To Binge Or Not To Binge; Writer Roundtable; 'Little Women' Review; Dealmakers of Year

What's news: A question for new streaming services: to binge or not to binge? THR's Writer Roundtable, How Bloomberg TV will cover Bloomberg 2020, Netflix facing recruitment injunction, CBS All Access adds Nickelodeon and cancels Strange Angel. Plus: Hollywood's top 20 dealmakers, and a review of Little Women. --Alex Weprin [The Hollywood Reporter]( [The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment NOVEMBER 26, 2019 What's news: A question for new streaming services: to binge or not to binge? THR's Writer Roundtable, How Bloomberg TV will cover Bloomberg 2020, Netflix facing recruitment injunction, CBS All Access adds Nickelodeon and cancels Strange Angel. Plus: Hollywood's top 20 dealmakers, and a review of Little Women. --Alex Weprin What's news: A question for new streaming services: to binge or not to binge? THR's Writer Roundtable, How Bloomberg TV will cover Bloomberg 2020, Netflix facing recruitment injunction, CBS All Access adds Nickelodeon and cancels Strange Angel. Plus: Hollywood's top 20 dealmakers, and a review of Little Women. --Alex Weprin [To Binge Or Not To Binge] To Binge Or Not To Binge ►The streaming TV dilemma: "Binge and burn" episodes or plot out "weekly pulse"? Natalie Jarvey reports on the hot question facing streaming executives. Disney+ bets on a seven-day rollout, Netflix sticks to all-at-once drops and Apple TV+ experiments with both as the strategies spark debate: "There is a bit of a gut-level conversation that goes on about what shows are better suited to which rollout." Quote: "We're just getting started, so it made sense to build our fan base with episodic content coming out once a week in a more traditional model," Ricky Strauss, president of content and marketing for Disney+, told THR ahead of the service's launch. "We felt that if we put everything out at once it would be harder for us to build the audience." [The story](. ►Nickelodeon content coming to CBS All Access. The subscription video platform is adding children's programming from Viacom-backed Nickelodeon in one of the first moves ahead of the media titans' merger. The news was announced Monday, the same day that kids programming from Boat Rocker Studios (Danger Mouse) and WildBrain (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) began streaming on CBS All Access. [The story](. Speaking of Viacom and CBS... +CBS Corp. and Viacom said they will [close their recombination](, creating ViacomCBS, [after the market close]( Dec. 4. The combined company's stock will start trading on the Nasdaq Thursday, Dec. 5. In other business news... --French luxury group LVMH [has agreed to buy]( New York jeweler Tiffany & Co. for $16.2 billion, adding a famed star to its portfolio that already boasts Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Bulgari. --The mobile version of online gaming platform Roblox, where players build and share their own gameplay modes and in-game worlds, [has surpassed]( $1 billion in worldwide revenue, analytics firms Sensor Tower reports. ►Bloomberg TV will cover the boss' presidential campaign (but with disclaimers). Staffers at the cable TV channel are trying to wrap their heads around new rules regarding coverage of the 2020 Democratic primary race, rules that forbid investigations into Mike Bloomberg or any of his primary rivals. The channel also rolled out a disclaimer to use on-air. Jeremy Barr reports that network staffers have also been told that, when in doubt about whether the disclaimer is needed, they should use it. [The story](. ►CBS All Access cancels Strange Angel. The subscription streaming platform has [axed the scripted drama]( after two seasons. The sophomore run of the series starring Jack Reynor bowed quietly in June... Also: The third season of Anne With an E will be its last. Netflix said Monday that the Canadian drama based on Anne of Green Gables [will conclude]( with its forthcoming 10-episode season, which debuts Jan. 3 on the streamer. Elsewhere in TV... --Stacey Abrams is [getting into television](. The former Georgia lawmaker and voting-rights advocate will executive produce a drama in development at CBS. Never Tell is based on a novel Abrams wrote under the pen name Selena Montgomery. --Review: Daniel Fienberg reviews [PBS' College Behind Bars](. --The Crown season four: [All the details]( (so far). --Dance music stars the Chainsmokers [are breaking into TV](. The Grammy-winning duo, Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, will executive produce a drama project in development at Freeform. Demo will follow an aspiring songwriter as she tries to make her way in the music business. --Ratings: The American Music Awards [delivered steady ratings]( Sunday — but all that means is that the ABC broadcast is in line with last year's all-time low. To Binge Or Not To Binge ►The streaming TV dilemma: "Binge and burn" episodes or plot out "weekly pulse"? Natalie Jarvey reports on the hot question facing streaming executives. Disney+ bets on a seven-day rollout, Netflix sticks to all-at-once drops and Apple TV+ experiments with both as the strategies spark debate: "There is a bit of a gut-level conversation that goes on about what shows are better suited to which rollout." Quote: "We're just getting started, so it made sense to build our fan base with episodic content coming out once a week in a more traditional model," Ricky Strauss, president of content and marketing for Disney+, told THR ahead of the service's launch. "We felt that if we put everything out at once it would be harder for us to build the audience." [The story](. ►Nickelodeon content coming to CBS All Access. The subscription video platform is adding children's programming from Viacom-backed Nickelodeon in one of the first moves ahead of the media titans' merger. The news was announced Monday, the same day that kids programming from Boat Rocker Studios (Danger Mouse) and WildBrain (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) began streaming on CBS All Access. [The story](. Speaking of Viacom and CBS... +CBS Corp. and Viacom said they will [close their recombination](, creating ViacomCBS, [after the market close]( Dec. 4. The combined company's stock will start trading on the Nasdaq Thursday, Dec. 5. In other business news... --French luxury group LVMH [has agreed to buy]( New York jeweler Tiffany & Co. for $16.2 billion, adding a famed star to its portfolio that already boasts Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Bulgari. --The mobile version of online gaming platform Roblox, where players build and share their own gameplay modes and in-game worlds, [has surpassed]( $1 billion in worldwide revenue, analytics firms Sensor Tower reports. ►Bloomberg TV will cover the boss' presidential campaign (but with disclaimers). Staffers at the cable TV channel are trying to wrap their heads around new rules regarding coverage of the 2020 Democratic primary race, rules that forbid investigations into Mike Bloomberg or any of his primary rivals. The channel also rolled out a disclaimer to use on-air. Jeremy Barr reports that network staffers have also been told that, when in doubt about whether the disclaimer is needed, they should use it. [The story](. ►CBS All Access cancels Strange Angel. The subscription streaming platform has [axed the scripted drama]( after two seasons. The sophomore run of the series starring Jack Reynor bowed quietly in June... Also: The third season of Anne With an E will be its last. Netflix said Monday that the Canadian drama based on Anne of Green Gables [will conclude]( with its forthcoming 10-episode season, which debuts Jan. 3 on the streamer. Elsewhere in TV... --Stacey Abrams is [getting into television](. The former Georgia lawmaker and voting-rights advocate will executive produce a drama in development at CBS. Never Tell is based on a novel Abrams wrote under the pen name Selena Montgomery. --Review: Daniel Fienberg reviews [PBS' College Behind Bars](. --The Crown season four: [All the details]( (so far). --Dance music stars the Chainsmokers [are breaking into TV](. The Grammy-winning duo, Alex Pall and Drew Taggart, will executive produce a drama project in development at Freeform. Demo will follow an aspiring songwriter as she tries to make her way in the music business. --Ratings: The American Music Awards [delivered steady ratings]( Sunday — but all that means is that the ABC broadcast is in line with last year's all-time low. [THR Writer Roundtable] THR Writer Roundtable Taika Waititi, Lorene Scafaria, Kasi Lemmons, Anthony McCarten, Destin Daniel Cretton, and Charles Randolph speak to Stephen Galloway for THR's Writer Roundtable, sharing tactics to tackle real life as well as subjects to avoid entirely, all while exploring humanity "in the service of the truth." On Waititi's Jojo Rabbit: Waititi: "That version of Hitler that I wrote shares nothing with the real guy other than that mustache, because he is conjured from the mind of a 10-year-old, so he can only know what a 10-year-old knows. I had no interest in writing an authentic portrayal, even though I played him, too. Because I just didn't think he deserved it. And I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of me actually having to read about him and study his nuances and mannerisms. I was like, 'Screw this guy. I'm not going to do that.'" McCarten: "Can we put your feet to the fire a bit on that one? Because it is Hitler. We identify him as Hitler. Would you not agree that a lot of the power of the jokes derives from the fact that the voice in this boy's ear is Hitler?" Waititi: "Absolutely. It's funny because [a boy's] ideas are coming out of the mouth of this tyrant." McCarten: "You make the serious unserious. That's how you skewer power. That's the nature of satire." On taking liberties with "the truth": McCarten: "It's a complex question because you get to the heart of: How much license should you permit yourself when you are doing anything based on a real story? In this case [The Two Popes], it's probably the most adventurous use of artistic license that I've had. But I would still put my hand into that fire and say this is more than any other [film I've written] in the service of the truth." Lemmons: "That's such an interesting phrase, 'in the service of the truth.' When you are doing historical representation, you have to invent conversations. We know Harriet Tubman went to this place and met with these people, and I did seven months of research on Harriet and the Underground Railroad. But even the best scholarly books will say something like, 'She made her way to Philadelphia.'" Bombshell, Hustlers and thoughts on the WGA-talent agencies dispute in [the full Writer Roundtable](. ►Godzilla vs. Kong delayed, Downhill lands a date. Warner Bros. and Legendary's Godzilla vs. Kong has [been pushed back]( from its March 13, 2020 date to Nov. 20, 2020. The film is a crossover event pitting the two famous monsters against one another... Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell have booked a Valentine's Day date. Their upcoming film Downhill, an English-language remake of the Swedish film Force Marjeure, [will open in theaters]( on Feb. 14, 2020, Fox Searchlight announced Monday... Netflix facing potential injunction against recruiting rival's executives. Netflix is headed towards a big loss on the employment front. On Monday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge indicated he was inclined to grant a Disney subsidiary's demand that Netflix be prevented from recruiting and soliciting executives under contract. [The story](. +Ghen Maynard, who was brought back to CBS three years ago to revive its unscripted department, has launched a discrimination lawsuit against the company after apparently being terminated last month. According to a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, the firing occurred after an investigation into an allegation that he mistreated a female coworker. [The story](. +Also: The Supreme Court on Monday[rejected]( a Maryland man’s bid for a new trial based on information uncovered by the hit podcast Serial... Bill Cosby [opened up]( about life in prison when he spoke to the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s BlackPressUSA.com on Sunday... ►ESPN nixed the "Barstool Bowl." According to Sports Business Daily's [John Ourand](, the controversial website Barstool Sports was in "deep discussions" to sponsor an NCAA college football bowl game, to the point where the parties had agreed to terms. The deal fell apart after pressure from the NCAA and TV broadcaster ESPN. This morning Bartstool founder Dave Portnoy [weighed in]( on Twitter, writing "[ESPN] killed it because they are scared of us. Honestly I would have killed it if I was them to [sic]. No need to feed the company that is eventually going to eat you. Just a matter of time till we get a bowl game though." ►Review: David Rooney reviews Greta Gerwig's Little Women, writing that the film "brings freshness, vitality and emotional nuance to source material which has been etched for generations into the popular imagination, shaking up the chronology to reinvigorate the plot's familiar beats." [The review](. +What the other critics are saying about the film. [The review roundup](. Elsewhere in film... --Saban Films [has acquired]( the North American rights to Twist — a modern day take on the Charles Dickens classic Oliver Twist. --Netflix on Monday announced it has [signed a lease]( that will keep the historic Paris Theatre in New York City open for business. It plans to use the theater for its original movies, special events and other screenings (in other words, it wouldn't operate the Paris as a normal theater). --Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee says China’s boycott of Taiwan’s Golden Horse film awards [demonstrates how politics]( can take its toll on the arts. --Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker[is shorter](than previously thought. --VFX contenders: Gemini Man team [details the creation]( of a fully digital Will Smith. THR Writer Roundtable Taika Waititi, Lorene Scafaria, Kasi Lemmons, Anthony McCarten, Destin Daniel Cretton, and Charles Randolph speak to Stephen Galloway for THR's Writer Roundtable, sharing tactics to tackle real life as well as subjects to avoid entirely, all while exploring humanity "in the service of the truth." On Waititi's Jojo Rabbit: Waititi: "That version of Hitler that I wrote shares nothing with the real guy other than that mustache, because he is conjured from the mind of a 10-year-old, so he can only know what a 10-year-old knows. I had no interest in writing an authentic portrayal, even though I played him, too. Because I just didn't think he deserved it. And I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of me actually having to read about him and study his nuances and mannerisms. I was like, 'Screw this guy. I'm not going to do that.'" McCarten: "Can we put your feet to the fire a bit on that one? Because it is Hitler. We identify him as Hitler. Would you not agree that a lot of the power of the jokes derives from the fact that the voice in this boy's ear is Hitler?" Waititi: "Absolutely. It's funny because [a boy's] ideas are coming out of the mouth of this tyrant." McCarten: "You make the serious unserious. That's how you skewer power. That's the nature of satire." On taking liberties with "the truth": McCarten: "It's a complex question because you get to the heart of: How much license should you permit yourself when you are doing anything based on a real story? In this case [The Two Popes], it's probably the most adventurous use of artistic license that I've had. But I would still put my hand into that fire and say this is more than any other [film I've written] in the service of the truth." Lemmons: "That's such an interesting phrase, 'in the service of the truth.' When you are doing historical representation, you have to invent conversations. We know Harriet Tubman went to this place and met with these people, and I did seven months of research on Harriet and the Underground Railroad. But even the best scholarly books will say something like, 'She made her way to Philadelphia.'" Bombshell, Hustlers and thoughts on the WGA-talent agencies dispute in [the full Writer Roundtable](. ►Godzilla vs. Kong delayed, Downhill lands a date. Warner Bros. and Legendary's Godzilla vs. Kong has [been pushed back]( from its March 13, 2020 date to Nov. 20, 2020. The film is a crossover event pitting the two famous monsters against one another... Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell have booked a Valentine's Day date. Their upcoming film Downhill, an English-language remake of the Swedish film Force Marjeure, [will open in theaters]( on Feb. 14, 2020, Fox Searchlight announced Monday... Netflix facing potential injunction against recruiting rival's executives. Netflix is headed towards a big loss on the employment front. On Monday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge indicated he was inclined to grant a Disney subsidiary's demand that Netflix be prevented from recruiting and soliciting executives under contract. [The story](. +Ghen Maynard, who was brought back to CBS three years ago to revive its unscripted department, has launched a discrimination lawsuit against the company after apparently being terminated last month. According to a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, the firing occurred after an investigation into an allegation that he mistreated a female coworker. [The story](. +Also: The Supreme Court on Monday[rejected]( a Maryland man’s bid for a new trial based on information uncovered by the hit podcast Serial... Bill Cosby [opened up]( about life in prison when he spoke to the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s BlackPressUSA.com on Sunday... ►ESPN nixed the "Barstool Bowl." According to Sports Business Daily's [John Ourand](, the controversial website Barstool Sports was in "deep discussions" to sponsor an NCAA college football bowl game, to the point where the parties had agreed to terms. The deal fell apart after pressure from the NCAA and TV broadcaster ESPN. This morning Bartstool founder Dave Portnoy [weighed in]( on Twitter, writing "[ESPN] killed it because they are scared of us. Honestly I would have killed it if I was them to [sic]. No need to feed the company that is eventually going to eat you. Just a matter of time till we get a bowl game though." ►Review: David Rooney reviews Greta Gerwig's Little Women, writing that the film "brings freshness, vitality and emotional nuance to source material which has been etched for generations into the popular imagination, shaking up the chronology to reinvigorate the plot's familiar beats." [The review](. +What the other critics are saying about the film. [The review roundup](. Elsewhere in film... --Saban Films [has acquired]( the North American rights to Twist — a modern day take on the Charles Dickens classic Oliver Twist. --Netflix on Monday announced it has [signed a lease]( that will keep the historic Paris Theatre in New York City open for business. It plans to use the theater for its original movies, special events and other screenings (in other words, it wouldn't operate the Paris as a normal theater). --Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee says China’s boycott of Taiwan’s Golden Horse film awards [demonstrates how politics]( can take its toll on the arts. --Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker[is shorter](than previously thought. --VFX contenders: Gemini Man team [details the creation]( of a fully digital Will Smith. [Hollywood's Top Dealmakers] Hollywood's Top Dealmakers ►Hollywood's top 20 dealmakers of 2019. Negotiators behind the frontlines of the streaming wars — from Disney+ acquiring eight extra Marvel films to HBO Max nabbing Friends and Big Bang Theory libraries — talk competing for talent and evolving deals. [The full list](. ►Billie Eilish named Billboard's 2019 Woman of the Year. Previous Woman of the Year honorees include Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. “Billie has disrupted the entertainment industry through her music and social media platforms, leaving an indelible impact on the global cultural zeitgeist,” says Hannah Karp, Billboard’s Editorial Director. [More](. International Emmy Awards: McMafia and Especial de Natal Porta dos Fundos (The Last Hangover) topped the list of International Emmy winners at Monday night's award ceremony in New York. The ceremony, held at the Hilton New York Hotel, also awarded Safe Harbour with the best movie/miniseries prize and The Real Full Monty: Ladies Night with the best non-scripted entertainment. [The full list of winners](. +Bombshell, the new drama about sexual harassment at Fox News, [will be honored]( with the Stanley Kramer Award at the 2020 PGA Awards, the Producers Guild of America announced Monday. +Syd Mead, the “visual futurist” and concept artist known for his design contributions to sci-fi films such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Aliens and Blade Runner, [will receive]( the Art Directors Guild's William Cameron Menzies Award during the Guild's 24th Annual Awards. +Also: Director James Mangold [will be presented]( with the Cinema Audio Society's filmmaker award at the 56th annual CAS Awards Jan. 25...The American Society of Cinematographers revealed its [documentary and television nominees]( for the 34th annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards, which will also be presented Jan. 25... The Two Popes [leads the nominees]( for AARP The Magazine's Movies for Grownups Awards... ^How Danna Stern helped turn Israel into a global television powerhouse. In a Creative Space interview, The head of Israel’s Yes Studios talks turning "hyper-local" shows like Fauda and On the Spectrum into international hits: "We’re making great television for ourselves." [The interview](. Revolving door: Former AMC Networks exec Chris Loveall[is joining](Walt Disney's Disney+ streamer as vp content, international... AMC Networks [has hired]( former Hoodlum Entertainment exec Noel Manzano as its new vp of international programming... CAA [has signed]( West Side Story's Ariana DeBose... Casting roundup: Maya Hawke, Charlie Plummer and Andrea Riseborough [will star]( in period drama Please Baby Please... Rossif Sutherland and Killjoys star Aaron Ashmore are [set to star]( in thriller The Retreat from director Pat Mills... David Koechner and Julian Richings [are starring]( in the indie horror thriller Vicious Fun from director Cody Calahan and Black Fawn Films and Breakthrough Entertainment. Obituary: [Frank Biondi Jr.](, who helped build HBO, Universal Studios and Viacom into entertainment powerhouses during his career, has died. He was 74... What else we're reading... --"Suicides by K-Pop stars prompt soul-searching in South Korea" [[NY times](] --"In the 2010s, BuzzFeed Made the World a Meme Jonah Peretti on the dress, the dossier, and the next pivot to video." [[New York magazine](] --"Disney+ averaging almost a million new subscribers a day" [[NY Post](] --"Ryan Reynolds now owns a stake in budget carrier Mint Mobile" [[Engadget](] Today's birthdays: DJ Khaled, 44, Natasha Bedingfield, 38, Peter Facinelli, 46, Tina Turner, 80, Rita Ora, 29. Hollywood's Top Dealmakers ►Hollywood's top 20 dealmakers of 2019. Negotiators behind the frontlines of the streaming wars — from Disney+ acquiring eight extra Marvel films to HBO Max nabbing Friends and Big Bang Theory libraries — talk competing for talent and evolving deals. [The full list](. ►Billie Eilish named Billboard's 2019 Woman of the Year. Previous Woman of the Year honorees include Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. “Billie has disrupted the entertainment industry through her music and social media platforms, leaving an indelible impact on the global cultural zeitgeist,” says Hannah Karp, Billboard’s Editorial Director. [More](. International Emmy Awards: McMafia and Especial de Natal Porta dos Fundos (The Last Hangover) topped the list of International Emmy winners at Monday night's award ceremony in New York. The ceremony, held at the Hilton New York Hotel, also awarded Safe Harbour with the best movie/miniseries prize and The Real Full Monty: Ladies Night with the best non-scripted entertainment. [The full list of winners](. +Bombshell, the new drama about sexual harassment at Fox News, [will be honored]( with the Stanley Kramer Award at the 2020 PGA Awards, the Producers Guild of America announced Monday. +Syd Mead, the “visual futurist” and concept artist known for his design contributions to sci-fi films such as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Aliens and Blade Runner, [will receive]( the Art Directors Guild's William Cameron Menzies Award during the Guild's 24th Annual Awards. +Also: Director James Mangold [will be presented]( with the Cinema Audio Society's filmmaker award at the 56th annual CAS Awards Jan. 25...The American Society of Cinematographers revealed its [documentary and television nominees]( for the 34th annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards, which will also be presented Jan. 25... The Two Popes [leads the nominees]( for AARP The Magazine's Movies for Grownups Awards... ^How Danna Stern helped turn Israel into a global television powerhouse. In a Creative Space interview, The head of Israel’s Yes Studios talks turning "hyper-local" shows like Fauda and On the Spectrum into international hits: "We’re making great television for ourselves." [The interview](. Revolving door: Former AMC Networks exec Chris Loveall[is joining](Walt Disney's Disney+ streamer as vp content, international... AMC Networks [has hired]( former Hoodlum Entertainment exec Noel Manzano as its new vp of international programming... CAA [has signed]( West Side Story's Ariana DeBose... Casting roundup: Maya Hawke, Charlie Plummer and Andrea Riseborough [will star]( in period drama Please Baby Please... Rossif Sutherland and Killjoys star Aaron Ashmore are [set to star]( in thriller The Retreat from director Pat Mills... David Koechner and Julian Richings [are starring]( in the indie horror thriller Vicious Fun from director Cody Calahan and Black Fawn Films and Breakthrough Entertainment. Obituary: [Frank Biondi Jr.](, who helped build HBO, Universal Studios and Viacom into entertainment powerhouses during his career, has died. He was 74... What else we're reading... --"Suicides by K-Pop stars prompt soul-searching in South Korea" [[NY times](] --"In the 2010s, BuzzFeed Made the World a Meme Jonah Peretti on the dress, the dossier, and the next pivot to video." [[New York magazine](] --"Disney+ averaging almost a million new subscribers a day" [[NY Post](] --"Ryan Reynolds now owns a stake in budget carrier Mint Mobile" [[Engadget](] Today's birthdays: DJ Khaled, 44, Natasha Bedingfield, 38, Peter Facinelli, 46, Tina Turner, 80, Rita Ora, 29. [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2019 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. NOVEMBER 26, 2019 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](