What's news: Instagram has launched a test of horizontal videos of up to 90-minutes. Former Apple Podcasts exec Steve Wilson has joined Netflix. Hilary Rosen has been promoted to BAFTA chair. Jay-Z has tapped himself to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show. And Ali G: Who Iz I? is already heading to streaming. — Abid Rahman
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Skydance Launches Employee Buyout Program |
►Not great Part I. Skydance is launching an employee buyout program, with David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz kick-starting what is widely expected to be the first of many cost-saving efforts in a memo to staff Monday. The memo begins by announcing a mandatory, five-days-per-week return to office plan, effectively aligning Warner Bros. Discovery with what Paramount had already been doing. The new policy will roll out on a location-by-location basis. It goes on to note that for employees who may not want to proceed with that shift, the company will launch a voluntary buyout program, with everyone who applies getting personalized terms. The story.
—Not great Part II. Anthropic, one of the two biggest artificial intelligence labs (alongside OpenAI) filed to go public Monday morning, and alongside platitudes about the wondrous potential of the technology (curing disease that has vexed humanity for centuries!) and the terrifying downside possibilities (“catastrophic or existential risks to humanity”), it warned of the looming threat of the media to its ongoing business. Anthropic warns investors that "recurring [media] narratives concerning the potential adverse societal impacts of AI," including its "existential" risk, could impact its standing. The story.
—Everybody wants to be YouTube. Instagram is testing features aimed at capturing a bigger part of the entertainment landscape, including the ability to play longform videos like podcasts and more on the platform. Starting from yesterday, Instagram launched a test of horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes with select creators in the U.S. The product, called Features, is aimed at podcasters, comedians and other longform creators, with the ability to refer viewers to the full video from the shortform reels on the platform, which are typically around three minutes or less. The story.
—In pods they trust. Former Apple Podcasts executive Steve Wilson has joined Netflix to advise on its burgeoning podcast strategy. Wilson will be in charge of podcast content acquisition at Netflix and will start out as consultant. Wilson spent 15 years at Apple, including working in editorial, partner relations and the marketing of shows for Apple Podcasts. He recently left podcast and creator content company Daylight Media. The story.
—Upped, innit. Hilary Rosen has been promoted to BAFTA chair, succeeding Sara Putt. Putt steps down after a three-year term, with her deputy stepping up to fill the role. Rosen will oversee BAFTA’s mission to champion film, games and television talent through its awards, industry leadership and year-round development programs. The story.
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Campaign Highlights SAG-AFTRA Health Insurance Issues |
►"This is systemic." Glee star Cheyenne Jackson launched the 'One Job Away' movement Monday on his Instagram to highlight actors in need of one more or a few more gigs to meet the SAG-AFTRA minimum of $28,000 in annual earnings to get health insurance. Within 24 hours, he said he “received hundreds and hundreds” of DMs from actors asking to be featured, with some highlighting only being a few hundred dollars short or a few thousand, and others pointing to an almost barren job landscape. The story.
—🤝 Joint venture. 🤝 Steven Paul’s SP Media and Lionsgate have unveiled plans for a new joint venture to invest in new businesses and indie film production. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Paul is understood to be leading an investment of around $100m to help expand and grow Lionsgate’s platform, an insider claims to THR's Etan Vlessing. No additional financial backers were listed. The story.
—End of an era. Georgia Juvelis, the 19-year veteran chief communications officer for AMC Global Media, will exit the company at the end of the year. AMC, which announced her exit on Monday, will not hire a successor and is instead moving to a new structure for its communications department. The story.
—No surprises. Jay-Z has tapped himself to headline the 2027 Apple Music Super Bowl LXI Halftime Show. The long rumored news was announced during Monday Night Football. The billionaire rap icon already curates the Halftime Show through his company Roc Nation in a deal with the NFL that began in 2019 and was renewed in 2024. Given his close connections with NFL powerbrokers, it was inevitable that Jay-Z would pick himself at some point to headline the marquee event. The story.
—Sentenced. Singer Chris Brown has avoided prison and received an eight-month suspended sentence in a U.K. court after pleading guilty to affray following a confrontation at a London nightclub in 2023. Brown and another man were initially set to face a trial over assault and grievous bodily harm, but the charges were later dropped. The story.
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'Reggie Dinkins' S2 Adds Jane Krakowski, Scott Adsit |
►🎭 30 Rock reunion. 🎭 The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, the NBC comedy starring Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe, has added several guest stars to its season two cast, among them Morgan’s former 30 Rock co-stars Jane Krakowski and Scott Adsit. The series also has a strong 30 Rock presence behind the camera: Creators Sam Means and Robert Carlock and executive producer Tina Fey are all alumni of the Emmy-winning series. Jason Mantzoukas, Edi Patterson and André De Shields will also guest in season 2. The story.
—🎭 Potter news. 🎭 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has found its James and Lily Potter. Jasper Talbot and Hannah Chinn will play the parents of the titular young wizard in HBO‘s upcoming TV adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s bestsellers. Their infamous standoff with the Dark Lord sets in motion the events of the books. Harry Gilby (Tolkien, The Last Kingdom) has also joined the cast as Charlie Weasley, the second-eldest son of Arthur (Rafe Spall) and Molly Weasley (Katherine Parkinson). The story.
—🤝 Content, innit. 🤝 Disney and Channel 4 have struck what they described as a “landmark agreement” that will bring U.K. broadcaster's main channel and on-demand content to Disney+ in the U.K. and Ireland starting in early 2027. The news marks the latest content deal between Disney+ and a big European broadcaster. It has previously also struck agreements with ITV in the U.K., which was then extended to Hulu, Italy’s RAI, ARD and ZDF in Germany, SIC in Portugal and with RTVE and Atresmedia in Spain. The story.
—🟢 Witch, please. 🟢 Disney has renewed its teen supernatural drama series Coven Academy for a second season. Tim Federle (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, the upcoming Romy and Michele sequel) created the show and is on board to continue as executive producer on season 2. The second season will be a continuation of the first season, which stars Malina Pauli Weissman as Briar, a fiercely independent New Yorker who discovers she’s a witch. The story.
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Musk's AI 'Odyssey' Movie Ripped Online
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►"Soulless slop." Elon Musk is probably relieved filmmaker Alex Gibney’s highly critical four-hour documentary about the tech titan, Musk, has flopped at the box office and has been almost entirely pulled from theaters after just one week of wide release. But a new AI-created, anti-woke take on The Odyssey championed by the billionaire oligarch isn’t exactly a hit, either. THR's James Hibberd gathers together the scathing reception to the Grok-fueled take on Ancient Greek classic. The reaction.
—Berlin Bowie is back! Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Brett Morgen will present the world premiere of Stage, his new immersive David Bowie concert experience, at the 2027 Berlinale. Morgen designed the immersive concert around original camera footage from Bowie’s 1978 Isolar II World Tour, which the director discovered while doing research for his 2022 documentary on Bowie, Moonage Daydream. The tour features Bowie performing material from Heroes, the landmark album he wrote and recorded while living in Berlin. The story.
—Iz it becoz it iz dated? Sacha Baron Cohen fans will want to don their wrap-around shades as the star’s newest Ali G movie is set to premiere on streaming. Amazon MGM Studios‘ Ali G: Who Iz I?, which had a two-day theatrical run that began Friday, is set to hit Prime Video on Wednesday. Baron Cohen makes his feature directorial debut with the comedy centering on the hip-hop journalist that he originated with the sketch comedy series Da Ali G Show, which debuted in the U.K. in 2000 and later aired on HBO. The story.
—🎭 Lead in place. 🎭 Battlestar Galactica star Tricia Helfer has nabbed the lead role in director Erica Orofino’s erotic body horror pic Devour. Helfer plays Luisa, a former professional figure skater facing compulsions she cannot control as she becomes dangerously fixated on Karla, her daughter’s friend played by Georgia Bradner. The story.
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'Clayface' Director on the Tragic Ending
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►"It doesn’t mean we have to like it, but he’s acting out of some combination of self-defense, love and a weird obsession." THR's Brian Davids spoke to filmmaker James Watkins about his acclaimed new film Clayface. In a spoiler chat, the Brit helmer also delves into what the sad conclusion means for the villain's current status. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"Honestly, I wasn’t expecting [my legs to keep growing]." Brian also spoke to Street Fighter breakout Callina Liang. The Canadian-Chinese actress, who plays Chun-Li in the film, dishes on nearly losing a finger, embracing fan skepticism and reveals two key scrapped moments. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"People would start applauding during the middle of the movie — it was really crazy." THR's Seija Rankin spoke to rising Chilean actress Mariana di Girólamo. The young star makes the leap to English-language films in Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine — and may be riding it straight into awards season. The interview.
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TV Review: 'The One About Matthew Perry'
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►"A fine feature-length doc unnecessarily extended into a three-hour docuseries." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews Netflix's The One About Matthew Perry. Perry's sister Mia and various friends, former girlfriends and colleagues talk about the actor's genius and his demons in Mary Robertson's three-parter. The review.
—"Not much substance, but fast and likable." Daniel reviews Netflix's Minimum Wage. Fresh Off the Boat star Randall Park is the biggest name in this adaptation of the web series of the same name from production company American High. Also starring Aidan Micho, Grace Reiter, Hyde Healy, Julia Dicesare, Luke Burke, Ryan Micho and Tommy Armstrong. Showrunners: Jeremy Garelick and Will Phelps. The review.
In other news...
—Ex-Vice exec’s new media company signs with CAA
—Hubert de la Bouillerie, Woodstock and Witches of Eastwick film editor, dies at 75
—Alan Dysert, All My Children actor, dies at 75
—Tom DeSimone, director of Chatterbox, Hell Night and Reform School Girls, dies at 87
What else we're reading...
—Ana Faguy and Nardine Saad write that "maxxing" has been selected as Dictionary.com word of the year [BBC]
—Mithil Aggarwal, Erin Tan and Dawn Liu report on China's first AI film Sanxingdui: Future Past not getting any love from the public [NBC News]
—Chip Cutter (great name) and Isabella Simonetti report on Microsoft's efforts to cut headcount by offering a whopping 60,000 employees buyouts [WSJ]
—Jacob Whitehead reflects on (young Arsenal fan) Harry Kane's rise to become the best soccer player in the world [The Athletic]
—Rachel Hall reports on how the Bayeux tapestry exhibition in London has become pop culture hit as young people seem keener to see it than top films [Guardian]
Today...
...in 2006, Paramount unveiled Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel in theaters following its premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The feature, starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal, was nominated for seven Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards, including best picture. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
John Cleese (87), Roberto Benigni (74), Elan Gale (43), Kelly Osbourne (42), Marla Maples (63), Joanna Scanlan (65), Fran Lebowitz (76), Robert Picardo (73), Emilie Ullerup (42), Inbar Lavi (40), Patrick Fugit (44), Elias Toufexis (51), Kivanç Tatlitug (43), Hamza Haq (36), Lukita Maxwell (25), Peter Firth (73), Jeff East (69), David Walton (48), Teilor Grubbs (25), Tom Jackson (78), Samantha Logan (30), Ted Wass (74), Alba Flores (40), Marcos A. Ferraez (60), Peter O'Meara (57), Laura Niemi (60), Melanie Minichino (43), Briana Lane (41), Gianni DeCenzo (25), Gavin Lewis (23)
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Walter Koenig, the boyish actor who remains an integral part of Star Trek lore thanks to his portrayal of the Russian crewman Pavel Chekov, has died. He was 90. The obituary.
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