With the pandemic easing, returning to the office isn’t a smooth transition for some who’ve settled into working from home.
Last week, over 2,300 Disney employees petitioned against CEO Bob Iger’s directive that staffers return to the office for a Monday-Thursday work week, effective March 1. On Tuesday, CNBC reported that there’s a similar revolt going on at Amazon, where several employees at the tech giant advocated against CEO Andy Jassy’s call for employees to return three days a week onsite starting May 1. A Slack channel for Amazon employees to voice their concerns was created on Friday. As of Tuesday, it had more than 14,000 participants.
Jassy and Iger share similar viewpoints on returning to the office. The former maintains that working together in person makes it "easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture” and “collaborating and inventing is easier and more effective when we’re in person." >>>Dissent At Warner Bros Discovery, Too |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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250M Books Sold, And Counting - Blackstone Publishing has made a seven-figure deal to acquire the worldwide print, eBook and audiobook rights to Michael Crichton’s first series of novels, which he wrote under the pseudonym John Lange. This was long before Jurassic Park, ER and such, and he wrote the first three titles while matriculating at Harvard Medical School. >>>8 Novels In All
'Dead' Reckoning - ABC is hitting a stride with its Wednesday night comedies. The premiere of Not Dead Yet drew an audience of about 7.6M people after seven days of viewing across linear and digital platforms. That makes it ABC’s most-watched multi-platform comedy debut in nearly four years, since the premiere of Bless This Mess in April 2019. >>>'Abbott Elementary' Strong, As Well
Cost-Cutting Conundrum - CBS renewed three more scripted series yesterday, NCIS, NCIS: Hawai’i and CSI: Vegas. That leaves Blue Bloods, S.W.A.T. and East New York as the three current CBS scripted series that are yet to get word on next season. >>>Negotiations Ongoing
A Liberating Kind Of "Chaos" - Andor creator Tony Gilroy said writers in the streaming era have unprecedented freedom, and that is also reshaping the business side of Hollywood ahead of the May 1 expiration of the current WGA contract. Gilroy spoke on a panel of five WGA Award nominees, but his was the only mention of the potential strike during the 90-minute event.>>> "No Rules"
New Venture - Oscar-nominated producer David Hoberman has announced the launch of Hobie Films, a new production company whose development and acquisitions will be overseen by VP Julie Meschko. >>>Still Involved in Mandeville Films
In Brief - Freestyle Digital Media has picked up worldwide rights to the music documentary The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon, slating it for release March 17 across VOD platforms…HBO Max & Warner Bros. Discovery will stream Access Animated anthology Only You: An Animated Shorts Collection exclusively on HBO Max… JoJo Siwa and Pure Imagination Studios have entered a deal under which Pure Imagination will develop film and television projects based on XOMG Pop! |
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In the HBO Max comedy series, Hacks co-creator, showrunner, director and star Paul W. Downs plays Jimmy, a put-upon agent representing comedienne Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her reluctant protégé Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). At the end of last season, Jimmy had a "Jerry Maguire moment" and left his agency, while Deborah and Ava decided to part ways. And — drumroll — during this podcast chat, Downs reveals what we can expect next from Hacks' cast of characters, plus some "bucket list" guest stars to look forward to. >>>Podcast |
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Tennis Great Boris Becker’s Rise And Fall Documented In Alex Gibney-Directed Series; Champ Says, “I’ve Paid A Heavy Price” ‘ Love To Love You, Donna Summer’ Provides Complex Portrait Of Pop Superstar - Directors Interview ‘Love To Love You, Donna Summer’ Review ‘ The Tinder Swindler’ Director Felicity Morris Says Doc Market Is “Contracting” & Warns Against Chasing Viral Storytelling Nikolaj Lie Kaas On Avoiding ‘Call My Agent’ Similarities With Danish Industry Satire ‘Agent’ |
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Casting About
Laurie Metcalf and Tatiana Maslany are set to lead Grey House, Levi Holloway’s bumps-in-the-night stage thriller, that will make its New York debut on Broadway this spring; Joe Mantello will direct.
Blair Underwood, Victoria Pedretti, Isha Blaaker and Finn Wittrock are among the final major additions to Academy Award nominee Ava DuVernay’s latest film Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.
Starz’s BMF has added Grammy winners 2 Chainz (The Enforcer) and Ne-Yo (Dance Monsters) to its Season 3 cast in recurring roles.
In Brief - Peacock has rounded out the recurring cast for Season 2 of Bel-Air… Javicia Leslie is set as a lead opposite Kaitlin Olson and Daniel Sunjata in ABC‘s character-based procedural drama pilot HPI |
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More News ✍️ After two years of collective bargaining, the WGA East has filed another unfair labor practices charge against Hearst Magazines Media – this time for giving employees a raise while in contract negotiations with the guild. The guild, which says that this violates federal labor law, represents some 500 of the publishing giant’s employees. ⚔️ One of Stanley Kubrick’s lost projects, a large-scale biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte, is being championed by Steven Spielberg, who said he's "mounting a big production" and that the project will become a seven-part series for HBO. 🔥 Alec Baldwin and his legal team had a fiery take on the recent decision by Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Andrea Reeb not to seek a firearm enhancement in the case against the actor. The defendant's filing notes the busy Reeb had “finally taken the time to examine the enhancement statute and now '100 percent agree[d]' with Mr. Baldwin’s 'assessment of the issue.' " 🖥️ The U.S. Supreme Court, hearing a case that could reshape the internet, considered on Tuesday whether Google bears liability for user-generated content when algorithms on its YouTube platform recommend videos to users. Google’s attorney Lisa Blatt said if the plaintiffs were victorious the internet would become a "horror show" zone of extremes. In Brief - Jen Psaki’s new show for MSNBC will debut on March 19 at noon ET and will be streamed the next day on Peacock… Gatsby, the Broadway-aimed adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's timeless novel, will make its regional theater debut in 2024 in Cambridge, MA... Don Lemon returned to CNN This Morning , apologizing again for his earlier comments about women being "past their prime." |
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Hirings & Promotions Candle Media has tapped former ABC News Chief James Goldston to head its a new division focused on scripted and non-scripted programming based on true stories...Christina Shams joined Authentic Talent & Literary Management’s comedy division...Blumhouse Games launches with Zach Wood as president. |
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Trending  Season 4 of You has once again landed at the top of Netflix‘s English-language TV charts. The first five episodes of the season racked up 64.1M hours viewed.
🔻 Bankrupt Regal Cinemas parent Cineworld said it had multiple bids for all or some of its assets in initial expressions of interest due last week. But Cineworld attorney Joshua Sussberg noted, “We did not receive any all-cash bids, and no bid came anywhere near the $6 billion of secured indebtedness that exists on on the company’s balance sheet today.” |
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Obituaries
🕯 Chuck Jackson, an R&B singer who took “Any Day Now” to the Top 25 in 1962 and had some two dozen singles hit the Hot 100 during the decade, has died. He was 85. 🕯 Bethlyn Hand, a 37-year veteran Motion Picture Association executive, died February 14 from Alzheimer's disease, her family said. She was 85. 🕯 Huey “Piano” Smith, the R&B pianist and composer whose 1950s hits “Don’t You Just Know It” and “Rockin’ Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu” added New Orleans spice to the early rock ‘n’ roll recipe, died February 13 at his home in Baton Rouge, LA. He was 89. 🕯 Chris Chesser, the independent film and documentary producer whose credits include the hit Charlie Sheen 1989 comedy Major League , died suddenly at his home in Los Angeles on February 2. He was 74. 🕯 Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries |
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On the Radar Thu - Rust hearing; WGA membership meetings; WBD earnings
Fri - César Awards; Tom Cruise on Kimmel
Sat - PGA Awards; NAACP Image Awards
Sun - SAG Awards; 1923 & Blacklist season finales |
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Bear Hug - As Steven Spielberg received a lifetime achievement award at the Berlin Film Festival, he made touching reference to the Holocaust and the country’s continuing attempt to face its own past in the name of healing.
“This honor has particular meaning for me because I’m a Jewish director,” said Spielberg, referencing his coming of age autobiographical film The Fabelmans for which he’s Oscar nominated. “I’d like to believe that this is a small moment in a much larger, ongoing effort of healing the broken places of history – what Jews call 'Tikkun Olam,' the repairing and restoring of the world."
Introduced by U2 singer/humanitarian Bono, Spielberg’s speech drew an ovation of around a dozen minutes. |
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