XFL Sold; Netflix Film Slate 'In Pretty Good Shape'; Lena Waithe Speaks Out, Seth Rogen's Empire

What's news: Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia buy the XFL, Lena Waithe on what Hollywood needs to do next, Seth Rogen talks Point Grey's explosive growth, Netflix film exec on the future of features, Microsoft continues pursuit of TikTok, more productions move to California, remembering Wilford Brimley and Tom Pollock. Plus: USC Film School grapples with reopening amid a pandemic, and President Trump's Hollywood earnings hit $1.7 million in 2019. --Alex Weprin [The Hollywood Reporter]( [The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment AUGUST 03, 2020 What's news: Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia buy the XFL, Lena Waithe on what Hollywood needs to do next, Seth Rogen talks Point Grey's explosive growth, Netflix film exec on the future of features, Microsoft continues pursuit of TikTok, more productions move to California, remembering Wilford Brimley and Tom Pollock. Plus: USC Film School grapples with reopening amid a pandemic, and President Trump's Hollywood earnings hit $1.7 million in 2019. --Alex Weprin What's news: Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia buy the XFL, Lena Waithe on what Hollywood needs to do next, Seth Rogen talks Point Grey's explosive growth, Netflix film exec on the future of features, Microsoft continues pursuit of TikTok, more productions move to California, remembering Wilford Brimley and Tom Pollock. Plus: USC Film School grapples with reopening amid a pandemic, and President Trump's Hollywood earnings hit $1.7 million in 2019. --Alex Weprin [Lena Waithe On What Hollywood Needs To Do Next] Lena Waithe On What Hollywood Needs To Do Next ►Lena Waithe on Hollywood lessons learned and lifting up long-ignored talent. While the Twenties and The Chi creator won a 2017 writing Emmy at the relatively young age of 33, The Hollywood Reporter's TV Producer of the Year has a lifelong mission bigger than awards: making "work that people can look at and say, 'That broke a barrier.'" --"What needs to happen is not just for talent to demand, 'Oh, you need to have an inclusive team.' It's about the industry supporting Black and brown people coming up who want to be agents or managers and teaching them how to be the best in the business. Some of that comes from the hustle, but a lot of it is education. Sometimes you have to be told, 'Don't work in that mail room, do that one,' or 'Oh, you don't need to meet this person. Have lunch with this woman.' It's chess." [The interview](. ►Just in: Actor and producer Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale's RedBird Capital have agreed to buy the XFL, the bankrupt football league founded by WWE CEO Vince McMahon. In a statement, XFL president Jeffrey Pollack called the deal "a Hollywood ending" for the league's sale process. --The XFL was scheduled to go to a bankruptcy auction this week, but RedBird, Johnson and Garcia have acquired XFL parent company Alpha Entertainment for $15 million, canceling the proceedings. [The story](. ►Netflix original films exec says pandemic is not stopping content: "We're still in pretty good shape." Tendo Nagenda also opens up about his dream projects, whether moviegoers will return to theaters post-COVID, the next stage of the streamer's evolution, and why diversity in Hollywood needs to begin "in the rooms where the decisions are made." --"There are still going to be plenty of movies that people will want to see in the theater. I just think that there is also going to be an awareness that there is a super-high-quality film available that might or might not be in theaters. The choice is not going to be, 'Do I go to the theater or do I watch something in the comfort of my own home?' It's going to be, 'What do I want to watch and where can I find it?' If that answer is on Netflix, and not in a theater, then people will be a lot more used to, and happy about, watching it at home." [The interview](. +Netflix's Old Guard was built by a post-production team made up of 85 percent women. The streamer may launch a franchise driven by one of the most diverse behind-the-camera teams assembled for a comic book feature, Carolyn Giardina reports. --"When you look at the résumés of a lot of really talented women, they are not as long or as extensive as a lot of men in the same position," [director] Gina Prince-Bythewood says. "But I know for a fact that it doesn't have to do with talent, it has to do with opportunity. … There are so many women out there who are so good at what they do, but they just haven't gotten the chance. Their being on my crew, being a part of the film, makes the film better." [The story](. Lena Waithe On What Hollywood Needs To Do Next ►Lena Waithe on Hollywood lessons learned and lifting up long-ignored talent. While the Twenties and The Chi creator won a 2017 writing Emmy at the relatively young age of 33, The Hollywood Reporter's TV Producer of the Year has a lifelong mission bigger than awards: making "work that people can look at and say, 'That broke a barrier.'" --"What needs to happen is not just for talent to demand, 'Oh, you need to have an inclusive team.' It's about the industry supporting Black and brown people coming up who want to be agents or managers and teaching them how to be the best in the business. Some of that comes from the hustle, but a lot of it is education. Sometimes you have to be told, 'Don't work in that mail room, do that one,' or 'Oh, you don't need to meet this person. Have lunch with this woman.' It's chess." [The interview](. ►Just in: Actor and producer Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale's RedBird Capital have agreed to buy the XFL, the bankrupt football league founded by WWE CEO Vince McMahon. In a statement, XFL president Jeffrey Pollack called the deal "a Hollywood ending" for the league's sale process. --The XFL was scheduled to go to a bankruptcy auction this week, but RedBird, Johnson and Garcia have acquired XFL parent company Alpha Entertainment for $15 million, canceling the proceedings. [The story](. ►Netflix original films exec says pandemic is not stopping content: "We're still in pretty good shape." Tendo Nagenda also opens up about his dream projects, whether moviegoers will return to theaters post-COVID, the next stage of the streamer's evolution, and why diversity in Hollywood needs to begin "in the rooms where the decisions are made." --"There are still going to be plenty of movies that people will want to see in the theater. I just think that there is also going to be an awareness that there is a super-high-quality film available that might or might not be in theaters. The choice is not going to be, 'Do I go to the theater or do I watch something in the comfort of my own home?' It's going to be, 'What do I want to watch and where can I find it?' If that answer is on Netflix, and not in a theater, then people will be a lot more used to, and happy about, watching it at home." [The interview](. +Netflix's Old Guard was built by a post-production team made up of 85 percent women. The streamer may launch a franchise driven by one of the most diverse behind-the-camera teams assembled for a comic book feature, Carolyn Giardina reports. --"When you look at the résumés of a lot of really talented women, they are not as long or as extensive as a lot of men in the same position," [director] Gina Prince-Bythewood says. "But I know for a fact that it doesn't have to do with talent, it has to do with opportunity. … There are so many women out there who are so good at what they do, but they just haven't gotten the chance. Their being on my crew, being a part of the film, makes the film better." [The story](. [The Mellow Moguls] The Mellow Moguls ►Seth Rogen and his Point Grey partners dish on their expanding Hollywood empire. The team behind Good Boys and Sausage Party continue their low-key domination with HBO Max's An American Pickle and a new season of Amazon hit The Boys, Rebecca Keegan reports: "They're giving us more at-bats. And we're taking them." --"We've never been people with a long-term strategy, because in the film industry, it's silly," Rogen says during a Zoom interview from his dining room table in mid-July, with Goldberg and Weaver also participating from their homes. "We just always did whatever seemed exciting to us and seemed like we could potentially sell it to somebody." [The story](. ►HBO's In Treatment, TBS' Miracle Workers moving production to California. In Treatment is coming from New York, while Miracle Workers is relocating from Czech Republic. The two projects are among the first to be selected for the inaugural round of tax credits under California’s new film and television tax credit program 3.0, which launched on July 1 when the state's new fiscal year kicked off. [The story](. ►Microsoft continues pursuit of TikTok after Trump chat. Per a [blog post](published Sunday by the tech giant, "Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020. During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President." Trump had previously said he will ban TikTok from the U.S. +For a deeper dive: Here's the [Wall Street Journal's reporting](on the talks... Here's The Atlantic on "[Why America is afraid of TikTok]("... ►"Full tuition to make a home movie": USC Film School grapples with reopening amid a pandemic. Production students at the top cinema arts institution in the U.S. face a dilemma: take a leave of absence for the fall or dive into the limited virtual offerings while paying full freight, $59,260, Mia Galuppo and Emily Hilton report. --“What I would love most is if the students could embrace what is possible,” says Dean [Elizabeth] Daley, who has also been tasked with running USC's School of Dramatic Arts. “The danger is — and we all do it— we spend the time thinking about what we don’t have and what we can’t get. And that doesn’t necessarily take use further to where we need to go." [The story](. ►President Trump earned $1.7 million from Hollywood work in 2019. In addition to income from The Apprentice, last year Trump received pensions from SAG and AFTRA, and royalties for playing "Waldo's Dad" in the 1994 comedy The Little Rascals. [The story](. The Mellow Moguls ►Seth Rogen and his Point Grey partners dish on their expanding Hollywood empire. The team behind Good Boys and Sausage Party continue their low-key domination with HBO Max's An American Pickle and a new season of Amazon hit The Boys, Rebecca Keegan reports: "They're giving us more at-bats. And we're taking them." --"We've never been people with a long-term strategy, because in the film industry, it's silly," Rogen says during a Zoom interview from his dining room table in mid-July, with Goldberg and Weaver also participating from their homes. "We just always did whatever seemed exciting to us and seemed like we could potentially sell it to somebody." [The story](. ►HBO's In Treatment, TBS' Miracle Workers moving production to California. In Treatment is coming from New York, while Miracle Workers is relocating from Czech Republic. The two projects are among the first to be selected for the inaugural round of tax credits under California’s new film and television tax credit program 3.0, which launched on July 1 when the state's new fiscal year kicked off. [The story](. ►Microsoft continues pursuit of TikTok after Trump chat. Per a [blog post](published Sunday by the tech giant, "Microsoft will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks, and in any event completing these discussions no later than September 15, 2020. During this process, Microsoft looks forward to continuing dialogue with the United States Government, including with the President." Trump had previously said he will ban TikTok from the U.S. +For a deeper dive: Here's the [Wall Street Journal's reporting](on the talks... Here's The Atlantic on "[Why America is afraid of TikTok]("... ►"Full tuition to make a home movie": USC Film School grapples with reopening amid a pandemic. Production students at the top cinema arts institution in the U.S. face a dilemma: take a leave of absence for the fall or dive into the limited virtual offerings while paying full freight, $59,260, Mia Galuppo and Emily Hilton report. --“What I would love most is if the students could embrace what is possible,” says Dean [Elizabeth] Daley, who has also been tasked with running USC's School of Dramatic Arts. “The danger is — and we all do it— we spend the time thinking about what we don’t have and what we can’t get. And that doesn’t necessarily take use further to where we need to go." [The story](. ►President Trump earned $1.7 million from Hollywood work in 2019. In addition to income from The Apprentice, last year Trump received pensions from SAG and AFTRA, and royalties for playing "Waldo's Dad" in the 1994 comedy The Little Rascals. [The story](. [Remembering Wilford Brimley] Remembering Wilford Brimley ►Wilford Brimley, curmudgeonly actor known for Cocoon and The Natural, dies at 85. The Salt Lake City native, who also stood out as the plant foreman who becomes a confidant of Jack Lemmon's character in The China Syndrome (1979), died Saturday morning in a hospital in St. George, Utah, his manager, Lynda Bensky, told THR. She said Brimley had been on dialysis and had other medical issues. He had lived since 2004 on a ranch in Greybull, Wyoming. [The obituary](. ►Tom Pollock, former Universal motion picture group chairman, dies at 77. Pollock began his career as an entertainment lawyer, ultimately becoming senior partner at Pollock, Bloom and Dekom. As an attorney, he worked with filmmakers such as George Lucas, who was one of Pollock's first clients. Pollock worked alongside Lucas while he worked on his film THX-1138 and later helped Lucas in the negotiations of Star Wars merchandising and sequel rights. He also negotiated all the legal deals for Lucas' American Graffiti and the Indiana Jones franchise. [The obituary](. ►Charlize Theron's drive-in Fury Road screening models a celebrity charity event in the age of COVID-19. At a socially distant party benefitting Theron's Africa charity, the actress noted the eerie resonance of her 2015 post-apocalyptic film, Rebecca Keegan reports: "I always felt like this story was a cautionary tale." [The story.]( Following in the footsteps of the Oscars, Golden Globes and numerous other ceremonies, the Gotham Awards has pushed back the date of its annual ceremony due to the ongoing pandemic. The Gotham Awards, which recognizes American films made on a budget, usually takes place in late November or early December, but the next edition has been slated for early 2021 — Monday, Jan. 11, specifically — the Independent Filmmaker Project has announced. [More](. ►China box office: Universal's Dolittle topped China's box office for a second week with $3.3 million, as the country's cinemas continued their tentative reopening following the novel coronavirus shutdown. With limits on the number of screens, a wary public and social distancing measures in place, weekend box office in China hit a modest $17.5 million according to local box office consultancy Artisan Gateway. [More](. ►Awards Chatter podcast: Three-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone reflects on how Vietnam changed him and shaped his work, frustrations about being labeled a "conspiracy nut" and why he wrote his acclaimed new memoir. [Listen](. ►Film review: David Rooney reviews crime thriller The Tax Collector, writing that "despite a lot of admirable aims, such as creating layered roles for the Latino acting community and spending production dollars in areas that could benefit from the economic boost, this grim bloodbath feels too routine to be of much interest." [The review](. ►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews the Netflix docuseries Immigration Nation, writing that the series is "the rare viewing experience that's both essential and excruciating, especially with each of the six episodes running a hair over an hour." [The review](. In other news... --The Venice Film Festival [has added two new films]( to its official lineup, picking Regina King's feature directorial debut One Night in Miami and the Pedro Almodóvar's short The Human Voice for the 2020 event. Both films will screen out of competition in Venice. --Taylor Swift’s Folklore flies in at [No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart](, capturing the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, 2019’s Lover. --The Writers Lab, which supports women screenwriters over 40 with mentoring from leading filmmakers, [has unveiled]( its mentors and 12 participants and their projects for a first-time virtual 2020 edition. --ViacomCBS' Comedy Central International and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society on Monday [unveiled the up-and-coming talent]( that will be featured in a recently announced series of stand-up comedy specials with a "virtual audience." --Why stars are [looking so suspiciously good]( on TV amid the shutdown --Mahlon Reyes, a deckhand on a crab fishing boat featured on the reality TV series Deadliest Catch, [has died]( at 38. --Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan [was discharged]( from a Mumbai hospital on Sunday after undergoing three weeks of treatment for the coronavirus. --More than three years after the highly publicized Fyre Festival famously fizzled out in the Bahamas, merchandise and other "minor assets" [are up for sale]( — courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Service. What else we're reading... --"An inside look at NFL meetings with networks to discuss future media rights" [[Sports Business Journal](] --"How the media could get the election story wrong" [[NY Times](] --"#PokimaneBoyfriend and the scandalous reign of drama YouTube" [[Wired](] --"Snap lands deals with top music companies to add songs to videos" [[Bloomberg](] --"The disinfomercial: How Larry King got duped Into starring in Chinese propaganda" [[ProPublica](] Today's birthdays: Martha Stewart, 79, John Landis, 70, Marv Levy, 95, Martin Sheen, 80, Tom Brady, 43. Remembering Wilford Brimley ►Wilford Brimley, curmudgeonly actor known for Cocoon and The Natural, dies at 85. The Salt Lake City native, who also stood out as the plant foreman who becomes a confidant of Jack Lemmon's character in The China Syndrome (1979), died Saturday morning in a hospital in St. George, Utah, his manager, Lynda Bensky, told THR. She said Brimley had been on dialysis and had other medical issues. He had lived since 2004 on a ranch in Greybull, Wyoming. [The obituary](. ►Tom Pollock, former Universal motion picture group chairman, dies at 77. Pollock began his career as an entertainment lawyer, ultimately becoming senior partner at Pollock, Bloom and Dekom. As an attorney, he worked with filmmakers such as George Lucas, who was one of Pollock's first clients. Pollock worked alongside Lucas while he worked on his film THX-1138 and later helped Lucas in the negotiations of Star Wars merchandising and sequel rights. He also negotiated all the legal deals for Lucas' American Graffiti and the Indiana Jones franchise. [The obituary](. ►Charlize Theron's drive-in Fury Road screening models a celebrity charity event in the age of COVID-19. At a socially distant party benefitting Theron's Africa charity, the actress noted the eerie resonance of her 2015 post-apocalyptic film, Rebecca Keegan reports: "I always felt like this story was a cautionary tale." [The story.]( Following in the footsteps of the Oscars, Golden Globes and numerous other ceremonies, the Gotham Awards has pushed back the date of its annual ceremony due to the ongoing pandemic. The Gotham Awards, which recognizes American films made on a budget, usually takes place in late November or early December, but the next edition has been slated for early 2021 — Monday, Jan. 11, specifically — the Independent Filmmaker Project has announced. [More](. ►China box office: Universal's Dolittle topped China's box office for a second week with $3.3 million, as the country's cinemas continued their tentative reopening following the novel coronavirus shutdown. With limits on the number of screens, a wary public and social distancing measures in place, weekend box office in China hit a modest $17.5 million according to local box office consultancy Artisan Gateway. [More](. ►Awards Chatter podcast: Three-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone reflects on how Vietnam changed him and shaped his work, frustrations about being labeled a "conspiracy nut" and why he wrote his acclaimed new memoir. [Listen](. ►Film review: David Rooney reviews crime thriller The Tax Collector, writing that "despite a lot of admirable aims, such as creating layered roles for the Latino acting community and spending production dollars in areas that could benefit from the economic boost, this grim bloodbath feels too routine to be of much interest." [The review](. ►TV review: Daniel Fienberg reviews the Netflix docuseries Immigration Nation, writing that the series is "the rare viewing experience that's both essential and excruciating, especially with each of the six episodes running a hair over an hour." [The review](. In other news... --The Venice Film Festival [has added two new films]( to its official lineup, picking Regina King's feature directorial debut One Night in Miami and the Pedro Almodóvar's short The Human Voice for the 2020 event. Both films will screen out of competition in Venice. --Taylor Swift’s Folklore flies in at [No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart](, capturing the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, 2019’s Lover. --The Writers Lab, which supports women screenwriters over 40 with mentoring from leading filmmakers, [has unveiled]( its mentors and 12 participants and their projects for a first-time virtual 2020 edition. --ViacomCBS' Comedy Central International and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society on Monday [unveiled the up-and-coming talent]( that will be featured in a recently announced series of stand-up comedy specials with a "virtual audience." --Why stars are [looking so suspiciously good]( on TV amid the shutdown --Mahlon Reyes, a deckhand on a crab fishing boat featured on the reality TV series Deadliest Catch, [has died]( at 38. --Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan [was discharged]( from a Mumbai hospital on Sunday after undergoing three weeks of treatment for the coronavirus. --More than three years after the highly publicized Fyre Festival famously fizzled out in the Bahamas, merchandise and other "minor assets" [are up for sale]( — courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Service. What else we're reading... --"An inside look at NFL meetings with networks to discuss future media rights" [[Sports Business Journal](] --"How the media could get the election story wrong" [[NY Times](] --"#PokimaneBoyfriend and the scandalous reign of drama YouTube" [[Wired](] --"Snap lands deals with top music companies to add songs to videos" [[Bloomberg](] --"The disinfomercial: How Larry King got duped Into starring in Chinese propaganda" [[ProPublica](] Today's birthdays: Martha Stewart, 79, John Landis, 70, Marv Levy, 95, Martin Sheen, 80, Tom Brady, 43. [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. AUGUST 03, 2020 [UNSUBSCRIBE]( [MANAGE PREFERENCES]( [PRIVACY POLICY]( [TERMS OF USE](