The beginning of what may be a more militant era in Hollywood studio-labor relations has been ushered in, with actors joining writers on the picket lines in a major stand against film and TV producers that will effectively shut down the industry during the impasse.
On July 13, SAG-AFTRA, led by president Fran Drescher, called the union’s first strike against film and television companies in 43 years. Combined with Hollywood writers ongoing strike, the work stoppage — applying to 160,000 members, from actors to singers to dancers — marks the first simultaneous strike by the two unions since 1960, in a sign of an industry in tumult.
“We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity,” Drescher said at a press conference July 13. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which reps the studios, countered with a talking points memo it circulated that included an “AI proposal which protects performers’ digital likenesses.
On July 13, SAG-AFTRA, led by president Fran Drescher, called the union’s first strike against film and television companies in 43 years. Combined with Hollywood writers ongoing strike, the work stoppage — applying to 160,000 members, from actors to singers to dancers — marks the first simultaneous strike by the two unions since 1960, in a sign of an industry in tumult.
“We are the victims here. We are being victimized by a very greedy entity,” Drescher said at a press conference July 13. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which reps the studios, countered with a talking points memo it circulated that included an “AI proposal which protects performers’ digital likenesses.
- 7/14/2023
- by Katie Kilkenny and Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Amid pivotal contract talks, Fran Drescher found time for couture over the weekend in Italy.
With days to go before the expiration of SAG-AFTRA’s current TV/theatrical contracts package, the union president was spotted in Italy attending Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda festivities, a starry event held in Puglia, a Southern region known for ancient olive trees and referred to as the heel of Italy’s “boot.” There, Drescher joined Kim Kardashian, Helen Mirren, Kerry Washington, Angela Bassett, Christian Bale, Anitta, Kris Jenner and hundreds of other guests for a swirl that featured back-to-back glamorous events over five days, including a concert by Diana Ross.
Though it’s unclear how many events Drescher attended or how long she was in Italy, she did attend Sunday’s closing show, as confirmed by Kardashian to 362 million Instagram followers with a post that featured the two in a candid moment and...
With days to go before the expiration of SAG-AFTRA’s current TV/theatrical contracts package, the union president was spotted in Italy attending Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda festivities, a starry event held in Puglia, a Southern region known for ancient olive trees and referred to as the heel of Italy’s “boot.” There, Drescher joined Kim Kardashian, Helen Mirren, Kerry Washington, Angela Bassett, Christian Bale, Anitta, Kris Jenner and hundreds of other guests for a swirl that featured back-to-back glamorous events over five days, including a concert by Diana Ross.
Though it’s unclear how many events Drescher attended or how long she was in Italy, she did attend Sunday’s closing show, as confirmed by Kardashian to 362 million Instagram followers with a post that featured the two in a candid moment and...
- 7/11/2023
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A day after the Writers Guild of America’s May 1 call for a strike, a dozen or so members of the Set Decorators Society gathered to share intel. Discussion of layoffs kicked off the Zoom meeting and Pam Elyea, owner of L.A.-based prop house History for Hire, said she had to let go of her receptionist and drum technician in March in anticipation of a work stoppage. Others nodded, echoing sentiments that they could not afford to keep all their staff in the face of what they expected to be a lengthy strike. “We’d been saving up, but every time we get something together, something happens,” Elyea says.
When writers manned the picket lines 15 years ago, the fallout of the 100-day stoppage was around $2 billion (or $2.8 billion in 2023 dollars). This time the financial toll may be even greater — and felt faster, predicts Kevin Klowden, chief global strategist of the Milken Institute,...
When writers manned the picket lines 15 years ago, the fallout of the 100-day stoppage was around $2 billion (or $2.8 billion in 2023 dollars). This time the financial toll may be even greater — and felt faster, predicts Kevin Klowden, chief global strategist of the Milken Institute,...
- 5/5/2023
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Since the days of silent pictures, the American film industry has grappled with on-set accidents and tragedies. Among the earliest was in 1914, when director Owen Carter and actress Grace McHugh drowned while shooting a sequence of a bandit’s daughter crossing the Rio Grande for the silent feature “Across the Border.” On-set deaths have shadowed the movies ever since, from the accidental shooting of Brandon Lee on “The Crow” set in 1993 to the 2014 death of “Midnight Rider” assistant camerawoman Sarah Jones on a Georgia train trestle.
But those are just the ones we know about: Media attention around on-set tragedies and mishaps, especially the manslaughter charges against “Rust” actor and producer Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, formally filed on Tuesday, is a modern phenomenon. In the early days, the lack of a 24/7 news cycle allowed many accidents and deaths to go unreported.
“The coverage was less in those days [silents and beyond],” Jonathan Kuntz,...
But those are just the ones we know about: Media attention around on-set tragedies and mishaps, especially the manslaughter charges against “Rust” actor and producer Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, formally filed on Tuesday, is a modern phenomenon. In the early days, the lack of a 24/7 news cycle allowed many accidents and deaths to go unreported.
“The coverage was less in those days [silents and beyond],” Jonathan Kuntz,...
- 2/1/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
What more can be said about the success of Marvel except that it’s the biggest brand in the world with $16 billion in worldwide box office to date?
In its 10-year, 19-film history the studio has had six films gross more than $1 billion at box offices worldwide, with billions more than that in toys and consumer products. And as of this writing “Avengers: Infinity War” has already broken records as the highest domestic and international opener. And with $1.16 billion after two weekends, it has become the fastest film ever to gross $1 billion worldwide and is expected to become one of the top five highest grossing films in box office history.
Like anything that finds a formula for success, Marvel has attracted plenty of imitators. But where Marvel continues to thrive and grow, other studios’ attempts to replicate the success have come up short. So the question is, what’s Marvel’s secret? How did a company once floundering in bankruptcy, with film rights to almost all of its A-list characters owned by other studios, end up ruling Hollywood.
What’s the secret? In a word, the company made good use of more than 60 years of comics lore and leveraged legions of fans – including one who ended up at the top of the company.
Also Read: How Marvel Studios Rose as Movie Stars Fell
Kevin Feige as Captain Marvel
Most Hollywood studios have access to plenty of bankable Intellectual Property, but Marvel has a Kevin Feige. In 2007, just ahead of shooting 2008’s “Iron Man,” Feige was promoted to president of production at Marvel Studios after impressing executives with his comic book knowledge.
Since then, Feige has guided the Marvel Cinematic Universe every step of the way, acting as puppeteer.
“Kevin Feige is doing the same thing Stan Lee did for the comic books in the ’60s; he keeps everyone on the same page,” Jonathan Kuntz, a lecturer at the UCLA school of theater, film and TV, told TheWrap.
Also Read: How Marvel Studios Rose as Movie Stars Fell
Marvel’s 19-film franchise goes against Hollywood’s nature, Kuntz said. A lot of franchises focus on trilogies before they tend to reboot or squash it after diminishing returns. But Marvel has maintained a franchise for this long, one that veers, goes off on tangents, yet always comes back to the main idea, thanks to a longer-term vision. And Feige’s been the one pulling the strings from the beginning.
“Doesn’t seem like any of the other major studios have found the right person to guide them, or even the right franchise,” Kuntz told TheWrap.
It should be said, however, Feige could pull all the strings he wants; it’d be useless if noone had built the puppet.
With Great Comics Comes…
Even the boss himself has conceded he relies heavily on the source material that serves as the driving force behind the McU.
“It starts with the comics and us getting to rip pages out, put them on the walls and start to be inspired,” Feige told the press ahead of the release of “Avengers: Infinity War.” “It is always a guide point, a North Star for us as we lead these giant productions into reality are right from those books where it all started.”
Also Read: How Marvel Bounced Back From Bankruptcy to Become Hollywood's Biggest Brand
He said they even sometimes pull dialogue directly from the comics.
In the ’60s, Marvel sparked what has since become known as “the Marvel revolution,” a shift in superhero comics that emphasized flawed protagonists and humanistic values, during which a lot of the stories now finding their way to the big screen were introduced.
Concepts and plots remained colorful and weird, but Marvel characters had complex personalities and had to deal with ordinary personal struggles alongside costumed adventures. And those characters continued to be developed over decades, in a shared and increasingly complex continuity that is now reflected in the movies based on them.
“Some franchises have to build these characters and stories from scratch,” David Hancock, cinema and entertainment research analysis for Ihs Markit, told TheWrap.
But what makes Marvel such successful IP is it’s had those characters and stories to lean on.
“It’s almost like these films have been in development since the ’60s,” Kuntz said.
It’s All About the Fans
The McU is a multi-billion dollar success now, but when it began in 2008 all the studio had after selling away its most widely popular characters were the die-hard fans of the comics.
Virtually no one cared about a character called Iron Man when Marvel set out to make a live-action big-budget film, a former Marvel employee who asked to remain anonymous told TheWrap.
“But we knew that the people who did care about Iron Man were going to be hardcore fans and that they were going to love it, tell their friends and their families to go see it,” the former employee said. “That first movie was full of cool comic book moments. Marvel’s always fully acknowledged its fan base.”
Franchises like “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games” — and to some extent what DC has done with Batman — have recognized how integral it is to deal in some fan service. “Harry Potter” is the fifth highest grossing franchise, according to Box Office Mojo, and “The Hunger Games” ranks above “Star Trek,” “The Dark Knight” trilogy and “Lord of the Rings.”
Other franchises, like “Transformers” probably could have reached another level if they did more to satisfy fans, the form Marvel employee said.
“The big key is the fandom,” they said. “With each new movie [Marvel] get’s more and more fans, so 10 years of these movies, of course ‘Infinity War’ is going to have the biggest opening ever. Geek culture is the new pop culture.”
Read original story How Marvel Became a $16 Billion Franchise: Fandom, Cribbing From Comics and Kevin Feige At TheWrap...
In its 10-year, 19-film history the studio has had six films gross more than $1 billion at box offices worldwide, with billions more than that in toys and consumer products. And as of this writing “Avengers: Infinity War” has already broken records as the highest domestic and international opener. And with $1.16 billion after two weekends, it has become the fastest film ever to gross $1 billion worldwide and is expected to become one of the top five highest grossing films in box office history.
Like anything that finds a formula for success, Marvel has attracted plenty of imitators. But where Marvel continues to thrive and grow, other studios’ attempts to replicate the success have come up short. So the question is, what’s Marvel’s secret? How did a company once floundering in bankruptcy, with film rights to almost all of its A-list characters owned by other studios, end up ruling Hollywood.
What’s the secret? In a word, the company made good use of more than 60 years of comics lore and leveraged legions of fans – including one who ended up at the top of the company.
Also Read: How Marvel Studios Rose as Movie Stars Fell
Kevin Feige as Captain Marvel
Most Hollywood studios have access to plenty of bankable Intellectual Property, but Marvel has a Kevin Feige. In 2007, just ahead of shooting 2008’s “Iron Man,” Feige was promoted to president of production at Marvel Studios after impressing executives with his comic book knowledge.
Since then, Feige has guided the Marvel Cinematic Universe every step of the way, acting as puppeteer.
“Kevin Feige is doing the same thing Stan Lee did for the comic books in the ’60s; he keeps everyone on the same page,” Jonathan Kuntz, a lecturer at the UCLA school of theater, film and TV, told TheWrap.
Also Read: How Marvel Studios Rose as Movie Stars Fell
Marvel’s 19-film franchise goes against Hollywood’s nature, Kuntz said. A lot of franchises focus on trilogies before they tend to reboot or squash it after diminishing returns. But Marvel has maintained a franchise for this long, one that veers, goes off on tangents, yet always comes back to the main idea, thanks to a longer-term vision. And Feige’s been the one pulling the strings from the beginning.
“Doesn’t seem like any of the other major studios have found the right person to guide them, or even the right franchise,” Kuntz told TheWrap.
It should be said, however, Feige could pull all the strings he wants; it’d be useless if noone had built the puppet.
With Great Comics Comes…
Even the boss himself has conceded he relies heavily on the source material that serves as the driving force behind the McU.
“It starts with the comics and us getting to rip pages out, put them on the walls and start to be inspired,” Feige told the press ahead of the release of “Avengers: Infinity War.” “It is always a guide point, a North Star for us as we lead these giant productions into reality are right from those books where it all started.”
Also Read: How Marvel Bounced Back From Bankruptcy to Become Hollywood's Biggest Brand
He said they even sometimes pull dialogue directly from the comics.
In the ’60s, Marvel sparked what has since become known as “the Marvel revolution,” a shift in superhero comics that emphasized flawed protagonists and humanistic values, during which a lot of the stories now finding their way to the big screen were introduced.
Concepts and plots remained colorful and weird, but Marvel characters had complex personalities and had to deal with ordinary personal struggles alongside costumed adventures. And those characters continued to be developed over decades, in a shared and increasingly complex continuity that is now reflected in the movies based on them.
“Some franchises have to build these characters and stories from scratch,” David Hancock, cinema and entertainment research analysis for Ihs Markit, told TheWrap.
But what makes Marvel such successful IP is it’s had those characters and stories to lean on.
“It’s almost like these films have been in development since the ’60s,” Kuntz said.
It’s All About the Fans
The McU is a multi-billion dollar success now, but when it began in 2008 all the studio had after selling away its most widely popular characters were the die-hard fans of the comics.
Virtually no one cared about a character called Iron Man when Marvel set out to make a live-action big-budget film, a former Marvel employee who asked to remain anonymous told TheWrap.
“But we knew that the people who did care about Iron Man were going to be hardcore fans and that they were going to love it, tell their friends and their families to go see it,” the former employee said. “That first movie was full of cool comic book moments. Marvel’s always fully acknowledged its fan base.”
Franchises like “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games” — and to some extent what DC has done with Batman — have recognized how integral it is to deal in some fan service. “Harry Potter” is the fifth highest grossing franchise, according to Box Office Mojo, and “The Hunger Games” ranks above “Star Trek,” “The Dark Knight” trilogy and “Lord of the Rings.”
Other franchises, like “Transformers” probably could have reached another level if they did more to satisfy fans, the form Marvel employee said.
“The big key is the fandom,” they said. “With each new movie [Marvel] get’s more and more fans, so 10 years of these movies, of course ‘Infinity War’ is going to have the biggest opening ever. Geek culture is the new pop culture.”
Read original story How Marvel Became a $16 Billion Franchise: Fandom, Cribbing From Comics and Kevin Feige At TheWrap...
- 5/6/2018
- by Trey Williams
- The Wrap
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