Today In Entertainment

DECEMBER 22, 2020

What's news: Alan Bergman succeeding Alan Horn at Disney, MGM lines up bankers for possible sale, which studios were buyers and which were sellers in 2020? Illegal streaming penalties and a movie theater bailout among Hollywood-friendly items in stimulus, 2020 was peak cable news ratings. Plus: CBS renews B Positive, and Group Nine Media looks to roll up competitors through a SPAC. --Alex Weprin

 Disney Studios Succession

►A changing of the guard at Disney: Laying the course for the future, Alan Bergman is succeeding Alan Horn as Walt Disney Studios chairman, while Horn will focus solely on his role as chief creative officer, the company announced Monday. The move isn't a surprise. The two executives have been running Hollywood's most prosperous movie studio together since spring of 2019 when Bergman was named co-chairman and Horn gained the additional title of chief creative officer.

--Horn, whose 50-year-plus career makes him one of Hollywood's most respected figures, is following a similar path laid out by former Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger. In February, Bob Chapek took over as CEO of the conglomerate, while Iger said he would remain deeply involved in Disney as executive chairman with a focus on the creative side of the business. The story.

►MGM appears to be moving forward with plans for a sale. The Hollywood giant has enlisted Morgan Stanley and LionTree LCC to serve as advisors in the process, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. A studio spokesperson declined to comment on the article. MGM's top shareholder is Anchorage Capital, run by former Goldman Sachs exec Kevin Ulrich, who leads the studio’s board of directors. An Anchorage Capital rep did not respond to a request for comment. The story.

►Buyer or seller? How each film studio tackled dealmaking amid the pandemic. As COVID-19 shuttered productions, Paramount had no movies shooting, but Disney had a half dozen. Apple and Amazon went on buying sprees, while MGM bid on big-ticket packages and Sony fast-tracked movies with minimal casts, Mia Galuppo reports. The story.

 What Hollywood Gets In The Stimulus

Late last night the U.S. Senate and House passed the emergency stimulus bill, meant to provide economic relief due to the damage caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. The deal provides for direct payments to Americans, but also includes a numbr of elements of interest to Hollywood....

+Some surprise additions: A big one for the entertainment business: Under the text of the bill illegal streaming for commercial profit could become a felony. The spending bill also appears to adopt a long-discussed plan to create a small claims adjudication system within the U.S. Copyright Office. Also, an extension of Section 181, a tax provision that allows for immediate deduction of television and film production costs up to $15 million. The story.

+Movie theaters and live entertainment venues will get relief, but not the biggest exhibition giants. The grants will provide much-needed financial support to these venues, many of which have seen their business all but vanish as the pandemic canceled concerts and stage plays, while pushing almost all new theatrical releases to 2021. These particular grants, however, appear to disqualify the three largest players in the domestic movie theater business: AMC, Cinemark and Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld. More.

+Broadcasters benefit from expanded PPP: In a statement Monday, National Association of Broadcasters CEO Gordon Smith said he "applauds" the changes, adding that "these provisions, in addition to the bill’s second round of PPP funding for which many stations will also be eligible, help local broadcasters maintain their operations during this difficult time and continue to provide news and information critical to local communities as vaccine distribution commences across the country." More.

 2020 Was Peak Cable News

►Pandemic, election push cable news channels to peak in 2020. Fox News, CNN and MSNBC all experience substantial growth at a time when audiences for most ad-supported network are shrinking, Rick Porter writes. The story.

►CBS has extended the run of its first-year comedy B Positive. The network has ordered five more episodes of the Chuck Lorre-produced series, which will bring its total to 18 for the season. Given its relatively late premiere date of Nov. 5, that will be enough to carry the show through the spring. B Positive becomes the second freshman series to have its run extended, following ABC's Big Sky. The story.

►One of the digital media giants is planning for consolidation. Group Nine Media, the digital company founded by Ben Lerer (and owner of The Dodo, Thrillist, NowThis and PopSugar, among other brands) has filed an IPO for a new special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The new SPAC will seek to merge with other digital media companies (think BuzzFeed, or Vice), and ultimately get rolled up with Group Nine itself to go public. The filing.

+One other note: Group Nine has lined up former Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons to serve on the SPAC's board of directors.

►TV review: Inkoo Kang reviews Netflix's Bridgerton, writing that "the series truly dazzles because of its smart weaving of feminist critique throughout its marriage plot, which doesn't just sit atop the proceedings but shapes the storylines themselves." The review.

►Hollywood remembers those it lost to COVID-19. The 300,000 Americans who have died from the disease this year included actors, art directors, animators and playwrights — even an iconic movie villain. Rachel Bloom, Lee Daniels, Nathan Lane, John Mulaney and others celebrate the lives of their friends and collaborators. More.

►Obituaries: Ned Wynn, an actor and screenwriter who followed his father, Keenan Wynn, grandfather, Ed Wynn, and stepfather, Van Johnson, into show business, has died. He was 79.

+Hollywood screenwriter and producer David Giler, best known for The Alien movie franchise, has died. He was 77 years old.

Revolving door: Lionsgate vice chairman Michael Burns has extended his long-term employment contract with the Hollywood studio through October 2023... Comedian, actor and writer Blaire Erskine, known for sharing viral videos on social media, has signed with ICM Partners for representation in all areas... Long-time Smithsonian Channel programming chief David Royle is leaving the ViacomCBS network...

In other news...

--The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced its juried award recipients for the 48th annual Annie Awards, which will be handed out during a virtual presentation on April 16.

--Halloween filmmaker David Gordon Green is ready to take on another horror classic. Green is in talks to direct a sequel to The Exorcist for Blumhouse and Morgan Creek Productions.

--The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau shared a few more details about the big surprises in Dec. 18's season finale of the Star Wars series.

--Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox Corp. have signed an affiliation renewal deal that will see Sinclair stations in 25 markets remain as Fox affiliates.

--"It's absolutely part of my acting all the time": A look inside L.A.'s top clown schools.

What else we're reading...

--"Disney+. Apple TV+. Paramount+. How the plus sign won the streaming wars" [LA Times]

--"The North Carolina kid who cracked YouTube's secret code" [Bloomberg]

--"Why a small handful of celebrities dominated the tabloids in 2020" [Vanity Fair]

--"Ex-NBA player's group named winning bidder for bankrupt Ebony Media" [WSJ]

Today's birthdays: Diane Sawyer, 75, Jordin Sparks, 31, Meghan Trainor, 27, DaBaby, 29.

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DECEMBER 22, 2020

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