Netflix Lobbying Machine; TV Press Tour Standouts; Lionsgate Loss; Return Of The Movie Star?

What's news: Inside the Netflix lobbying machine, Film Academy chief starts member outreach, Facebook enters the subscription video game, ESPN pulls an esports tournament in wake of shootings. Plus: Stephen Galloway on the return of the movie star, and why Ron Burgundy was on every late night show last night. --Alex Weprin August 09, 2019 What's news: Inside the Netflix lobbying machine, Film Academy chief starts member outreach, Facebook enters the subscription video game, ESPN pulls an esports tournament in wake of shootings. Plus: Stephen Galloway on the return of the movie star, and why Ron Burgundy was on every late night show last night. --Alex Weprin The Netflix Lobbying Machine Netflix has quietly built a powerful global lobbying force, but rather than align itself with the tech giants under increasing Washington pressure, the streamer has joined forces with the studios and redirected resources where it most needs growth — outside the U.S., Rebecca Keegan writes. +Netflix the "hybrid": Gigi Sohn, who advised presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton on telecom issues and now serves as a distinguished fellow at the Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy, calls Netflix a "hybrid company." "It's not your typical Silicon Valley firm and not your typical Hollywood studio, and their policy positions reflect that." +That DOJ letter: In April, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim sent a letter to the Film Academy, warning that if it excluded streaming films from Oscars contention, it could run afoul of Section 1 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The letter made many wonder, was Netflix behind it? The company says it played no role. "The skeptics are right to think that the streamer is working the levers of power in Washington, but they may be wrong about its methods," Keegan writes. "The attention-grabbing DOJ letter is atypical of Netflix public policy style — it prefers to draw as little attention to its increasingly complex, globe-spanning government relationships as possible." [The story](. +How pop stars are benefiting from the Netflix boom. "With Netflix producing so much original programming — in 2018, it put out nearly 1,500 hours of original productions, including roughly 300 original series globally — and commercial music integral to the tone of those shows, a host of new licensing opportunities is opening up for recording artists," Shannon Bowen writes. "And dealmakers are taking note." [The story](. +Is Netflix bad for your health? Eriq Gardner writes about a study published last month in the Journal of the American Heart Association that connected binge-watching to an increased risk of heart disease. At the same time, there are concerns that streaming video could contribute to increased carbon emissions. [The story](. +Netflix's acquisition of L.A.'s Egyptian Theater is nearly complete, Pamela McClintock reports. The company could start renovations on the theater as soon as September. Not everyone is happy about the deal, however. [More](. ^New Film Academy chief reaches out to members. In an email pegged to Saturday's graduation ceremony for Academy Gold interns, David Rubin called for the Academy's members to be engaged with the community, "well beyond the delights and convenience of those screeners we get every awards season." Quote: "I hope my term as president will be marked by greater engagement of members in the Academy’s mission, and by a revitalized sense of community for all members, whether you’re just hitting your creative stride or you’ve reached a point where you’re able to look back proudly at an enormously satisfying career," he wrote. [The story](. ►The art of marketing The Art of Racing in the Rain. The Fox 2000 title, about a race car driver and his dog (voiced by Kevin Costner) "has used all the conventions common on talking dog movies to sell a feel good alternative in a period between super hero adventures and other franchise action," Chris Thilk writes. [More](. Elsewhere in film... --Joaquin Phoenix [will be feted]( at the Toronto Film Festival as he receives one of two inaugural Tribute Actor Awards. --A stuntman for Fast & Furious 9 who suffered a major head injury during production last month [is out of](the intensive care unit. --Quentin Tarantino's 10th and final film is going to be "epilogue-y," the [director said]( at a Moscow press conference for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. --Natalie Portman's Lucy in the Sky [will bow]( in select theaters Oct. 4, Disney announced Thursday. --Wolf of Wall Street producer's 1MDB trial [is set]( for January. The Return Of The Movie Star Stephen Galloway writes that, even as Hollywood turns to "brands, franchises and effects" to keep their box office proceeds growing, a pair of recent movies —"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw" — reinforce the power of the movie star. Quote: "Pitt and DiCaprio would be as out of place in Hobbs & Shaw as Johnson would be in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And yet each movie would be incomparably the worse without them. The question, of course, is: are these anomalies or are they here to remind us that stars really do matter, after all? I hope it’s the latter." [The column](. ►Viacom and CBS beat Wall Street expectations, but remain mum on a merger. At this point it may be the worst-kept secret in the media business, but on their quarterly earnings calls Thursday, executives at both CBS and Viacom told analysts that they could not answer any questions "regarding potential M&A." Still, both companies beat expectations, with Viacom [touting Paramount](, and CBS [touting its streaming offerings](. +CBS also announced that it would bring kids shows to CBS All Access, and would expand its local CBSN services to 13 markets by early 2020. +In other earnings news: Canadian exhibition giant Cineplex saw second-quarter [earnings dip](despite record quarterly revenues due to Avengers: Endgame... Lionsgate [posted a loss]( on higher overall revenues, even as Starz continued to grow with 400,000 new domestic streaming subscribers to get to 4.4 million in all... Tribune Media [profit fell]( amid higher programming expenses... ►Facebook enters streaming subscription video fray. The social network [will begin selling]( premium video subscriptions, starting with smaller offerings like Discovery Inc.’s MotorTrend on Demand, and BritBox, which is owned by BBC Studios and ITV. The company is also [reaching out]( to news organizations like ABC News and BuzzFeed News, offering millions of dollars to license their content for a new product. ►ESPN and ABC pull plug on gaming tournament after shootings. In the wake of the shootings in Texas and Ohio, The Disney-owned networks have opted to pull the broadcast of X Games Apex Legends EXP Invitational that was scheduled this weekend, Patrick Shanley writes. The event has been rescheduled for October. [More](. +Also: Walmart has begun the process of [removing]( violent video game advertisements from at least two of its retail stores. Casting roundup: Andy Cohen will [grace the stage]( of New York City's Manhattan Center to host the 60th annual Clio Awards in September... Leslie Jones [will host]( a stand-up special for Netflix, set to launch in 2020... ►Stephen Ross "expressed qualms" about Trump fundraiser after backlash. According to Axios' Jonathan Swan, Ross "freaked out" at the backlash, [but was persuaded]( to continue hosting the event. +Meanwhile pressure on Ross is still building: Celebrity chef David Chang [asked the]( Momofuku stakeholder to "reconsider" the Trump fundraiser... Hollywood fitness studios, sensing opportunity, are [attempting to woo]( SoulCycle and Equinox clients... In other news... --Disney Consumer Products hits $54.7B [in retail sales]( as top global licensor of 2018. --Facebook, Vevo, Fuse Media, Jukin Media, SoulPancake and others [will participate]( in the IAB's NewFronts West event. --Disney publicist Jeffrey Epstein Is "[not that]( Jeffrey Epstein" ^A sneak peek of the TV Academy's Governor's Ball. The Academy will hold three balls in September, after each night of the Creative Arts Emmys Sept. 14-15, and after the primetime awards Sept. 22. The theme for all three is Brilliance In Motion. [More on the decor, food, and drinks on tap, here](. In other Emmys news... +Weighing the odds in the lead comedy and drama actress races. THR awards columnist Scott Feinberg handicaps the field, outlining the pros and cons for why contenders will — or won't — take home top honors. [The analysis](. +Have Emmy voters fallen off the true-crime documentary wagon? Adam Benzine writes about the relative dearth of true-crime nominees this year. "So why might voters have gone cold on cold cases? For one thing, the best of such series often take years to make." [More](. Elsewhere in TV... --Tucker Carlson [could face]( more advertiser defections. The Fox News host faced an online backlash earlier in the week after monologue dismissing the prevalence of white supremacy. --The meta-revival of Beverly Hills, 90210 [delivered solid ratings]( for Fox Wednesday night, leading primetime in adults 18-49 by a comfortable margin. --Netflix has handed out a [season-two renewal]( for Mr. Iglesias, the multicamera comedy starring comedian Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias. --IFC will honor documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker tonight by [running]( two episodes of its Documentary Now! series based on his films. --Escape Artists, the company behind Epix series Perpetual Grace Ltd. and the Equalizer films, [has signed]( a first-look deal with MGM Television. Mayor Jack Donaghy? ►NBC's Ted Danson-Tina Fey comedy was originally a 30 Rock spinoff. The initial concept would have followed Alec {NAME}'s Jack Donaghy, Lesley Goldberg reports. "Sources say {NAME} was in extended negotiations for the better part of a year before pulling out of the project. Writers and exec producers Fey and Carlock then went out to The Good Place star Ted Danson to take over the role." [More](. Speaking of NBC: The Television Critics Association press tour ended Thursday with a slate of panels from NBCUniversal. But with no executive session on the schedule, news was a bit light. Here's what happened. +NBC is giving The Tonight Show a boost. Jimmy Fallon will host a week of live shows Sept. 23-27, the first week of the Nielsen-measured season. In addition, NBC will air five special Sunday editions of The Tonight Show after its NFL Sunday Night Football games in September, October, and December. [More.]( +More Jimmy Smits: Ahead of its series premiere, NBC [has handed]( the Jimmy Smits drama Bluff City Law an order for six scripts beyond its original 13-episodes. The TCA standouts... +The biggest takeaways and buzziest shows from the summer TV critics' press tour. Lesley Goldberg has the standout sessions from every network, highlighting "the good (Modern Love!), the bad ("premium female" is apparently a demo) and the lingering questions that remain (seriously, exec sessions are valuable)." [The full list](. +TCA's breakout stars: Jean Bentley highlights 15 panelists from this year's press tour "who overshadowed some of their more famous peers." Among them: Food Network's Molly Yeh, The CW's Kennedy McCann, and Showtime's Beth Ditto. [The list](. TV's Top 5 podcast: Mike Schur, the creator of The Good Place, talks to Lesley Goldberg and Daniel Fienberg about his growing roster of shows at the network. [Listen](. +Schur also spoke to Rebecca Sun about how The Good Place inadvertently touched on current events: "The show was conceived of and began production in a pre-November 2016 world. Our season one finale, which had the big reveal that they were in the Bad Place, aired the night before the inauguration." [The interview](. ►Will Ferrell, er, Ron Burgundy, invades late night. The comedian pulled off one of the more memorable late night stunts in recent memory, having his Anchorman character Ron Burgundy [appear](on (almost) every late night show to do stand-up comedy. The appearances were timed to the release of season two of The Ron Burgundy Podcast, which launches today. +The appearances: Burgundy [talked about]( playing golf with Donald Trump on CBS' Late Show... He [talked about]( getting into a knife fight with Kylie Minogue on NBC's Tonight Show... performed [stand up]( on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live... Plus his appearances on CBS' [Late Late Show](, NBC's [Late Night](, and TBS' [Conan](... ►Billboard/Hollywood Reporter Pride Summit. The inaugural summit was held Thursday in Los Angeles. Here's what you may have missed: Seven of YouTube and social media's biggest LGBTQ stars [sat down to discuss]( the digital industry, transitions to traditional TV and film and online safety... Daya, Shea Diamond, K.Flay and others [talked about]( being queer emerging artists... Pose stars [call out]( white cis actors for taking on trans and colored roles... Tegan & Sara, Hayley Kiyoko and more queer headliners [talked about]( improving representation in pop culture... Revolving door: Jersey Shore star Vinny Guadagnino[is releasing](a cookbook called The Keto Guido Cookbook... David Ayer is [in early talks](to direct Lionsgate's WWII thriller El-Alamein... Magical Elves, the prolific production company behind unscripted mainstays Top Chef, Project Runway and Nailed It!, [has name](d Casey Kriley and Jo Sharon as co-CEOs... Toby Gorman has been [named president]( of Universal Television Alternative Studio... Behind the Screen podcast: In this week's episode, Carolyn Giardina speaks to Kris Bowers, the Emmy nominated composer of Ava DuVernay’s Netflix limited series When They See Us. [Listen](. Series Regular podcast: This week, Series Regular launches the first of a two-part podcast focusing on the endgame of The Handmaid's Tale season three. Josh Wigler speaks to the show's creator, ep and showrunner Bruce Miller. [Listen](. What else we're reading... --Mark your calendars, Hollywood: Ronan Farrow's book Catch and Kill, which will delve into his reporting on Harvey Weinstein, Les Moonves, and others, is set for an Oct. 15 release. [[CNN](] --"YouTube’s arbitrary standards: Stars keep making money even after breaking the rules" [[Washington Post](] --"Harvey Weinstein began selling property before October 2017 articles detailed flood of sexual-misconduct allegations" [[WSJ](] --"Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a rare opportunity for Latino representation in Hollywood" [[LA Times](] --"How Take-Two's CEO powered up" [[WSJ](] From the archives... Before the summer of 1978 — seventy-five years after its initial creation — the iconic Hollywood sign on Mt. Lee had fallen into disarray. The industry, however, began to rally around revitalizing the tinseltown emblem, and star backers had organized an effort to donate new letters (for $27,777 apiece). That August, a presser was held to wave farewell to the earlier incarnation. Read The Hollywood Reporter's original story, headlined "[New Donors Gather in Goodbye to Old Hollywood Sign](." Today's birthdays: Anna Kendrick, 34, Chris Cuomo, 49, Gillian Anderson, 51, Hoda Kotb, 55, Kenya Barris, 45, McG, 51, Sam Elliott, 75, Thomas Lennon, 49. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2019 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( August 9, 2019