Today In Entertainment

APRIL 08, 2021

What's news: Should studios worry about Congress' next big labor fight? Authors earn more leverage in film and TV rights market amid pandemic, more Madea, no more MacGyver, an Ancient Aliens movie, Jon Stewart's Problem, how new voting procedures created a BAFTAs diversity surge, more postproduction consolidation. Plus: How Martin Scorsese utilized "unreal" filming techniques for Raging Bull fight scenes, and remembering Howard Weitzman. --Alex Weprin

 Why The PRO Act Matters To Studios

►Should studios worry about Congress' next big labor fight? The PRO Act, which passed the House, would reclassify many workers across the country, making unionizing easier, Ashley Cullins writes.

--While Hollywood workers already covered by a guild or union collective bargaining agreement wouldn’t be affected by the PRO Act, other contractors — like music supervisors, personal assistants and some producers — could find themselves eligible to organize if it passes. And, since California has already gone to war over the ABC test once, its businesses have a head start over other hubs like New York and Georgia, which haven’t yet dealt with such restrictive standards for worker classification.

--“It would give California back an advantage, at least for a time,” says Greg Zbylut, a CPA and tax lawyer, adding that other states would likely draft legislation to create their own industry-specific carve-outs. "States can't be broader than the federal government, but they can be narrower. There's nothing that's going to stop a state from coming back and saying, 'We want to narrow this and make it more restrictive.'" The story.

►Authors earn more leverage in film and TV rights market amid pandemic. Amid a bustling year for deals given streaming demand, writers increasingly ask for more creative control in projects, Mia Galuppo reports: "We are able to ask for things that we weren’t able to ask for in the past."

--“[The pandemic] escalated what was going to happen a few years from now. It was just in a much shorter window,” says UTA’s media rights group co-head Jason Richman. The launching of studio streaming services created a need for content, and the past year's e-suite reorganizations left new hires with slates that needed filling. Adds Richman, “There has been so much change that it creates opportunity." The story.

 A Madea Prequel

►Tyler Perry isn't quite ready to bid farewell to Madea. The prolific creator and producer is developing a prequel series focused on his iconic character's origins at Showtime. ViacomCBS' premium cable outlet has ordered multiple scripts for the project, titled Mabel. The story.

+MacGyver's days on the case for CBS are coming to an end. The network announced late Wednesday that the procedural reboot starring Lucas Till will wrap after its current fifth season ends. The series finale will air April 30 on CBS. The story.

+Jon Stewart has settled on a name. His forthcoming Apple series, set to debut this fall, will be titled The Problem with Jon Stewart. "In success, the name is a nod to the rotation of issues, one per episode, that Stewart will dive into with his new current affair series," Lacey Rose writes. "Though the specifics are being tightly guarded, they're expected to range from issues currently part of the national conversation to ones that are part of Stewart’s advocacy work. In failure, the show's title sets up an easy headline -- which, Stewart being Stewart, he'll have fun with as well." The story.

+Law & Order: Organized Crime producers defend use of dead wife trope. Showrunner Ilene Chaiken says using the device to kick off the series helps answer why Christopher Meloni's Elliot Stabler would sign on to an NYPD task force. The story.

+On Wednesday, ABC set premiere dates for the recently announced Bachelorette season with Katie Thurston and confirmed that summer spinoff Bachelor in Paradise will indeed return. The 17th season of The Bachelorette, the first of two seasons of the female-led series that is set for 2021, premieres June 7. Once that wraps, the franchise will head back to Paradise for season seven on Aug. 16. More.

+Fox is adding another culinary competition to its schedule — one that also has mystery and comedy elements. Joel McHale will serve as host of the show, which carries the less-than-appetizing title of Crime Scene Kitchen. The competition will feature two-person baking teams who have to decipher and re-create a dessert from crumbs, trails of flour and other small clues left around the kitchen, with a $100,000 prize at stake. More.

►The long-running History Channel series Ancient Aliens is getting the feature film treatment. Legendary, which controls the movie rights to the series, has closed a deal for Counterbalance Entertainment, the creators and showrunners of Cobra Kai, to direct and produce the feature project. The story.

 Behind BAFTAs Diversity Surge

►How new voting procedures created a BAFTAs diversity surge in one year. After facing the #BAFTAsSoWhite, the awards show has undergone a complete transformation with unprecedented representation in nominations, Alex Ritman writes.

--"It's a job well done," says Daniel Battsek, head of Film4, which has five films in the mix, including the Oscar-tipped The Father (six nominations) and the Brit drama Rocks (which is tied with Nomadland, both landing seven nods). While Battsek admits there wasn't a "particularly high bar" that BAFTA needed to get over, "at least to right some of the wrongs of the last few years," he says 2021's list is "definitely something to be commended." The story.

►More postproduction consolidation. Further shaking up the global postproduction landscape, Streamland Media plans to acquire Sim Video International’s postproduction business. This would further expand its footprint in postproduction: In January, Streamland — the parent of leading audio post facility Formosa Group as well as companies such as Picture Shop and Picture Head — revealed its intent to acquire Technicolor's postproduction business for $36.5 million. The story.

Obituaries...

+Howard Weitzman, a fixture on THR's annual list of Power Lawyers for representing the likes of Marlon Brando, Morgan Freeman, Justin Bieber and other A-list stars, has died. He was 81. The obituary.

+James Hampton, who played the bumbling bugler Hannibal Dobbs on F Troop, the prison inmate Caretaker in the original The Longest Yard and Michael J. Fox's furry father in Teen Wolf, has died. He was 84. The obituary.

+Walter Olkewicz, the familiar character actor who played the bartender and croupier Jacques Renault on the original Twin Peaks and an oil refinery worker on Grace Under Fire, has died. He was 72. The obituary.

+Midwin Charles, a veteran CNN and MSNBC legal analyst, has died. She was 47. The obituary.

►Actor arrested in alleged $690 million Ponzi Scheme. Zachary Horwitz (known as "Zach Avery") allegedly held out fake rights to movies, phony deals with Netflix and HBO, and fabricated correspondence with industry executives to raise money. More.

+Kesha Rose Sebert still has a new move to show off in a legal battle against producer Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald. On Tuesday, in a defamation battle that has seemingly lasted forever (really seven years), the pop star asked the court's permission to assert a new counterclaim based on New York's recently enacted anti-SLAPP law. More.

►Everything's Gonna Be Okay creator-star Josh Thomas on why execs avoid challenging his same-sex scenes. The creative mind behind Freeform's series also talks about quitting stand-up, getting the show's depiction of autism right and why he'll never do a Netflix comedy special. The interview.

►Book excerpt: How Martin Scorsese utilized "unreal" filming techniques for Raging Bull fight scenes. For his book Raging Bull: The Making Of, author Jay Glennie went to all of the key surviving members of the cast and crew — with encouragement from Robert De Niro — for the secrets behind the groundbreaking film. The excerpt.

Revolving door: Discovery+ is adding to its executive team. The three-month-old streaming service has hired Facebook veteran Toby Faulkner to be senior vp content... MTV Entertainment Group has found its next marketing chief. Former Curaleaf and Beats by Dre exec Jason White will take over the CMO role that has been vacant since Jacqueline Parks stepped down last year... CAA has signed prolific social media content producer Dhar Mann for representation in all areas... Actor Dylan Sprayberry has signed for representation with M88 in all areas... Disney+ has beefed up its growing operations across the Atlantic, hiring Lee Mason as its director of scripted content for EMEA...

►TV reviews: Daniel Fienberg reviews ABC's Home Economics, writing that the "promising-if-unformed new comedy... wants to be a timely show about the importance of family in a precarious post-quarantine world, when it's actually a comedy slightly out of sync with its time." The review.

+Fienberg also reviews ABC's Rebel, writing that "Krista Vernoff's series tells you what it's thinking and feeling to an exhausting degree, barks out its iconoclastic ideology at every turn and still somehow ends up feeling like an entertaining broadcast TV throwback. Credit there goes to Vernoff's smart structuring of the story and an outrageously good cast led by Katey Sagal." The review.

In other news...

--The Directors Guild of America sent a letter to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp writing that the recently-passed election law "threatens to undermine the pillar of our democracy."

--Lionsgate has tapped Benny Safdie to star in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, an adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic novel of the same name.

--WarnerMedia is reviving one of the most beloved brands in animation, resurrecting the Hanna-Barbera name for its flagship television animation studio in Europe. 

--The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday released the findings of the Tiger Woods crash, which took place in February. Previously, it was unclear if the findings would be made public as Woods had to give his permission. It appears he did.

--LL Cool J is planning a significant expansion of his Rock The Bells direct-to-consumer business. The actor and rapper has raised $8 million in a Series A funding round for Rock The Bells, led by Raine Ventures.

--The Ringer and Gimlet Media unions have both ratified collective bargaining agreements with owner Spotify, the Writers Guild of America East announced Tuesday.

What else we're reading...

--"WarnerMedia’s CEO says that in 2022 his movies will debut in theaters before they stream" [Recode]

--"CBS shake-up: Two TV station executives exit after L.A. Times investigation" [LA Times]

--"Insane Jeff Bezos-National Enquirer drama takes a bizarre new turn" [The Daily Beast]

--"Pence signs a seven-figure book deal, but Trump and other administration alums face a tough market in publishing" [CNN]

--"Beloved animal expert Jack Hanna has dementia, steps away from public life" [NBC News]

Today's birthdays: Vivienne Westwood, 80, Patricia Arquette, 53, Skai Jackson, 19, Taran Noah Smith, 37, Dej Loaf, 30.

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APRIL 08, 2021

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