Top Stories

  • In a letter to her staff, Ellen DeGeneres addressed allegations of racism, intimidation and unjust termination against her talk show’s top producers, saying that she takes responsibility and has launched an internal investigation alongside Warner Bros. to “correct the issues” in the workplace. Two sources said that executive producer Ed Glavin is expected to be let go, though DeGeneres and Warner Bros. did not comment on the status of specific employees. (The Hollywood Reporter
  • Dozens of men and women who previously worked on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” alleged that executive producers Glavin and Kevin Leman sexually harassed employees in the office and at company functions, making sexually explicit comments and touching employees inappropriately. Glavin did not respond to a request for comment, but Leman denied engaging in “any kind of sexual impropriety.” (BuzzFeed News
  • Forty-six percent of the films selected for this year’s Toronto Film Festival have female directors at the helm, up from 36 percent in 2019, with the lineup including titles from Oscar winners Regina King and Halle Berry. Major studios including Netflix Inc., Warner Bros., and Focus Features are skipping this year’s festival due to the coronavirus pandemic, but indie distributors such as Sony Pictures Classics and Neon — the distributor behind Oscar Best Picture winner “Parasite” — will show films at the festival. (Variety)

Chart Review

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

07/31/2020
The 2020 Film Independent Forum
2Q20 Charter Investor Conference Call 8:30 am
08/01/2020
The 2020 Film Independent Forum
08/02/2020
The 2020 Film Independent Forum
08/03/2020
The 2020 Film Independent Forum
08/04/2020
Game Developers Conference Digital
Pivot Schooled: The Big Four–Where the crisis leaves Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook
The 2020 Film Independent Forum
Sony Corp FY2020 Q1 Earnings Announcement
Cinemark to Host Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call 8:30 am
AMC Networks Report Q2 Financial Results 8:30 am
Disney’s Q3 FY20 Earnings Results 4:30 pm
Activision Blizzard Q2 Financial Results 4:30 pm
08/05/2020
Game Developers Conference Digital
SportsPro Insider: Sustainability
The 2020 Film Independent Forum
Variety Streaming Room: Locarno Film Festival
Discovery Q2 Earnings 7:00 am
The New York Times Company Second-Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call 8:00 am
Q2 2020 Nielsen Holdings plc Earnings Conference Call 8:00 am
View full calendar

New Report – Most Loved Brands of 2020: What Drives Brand Love In A Year Like No Other

This week, we launched the fourth edition of Most Loved Brands, the definitive ranking of the brands defining American culture and commerce.

Download the special report to learn how Brand Love is evolving and what brands can do today to build long-lasting relationships that extend far past this pandemic to usher in a new era of brand-led business growth.

General

Los Angeles D.A. Files Extradition Request for Harvey Weinstein
Gene Maddaus, Variety 

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has filed a request to extradite Harvey Weinstein, as it seeks to try him on five counts of sexual assault and rape.

Bryan Cranston, Star of ‘Breaking Bad,’ Says He’s Recovered from the Coronavirus
Neil Vigdor, The New York Times 

The “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston revealed on Thursday that he had recovered from the coronavirus and shared a video of himself donating plasma at a Los Angeles blood bank.

Actor Bryan Callen accused of sexual assault, misconduct
Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times 

As soon as she saw his name, Katherine Fiore Tigerman broke out in a cold sweat. Her shirt damp, she scrolled through the text messages from her best friend alerting her that comedian Chris D’Elia was being accused of sexual misconduct by scores of women on Twitter.

Breonna Taylor Is On The Cover Of O Magazine — The First One Ever Without Oprah
Julia Reinstein, BuzzFeed News

For the first time in its 20-year history, Oprah Winfrey will not appear on the cover of the latest issue of O Magazine. Instead, an image of Breonna Taylor — who was killed by police in March — is being featured.

TikTok Is Music’s Latest Gold Rush. But It Won’t Be Enough for Artists
Max Gredinger, Rolling Stone 

The music business suffers from a bad case of short-term memory loss. In the industry’s history, famine has nearly always followed feast.

Film

More Than 80 Percent of the U.S. Can See ‘Tenet’ in Theaters on September 3
Tom Brueggemann, IndieWire 

There’s no shortage of social-media naysayers, but Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” has many reasons to keep its September 3 domestic opening. Granted: If Warner Bros. had to wait for New York and Los Angeles to open, that date would be highly unlikely.

Why Universal Believes the AMC Deal Will Help Movies Return to Theaters ‘A Lot More Quickly’
Tony Maglio, The Wrap 

NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell believes his Universal Pictures-AMC Entertainment theatrical-window deal will help movies return to theaters “a lot more quickly” than they otherwise might have in the current landscape.

IFC Films had never played in drive-ins before the pandemic, now it’s a box office champ
Sarah Whitten, CNBC 

In March, when movie theaters were shutting down and major Hollywood studios were shuffling their film release dates, the head of distribution for IFC Films was cold-calling snack bars at drive-in theaters to speak to their owners.

How Tom Cruise & Doug Liman Pitched Way To $200 Million Universal Commitment On Space Film With Elon Musk
Mike Fleming Jr., Deadline Hollywood 

What did Universal Pictures execs require to commit to liftoff of the first ever narrative feature film to shoot in outer space? According to sources, all it took was an exuberant Zoom call with Tom Cruise, director Doug Liman, Christopher McQuarrie and PJ van Sandwijk.

How Do You Make Movies in a Pandemic? Ask Horror Directors
Angela Watercutter, Wired 

In 2018, Aneesh Chaganty released a little thriller called Searching. It was the writer-director’s debut feature, and it garnered him a bit of attention (and eventually $75 million at the box office). 

Television

Canceled College Sports Games Put Millions on the Line for ESPN
Christopher Palmeri, Bloomberg Businessweek 

You almost feel sorry for Mark Packer and Wes Durham. The two veteran broadcasters have what might seem like dream jobs, chatting about college sports for two hours every morning for the Walt Disney Co.-owned ESPN empire. 

TV’s Upfront Talks Start to Heat Up, Despite Pandemic
Brian Steinberg, Variety 

Madison Avenue is starting to realize that it can’t do without TV. How much it will pay for the privilege in tough times remains to be seen.

AMC Networks Entertainment President Sarah Barnett Stepping Down
Jason Lynch, Adweek 

Sarah Barnett, AMC Networks Entertainment Group president, will be leaving the company after Labor Day, she said today. After her exit, the company’s entertainment networks—AMC/AMC+, BBC America, IFC and Sundance TV—and AMC Studios will report to COO Ed Carroll on an interim basis.

It’s 2020, and CNN and Fox News are still battling over Comscore numbers
Steven Perlberg, Digiday 

As the media industry undergoes huge upheaval, one thing has remained constant in these trying times: Fox News and CNN are still sending out monthly press releases about their comScore traffic.

Technology and New Media

HBO Now Will Become ‘HBO’ App on Amazon Fire TV as of Aug. 1
Todd Spangler, Variety 

Amid the stalled talks between Amazon and WarnerMedia over getting HBO Max on Fire TV devices, the two sides reached an agreement on one front, at least: Fire TV users who subscribe to HBO Now will continue to be able to access the service, which is being rebranded simply as HBO, as of Aug. 1.

Inside Netflix’s Quest to Become a Global TV Giant
Elaine Low, Variety 

Netflix’s Bela Bajaria first came up in the entertainment industry in the mid-1990s as an assistant at CBS, after mailing letters to “hundreds of people” in the Hollywood Creative Directory. She relished the development process and reading the latest drafts of scripts, which she calls the most formative part of her early Hollywood education.

For Videogame Giants, Pandemic Lockdowns Fuel Gamers’ Spending
Sarah E. Needleman, The Wall Street Journal 

The nation’s largest videogame makers are expected to report one of their best June quarters ever, as pandemic lockdowns resulted in fewer options for people to stay entertained and connect with friends.

The New King of Kids TV Gets 7 Billion Views a Month on YouTube
Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg 

Moonbug Entertainment Ltd. is building a kids media empire for the YouTube generation. The London-based company has acquired two of the most popular kids brands on YouTube: Cocomelon, an animated show that is the most-viewed channel on the entire site, and Blippi, a program hosted by entertainer Stevin John. 

TikTok to give creators over $2 billion in the next 3 years as it takes on Instagram and YouTube
Sam Shead, CNBC 

TikTok, whose parent company is based in China, has announced plans to give creators over $2 billion in the next three years as it goes head-to-head with U.S. rivals Instagram and YouTube. 

Apple Reports Increase in Q2 Revenue Across Products and Services
Ronan Shields, Adweek 

Apple announced revenues of $59.7 billion today for the second quarter ending June 27, representing an increase of 11% year over year as the company benefitted from “double-digit growth” in both products and services.

YouTube Q2 Ad Revenue Growth Slows, Google’s Search Sales Fall Nearly 10%
Todd Spangler, Variety 

YouTube’s revenue growth cooled in the second quarter of 2020, but even with the COVID-19 pandemic Google’s internet video platform carved out year-over-year growth of 5.8%. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, posted a 2% decline in revenue — its first-ever revenue drop — while it still topped tempered Wall Street estimates.

Amazon Blows Past Q2 Profit Estimates, Says Workforce Now Tops 1 Million
Dade Hayes, Deadline Hollywood 

Amazon delivered another quarter of stellar financial results as its digital business continues to thrive during COVID-19 despite logistical challenges posed by the pandemic.

Facebook Posts Revenue Growth Despite Pandemic
Jeff Horwitz, The Wall Street Journal 

Facebook Inc. powered through the throes of the pandemic, as the social-media giant’s revenue rose in the second quarter thanks to increased engagement from users. The company, nonetheless, posted a significant decline in its revenue growth rate and warned that growth will remain muted amid continued economic fallout from the pandemic, an advertiser boycott and reduced efficacy of ad targeting.

Children Stream on Twitch—Where Potential Predators Find Them
Cecilia D’Anastasio, Wired 

Last weekend, a young girl held up her smartphone and hit the Go Live button on Twitch’s mobile app. Her stream appeared under Twitch’s Just Chatting section, where people livestream themselves talking to their viewers. 

Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research

Protect the Creators of the Soundtracks to Our Lives
Paul Williams, Morning Consult 

Think about the last time you bought your favorite band’s new CD or downloaded an artist’s single. Chances are it’s been a while. 

How ‘Madam Secretary’ Star Erich Bergen Became Hollywood’s Hottest Virtual Events Producer
Marc Malkin, Variety 

Erich Bergen was staring at his computer screen on the desk in the bedroom of his Harlem apartment. In a couple minutes, the July 21 final installment of Nancy Pelosi’s virtual Hold the House fundraisers for Democratic congressional candidates was going live.

Morning Consult