compensation package in 2023 included a base salary of $3.1 million, as it has […]
- By
Cannes Film Festival Launches Partnership With AFCI For Inaugural Summit
The Association of Film Commissioners International is heading to Cannes. For its 77th edition in May, the festival — in partnership with AFCI — will debut the Global Film Commission Network Summit. It’ll discuss “selecting locations for authentic storytelling, indigenous community engagement and dismantling location stereotypes,” among other things, AFCI said. Attendees will include film […]
- By
Sesame Workshop Averts Strike: Tentative Deal Struck With Writers
The Sesame Workshop has averted a picket line outside its New York headquarters, as a new contract deal with its unionized writers was reached on Friday night. Sesame Workshop announced the five-year agreement hours before the educational nonprofit’s current labor contract with its writers expired. “We value our writers and their significant contributions to the […]
- By
John Malone Exits as Director Emeritus of Charter, Citing Clayton Act Concerns
Media mogul John Malone is stepping down from his director emeritus role at cable giant Charter Communications. Malone said in a statement that he made the decision due to concerns around the Clayton Act, a 1914 antitrust law that the Department of Justice has been using to launch some investigations. “I stepped away from my […]
- By
Netflix Subscriber Numbers Fueled a Decade of Frenzied Streaming Bets. That Chapter Is Over
In the stock market, the story is everything. If you are a public company, you want to tell a story about your business. A story of growth, of ambition, of what your future holds and what your ceiling can be. When it works, it can send your share price soaring (just look at Nvidia and […]
- By
How Modern Hollywood Doomed Jeff Skoll’s Participant Media Dream
At the Oscars in 2019, one production company was at the center of the year’s most talked about films and on the cusp of the industry’s sweeping trends. The man who backed it, however, wasn’t at the ceremony. That year the films made by Participant Media collected 17 Oscar nominations, for Green Book, which eventually […]
- By
IATSE Local 705 Reaches Tentative Agreement on Craft-Specific Issues With Studios
The union representing West Coast costumers has reached a tentative agreement on its craft-specific issues with studios and streamers. IATSE Local 705 struck a provisional deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Wednesday, the crew union IATSE announced Friday. Like with other recent IATSE Local tentative deals, the details of the […]
- By
“To Have Them Disappear Is Devastating”: Doc Filmmakers Reckon With Participant’s Abrupt End
The sudden end of Participant Media came as a shock to many in the entertainment industry, but it hit documentary filmmakers particularly hard, with some concerned that backers for serious-minded, issue-driven projects are becoming ever more scarce. Since its founding in 2004, the company — which sought to bring stories that could spark change to […]
- By
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s 2023 Pay Package Rises to $49.7M
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav saw the value of his 2023 compensation package rise to $49.7 million, compared with $39.3 million in 2022 when the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger had closed. The entertainment conglomerate disclosed latest pay details for its top executives in a regulatory filing. Zaslav’s 2023 pay consisted of a $3 million salary, and more than […]
- By
Sony and Apollo Weigh Joint Bid for Paramount Global
Even as Paramount Global continues to hold exclusive talks with David Ellison’s Skydance and Gerry Cardinale’s Redbird Capital, another potential buyer group is considering its own moves. The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that executives at Sony Corp., including Sony Pictures chief Tony Vinciquerra, have been in touch with Apollo Global Management about making a joint […]
- By
Cinemark Sued For Allegedly Shorting Customers On Beverages
Shrinkflation has come for Cinemark, with a proposed class action accusing the movie theater chain of duping customers on concessions for its largest beverage container. The lawsuit, filed in Texas federal court on Tuesday, claims Cinemark’s 24-ounce cups aren’t true to size and can only be filled with a maximum of 22 ounces of liquid. […]
- By
Kevin Hart and His Hartbeat Banner Signs With WME
Comedian and box office powerhouse Kevin Hart and his Hartbeat production banner have signed with WME for representation in all areas. The signing comes as Hart continues to develop, star in and produce feature films, TV series, commercials and podcasts via Hartbeat as it expands its portfolio of multiplatform IP. WME had been representing Hart […]
- By
Netflix Pay: Greg Peters Hit $40M in First Year as Co-CEO, Ted Sarandos Saw $49.8M In 2023
In 2023, the then-newly named Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters saw his total target compensation package grow to $40 million up from $26 million the prior year. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos brought in $49.8 million in 2023, with a base salary of $3 million, $28 million in stock awards, an annual bonus of $16.5 million and all other […]
- By
Netflix to Stop Providing Subscriber Numbers in 2025, Marking End of an Era in Streaming Wars
Netflix will stop reporting quarterly subscriber numbers starting with its first- quarter 2025 earnings, as the company says it’s more focused on other metrics. Additionally, the streaming giant said Thursday that it would stop reporting average revenue per member, which it refers to as ARM. The company had already stopped providing guidance on paid membership […]
- By
Los Angeles Film and TV Production Sees Sluggish Rebound From Strikes, but There’s Optimism
Filming in Los Angeles has been slow to bounce back after production in the region was decimated by Hollywood’s historic season of strikes. The main reason for the sluggish rebound: A double-digit drop in television shoots compared to the same period last year. Present levels look even worse over a five year period, with filming […]
- By
Telemundo to Combine Entertainment Studios in Restructuring
Telemundo is restructuring its entertainment studios in an effort to produce more scripted content for its platforms. The new structure will see the Spanish-language media company merge its linear and streaming studios into one combined unit called Telemundo Studios. The move unifies the streaming studio, which was launched in 2021, with the more traditional studio […]
- By