What's news: The details of the WGA's deal with the studios, how Georgia hopes to lead Hollywood's return to production, CAA will keep some offices closed until 2021, Mad Men and The Godfather headline a pair of major streaming deals, Cannes' busy virtual market. Plus: Beavis and Butt-Head rebooted, and THR's Comedy Actor Roundtable. --Alex Weprin

 What's In The WGA-Studio Deal

►Writers Guild reveals studio deal details. The Writers Guild of America emailed its members Wednesday, disclosing details of the new three-year TV/theatrical deal reached Tuesday night with the major studios and saying that the coronavirus pandemic and economic circumstances had hindered its campaign to achieve many desired gains for writers.

--Significant parts of the deal – particularly concerning streaming residuals – mirror the gains achieved by the Directors Guild and SAG-AFTRA, and the WGA negotiating committee also said it fended off damaging rollbacks. The details.

►How Georgia hopes to lead Hollywood's return to production. High-profile projects from Marvel, Netflix and Universal will soon rev up production in the state as others try to nab precious studio space, Bryn Elise Sandberg reports: "We have people circling like sharks."

Quote: "There’s a really beautiful element to what's happening in Georgia and the support that we're getting at the political level to return to production," says Blackhall Studios CEO Ryan Millsap, noting he gets regular calls from the governor's office and state senators asking him when he's getting production going again. “They know that entertainment is one of the few sectors that's going to come up out of COVID like a rocket ship, and everything I hear from all of my relationships with politicians in Georgia is that they are ready to rock and roll this thing.” The story.

 THR's Comedy Actor Roundtable

Being funny now "Is kind of our duty": Ricky Gervais, Ramy Youssef, Kenan Thompson, Kumail Nanjiani, Dan Levy and the Comedy Actor Roundtable. Six top actors sound off to Lacey Rose on seeking laughter, relevance and killer abs: "I really bump up against this idea that comedy can change things."

--Kenan Thompson: "A lot of the responsibility of doing comedy is to make people try to feel good through bad times, but it's definitely very tip-toe-ish at the moment, so it might be a little harder. I don't know if it would be worth it if it's not going to be funny, because everybody is so sensitive about everything right now. At the same time, with 9/11, [SNL's season opener premiered as planned, 18 days later]. So, it's kind of our duty a bit."

--Ricky Gervais [reacting to Thompson]: "That's the best time. When everyone's on edge and sensitive, that's the best time to be insensitive. My show was packed with jokes about AIDS, cancer, famine, the Holocaust. So, this is just going to top it off."

--Ramy Youssef: "But I really bump against this idea that comedy is changing things. I think it can emotionally put people in a place where they can be a little more open. But we're seeing the real change in the way people are out there doing things, that's amazing. You see the people who hit the streets, you see Black Lives Matter, you see these infrastructures that have been put in place. Black Lives Matter started seven, eight years ago, it's just now becoming a thing, right? These are real things of change."

--Kumail Nanjiani: "I approached [my character in Marvel's Eternals] really as the opposite of the opportunities that I had gotten and the opportunities that a lot of other brown men traditionally get in Hollywood. I feel like we're this group where we can be the model minority, so the smart nerds, or the exact opposite, terrorists, depending on what the project is. Those are the two ends of the spectrum that we occupy and very little in between. I've gotten to play a nerd, so I wanted this guy to be cool. I've played weaklings, so I wanted this guy to be strong. Brown men have had to play terrorists, so I wanted this guy to be full of joy. So, really, this character for me was defined by what I didn't want him to be." The Comedy Actor Roundtable.

Two major streaming deals...



+Peacock inks sprawling ViacomCBS licensing deal for TV, movies. Features like The Godfather and series including Ray Donovan will be available July 15, when the NBCUniversal-owned streamer launches nationally. The Peacock deal is non-exclusive, meaning each of the shows included in Wednesday's deal will continue to stream on ViacomCBS' own streaming platform, CBS All Access.

--For ViacomCBS, meanwhile, the decision comes as the media titan plans to expand and rebrand its own subscription-based streamer CBS All Access with additional content from its recently re-acquired cable assets. The Peacock move is a way for the company to boost revenues while also continuing to keep the bulk of its properties on its own platform as well. The story.

+Mad Men finally has a streaming home. After spending the past nine months shopping global and streaming rights to its Emmy-winning drama, producers Lionsgate Television has sold the Jon Hamm starrer to Amazon and the show's original home, AMC, in a sprawling deal.

--Amazon-owned IMDb TV will be the ad-supported streaming home to the advertising drama from creator Matthew Weiner, with the series launching there July 15. Amazon and IMDb TV will have exclusive rights to the series through the summer. AMC will have the series in the fall in a deal that also includes linear syndication rights. The story.

►CAA offices in L.A., N.Y. and Nashville to remain closed until 2021. The agency had previously set an August 1 timetable for a decision to return to its major offices, including London. CAA also has offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Jacksonville and Memphis stateside as well as outposts in Beijing, Shanghai, Stockholm, Munich and Geneva. The story.

►Justice League star Ray Fisher accuses Joss Whedon of "abusive, unprofessional" behavior on set. On Monday, Fisher shared a video of himself praising Whedon at Comic-Con in 2017, where he noted, "Joss is a great guy and Zack picked a good person to come in and finish up for him." Fisher wrote of his own comments in the video, "I’d like to take a moment to forcefully retract every bit of this statement." On Wednesday, Fisher expounded on his thoughts about working with Whedon. The story.

►Apple's Emancipation deal leads busy Cannes virtual market. The global film industry is betting that eventually there'll be a box office rebound. Studios and streamers, international distributors and global sales agents were doing business at the Virtual Cannes Market, the two parallel online film markets held June 22 to 28 in lieu of the canceled physical festival, as if the future were bright, Scott Roxborough reports. The story.

+The postmortem: Cannes has declared its first and, if things go as planned, last virtual film market a success. Just more than 10,000 film professionals took part in the five-day event, which wrapped up June 28, according to official figures released Thursday. That compares to the 12,527 attendees for last year's physical film market, which was a Cannes record. More.

 'Beavis and Butt-Head,' Rebooted

►Beavis and Butt-Head returning with two new seasons (and spinoffs) at Comedy Central. The ViacomCBS-owned cable network is reviving Beavis and Butt-Head, with series creator Mike Judge returning to re-launch and re-imagine the franchise as part of a sizable deal that includes a two-season order and plans for additional spinoffs and specials. Lesley Goldberg has the details.

+Sarah Jessica Parker developing dating show at Lifetime. Parker, via her Pretty Matches Productions, will executive produce a dating show in development at the cable network. The tentatively titled Swipe Swap will follow single people who exchange locations in order to search for love in a new place. The show comes from ITV America's ITV Entertainment. More.

+A Netflix renewal: The streaming giant has handed out a second-season renewal for comedy Never Have I Ever, the scripted comedy series based on Mindy Kaling's formative years. The comedy starring newcomer Maitreyi Ramakrishnan has been one of the breakout word-of-mouth hits of the coronavirus-induced quarantine since its late April premiere. More.

In business news...

►Deluxe acquired by Platinum Equity. Deluxe Entertainment Services — sans its creative businesses including postproduction houses Company 3 and EFILM — has been acquired by Platinum, which has brought Cyril Drabinsky back to his role at CEO of the company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The story.

+Dish Network closes deal for Boost Mobile as it pivots to 5G. The pay-TV company is now focusing its new investments on building out a 5G network as the satellite TV business continues to shrink. More.

+Comcast analyst suggests spinoff of NBCU and Sky. Bernstein's Peter Supino raises his price target to $52, the highest on Wall Street for the company, saying the stock is "demonstrably under-valued." "Comcast's current strategy in media (NBCU and Sky) is one of incrementalism, and that now is a time for boldness. The bold move we support is a spin-out of NBCU/Sky." The story.

+How Wall Street views on ViacomCBS have evolved. Several analysts have increased their stock price targets on the company as of late, and some have expressed more confidence in its streaming strategy. More.

 A British judge has decided that Johnny Depp's litigation against The Sun owner News Group Newspapers over a 2018 article in the tabloid that cast him as a "wife beater" can go ahead, setting the stage for a trial starting next week. The publisher of the article looked to defend itself from a defamation claim by proving that Depp did, in fact, beat his ex-wife Amber Heard, causing her to suffer significant injury. The story.

+Court lifts restraint on Mary Trump's tell-all book. The book by Donald Trump's niece, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man, can be distributed despite the objections of the president's brother. More.

+Australian court upholds Geoffrey Rush's defamation payout. Three Federal Court judges ruled that articles published by Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2017 conveyed the imputation that Rush was a pervert and that the trial judge had correctly included the actor's loss of earnings in calculating damages. More.

Revolving door: Chris Parnell is leaving Sony Pictures Television for a top programming job at Apple... Match Group, which owns Match.com, Tinder, OKCupid, Hinge, and other dating and relationship brands, has added actor Ryan Reynolds and investor Wendi Murdoch to its board of directors... Chris Ender was tapped to head communications for the CBS Entertainment Group... Tobi De Graff, the former director of commission and co-production at BBC Studios has launched a stand-alone production company, Beiboot Representation...

Casting roundup:  Zachary Levi is set to play the two-time NFL most valuable player Kurt Warner in the film American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story... Brooke Bloom and Samuel Levine have joined the pandemic-inspired indie Before the World Set on Fire... Utkarsh Ambudkar has nabbed the male lead in the CBS single-camera comedy pilot Ghosts... Lesley Manville is joining the final season of Netflix hit drama The Crown to play Princess Margaret...

►The Outpost director Rod Lurie on grappling with loss, portraying death in war. The helmer, who lost his son Hunter two years ago, insisted on not glamorizing battle in the Afghanistan-set drama based on a real life story: "This was going to be a war film, not an action film." The guest column.

►Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal remembers Carl Reiner: "He made my life better." The Somebody Feed Phil star pays tribute to his comic hero turned regular lunch date. The column.

►Kerry Washington recalls the joy and vision of Little Fires Everywhere director Lynn Shelton. The star and executive producer remembers the independent filmmaker behind Humpday, Your Sister’s Sister and the Hulu miniseries — who died May 16 of a blood disorder at age 54 — as a kind and commanding collaborator. More.

►TV ratings: America's Got Talent slipped to season lows in the same-day ratings on Tuesday, but the NBC series is so far ahead of its competition that the small decline didn't matter. It still finished first in primetime in both adults 18-49 and total viewers and led NBC to its sixth straight ratings victory on the night. The numbers.

+TV review: Robyn Bahr reviews Netflix's The Baby-Sitters Club, writing that the streamer's "10-episode adaptation of the series is not only warm and effervescent — it's downright among the best shows the streaming platform has produced to date." The review.

+And: Bahr also reviews Netflix's Warrior Nun, writing "thematically, Warrior Nun is nothing you haven't seen before, and aesthetically, nothing you ever want to see again. Bleak, dour and trudging, the series contains none of the kitschy, blasphemous fun of its title." The review.

In other news...

--Prepare for a lot more of The Mandalorian in the future, with Lucasfilm announcing an aggressive publishing program based on the Disney+ show, to launch later this year.

--California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that 19 counties in the state must close indoor operations in businesses including restaurants, movie theaters, wineries, family entertainment centers, zoos and museums and cardrooms.

--The BFI London Film Festival is shifting much of its activities online for its 2020 edition as it contends with the fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

--Jay-Z’s annual festival in Philadelphia, Made in America, won’t take place Labor Day weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic.

--Kobe Bryant will join the roster of cover athletes for NBA 2K21, the next iteration of the top selling basketball franchise, publisher 2K Games revealed Thursday.

--Shortly after announcing the lineup for its own summer drive-in series, Tribeca Enterprises is partnering with Walmart to expand the number and reach of those screenings.

--Brainstorm Media has picked up the U.S. rights to Sergio Navarretta’s The Cuban, a coming-of-age drama starring Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. and Shohreh Aghdashloo.

--Australian auteur George Miller is getting into business with Beijing-based real estate giant Sunac China. The Chinese property developer has closed a deal to co-finance Miller's forthcoming "epic love story" Three Thousand Years of Longing, co-staring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton.

What else we're reading...

--"Jason Kilar’s radical vision for WarnerMedia: Putting consumers first" [The Information]

--"Ford is partnering with Disney to unveil Bronco SUVs on July 13" [CNBC]

--"What do fatter, more expensive “skinny bundles” mean for the media industry?" [LightShed TMT]

--"How the Facebook boycott could just make Facebook stronger" [Politico]

Today's birthdays: Larry David, 73, Margot Robbie, 30, Alex Morgan, 31, Erin Burnett, 44, Pierre Cardin, 98.