Today In Entertainment OCTOBER 20, 2020
What's news: Channing Dungey will succeed Peter Roth at Warner Bros., ViacomCBS shakes up digital executive ranks, AMC Theatres seeks more cash, DOJ targets Google in antitrust suit, California to release theme park reopening guidelines, Netflix cuts short Away's trip. Plus: Euphoria specials, and remembering James Redford. --Alex Weprin Channing Dungey Lands At Warner Bros. ➤Channing Dungey was not on the job market for long. After leaving Netflix on Oct. 9, the executive has landed at Warner Bros., where she'll take over as chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group. She'll succeed Peter Roth, who is stepping down when his current contract ends early next year. She'll report directly to WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff. --"This is a homecoming of sorts for Channing, who was a production executive at Warner Bros. early in her career, and we’re excited to have her rejoin the studio," said Sarnoff. "Channing is one of the most talented, visionary, creative and respected executives working in television today. She has impeccable taste, a breadth of experience covering all platforms and genres, incredible relationships across the creative community and a keen sense of what’s next and how best to get it to audiences. She's a great choice to lead the television group as it continues to grow its production operations for HBO Max, while also maintaining its standing as the industry's leading independent supplier of programming to all outlets." The story. Another day, another corporate shakeup at an entertainment giant... ➤ViacomCBS shakes up digital leadership in streaming push. Tom Ryan, the CEO of Pluto TV, will become president and CEO of ViacomCBS Streaming, overseeing all of the company's entertainment streaming services, including CBS All Access, which will soon be rebranded as Paramount+. With Ryan's promotion, ViacomCBS' digital chief Marc DeBevoise will leave the company, serving as an adviser through the end of 2020. --Elsewhere: Kelly Day, the COO of ViacomCBS Networks International (VCNI), will take on an expanded role as President of Streaming, VCNI, overseeing all ex-U.S. digital and streaming platforms in addition to her COO responsibilities. Pierluigi Gazzolo will step down from his position as president, streaming and studios, VCNI, to pursue other interests. The story. AMC Theatres Seeks More Cash ➤Cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings is looking to raise yet more fresh cash as it offered guidance to Wall Street on its faltering financial performance that fell short of analyst expectations. On Tuesday, AMC unveiled another equity distribution agreement with Citigroup Global Markets and Goldman Sachs to sell up to 15 million additional class A shares. --AMC reported it had $417.9 million in cash on its balance sheet as of Sept. 30, and did not update guidance on its current average cash burn to keep its theater chain in operation. The story. ➤Just in: The U.S. Department of Justice has filed an antitrust suit against Google, accusing the company of anticompetitive conduct to preserve its lead in search and search advertising. Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen announced the suit Tuesday morning. More to come... --Related: The Wall Street Journal has a helpful primer on exactly why the DOJ is filing the suit. ➤California will release reopening guidelins for theme parks today. The announcement comes after seven unions representing more than 10,000 Disneyland Resort employees sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, asking him to issue guidelines for allowing the theme park to reopen. More. ➤Disney has defeated a pregnancy discrimination complaint from a man who claimed he was shamed and harassed because of his wife's pregnancy. Disney in June filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing that pregnancy discrimination laws "only provide protection to a pregnant employee." --U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald agreed, finding that Van Soeren can't get past the first test of a Title VII claim because he isn't a member of a protected class. "Being new parent" isn't enough, she found, and Title VII "does not protect an employee whose spouse is pregnant." More. +In other legal news: The multiple rape case against Danny Masterson will proceed after the judge dismissed a number of motions filed by the actor's lawyers, including arguments concerning the statute of limitations. More. In TV news... ➤Netflix has cut short the mission of its drama series Away. The streamer has canceled the show, starring Hilary Swank as an astronaut leading a Mars mission, after a single season. The move comes about six weeks after the show's Sept. 4 debut. The story. +HBO will bridge the gap between seasons of Euphoria with a pair of special episodes. The premium cable outlet has ordered two extra installments of the series, which is coming of an Emmy victory for lead actress Zendaya. The first is scheduled to premiere Dec. 6, with an airdate for the second still to be determined. HBO hasn't said yet when the show's second season will debut. More. +Charlie Brown is leaving broadcast for streaming. Apple TV+ has picked up exclusive rights to Peanuts specials, including A Charlie Brown Christmas, Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. The animated spcials had been staples on broadcast for decades (most recently on ABC), but Apple pulled a Lucy, snapping them up. However, the company will make them free to stream for three days ahead of each holiday. +Dominic West is in final talks to play Prince Charles in seasons 5 and 6 of Netflix's smash hit royal drama The Crown. Should the deal be signed, The Wire and The Affair actor — who would take over from Josh O'Connor — will star alongside Elizabeth Debecki as Prince Diana. More. +Nickelodeon will take a poll of the country's pre-voting age population with an election special. Nick News: Kids Pick the President, hosted by Keke Palmer, will go over the basics of voting for kids and reveal the results of an informal poll of kids for their choice for president, Donald Trump or Joe Biden. The hour-long special, set to air Oct. 27, is the latest in the Nick News franchise. More. +Also: In 2016, Stephen Colbert brought his late-night comedy to CBS' sister network Showtime for a live election-night special that featured Colbert, his guests and a live studio audience in New York responding in real time to an outcome that neither Colbert's team, nor the majority of polls, had predicted. Now, four years later, Colbert is returning to Showtime for yet another live, election-night special. The Late Show host will emcee a one-hour event, kicking off at 11 p.m. ET on Nov. 3, dubbed Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand: Building Back America Great Again Better 2020. More. ➤Viola Davis on being "up for the fight" in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. At a virtual press event for the August Wilson play, the Oscar winner spoke of working with Chadwick Boseman before his death: “Chadwick is my baby.” The story. ➤AT&T CEO talks streaming focus, WarnerMedia exec shake-up, Westworld. "We've seen some dynamic occur where streaming become more important as people are holed up in their homes," John Stankey told an investors conference, though he was mum on a potential DirecTV divestiture. More. Revolving door: Jacqueline Stewart, the noted film scholar, programmer and educator, has been named chief artistic and programming officer of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures... Grandview has promoted Merideth Bajana, Zac Frognowski and Josh Glick to partner at the management company... Bell Media president Randy Lennox is stepping down as Canada's top broadcaster and streamer in 2021... Regina Hall has signed a first-look deal with Showtime... ICM Partners has named Julia Johnson as its new general counsel and executive vp, head of business and legal affairs... Andrea Nelson Meigs is joining UTA as a partner after the talent and lit agent left ICM Partners... Obituary: James Redford, documentary filmmaker, activist and son of Robert Redford, has died. He was 58. The Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization co-founded by James and Robert Redford in 2005, confirmed his death on Monday. The organization tweeted it was "deeply saddened" by the news of his death and commended the filmmaker for being "a fierce advocate for the power of storytelling to drive impact on the issues that matter most." ➤TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews Netflix's The Queen's Gambit, writing that the miniseries is "A blueprint for how you can wring thriller-like intensity from a sedentary, intellectual pursuit, the show builds one set-piece after another around Taylor-Joy simply peering at a chessboard." The review. In other news... --A filmed musical about sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein accuser Louisette Geiss and co-writer Howard Kagan, and with music by Diane Warren, is set for a screening by the Barrington Stage Company on Nov. 1. --President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden will have their microphones cut off in Thursday’s debate while their rival delivers their opening two-minute answer to each of the debate topics. --Discovery, led by CEO David Zaslav, said Tuesday that it will rebrand its dplay streaming service in the U.K. and Ireland under the name discovery+ next month and launch a subscription tier. --Warner Bros.' The Batman, which is currently filming in the UK, is using virtual production techniques for select scenes, Industrial Light & Magic chief creative officer Rob Bredow revealed on Monday, during a featured session from this year's virtual VIEW visual effects and animation confab. --CBSN today is rolling out new functionality for its main app on Roku devices, functionality that will likely look familiar to smartphone users: "Video Push Alerts," meant to alert CBSN viewers about live news happening on one of the streaming news service’s 11 other feeds. --Jeff Bridges revealed on Monday afternoon that he has been diagnosed with lymphoma. --Jeffrey Toobin has been suspended from The New Yorker and is taking "time off" from CNN after he allegedly exposed himself during a Zoom meeting. --U.K. TV giant ITV said on Monday that it plans to restructure its broadcast business "to better reflect and serve changing viewing habits" amid the rise of streaming. What else we're reading... --"Meet Arnon Mishkin, the Fox News analyst who will call the winner of the election" [LA Times] --"Universal tosses cinemas a lifeline while testing new distribution model" [WSJ] --"Walmart cranks up advertising drive, with or without TikTok" [Reuters] --"Apple launches a U.S.-only music vieo station, Apple Music TV" [TechCrunch] --"Top English clubs in bombshell talks to join European Premier League" [Sky News] Today's birthdays: Kamala Harris, 56, Snoop Dogg, 49, Viggo Mortensen, 62, Timothy West, 86, Danny Boyle, 64.
Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? ©2020 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. OCTOBER 20, 2020
|