What's news: International producers plot a return to set, the pandemic hits Hollywood's internship pipeline, SAG-AFTRA plans furloughs as budget shrinks, live sports plots its return to TV, AT&T folds Xandr into WarnerMedia, a Hercules live-action remake is in the works, Amazon has more than doubled its content spend in the last year. Plus: The Hollywood Reporter gets a new editorial director. --Alex Weprin

 Adjusting to The Pandemic

►Shooting during the pandemic: How global producers have found new ways to work. From Sydney to Seoul, filmmakers are developing resourceful new ways to keep going, Scott Roxborough reports: "There is something great about how working under these conditions has brought everyone together."

Quote: "We have a corona stick, a 1.5 meters pole we use to make sure everyone keeps their distance," says Guido Reinhardt, producer of the German teen soap Unter Uns. "And we use visual tricks, shooting long focal lengths, or over the shoulder, to give the impression the actors are closer together than they actually are." The story.

The pandemic is also impacting Hollywood labor pipeline, from entry-level jobs to the unions themselves...

►As Hollywood scraps most internships, scramble begins for few remote openings. Industry observers who have tracked internships for years say there's no precedent in recent history that matches this summer's dearth of opportunities. Even during the Great Recession and its aftermath, "the labor market was difficult and it was definitely much more difficult to find an internship, but at least if you found one, you could go to work. … [Applicants] don't have those options this summer," College Recruiter president Steve Rothberg says. The story.

►SAG-AFTRA to furlough staff and reduce work hours. The union, which represents actors, journalists, radio and recording artists, voice actors and others, is planning on a $96 million budget, with $5 million from reserves, for operations between May 1, 2020, and April 3, 2021, it revealed on Thursday. According to the union, the budget accounts for "revenue preservation moves" including furloughs and reduced work hours. The story.

 The Return of Live Sports

►Live sports plots return to TV. It has been a month and a half since the sports world ground to a halt. The NBA and MLB suspended their seasons, the NCAA March Madness tourney was canceled, and ESPN's lineup went bare. May looks to be the month when things slowly pick up again. The big move: NASCAR will resume racing in North Carolina and South Carolina May 17. There won't be fans in the stands, but the races will be televised on Fox Sports (the drivers, of course, will be socially distanced in their cars). The story.

--In Florida, the WWE has been broadcasting its USA and Fox shows live from its training facility, while UFC will hold three fights for ESPN+ in the Sunshine State this month. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who declared sports an "essential" business last month, told reporters Thursday that he heard Major League Baseball could be returning to the state in June, and that it is possible fans could be allowed in the stands by July, albeit spread apart.

--The PGA Tour is planning to return on June 8 with the Charles Schwab Challenge, with new social distancing guidelines. Horse racing will return to NBCSN later this month with the Arkansas Derby. LeBron James, meanwhile, said Thursday that NBC players want to find a way to finish the suspended season.

--There is a strong business reason for the return: Sports TV channels are under pressure from pay-TV providers, with fans paying for sports channels but no new sports to air. New York Attorney General Letitia James sent a letter to the state's cable companies asking them to provide fee relief for pay-TV subscribers. Executives at Altice told analysts this week that they are beginning discussions with sports programmers about fee adjustments. Charter CEO Tom Rutledge said this morning that for now, few sports have been canceled outright (most have been suspended or postponed). If they are canceled, they may seek relief.

+Even Esports have been hit: Epic Games cancels 2020 Fortnite World Cup amid coronavirus pandemic. "For the rest of 2020, all Fortnite competitions will be held online. Due to the limitations of cross region online competition, there will not be a Fortnite World Cup in 2020," the company tweeted through its official Fortnite Competitive account on Thursday. The inaugural Fortnite World Cup was held last July at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. More.

►Nekesa Mumbi Moody named editorial director at The Hollywood Reporter. Moody, who has served as global entertainment and lifestyles editor at The Associated Press since 2012, will relocate from New York to Los Angeles and starts in the role on June 15.

--"The Hollywood Reporter has consistently produced some of the most important, informative and revealing stories about the entertainment industry. I’m thrilled to join and look forward to building on the incredible work of its journalists as Hollywood finds itself facing new challenges amid historic change," said Moody. The story.

In business news...

►AT&T folds Xandr ad tech unit into WarnerMedia. AT&T said unifying Xandr and WarnerMedia aimed to offer marketing brands and agencies "the broadest and most effective advertising solutions including the highest-quality content and environments, leading advanced TV products, and intelligent digital advertising capabilities." It will also develop new ad formats for HBO Max. WarnerMedia chief revenue officer Gerhard Zeiler will oversee Xandr. The story.

+Amazon's content spend has more than doubled: According to data in the tech giant's quarterly report, it spent $6.1 billion last quarter on video and music content. That is up from $2.4 billion a year ago, and $5.8 billion in the last quarter of 2019. While the company doesn't break out where that money is spent, it suggests that it is continuing to invest more in content, and in fact spends more than many entertainment companies.

+Apple services revenue hits $13.3 billion in latest quarter. Apple's services division, which includes Apple TV+, Apple Music and Apple Arcade, set an "all-time record" for the company in the first quarter of 2020. More.

+Charter loses fewer pay TV subs, adds more broadband users amid pandemic. Charter chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge said that recently improved video subscriber trends "may be temporary" due to lockdowns and "may reverse in an economic downturn." Some analysts have predicted that the unemployment and recession caused by the pandemic could boost pay TV subscriber losses once stay-at-home orders are lifted. More.

+Hasbro faces reduced revenue, earnings amid film tentpole delays. Debt ratings agency S&P Global Ratings on Thursday reduced its 2020 revenue and earnings forecasts for toy giant Hasbro over concerns around the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on its retail and production pipelines. More.

►How I'm Living Now: Laura Benanti, Tony winner. Standing on the porch of her parents's New Jersey home, where she's isolating with her husband and their 3-year-old daughter Ella, Tony winner Laura Benanti recorded a request of young performers everywhere. She wanted to see clips of the performances in school productions that they wouldn't be able to stage due to lockdown orders. The videos poured in by the thousands and, with the help of a few friends and major organizations, Benanti created a Sunshine Songs initiative that will produce its first concert series this weekend. She talks to THR about how it all came together, what it's been like to perform for virtual audiences and what she's learned about herself during the pandemic. The interview.

In other coronavirus-related news...

--NBC has lined up a slew of comedians — Eddie Murphy, Tiffany Haddish and Adam Sandler among them — for the lockdown-friendly special Feeding America Comedy Festival. The two-hour event, set to air May 10, is being done in partnership with Byron Allen's Allen Media Group and Funny or Die.

--The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday debuted a new line of character face masks and announced proceeds from sales would go to charity.

--Nick Cordero's wife, Amanda Kloots, on Thursday made an appearance on CBS This Morning, during which she opened up to co-host Gayle King about her husband's experience with COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

Obituaries: Mari Winsor, a beloved fitness instructor to the stars who was credited with popularizing Pilates, died Tuesday at her Sherman Oaks home of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. She was 70... One of Mexico’s best-known protest singers, Oscar Chávez, has died at the age of 85, apparently after being infected with the coronavirus... Tony Allen, drummer, Fela Kuti collaborator and celebrated innovator of the Afrobeat genre, has died. He was 79...

 'Hercules' Rebooted

►Hercules live-action remake in the works from Disney, Shang-Chi writer. The studio has hired Dave Callaham, the action scribe who launched The Expendables franchise and wrote Marvel’s upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, to pen the script for the remake of the 1997 animated film. Joe and Anthony Russo, the filmmakers behind the recent two-part Avengers movies, are set to produce via their AGBO banner. The story.

►HBO Max makes its play: With its launch now less than a month away, WarnerMedia's HBO Max is making a play for subscribers. The service quietly launched a special offer for new subscribers: One year for $11.99 per month. That's a discount of $3 per month from the standard $14.99 price point. Disney+ also offered a discount ahead of launch in an effort to bolster its subscriber growth, while NBCU's Peacock is betting on a free base tier and a $5 per month ad-supported tier to drive growth.

►Star-studded unscripted series Celebrity Watch Party set at Fox. The unscripted series will feature famous people in their homes discussing the biggest shows and news events on TV in the past week. It is based on the BAFTA-winning British format Gogglebox from Studio Lambert, which has been a hit on Channel 4 in the U.K. The story.

+The Voice goes remote — and live — for final rounds. Similar to ABC's American Idol, the final rounds of the NBC singing competition will feature the remaining contestants doing pretaped performances from their homes and judges Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, John Legend and Blake Shelton conferencing in from theirs. Carson Daly will host from The Voice's empty studio, in front of the red swivel chairs, working with a skeleton crew that will abide by social distancing protocols — a relative handful of crewmembers will be spread across two large soundstages. The story.

+Dare Me canceled at USA Network. Sources tell Lesley Goldberg that producer Universal Content Productions will shop the coming-of-age/small-town drama/murder-mystery mix to other outlets. More.

 Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has lost an early round in her privacy case against U.K. newspaper Mail on Sunday over its publication of a letter to her estranged father. Markle is suing for invasion of privacy over a 2018 article that included portions of the letter she had written to Thomas Markle. More.

TV ratings: Unscripted stalwarts The Masked Singer and Survivor remained atop the broadcast ratings on Wednesday, while CBS' SEAL Team and SWAT each brought in their second-largest audiences of the season. The numbers.

►TV reviews: Inkoo Kang reviews Hulu's The Great... Robyn Bahr reviews the Apple TV+ rom-com Trying. The review.

TV's Top 5 podcast: During this week's podcast, hosts Lesley Goldberg and Daniel Fienberg are joined by Rick & Morty's Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan to discuss Hulu's Solar Opposites. Other segments include Hollywood's production roadblocks and a look at the Parks and Recreation special. Listen.

Revolving door: Shelli Taylor is succeeding Tim League as CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema... The Recording Academy has named former Google executive Valeisha Butterfield Jones as its first chief diversity & inclusion officer, effective May 11. Butterfield Jones will join the executive leadership team and report directly to Harvey Mason Jr., academy chair and interim president/CEO.

In other news...

--The Tokyo International Film Festival's annual content market, TIFFCOM, said Friday that it will launch a new program designed to help Japanese and international producers secure financing for film, TV and anime projects.

--LeBron James reveals that the Space Jam sequel is called A New Legacy.

--CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is a father. Cooper announced on his program Thursday that Wyatt Morgan Cooper was born earlier this week.

--Parks and Recreation reunion delivers a heartfelt message of hope.

--Bong Joon Ho, Ali Wong, Dwayne Johnson and more are being honored as a part of nonprofit collective Gold House's third annual A100 List to celebrate Asians and Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and their transformative contributions to society.

--Dear Media, the podcast network behind female-focused shows like The Bitch Bible, The Skinny Confidential: Him & Her and Taste of Taylor, has raised $8 million in Series A funding from Magnet Companies.

--Gina Rodriguez will star in Paramount comedy The Aliens Are Stealing Our Weed.

--HBO and Italian broadcast network RAI have renewed My Brilliant Friend for a third season.

--Normal People star Daisy Edgar-Jones is having her big break from home.

What else we're reading...

--"World's hottest video app explores new frontier: Traditional TV" [Bloomberg]

--"Quibi, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s on-the-go streaming bet, adjusts to life on the couch" [WSJ]

--"Long lines, lots of kids, and plenty to touch: How does Disney reopen its parks?" [Reuters]

--Lockdown TV: Netflix dominates, news surges and Bea Arthur is still golden" [NY Times]

Today's birthdays: Joanna Lumley, 74, Rita Coolidge, 75, Wes Anderson, 51, Tim McGraw, 53, Ray Parker, Jr., 66.