Tom Staggs Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorInvestors are going all-in on the metaverse.That’s the prediction of Carlos Jimenez, managing director of Moelis & Co., who details his view that the entertainment business is in the midst of a massive transformation into a marketplace where entertainment, media, gaming, sports and other activities merge and often take place.“All of these worlds are colliding — it’s the future,” Jimenez, a veteran dealmaker, says on the latest episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business.”  “You’re going to have all these Gen Zers, or whatever the next generation is called, playing an E-sports tournament in the metaverse while listening to a concert inside of it. I think that’s where we’re going to end up.” It may sound futuristic but investment dollars are flowing in, Jimenez said.

Wilson Chapman editorCandle Media co-CEOs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs have been making waves in Hollywood for the past year as they hunt for content assets to acquire with the help of a bankroll from private executive giant Blackstone.The pair has mostly kept quiet about the venture, but Mayer sat down this month at the SXSW conference and festival in Austin, Texas, for a keynote session that featured his most expansive remarks to date on the new-model studio that he and Staggs are trying to build.In the conversation with MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan that was moderated by Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton, Mayer answered a number of key questions about how Candle Media intends to function — for one, it’s not a holding company nor an operating entity — and he detailed the vision for “social commerce” activity tied to such 360-media stars such as Reese Witherspoon, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. “We do have a vision for a modern creator economy business,” Mayer said.

Discovery shareholders are set to OK the $43 billion merger with WarnerMedia on Friday, the last big step before AT&T completes the spinoff. Ahead of the deal’s expected close next month, a who’s-in/who’s-out parlor game is gaining intensity as CEO David Zaslav finalizes the leadership team.

Hello Sunshine has acquired The Home Edit and aims to help accelerate the household organizing outfit’s move into a lifestyle brand. Its founders Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin are stars of the Emmy-nominated Netflix series , produced by Hello Sunshine, that will debut its second season this year.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMoonbug Entertainment is expanding its kid-vid footprint by snapping up Little Angel, a big producer of YouTube videos and songs for preschoolers.Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The acquisition is Moonbug’s first since it was bought in a $3 billion deal by Candle Media, the next-generation media roll-up venture headed by former Disney execs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs and backed by private-equity firm Blackstone.

Naman Ramachandran DAZN chair Kevin Mayer and Rene Rechtman, co-founder and CEO of Moonbug Entertainment, will deliver a joint keynote at this year’s in-person MipTV (Apr. 4-6). Mayer also serves as co-chair and co-CEO of Candle Media, which purchased Moonbug, the company behind the wildly popular children’s show “CoComelon” in Nov.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix has pumped billions of dollars into original programming — but overall, its library of older licensed TV shows far outperforms homegrown hits like “Squid Game” or “Bridgerton.”In 2021 on Netflix, “Criminal Minds,” the crime-drama procedural that aired on CBS from 2005-20, scored as the most-viewed TV show among U.S. streaming platforms tracked by Nielsen.The 12 seasons of “Criminal Minds” available on Netflix registered an estimated 33.9 billion minutes watched last year by American viewers, per Nielsen.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify is boosting its audio lineup for kids and families, including a new story-time show under an exclusive multiyear agreement with CoComelon, the YouTube children’s content powerhouse.The new “CoComelon Story Time” podcast — CoComelon’s first spoken-word original programming — will premiere Jan. 24 exclusively on Spotify.

UPDATED with official announcement: Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Blackstone-backed Candle Media has formally clinched its latest deal — for Faraway Road Productions, the company behind Fauda and Hit & Run. 

EXCLUSIVE: Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine is doubling down on podcasting.

An investment firm backed by Blackstone and run by onetime Disney colleagues Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs has taken a minority stake in Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inc.

A surge in demand for content, big companies shedding non-core assets and consolidation in digital media led to a massive rebound in entertainment M&A in 2021, ushered in by two landmark combinations in April and ending with an drumbeat of deals in December.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorThe roll-up media venture led by ex-Disney execs Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer has set its next acquisition: Faraway Road Productions, the Israeli entertainment company behind Netflix series “Fauda” and “Hit & Run,” Variety has confirmed.The deal for Tel Aviv, Israel-based Faraway — founded by and headed by Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz (pictured above) — is the third for the still-unnamed company formed by Stagg and Mayer with the backing of private-equity company

Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Blackstone-backed media venture has set its next acquisition, of Faraway Road Productions, the company behind Fauda and Hit & Run, Deadline has confirmed.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorRené Rechtman, CEO and co-founder of Moonbug Entertainment, was gearing up to launch an IPO for his 3-year-old digital kids’ content company.But earlier this year, two of his former Disney colleagues — Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer — came calling with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Blackstone-backed company has bought Moonbug Entertainment, producer of he popular Netflix children’s program “CoComelon,” it was announced Thursday.

The media venture run by Disney alums Kevin Mayer and Tom Stags and backed by private equity firm Blackstone has acquired Moonbug Entertainment, maker of popular kids shows like CoComelon.

Ellise Shafer administratorMoonbug Entertainment, the company behind the wildly popular children’s show “CoComelon,” has been acquired by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ unnamed media venture. Though the terms of the deal were not made public, Bloomberg reports that the pricetag was $3 billion.This marks the second acquisition for the former Disney execs’ company, which is backed by private equity firm Blackstone Group Inc.

announced in August. “We really think that there’s the opportunity to pull together a really forward-looking independent content, technology and social commerce company that is built for where the marketplace is, and is going.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterWestbrook Inc., the entertainment company founded by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, has ended talks to sell to a new media venture backed by Blackstone Group and executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, sources tell Variety.The two parties began discussions in mid-September, Variety previously reported, with the former Walt Disney Co.

for $900 million. Hello Sunshine is the production company behind HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere” and Apple TV+ series “The Morning Show” — all of which starred Witherspoon.

Westbrook Studios, the Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith company behind Telluride favorite King Richard and series Red Table Talk and Cobra Kai, has held exploratory talks with a number of potential buyers including the new venture led by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs and backed by the Blackstone Group.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaWill Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inc. could become the latest celebrity-backed media company to secure a splashy deal.

Kevin Mayer, Tom Staggs, Jeff Sagansky and Faiza Saeed will join TheWrap editor-in-chief Sharon Waxman at TheGrill 2021, presented by WrapPRO, on September 29-30. “Acquire or Die: Navigating the Era of Mega-Mergers & SPACS” will address the explosion of Hollywood mergers and the ramifications of ongoing industry consolidation.

Hollywood and media industry financing sources have tended to be cyclical, with new money refreshing the old every few years. The current cycle of private equity investment, though, is bucking that history and could extend the M&A wave for years to come, dealmakers say.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorThe $900 million acquisition of Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine by private equity giant Blackstone is a big step toward the launch of a media holding company that will revolve around the three Cs: content, commerce and community.Disney alums Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs are guiding Blackstone’s investment in content ventures and will serve as co-CEOs of the unnamed holding company that will house Hello Sunshine and other banners.

Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs. Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine chief executive Sarah Harden will join the board of the new company and will continue to operate the business.

Reese Witherspoon‘s company, Hello Sunshine, is being sold for a huge amount of money.

Reese Witherspoon’s media company, Hello Sunshine (Little Fires Everywhere), has been sold to a firm backed by private-equity giant Blackstone Group, Deadline has confirmed. Terms are not disclosed. According to the WSJ, which first reported the deal, it values the company at about $900 million.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorA special-purpose acquisition corporation targeting tech, media and telecom firms led by two former senior Disney execs — Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer — raised $350 million in its upsized initial public offering.The SPAC, Forest Road Acquisition Corp. II, is led by Staggs (former Disney COO) and Mayer (previously chairman of Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer and International and briefly CEO of TikTok) who both serve as co-CEOs and co-chairs of the board.