What's news: Jimmy Kimmel will host the Emmys with the format TBD, NBC is reviving 30 Rock for an upfront special, movie theaters in L.A. and New York aim for a July 10 reopening, behind the fall of reality TV police shows Live PD and Cops, how The Bold and the Beautiful will return to production, Hollywood rethinks being in the video game business. Plus: Guest columns from Will Packer, Nina Shaw and Courtney Kemp. --Alex Weprin

 Elevating Hollywood's Black Voices

On the cover: In a series of guest essays for THR, Black voices in the entertainment industry share their experiences, internal conversations and why "this moment may be a real catalyst for change."

--Producer Will Packer: Why Hollywood needs to demand change in production hub Georgia. The producer reveals the "weariness that weighs on Black people" as he advocates for a hate crime law in Georgia, where Ahmaud Arbery was killed only hours away from the spot Black Panther and his fellow Avengers were filmed saving the world.

Quote: Someone used the analogy that if you punch even the most docile person in the face long enough, eventually they're going to say enough is enough. But that's not really apropos here. The more accurate analogy is if you punch someone in the face for a lifetime and they die, then you repeatedly punch their kids in the face and they die. What we're watching now are descendants hundreds of years later saying, "'Enough, damn it!'" The column.

--Hollywood attorney Nina Shaw on being "the only Black person in the room" for 30-plus years. The power lawyer reveals the "deeply troubling" experience of tokenism and recalls the discouraging response to calling for diverse representation in 2016: "That was the embodiment of white privilege."

Quote: Today I ask myself, "What would I say to an audience of white executives, agents, managers and lawyers?" I would say many things, but chief among them would be: "How are you not mortified when your executive photo directory bears no semblance to the way the world actually looks? Is it OK for you to know this is not OK and to do nothing?" The column.

--Power creator Courtney Kemp: "The cop shows aren't the problem, it's the people who write them." The creator, who runs writers rooms for Power and HBO Max's upcoming corrupt-cop show Dirty Thirty, expounds on where police procedurals go wrong.

Quote: "In order to create cop series that are diverse and multi­dimensional, we have to change the ownership of the narrative — which goes beyond just the showrunners and writers. During the pickup and notes process, studios and networks stamp out any levels of nuance or shading to create simple narratives — and, no surprise, there's a distinct lack of diversity at the studio and network levels as well. The people saying yes haven't changed. The pressure on them has. I'm writing this to be part of that pressure: Hire us, and get our voices in the room and represented on the screen. I promise you'll get better and more compelling television as a result, not just in the crime genre, but all the way across the board." The column.



^Jimmy Kimmel to host and produce coronavirus-altered Emmys. Kimmel is set to host the 2020 Primetime Emmys for ABC. What that show will look like, however, is still quite unclear. News of Kimmel’s third go as Emmy emcee, announced by the network on Tuesday morning, comes a day after the Television Academy announced that the Creative Arts ceremonies would be going virtual — simultaneously acknowledging that the likely limitations brought on by COVID-19 mean the main September telecast will likely be quite different from years past.

--Quote: “I don't know where we will do this or how we will do this or even why we are doing this, but we are doing it and I am hosting it,” said Kimmel, who will also serve as executive produce on the event. The story.

+In other awards news: The Film Independent Spirit Awards is delaying its ceremony date due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The awards show, which honors the best in independent film, will now take place on Saturday, April 24, 2021 — the day before the Oscars ceremony (which was re-dated on Monday), per longtime tradition — and will also adopt the same extended eligibility window that the Oscars adopted on Monday. More.

►30 Rock upfront special set at NBC. Following the April 30 Parks and Recreation reunion fundraiser, the network on Tuesday announced a one-off upfront special featuring 30 Rock stars including Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer and more. The hourlong special will air at 8 p.m. July 16 and be ad-free and focus on stories and talent featured in NBCUniversal's 2020-21 season. 

--The special arrives as May's traditional upfront pitch to advertisers in New York was scrapped in favor of a number of digital presentations. The primetime special, which sources say will also feature Yaccarino making her pitch, is a way to drive interest and help fill a programming slot at a time when originals have yet to resume production amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The story.

+NBC plots business as usual "fall" schedule. The network on Tuesday revealed a business as usual approach to the start of its 2020-21 broadcast season, though it stopped short of noting it would launch during the traditional Premiere Week in September. Additionally, NBC has committed to funding an additional diverse writer for each of its 2020-21 scripted series as it looks to improve diversity behind the scenes.

--Fox and The CW, for their part, designed "corona-proof" fall schedules that are comprised of "gently used" programming that debuted elsewhere like Spectrum import L.A.'s Finest and DC Universe's Swamp Thing, respectively. This allows both networks the time to return to work and still make 2021 premieres, provided a second wave of the coronavirus doesn't derail production again. The story.

 Movie Theaters Inch Closer To Reopening

►L.A. and NYC movie theaters hope to reopen July 10. The country's two largest moviegoing markets are crucial for Hollywood studios as they gear up to release big-budget tentpoles Mulan on July 24 and Tenet on July 31 (the latter was originally set to open on July 17, but moved last week). None of the circuits have announced specific plans for New York City and Los Angeles since they first need the go-ahead from local authorities, yet numerous sources tell THR's Pamela McClintock that movie chains and Hollywood now believe cinemas there will be once again be allowed to welcome customers on July 10. The story.

+Cinemark will reopen all Its U.S. movie theaters by July 17. The country's third-largest movie circuit will "strongly encourage" customers to wear masks in addition to a host of new sanitary protocols, Pamela McClintock reports. "What we are doing is very substantial and very significant," Cinemark CEO Mark Zoradi says. "Our theaters are always clean. Now they will sparkle." The story.

+Imax CEO dampens box office expectations for July theater reopening. "I'm concerned that people are focused on the opening weekend. Investors have to get that out of their minds. It's not going to challenge Avengers: Endgame as the biggest opening of all time. That's just not happening," Richard Gelfond told the Credit Suisse Annual Virtual Communications Conference during a session that was webcast. The story.

►Former Viacom entertainment group chief Jonathan Dolgen talks resuming production. The board member of Los Angeles' Homeland Security Advisory Council says: "[Hollywood executives] believe that at some point the business will find its way back to an environment much like the one we had prior to this problem. That may be a case of wishful thinking." The interview.



^Behind the fall of Live PD, Cops and reality TV police. After ordering 160 new episodes of its flagship Live PD in May, A&E execs pull the plug as protests over police violence lead to criticisms of the genre as a "PR arm" of law enforcement. "It was like the perfect storm," a source close to the show tells THR's Rick Porter of the circumstances leading to Live PD's end, as major entertainment companies aimed to align themselves with the Black Lives Matter movement amid protestors' calls to defund police departments. The story.

►Bold & the Beautiful boss on resuming production: "We're ready to go." Executive producer Bradley Bell details how the CBS soap opera will go back into production Wednesday, from masks on set to actors' real-life partners serving as "love-scene doubles."

Quote: "We'll really rely on our directors to employ all techniques. [Actors will] shoot eight feet apart, following all the safety standards, but use the tricks of the business. We'll shoot one side of the couple in a romantic scene alone in the room, but looking at a spot very close to them, and then shoot the other side alone. When we edit it together, it will look like they're nose to nose." The interview.

 Game Over For Hollywood Video Game Divisions

►Hollywood rethinks owning video game divisions. While all the major entertainment companies once owned game studios, Disney and Comcast have since shuttered or divested their interactive divisions, leaving Warner Interactive is the last one standing. "WBIE is really the only success story out of many failed attempts by traditional media companies to build viable video game businesses," Cowen's Doug Creutz writes. Now, however, it is now up for sale by AT&T. The story.

►HBO, Spike Lee team for David Byrne's American Utopia film. The premium cable outlet will present a filmed version of the acclaimed Broadway show, which Lee, who currently has Da 5 Bloods on Netflix, directed during the show's run at the Hudson Theater. It's set to premiere later this year, with a specific date to be announced. More.

+Max Brooks' Bigfoot book Devolution picked up by Legendary. The World War Z author had previously worked on developing the concept for Legendary before deciding to write it as a book first. The book is Brooks' take on the Bigfoot folktale — the complete title of the tome is Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre — and is told both as a journal and scientific investigation. The story.

+Arthur Ashe biopic in the works from Da 5 Bloods writer, Hyde Park Entertainment. Warner Music Group is also producing the feature project on the late civil rights activist and only Black man to have won the men's singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open. More.

►Premium VOD film releases have been "helpful" amid pandemic, says Comcast CFO. But Universal is "eager to get our films back in cinemas," Michael Cavanagh tells the Credit Suisse 22nd Annual Virtual Communications Conference. But he also reiterated that it was "likely that for certain types of films there can be a constructive way" for consumers and all players in the film business to set up some films for PVOD releases. "I'd like to think there is a way to figure all that out," Cavanagh said, adding "it is a film-by-film issue" and "only a part of the long-term strategy." The story.

Also from the conference: Is the TV advertising market on the upswing?

+Fox Corp. COO John Nallen provided an update on TV advertising trends amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, telling an investor conference on Tuesday that local TV momentum was moving "in the right direction" despite continued weakness thanks to the return of some key categories . More.

+At Discovery Inc.: Advertising spending trends are improving after the initial novel coronavirus pandemic hit, with money "coming back faster" than initially expected, Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav told an investor conference on Tuesday. More.

+Also: ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish detailed changes to CBS All Access, including 15,000 hours of new Viacom and CBS programming and sports content, as he discussed a planned relaunch in 2021 of the streaming service on Tuesday. "The second part of our strategy is to transform All Access into a super service," Bakish told the Credit Suisse Annual Virtual Communications Conference during a session that was webcast. The story.



Emmys: How Apple TV+, Disney+ and other new streamers could shake up the race. It took several years for the first wave of digital content companies to earn Emmy acclaim, but this year’s crop of newcomers — which also include HBO Max and Quibi — could alter the landscape in their freshman year, backed by star-studded, buzzworthy projects and plenty of cash to campaign, Scott Feinberg reports. The story.

►Debra Messing has found her follow-up to Will & Grace. The Emmy winner will star in a comedy project called East Wing that's in development at Starz. The show comes from Lionsgate Television and creators Ali Wentworth (who will also appear on camera) and Liz Tuccillo and draws from the experiences of Wentworth's mother, who served as social secretary in the White House during the Reagan administration. More.

►Sesame Workshop names new head of creative. Following a six-month-long search, Kay Wilson Stallings has been promoted to serve as the exec vp creative and production of the nonprofit media and education division behind Sesame Street. Wilson Stallings, who was senior vp creative development, immediately replaces Brown Johnson at the helm of the division. Johnson retired in May following a five-year run in the job. More.

►How Nanci Ryder changed my life. The BWR Public Relations co-founder lost a battle with ALS on June 11. Chris Gardner, the THR writer who followed her journey for six years, recalls their time together. The column.

►TV ratings: NBC swept all three hours of primetime among adults 18-49 Monday, and the season finale of Songland also improved its total-viewer count. The finale of Roswell, New Mexico was steady on The CW. The numbers.

In other news...

--The CW is filling out its summer lineup, adding four unscripted series from Canada and the U.K. to its roster. The broadcaster has also moved two shows scheduled for fall debuts, CBS All Access' Tell Me a Story and Canadian drama Coroner, into summer berths.

--Robert De Niro, Oscar Isaac, Donald Sutherland and Anne Hathaway are joining Cate Blanchett in James Gray’s Armageddon Time for RT Features.

--Facebook will allow users to turn off political ads in the next few weeks, a significant policy change coming after months of criticism that politicians and political groups could run ads containing false information on its platform.

--While not holding a physical event, the Palm Springs International ShortFest will continue on in a digital version, with 332 short films selected for their programming. The fest will now also offer a selection of their programming to screen online for free beginning on June 16 and through June 22.

--This year's Emerald City Comic Con has been canceled. In its place, organizers ReedPop announced Tuesday both a digital event and in-person 2021 show as replacements... Video game conference PAX West, which was set to take place in Seattle this year, has been canceled and replaced with a digital iteration called PAX Online.

--Freestyle Releasing has picked up the romantic drama 2 Hearts, which stars Jacob Elordi, Tiera Skovbye, Adan Canto and Radha Mitchell.

--New Regency has closed two deals that will give the Ad Astra producers $825 million in available credit.

--The Roots are taking their Roots Picnic online this year, and they're teaming up with former First Lady Michelle Obama to give the event an extra boost.

What else we're reading...

--"Amazon’s media business is worth $500 billion based on ‘hidden value,’ says Needham analyst" [CNBC]

--"Civil rights groups push for Facebook ad boycott" [WSJ]

--"Netflix CEO Reed Hastings donates $120 million to support historically Black colleges and universities" [LA Times]

--"Netflix’s billionaire founder is secretly building a luxury retreat for teachers in rural Colorado" [Recode]

Today's birthdays: Venus Williams, 40, Kendrick Lamar, 33, Newt Gingrich, 77, Thomas Haden Church, 60, Barry Manilow, 77.