Anonymous Content & PBS Member Station GBH Sign Scripted Deal

EXCLUSIVE: Former Legendary Television President and Starz CEO Chris Albrecht, and Jane the Virgin executive producer Jorge Granier have formed Rubicon Global Media, a firm designed to aggregate leading intellectual property from Latin America and Spain, transforming it into content with worldwide appeal. The company will also produce story-driven content for Latin American audiences. 

The Barbenheimer hype is drawing moviegoers into theaters in droves, but it is not without controversy.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Elon Musk has taken legal aim at the Center for Countering Digital Hate, an independent research nonprofit group, over the organization’s findings that since the multibillionaire acquired Twitter (now called X) hate, racism and disinformation on the social platform has substantially increased. “Musk and his legal team, led by attorney Alex Spiro at Quinn Emanuel, have engaged in an aggressive campaign to intimidate, bully, and silence CCDH,” the organization said in a statement released Monday.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Kanye West’s account on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, has been restored — after the controversial rapper/entrepreneur apparently promised the Elon Musk-owned company he would refrain from posting antisemitic and other hateful content. West, who now goes by Ye, was kicked off Twitter in December 2022 after he share an image of a Nazi swastika embedded inside the Star of David.

A nontheist advocacy organization is demanding that the Bible be banned from schools in a Florida school district, using the same justification that has been used to censor other literary works.Christopher Line, a staff attorney for church and state separation watchdog Freedom From Religion Foundation, formally requested the Bible be removed from library shelves in Leon County schools after the district pulled several other titles for mentioning sexual assault. The books that were banned include Dead End by Jason Myer, Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk, Lucky by Alice Sebold, Me, Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews, and Push by Sapphire.

EXCLUSIVE: Manolo and Juancho Cardona’s banner 11:11 Films & TV has signed a deal with TelevisaUnivision streamer ViX to produce new original titles.

Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Channel is partnering with Paul Fusco, the creator of the popular ’80s show “ALF” to create new “ALF” content, premiering Saturday, July 29. The show, which aired from 1986 to 1990, starred the titular character ALF, or “Alien Life Form,” as he lives with a human family in suburbia. Maximum Effort and Fusco are also partnering with Shout! Studios to produce the new content. Sponsored content will be interspersed throughout “ALF” episodes for various companies including Mint Mobile, Fubo, Hims, MNTN and Ring; dubbed “Maximum Moments,” this sponsored content will feature the titular ALF.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s national executive director and chief negotiator, told the Washington Post that the guild is working to use the strike to recruit more online creators into its ranks.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Studios has made changes to the US/Global content operations, with three executives in Laura Lancaster’s group, Kara Smith, Jon Wax and Andy Bourne, taking on new responsibilities. The announcement was just made internally in a memo by Amazon Studios’ Head of Television Vernon Sanders, Head of International Originals James Farrell, and Lancaster, Head of SVOD TV Development & Series, Co-Productions.

EXCLUSIVE: Anonymous Content has partnered with New Europe Film Sales to handle North American rights for animated feature The Peasants, directed by Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent filmmakers D.K. Welchman and Hugh Welchman. 

“We have too much scripted content,” new Viaplay CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann said today as he was pressed by investors on the state of the embattled Nordic outfit’s finances and future sustainability.

Korean content accounted for 50% of SVOD viewership and 42% of freemium viewership across Asia in the first half of 2023, according to a report released by Media Partners Asia (MPA). 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean TV series and films are increasing still further their hold on streaming audiences across East Asia. They accounted for half of viewing time in the first half of the year, according to new third-party research. Korean-made premium VOD content captured 50% of SVOD viewership and 42% of freemium viewership between January and June 2023, with a record 58 million VOD users tuning in nine East Asian territories (Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam), according to Singapore-based research and consultancy firm Media Partners Asia. The analysis is based on the measured media consumption activity of 40,000 Asia Pacific consumers, conducted by AMPD, the analysis firm’s sister company.

Netflix acknowledged the punishing landscape that is streaming today but — even as some now question the entire model — insisted it’s a good business if you’ve got “strong execution and focus” and it does.

Netflix has found itself with cash to spend thanks to the writers and actors strike.

Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino has forcefully disputed a Bloomberg article maintaining that a “surge” of harmful content on the Elon Musk platform has spooked advertisers.

Five months on from the bombshell charges dropped on Manchester City by the Premier League, there is little sign of their impact across the football club.

Meghan Markle apparently differs from her husband Prince Harry in the fact that she makes no attempt to “be anonymous” when she’s out in public. That’s the opinion of body language expert Judi James, who has been talking to The Mirror about Meghan’s latest appearance as she strolled around her Montecito neighbourhood and checked out a farmers’ market.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has said the company will be pulling back on creating new Star Wars and Marvel content.The announcement comes on the back of the company’s attempts to cut costs, having seen a number of their recent films, from Marvel to animation, underwhelm at the box office.“You pull back not just to focus, but also as part of our cost containment initiative. Spending less on what we make, and making less,” Iger told CNBC on Thursday (July 13).Iger said that many of the decisions were made to prop up the company’s flagship streaming service, Disney+, and attract more customers.The Disney CEO went on to note that an influx of new Marvel content, both on the big and small screens, had “diluted focus and attention”.“It had not been in the television business at any significant level, and not only did they increase their movie output, but they ended up making a number of TV series,” said Iger.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Cindy Holland has been named the CEO of Sister, the production company started by media mogul Elisabeth Murdoch and “Chernobyl” producer Jane Featherstone. The veteran executive oversaw Netflix’s move into producing its own in-house content until she left the streamer in 2020. At Sister, she will oversee the company’s strategic direction and production output. “I am delighted to join Sister at this exciting stage. The future is bright for well-positioned independent companies, and I love to build and support successful teams,” said Holland. “For years I’ve admired Jane Featherstone, and I am passionate about the artist-forward ethos that Liz has fostered at the Sister entertainment group.”