Today In Entertainment

OCTOBER 13, 2020

What's news: Disney shakes up its executive structure to "tilt the scale" toward streaming, AMC Theaters warns that it will run out of cash in the next few months, NBC's top unscripted exec is out following an investigation, Ted Sarandos defends Cuties, Podcast Academy sets first awards show for spring 2021. Plus: California sending a safety team to Disney World, HBO orders a SpaceX series. --Alex Weprin

 Disney Shakeup

➤Disney is reorganizing its business to focus on streaming. Under the new structure, Disney is creating a Media and Entertainment Distribution group responsible for both the dissemination and ad sales for all of its content, including across streaming services including Disney+. CEO Bob Chapek has tapped Kareem Daniel, formerly president of consumer products, games and publishing, to run the newly formed division.

--The newly created group will be responsible for the profits and losses for the entirety of Disney's media and entertainment businesses and will oversee distribution, operations, sales, advertising data and technology for all of Disney's content arms. It will also manage operations for Disney's streaming services and domestic television stations.

--Under the new organizational structure, Disney's Direct-to-Consumer and International group will be split in two. Rebecca Campbell will continue to lead both groups, reporting to Chapek in her role oversee international and reporting to Daniel in her role leading direct-to-consumer operations. The story and new operating structure.

+The shakeup comes less than a week after activist investor Dan Loeb sent a letter to the company suggesting that it permanently suspend its $3 billion dividend and invest that cash in streaming content, arguing that "with Disney’s superior tentpole franchises and production capabilities, we believe that the company can exceed the subscriber base of the industry leader, Netflix, in just a few years."

--Loeb and his Third Point LLC respond to yesterday's moves in a statement to THR: “We are pleased to see that Disney is focused on the same opportunity that makes us such enthusiastic shareholders: investing heavily in the DTC business, positioning Disney to thrive in the next era of entertainment.”

+Meanwhile: California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said he was sending members of his staff to Walt Disney World to see firsthand how the theme park is operating amid the pandemic as the company is demanding Disneyland be allowed to reopen. More.

 AMC Theaters Warns of a Cash Crunch

➤AMC Theaters released a warning to its shareholders early Tuesday morning. The movie theater giant said that its "existing cash resources would be largely depleted by the end of 2020 or early 2021" if current trends persist. Thereafter, to meet its financial obligations "as they become due, the company will require additional sources of liquidity or increases in attendance levels," it said, adding: "The required amounts of additional liquidity are expected to be material."

--The dearth of new releases, continued shutdowns in New York and Los Angeles, and low attendance at theaters that are open (down 85% from last year) all are contributing factors. Some of the options on the table: "additional debt and equity financing; further renegotiations with landlords regarding its lease payments; potential asset sales; joint-venture or other arrangements with existing business partners; and minority investments in our capital stock." The story.

In other film news...

➤Yet another film goes straight to VOD: Gerard Butler's thriller Greenland is set to bypass U.S. theaters and will be made available via premium video-on-demand for a $19.99 rental for 48 hours from Dec. 18. Despite already getting a solid theatrical release in 24 territories internationally, STXfilms' Greenland already delayed its Sept. 25 domestic release amid the ongoing challenges facing the domestic box office due to the COVID-19 crisis, including continued cinema closures in Los Angeles and New York City. The story.

+Sandra Bullock will star and produce The Lost City of D, a romantic action adventure that is heating up at Paramount. Adam and Aaron Nee have signed on to direct the project that has quietly percolating for months. Lost City is major priority for newly instated motion picture group president Emma Watts and is being envisioned as a potential reunion for Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, a team-up that yielded the 2011 comedy hit The Proposal. There is no deal for Reynolds, who is only loosely attached at this stage. More.

+Universal Pictures and Sentient Entertainment are partnering on a remake of Alejandro Amenabar’s 2001 ghost story The Others, which starred Nicole Kidman and Christopher Eccleston. The reboot is in development after Universal Pictures optioned the rights to The Others from Sentient. The original film portrayed a woman living in a darkened old family house with her two photosensitive children, only to become convinced that the home is haunted. The story.

➤Top unscripted executive Meredith Ahr is out at NBC following an investigation into claims that she and former NBC entertainment president Paul Telegdy fostered a toxic culture at the network. The inquiry sprang from a THR report on allegations of homophobic, misogynistic and racist behavior, especially within the network's reality division.

--Sources say the investigator interviewed more than 60 current and former network employees and found that both Telegdy and Ahr's behavior was not in line with standards the company expects, especially from its senior leaders. Ahr's last day was Monday. The story.

+NBCUniversal ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino is adding to her portfolio. Yaccarino has been elevated to chairman global advertising and partnerships at the company. The "global" part of her title is new — she'll add local advertising sales and strategic initiatives to her purview and head a cross-functional data strategy effort at NBCU while continuing to oversee national ad sales, ad sales marketing and global partnerships. She reports directly to NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell. More.

 HBO Going to Space... X

➤HBO is developing a limited series about the origins of Elon Musk's SpaceX. The six-episode project, titled SpaceX, counts Channing Tatum and former HBO Films head Len Amato among its executive producers. It's based on the book Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance. The story.

In other TV news...

+Showtime is headed to Brooklyn for its next comedy series. The premium cabler has given a 10-episode, straight-to-series order to Flatbush Misdemeanors, created by and starring stand-up comics Kevin Iso and Dan Perlman. The show is based on a digital series of the same name, which has won awards at the London Film Festival and Florida Film Festival. More.

+NBC's daytime drama Days of Our Lives is shutting down for two weeks after a member of the production team tested positive for COVID-19. The soap will pause filming until Oct. 26 following the positive test, which came as part of the show's testing protocol. The person who tested positive is now in isolation, and people who had close contact with the person are also quarantining. The show's airdate schedule won't be affected by the shutdown. More.

➤Podcast Academy to hold first-ever awards show this spring. The non-profit group has set a March 28 date for the first annual Awards for Excellence in Audio, nicknamed the Ambies. During the show, the Podcast Academy plans to hand out 23 awards that recognize a range of audio-first work. Winners will receive a gold statue holding a microphone and wearing headphones. (The Ambies has replaced earlier plans to call the awards the Golden Mics.) The story.

➤Twenty-eight Native American and Indigenous writers are calling on Hollywood to "commit to advancing" Native and Indigenous representation in a new open letter, circulated on Indigenous Peoples' Day.

--The letter, signed by members of the Writers Guild of America West's Native American & Indigenous Writers Committee, argues that Native and Indigenous creatives "are often excluded from industry-wide diversity promises and rolled into the BIPOC acronym without recognition that Native and Indigenous people have a specific, necessary voice within this country" and that amid an ongoing reckoning over race in America, "now is the time to make amends for inadequate representation." Signatories include Deputy writer Anthony Florez, Final Space writer Kelly Lynne D'Angelo and Feed poet and writer Tommy Pico. The story.

➤Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has brushed off a Texas grand jury indictment of Cuties (Mignonnes), French director Maïmouna Doucouré's indie film that has generated controversy on the streaming platform for its depiction of prepubescent girls.

--"Frankly, I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion about the First Amendment implications of this film. It's a film I would argue is very misunderstood with some audiences, uniquely in the United States," Sarandos told a MIPCOM Online+ keynote address on Monday. More.

+MIPCOM roundup: Tyler Perry was honored with international television market MIPCOM's World Screen Trendsetter Award on Monday, where the director, producer and actor spoke about resuming production amid COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement... Cineflix Rights announced a deal on Monday with NBCUniversal International Networks to carry all four seasons of Wynonna Earp across its science fiction channels in Iberia, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and in Poland and the Balkans, as the show is launched at MIPCOM's online market...

➤TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews the PBS doc Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America, writing that it "is very good and does what a good dissertation or grad school essay should do: take some information you probably know and some details you probably didn't know, and reframe them within an argument that starts small but grows to encompass the entire history of the country." The review.

➤Guest column: When moviegoers started watching films from the beginning. Of the many cinematic "firsts" credited to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho 60 years ago, the change it brought to the ritual of American moviegoing may be the most consequential, Brandeis professor Thomas Doherty writes. The column.

Revolving door: Gaming superstar Tyler "Ninja" Blevins has signed with CAA for representation in all areas... DeAndre Hopkins has signed with IMG Models to get the Arizona Cardinals wide receiver and style star off the football field and closer to the fashion world... AfterShock Media is hiring a raft of new talent to help bring AfterShock IP to other media...

Casting roundup: Barry Pepper and Umbrella Academy star Colm Feore are set to star in Trigger Point, an action thriller from High Park Entertainment and Landmark Studio Group...Joshua Jackson will play the title role in Peacock's Dr. Death, based on the Wondery podcast of the same title. He takes over for Jamie Dornan, who was originally cast in the part but had to drop out when production was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Obituary: Joe Morgan, the Hall of Fame second baseman and sparkplug of the Cincinnati Reds' Big Red Machine who went on to spend more than two decades as a baseball broadcaster, has died. He was 77...

In other news...

--WarnerMedia parent AT&T's $1.1 billion sale of a majority stake in Central European Media Enterprises to Czech businessman Petr Kellner's PPF Group closed on Tuesday.

--President Trump is ramping up his attacks against Fox News and promoting its competitors as he returns to the campaign trail following a COVID-19 diagnosis.

--Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold The Concert will be among the first offerings appearing on the marquee at the new American Legion Post 43 drive-in in Los Angeles. The outdoor venue is located in the heart of Hollywood.

--Chris Harrison on pulling off Clare Crawley's season: "We didn’t want it to feel like COVID-Bachelorette."

--QVC/HSN are rolling out travel and cooking shows to help sell their wares, as the pandemic has forced a shift in how the channel sells its ware to viewers.

--Kanye West on Monday released his first campaign video ad for his presidential bid — just weeks before the election. A little more than a minute long, the spot features the musician speaking in front of a video of a black American Flag as he talks about the country acting "on faith." It is unclear if the ad will run on TV or just social media.

--The estate of the late swashbuckling producer and Paramount boss Bob Evans will be up for auction Oct. 24, a year after he died at 89.

--ViacomCBS' ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI) unit on Tuesday unveiled a "no diversity, no commission" production policy "to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by requiring that all new international productions be made by a diverse team."

What else we're reading...

--"PBS showed TV the future. But what does its own look like? [NY Times]

--"Facebook bans content denying the Holocaust on its platforms" [WSJ]

--"HBO Max's secret to viral TikToks: Interns run the account" [AdWeek]

--"Is this how theater gets saved? Geffen magic show mines virtual box-office gold" [LA Times]

--"Gal Gadot is in a league of her own" [Vanity Fair]

Today's birthdays: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 31, Sacha Baron Cohen, 49, Tiffany Trump, 27, Ashanti, 40, Paul Simon, 79.

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OCTOBER 13, 2020

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