Universal and AMC Shatter The Window; Primetime Emmy Nominees; CAA Layoffs

What's news: In a landmark deal Universal and AMC shatter the theatrical window, CAA hit with layoffs and furloughs, David Rubin re-elected president of the Film Academy, what next for the Weinstein settlement? Kevin Mayer targets Mark Zuckerberg, Venice boss Alberto Barbera on hosting the first post-lockdown festival, Spotify and Imax earnings, DGA Awards shift. Plus: A complete guide to the Primetime Emmy nominees. --Alex Weprin [The Hollywood Reporter]( [The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment JULY 29, 2020 What's news: In a landmark deal Universal and AMC shatter the theatrical window, CAA hit with layoffs and furloughs, David Rubin re-elected president of the Film Academy, what next for the Weinstein settlement? Kevin Mayer targets Mark Zuckerberg, Venice boss Alberto Barbera on hosting the first post-lockdown festival, Spotify and Imax earnings, DGA Awards shift. Plus: A complete guide to the Primetime Emmy nominees. --Alex Weprin What's news: In a landmark deal Universal and AMC shatter the theatrical window, CAA hit with layoffs and furloughs, David Rubin re-elected president of the Film Academy, what next for the Weinstein settlement? Kevin Mayer targets Mark Zuckerberg, Venice boss Alberto Barbera on hosting the first post-lockdown festival, Spotify and Imax earnings, DGA Awards shift. Plus: A complete guide to the Primetime Emmy nominees. --Alex Weprin [Universal and AMC Shatter The Theatrical Window] Universal and AMC Shatter The Theatrical Window ►AMC Theatres, Universal collapsing theatrical window to 17 days in unprecedented pact. The historic agreement with Universal will allow the studio's movies to be made available on premium video-on-demand after 17 days of play in cinemas, including three weekends, the two companies announced Tuesday. AMC, the country and world's largest theater chain, is expected to share in the revenue from PVOD. --The deal — which presently only covers AMC's U.S. locations — shatters the traditional theatrical window, a longstanding policy that has required studios to play their films on the big screen for nearly three months before making films available in the home, Pamela McClintock writes. The unprecedented move on the part of a mega-exhibitor has far-reaching implications for the film business — particularly amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and related theater closures — and is a major coup for Universal. [The story](. +Here's what Wall Street is saying: In a report entitled "The Day the Windows Broke," MofffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson called the development "a groundbreaking moment for the film industry." B. Riley FBR analyst Eric Wold had more of a "wait-and-see" take on the AMC-Universal deal despite some initial concern among investors. "In our opinion, it is too early to draw a line in the sand on this agreement and come to the conclusion that it is a positive for Universal and a negative for AMC (or any other exhibitors)." [The story](. ►David Rubin re-elected president of the Film Academy. The film Academy's board returned the casting director to its top post on the same day that the TV Academy honored him and the 92nd Oscars with Emmy nominations.[More](. ►CAA to undergo significant layoffs amid pandemic. "Effective this week, approximately 90 agents and executives from departments across the agency will be leaving. In addition, we are furloughing approximately 275 assistants and other staff. The company will continue to fully pay the health plan premiums for those being furloughed," a CAA spokesperson said. --The cuts are notable in that CAA had been the last of the major talent agencies to undergo a significant round of layoffs. In April, the agency said that it would be implementing proportionate companywide pay cuts in order to stave off furloughs, with co-chairmen Richard Lovett, Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane pledging to forgo salaries for the rest of 2020. [The story](. ►Kevin Mayer targets Mark Zuckerberg: In a fiery [blog post](published this morning, TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer defended his company and took aim at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ahead of Zuckerberg (and Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Sundar Pichai) appearing before the House Antitrust Committee today. --"[L]et's focus our energies on fair and open competition in service of our consumers, rather than maligning attacks by our competitor – namely Facebook – disguised as patriotism and designed to put an end to our very presence in the US," Mayer writes. "TikTok has become the latest target, but we are not the enemy. The bigger move is to use this moment to drive deeper conversations around algorithms, transparency, and content moderation, and to develop stricter rules of the road." Universal and AMC Shatter The Theatrical Window ►AMC Theatres, Universal collapsing theatrical window to 17 days in unprecedented pact. The historic agreement with Universal will allow the studio's movies to be made available on premium video-on-demand after 17 days of play in cinemas, including three weekends, the two companies announced Tuesday. AMC, the country and world's largest theater chain, is expected to share in the revenue from PVOD. --The deal — which presently only covers AMC's U.S. locations — shatters the traditional theatrical window, a longstanding policy that has required studios to play their films on the big screen for nearly three months before making films available in the home, Pamela McClintock writes. The unprecedented move on the part of a mega-exhibitor has far-reaching implications for the film business — particularly amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and related theater closures — and is a major coup for Universal. [The story](. +Here's what Wall Street is saying: In a report entitled "The Day the Windows Broke," MofffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson called the development "a groundbreaking moment for the film industry." B. Riley FBR analyst Eric Wold had more of a "wait-and-see" take on the AMC-Universal deal despite some initial concern among investors. "In our opinion, it is too early to draw a line in the sand on this agreement and come to the conclusion that it is a positive for Universal and a negative for AMC (or any other exhibitors)." [The story](. ►David Rubin re-elected president of the Film Academy. The film Academy's board returned the casting director to its top post on the same day that the TV Academy honored him and the 92nd Oscars with Emmy nominations.[More](. ►CAA to undergo significant layoffs amid pandemic. "Effective this week, approximately 90 agents and executives from departments across the agency will be leaving. In addition, we are furloughing approximately 275 assistants and other staff. The company will continue to fully pay the health plan premiums for those being furloughed," a CAA spokesperson said. --The cuts are notable in that CAA had been the last of the major talent agencies to undergo a significant round of layoffs. In April, the agency said that it would be implementing proportionate companywide pay cuts in order to stave off furloughs, with co-chairmen Richard Lovett, Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane pledging to forgo salaries for the rest of 2020. [The story](. ►Kevin Mayer targets Mark Zuckerberg: In a fiery [blog post](published this morning, TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer defended his company and took aim at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ahead of Zuckerberg (and Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Sundar Pichai) appearing before the House Antitrust Committee today. --"[L]et's focus our energies on fair and open competition in service of our consumers, rather than maligning attacks by our competitor – namely Facebook – disguised as patriotism and designed to put an end to our very presence in the US," Mayer writes. "TikTok has become the latest target, but we are not the enemy. The bigger move is to use this moment to drive deeper conversations around algorithms, transparency, and content moderation, and to develop stricter rules of the road." [Emmy Nominations] Emmy Nominations ►The nominations for the 72nd Emmy Awards were announced Tuesday morning. Netflix broke the record for most nominations in a single year, scoring 160 in total. HBO was the previous record-holder with 137 in 2019. --The most-nominated series was HBO's Watchmen, with 26 in all, followed by Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with 20. Netflix's Ozark and HBO's Succession each scored 18, while Disney+'s The Mandalorian, NBC's Saturday Night Live and Pop TV's Schitt's Creek each earned 15 noms. --The Mandalorian, Ozark and Succession will complete for best drama series with AMC's Better Call Saul, Neflix's The Crown, Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, BBC Amerca's Killing Eve and Netflix's Stranger Things. In additional to Maisel and Schitt's Creek, shows vying for best comedy are HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Neflix's Dead to Me, NBC's The Good Place, HBO's Insecure, Netflix's The Kominsky Method and FX's What We Do in the Shadows. Emmy nominees [by the numbers](... --By show (7 or more noms): Watchmen 26, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 20, Ozark 18, Succession 18, The Mandalorian 15, Saturday Night Live 15, Schitt's Creek 15, The Crown 13, Hollywood 12, Westworld 11, The Handmaid's Tale 10, Mrs. America 10, RuPaul's Drag Race 10, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver 9, The Oscars 9, Insecure 8, Killing Eve 8, The Morning Show 8, Stranger Things 8, Unorthodox 8, What We Do In the Shadows 8, Better Call Saul 7, Queer Eye 7... --By network/platform: Netflix 160 (118 last year), HBO 107 (137 last year), NBC 47 (58 last year), ABC 36 (26 last year), FX Networks 33 (32 last year), Amazon 30 (47 last year), Hulu 26 (20 last year), CBS 23 (43 last year), Disney+ 19 (n/a), Apple 18 (n/a), Pop TV 16 (4 last year), Fox 15 (18 last year), VH1 13 (14 last year), BBC America 10 (9 last year), Comedy Central 10 (8 last year), Quibi 10 (n/a)... [The full list of Primetime Emmy nominees...]( +Netflix may have Emmy noms bragging rights, but HBO has a better batting average. Netflix accomplished its coup on the back of its sprawling library. The streamer has a total of 51 projects nominated. That’s more than double HBO, which clocked in this year at 21 nominated projects, Michael O'Connell writes. One has to examine the TV Academy's exhaustive nominations documents to notice that disparity. [The story](. ^Disney+ and Apple TV+ score their first nominations: The new players are part of a larger streaming sweep at the Emmys that saw Netflix lead the nominations with 160 nods, with Hulu and Amazon's Prime Video also picking up a number of nominations. The nominations are a show of support for these new services from an industry that has been roiled by changes to its business model as more Americans cut the cord in favor of on-demand video offerings. [The story](. +Disney+ was driven by the Star Wars series The Mandalorian (pictured above), which had a big showing in the crafts categories alongside its best drama nomination. [More](. +Black actors earn record-high number of Emmy nominations. Other people of color, though, were largely shut out of the acting fields, and the writing and directing categories still remain largely the province of white men, even as the industry has a reckoning with its record on inclusion and diversity in front of and behind the camera. [More](. +The snubs: There was no Reese Witherspoon or Bob Odenkirk this year, despite praise for their performances in The Morning Show and Better Call Saul, respectively. Other high-profile omissions from the nominations include Roger Ailes series The Loudest Voice (and star Russell Crowe), Larry David, The Morning Show breakout Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Homeland and The Plot Against America only receiving one nomination each. [The snubs list](. +Analysis: "In a sign of just how dominant Netflix has become — particularly during the ongoing pandemic — and how decrepit broadcast TV has become, the former landed a field-leading and record-setting 160 nominations, whereas all of the latter — ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS — combined for just 127." [Scott Feinberg's analysis](. +THR Critics take: Daniel Fienberg and Inkoo Kang write that there was "much to celebrate, including recognition for Watchmen and Schitt's Creek, and much to be perplexed by, from Better Call Saul and Better Things snubs to Tiger King nods. [Their conversation](. +Interviews: Bad Education's [Hugh Jackman](... Ramy's [Ramy Youssef](... Schitt's Creek's [Catherine O'Hara](... Succession's [Matthew Macfadyen](... Insecure's [Yvonne Orji](... Hollywood's [Dylan McDermott](... +Other notes: Here are all of this year's [first-time nominees](... Eddie Murphy received his[first nomination in 21 years](... Jennifer Aniston received her [first nomination in 11 years]( for The Morning Show... Nine Inch Nails multihyphenates Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross [earned their first Emmy nominations]( for the music in HBO's limited series Watchmen... Fred Willard and Lynn Shelton [received posthumous nominations](... Qubi (yes, Quibi) [dominated the short-form Emmy nominations](... Emmy Nominations ►The nominations for the 72nd Emmy Awards were announced Tuesday morning. Netflix broke the record for most nominations in a single year, scoring 160 in total. HBO was the previous record-holder with 137 in 2019. --The most-nominated series was HBO's Watchmen, with 26 in all, followed by Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with 20. Netflix's Ozark and HBO's Succession each scored 18, while Disney+'s The Mandalorian, NBC's Saturday Night Live and Pop TV's Schitt's Creek each earned 15 noms. --The Mandalorian, Ozark and Succession will complete for best drama series with AMC's Better Call Saul, Neflix's The Crown, Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, BBC Amerca's Killing Eve and Netflix's Stranger Things. In additional to Maisel and Schitt's Creek, shows vying for best comedy are HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, Neflix's Dead to Me, NBC's The Good Place, HBO's Insecure, Netflix's The Kominsky Method and FX's What We Do in the Shadows. Emmy nominees [by the numbers](... --By show (7 or more noms): Watchmen 26, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel 20, Ozark 18, Succession 18, The Mandalorian 15, Saturday Night Live 15, Schitt's Creek 15, The Crown 13, Hollywood 12, Westworld 11, The Handmaid's Tale 10, Mrs. America 10, RuPaul's Drag Race 10, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver 9, The Oscars 9, Insecure 8, Killing Eve 8, The Morning Show 8, Stranger Things 8, Unorthodox 8, What We Do In the Shadows 8, Better Call Saul 7, Queer Eye 7... --By network/platform: Netflix 160 (118 last year), HBO 107 (137 last year), NBC 47 (58 last year), ABC 36 (26 last year), FX Networks 33 (32 last year), Amazon 30 (47 last year), Hulu 26 (20 last year), CBS 23 (43 last year), Disney+ 19 (n/a), Apple 18 (n/a), Pop TV 16 (4 last year), Fox 15 (18 last year), VH1 13 (14 last year), BBC America 10 (9 last year), Comedy Central 10 (8 last year), Quibi 10 (n/a)... [The full list of Primetime Emmy nominees...]( +Netflix may have Emmy noms bragging rights, but HBO has a better batting average. Netflix accomplished its coup on the back of its sprawling library. The streamer has a total of 51 projects nominated. That’s more than double HBO, which clocked in this year at 21 nominated projects, Michael O'Connell writes. One has to examine the TV Academy's exhaustive nominations documents to notice that disparity. [The story](. ^Disney+ and Apple TV+ score their first nominations: The new players are part of a larger streaming sweep at the Emmys that saw Netflix lead the nominations with 160 nods, with Hulu and Amazon's Prime Video also picking up a number of nominations. The nominations are a show of support for these new services from an industry that has been roiled by changes to its business model as more Americans cut the cord in favor of on-demand video offerings. [The story](. +Disney+ was driven by the Star Wars series The Mandalorian (pictured above), which had a big showing in the crafts categories alongside its best drama nomination. [More](. +Black actors earn record-high number of Emmy nominations. Other people of color, though, were largely shut out of the acting fields, and the writing and directing categories still remain largely the province of white men, even as the industry has a reckoning with its record on inclusion and diversity in front of and behind the camera. [More](. +The snubs: There was no Reese Witherspoon or Bob Odenkirk this year, despite praise for their performances in The Morning Show and Better Call Saul, respectively. Other high-profile omissions from the nominations include Roger Ailes series The Loudest Voice (and star Russell Crowe), Larry David, The Morning Show breakout Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Homeland and The Plot Against America only receiving one nomination each. [The snubs list](. +Analysis: "In a sign of just how dominant Netflix has become — particularly during the ongoing pandemic — and how decrepit broadcast TV has become, the former landed a field-leading and record-setting 160 nominations, whereas all of the latter — ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and PBS — combined for just 127." [Scott Feinberg's analysis](. +THR Critics take: Daniel Fienberg and Inkoo Kang write that there was "much to celebrate, including recognition for Watchmen and Schitt's Creek, and much to be perplexed by, from Better Call Saul and Better Things snubs to Tiger King nods. [Their conversation](. +Interviews: Bad Education's [Hugh Jackman](... Ramy's [Ramy Youssef](... Schitt's Creek's [Catherine O'Hara](... Succession's [Matthew Macfadyen](... Insecure's [Yvonne Orji](... Hollywood's [Dylan McDermott](... +Other notes: Here are all of this year's [first-time nominees](... Eddie Murphy received his[first nomination in 21 years](... Jennifer Aniston received her [first nomination in 11 years]( for The Morning Show... Nine Inch Nails multihyphenates Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross [earned their first Emmy nominations]( for the music in HBO's limited series Watchmen... Fred Willard and Lynn Shelton [received posthumous nominations](... Qubi (yes, Quibi) [dominated the short-form Emmy nominations](... [What Next For The Weinstein Settlement?] What Next For The Weinstein Settlement? After a New York federal judge blasted a proposed settlement that sought to resolve a host of legal claims brought by women who accuse Harvey Weinstein of varying levels of sexual misconduct, his legal team is taking a shot at getting a revised plan approved — this time in bankruptcy court. [The story](. ►Venice boss Alberto Barbera on hosting the first post-lockdown festival. No one really knows what's coming but it seems fitting that Venice, the world's first film festival, is the one tasked with rebooting cinema in the wake of the global pandemic. "It is an extraordinary festival in an extraordinary time," Barbera told THR's Scott Roxborough on Tuesday, shortly after announcing this year's line up. "But we this will be a restart for everybody...the beginning of new hope for the film industry." [The interview](. +Kelly Reichardt's First Cow to open Locarno Film Festival. Reichardt will also join Locarno's international jury judging this year's competition. Israeli director Nadav Lapid and Lesotho filmmaker Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese join Reichardt on the Locarno jury, which this year will pick the best projects from the 10 in-development works in the festival's Films After Tomorrow lineup. [More](. +Oldenburg partners with Pantaflix to stream festival online. The German indie festival will live-stream this year's premieres on the VOD platform alongside on-sight cinema screenings. [More](. ►DGA Awards shift: Following in the footsteps of the Oscars, Golden Globes and numerous other ceremonies, the Directors Guild of America has pushed back the date of its annual DGA Awards due to the ongoing pandemic. The DGA ceremony usually takes place in late January or early February, but the 2021 edition has been slated for Saturday, April 10, the organization announced Tuesday. [More](. In business news... ►Imax takes pandemic hit with steep second quarter loss. On Tuesday, Imax reported a loss of $26 million attributable to shareholders, compared to a year-earlier $11.4 million profit. The adjusted loss per share for the second quarter was 44 cents, compared to per-share earnings of 32 cents in 2019, and the quarterly revenue was $8.9 million, down 92 percent from $104.8 million in 2019. [More](. +Spotify hits 138 million paid, 299 million total users. The music streamer's loss widened as stock gains boosted payroll taxes. Advertising revenue beat the firm's forecast and started improving in June, but fell 21 percent for the second quarter amid the coronavirus pandemic. [The story](. +Netflix gets credit rating upgrade at S&P Global amid pandemic. On Tuesday, the research firm raised its credit rating for the video streaming giant to BB, from BB-, with a stable outlook, as it pointed to increased subscriber growth and higher consumer usage as TV viewers sheltering during the pandemic increasingly embrace the streaming platform. [More](. ►Lionsgate, Buzzfeed partner for feature film slate. The slate of full-length feature films, which were described as "socially relevant and high-concept" that would attract millennials and Gen Z, will be produced with BuzzFeed for primarily distribution strategies. [More](. +In other Lionsgate news: The company added former FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn [to its board of directors,]( and revealed that CEO Jon Feltheimer's pay [rose to more than $11 million]( in fiscal 2020... ►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews the Disney+ series Muppets Now, writing that the show "has a healthy number of laughs, reasonable all-ages appeal and a handful of memorable moments through the four half-hour episodes sent to critics. Still, Muppets Now feels like it's using maybe a tenth of the brand's potential, failing to capitalize on what ought to be TV's deepest ensemble of scene-stealers." [The review](. +Critic's notebook: The profound oddness of televised pandemic baseball. From piped-in audio to fan-free seventh inning stretches to creepy virtual fans, baseball is back! And it's weird! [Fienberg writes](. ►Marti Noxon: How the TV industry can better protect writers from the next toxic showrunner. As Matthew Weiner plots a dramedy for FX, Noxon — who backed Kater Gordon's claims that the Mad Men creator sexually harassed her — offers nine suggestions to avoid workplace abuse in a guest column. [The column](. ►Obituary: [Jacqueline Scott](, who played the sister of David Janssen's man on the run in The Fugitive and the wife of Walter Matthau's bank robber in Charley Varrick, has died. She was 89. ►Broadcast TV ratings: Monday's broadcast ratings played out according to their usual pattern, with NBC leading primetime among adults 18-49 and The Titan Games capturing the top spot in the demo. ABC's Bachelor clip show, meanwhile, is losing steam as the summer rolls on. [The numbers](. In other news... --Stanley Tucci is headed to AMC, by way of Spain. The Hunger Games and Big Night actor [will star in limited series]( La Fortuna, which the cabler's AMC Studios is co-producing with Spain's Movistar+ and MOD Pictures. --Chateau Marmont owner Andre Balazs is making it official. He’s turning his clubby, storied Sunset Strip hotel — an insiders’ Hollywood haven for generations and for the past few Oscars the site of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s A-list-only bash — [into a certified private-membership club](. --Jean Bentley [breaks down]( all the details on The Crown's final three sesons. --The U.K. government has launched an emergency £500 million ($647 million)[film and TV production insurance fund](, a move expected to help give a much-needed boost to the indie sector as it attempts to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. --The British Film Institute [has unveiled details]( of a £30 million ($39 million) recovery fund for struggling independent cinemas across England, many of which have remained closed since March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. --New York's governor says he is "appalled" by videos showing [crowds standing close together]( at a Hamptons concert featuring electronic music duo The Chainsmokers over the weekend. What else we're reading... --"Big tech to appear before Congress Wednesday" [[WSJ](] --"ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50 billion in takeover bid" [[Reuters](] --"The film industry is in crisis. It can learn a lot from the 1970s" [[Washington Post]]( --"Reese Schonfeld, CNN's founding president, has died at 88" [[CNN](] --"Hollywood ‘kowtowing’ to China takes heat from Washington. But why now?" [[LA Times](] Today's birthdays: Wil Wheaton, 48, Stephen Dorff, 47, Ken Burns, 67, Stan Kroenke, 73, Tim Gunn, 67. What Next For The Weinstein Settlement? After a New York federal judge blasted a proposed settlement that sought to resolve a host of legal claims brought by women who accuse Harvey Weinstein of varying levels of sexual misconduct, his legal team is taking a shot at getting a revised plan approved — this time in bankruptcy court. [The story](. ►Venice boss Alberto Barbera on hosting the first post-lockdown festival. No one really knows what's coming but it seems fitting that Venice, the world's first film festival, is the one tasked with rebooting cinema in the wake of the global pandemic. "It is an extraordinary festival in an extraordinary time," Barbera told THR's Scott Roxborough on Tuesday, shortly after announcing this year's line up. "But we this will be a restart for everybody...the beginning of new hope for the film industry." [The interview](. +Kelly Reichardt's First Cow to open Locarno Film Festival. Reichardt will also join Locarno's international jury judging this year's competition. Israeli director Nadav Lapid and Lesotho filmmaker Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese join Reichardt on the Locarno jury, which this year will pick the best projects from the 10 in-development works in the festival's Films After Tomorrow lineup. [More](. +Oldenburg partners with Pantaflix to stream festival online. The German indie festival will live-stream this year's premieres on the VOD platform alongside on-sight cinema screenings. [More](. ►DGA Awards shift: Following in the footsteps of the Oscars, Golden Globes and numerous other ceremonies, the Directors Guild of America has pushed back the date of its annual DGA Awards due to the ongoing pandemic. The DGA ceremony usually takes place in late January or early February, but the 2021 edition has been slated for Saturday, April 10, the organization announced Tuesday. [More](. In business news... ►Imax takes pandemic hit with steep second quarter loss. On Tuesday, Imax reported a loss of $26 million attributable to shareholders, compared to a year-earlier $11.4 million profit. The adjusted loss per share for the second quarter was 44 cents, compared to per-share earnings of 32 cents in 2019, and the quarterly revenue was $8.9 million, down 92 percent from $104.8 million in 2019. [More](. +Spotify hits 138 million paid, 299 million total users. The music streamer's loss widened as stock gains boosted payroll taxes. Advertising revenue beat the firm's forecast and started improving in June, but fell 21 percent for the second quarter amid the coronavirus pandemic. [The story](. +Netflix gets credit rating upgrade at S&P Global amid pandemic. On Tuesday, the research firm raised its credit rating for the video streaming giant to BB, from BB-, with a stable outlook, as it pointed to increased subscriber growth and higher consumer usage as TV viewers sheltering during the pandemic increasingly embrace the streaming platform. [More](. ►Lionsgate, Buzzfeed partner for feature film slate. The slate of full-length feature films, which were described as "socially relevant and high-concept" that would attract millennials and Gen Z, will be produced with BuzzFeed for primarily distribution strategies. [More](. +In other Lionsgate news: The company added former FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn [to its board of directors,]( and revealed that CEO Jon Feltheimer's pay [rose to more than $11 million]( in fiscal 2020... ►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews the Disney+ series Muppets Now, writing that the show "has a healthy number of laughs, reasonable all-ages appeal and a handful of memorable moments through the four half-hour episodes sent to critics. Still, Muppets Now feels like it's using maybe a tenth of the brand's potential, failing to capitalize on what ought to be TV's deepest ensemble of scene-stealers." [The review](. +Critic's notebook: The profound oddness of televised pandemic baseball. From piped-in audio to fan-free seventh inning stretches to creepy virtual fans, baseball is back! And it's weird! [Fienberg writes](. ►Marti Noxon: How the TV industry can better protect writers from the next toxic showrunner. As Matthew Weiner plots a dramedy for FX, Noxon — who backed Kater Gordon's claims that the Mad Men creator sexually harassed her — offers nine suggestions to avoid workplace abuse in a guest column. [The column](. ►Obituary: [Jacqueline Scott](, who played the sister of David Janssen's man on the run in The Fugitive and the wife of Walter Matthau's bank robber in Charley Varrick, has died. She was 89. ►Broadcast TV ratings: Monday's broadcast ratings played out according to their usual pattern, with NBC leading primetime among adults 18-49 and The Titan Games capturing the top spot in the demo. ABC's Bachelor clip show, meanwhile, is losing steam as the summer rolls on. [The numbers](. In other news... --Stanley Tucci is headed to AMC, by way of Spain. The Hunger Games and Big Night actor [will star in limited series]( La Fortuna, which the cabler's AMC Studios is co-producing with Spain's Movistar+ and MOD Pictures. --Chateau Marmont owner Andre Balazs is making it official. He’s turning his clubby, storied Sunset Strip hotel — an insiders’ Hollywood haven for generations and for the past few Oscars the site of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s A-list-only bash — [into a certified private-membership club](. --Jean Bentley [breaks down]( all the details on The Crown's final three sesons. --The U.K. government has launched an emergency £500 million ($647 million)[film and TV production insurance fund](, a move expected to help give a much-needed boost to the indie sector as it attempts to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. --The British Film Institute [has unveiled details]( of a £30 million ($39 million) recovery fund for struggling independent cinemas across England, many of which have remained closed since March due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. --New York's governor says he is "appalled" by videos showing [crowds standing close together]( at a Hamptons concert featuring electronic music duo The Chainsmokers over the weekend. What else we're reading... --"Big tech to appear before Congress Wednesday" [[WSJ](] --"ByteDance investors value TikTok at $50 billion in takeover bid" [[Reuters](] --"The film industry is in crisis. It can learn a lot from the 1970s" [[Washington Post]]( --"Reese Schonfeld, CNN's founding president, has died at 88" [[CNN](] --"Hollywood ‘kowtowing’ to China takes heat from Washington. But why now?" [[LA Times](] Today's birthdays: Wil Wheaton, 48, Stephen Dorff, 47, Ken Burns, 67, Stan Kroenke, 73, Tim Gunn, 67. [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2020 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. JULY 29, 2020 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](