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New Projects - Pilot Season Workshop - California Production Alternatives - Industry Intel

By Abigail Hardin, December 06, 2022

Happy December, UTD!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with friends, family, and lots of good food! Prior to the holiday, I shared how I was going to focus on gratitude. Well, it can be a bit more challenging to focus on gratitude when a monster cold hits you two days after Thanksgiving! But as I laid in bed, during what was supposed to be a week of tackling some long outstanding items on my to-do list, I tried to focus on the gift that being sick gave me - time to rest and reflect.

Annie and I have been reading Bob Proctor's book, Change Your Paradigm, Change Your Life, and while the message is clear and absolutely spot on, it wasn't until I re-read a chapter while sick in bed that the book really began to resonate with me. While battling the frustration of being bedridden, Proctor's simple examples shined a light on aspects of my habits in need of a subtle shift and I can now feel a microscopic change. So, maybe being sick was the very thing I needed and for that I am grateful.

As we go into these last four weeks of the year I encourage you to ask yourself, what are you grateful for? Let's anchor this often overwhelming season in peace and reflection.

Create a Great Week! ☮️

Final Free Workshop of 2022

Booking Film/TV Work & 2023 Pilot Season Prep

There are only four more weeks in the year 😱 Start the New Year off right! Let's get ready for a busy and successful 2023. Don't be blindsided by the upcoming pilot season. New pilots from the 2023 season are being announced daily. Learn about these projects prior to casting notices and develop a targeted approach to how you spend your time and money. Let's all vow to work more efficiently in the New Year!

Our last free workshop of the year,Booking Film/TV Work & 2023 Pilot Season Prep, is tomorrow, December 7th @ 3:00 PM EST.

Register today to join us and kickstart a BOLD New Year!

Studios Eyeing California Production Alternatives

California is certainly big enough to be the land of opportunity to many, but for the productions that were denied CA film/TV tax credits over the last few years, the allure of other states' incentive programs has meant the Golden State film commission has missed out on nearly $1 billion in production spending. Hoping to compete with New York, which matches California's available funds at $420 million each year, and Georgia, which doled out an impressive $1.2 billion in 2021, officials on the West Coast are pushing to raise the program's funding to keep more productions in the state. With Amazon recently committing to releasing 8-10 films annually in the next several years, the folks in the Cali film office may want to get their welcome mats ready for a host of new productions looking for a place to call home 🏡

One such company that California is hoping to retain is Netflix, who jumped over to New Mexico and spent over $250 million on projects from 2019 to 2021, a figure that the streamer predicts will jump past $1 billion in the coming years. NBCUniversal and 828 Prods have both followed in Netflix's footsteps, with each studio pledging to establish a physical presence in the state in the next 10 years. Direct production spending in New Mexico hit an all-time high in 2022 at $855.4 million - it's safe to say the Land of Enchantment is ready to compete with the industry heavy hitters!

Another budding film landscape in the US: Cherokee Nation, located within the Oklahoma state borders, where productions can take advantage of both Oklahoma's film/TV rebate, as well as a 20% cash back offer for employing Native Americans on below-the-line jobs. The likes of Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Silvester Stallone have since set up shop for productions in the region, bringing some well-deserved attention to the state-of-the-art facilities that the Nation has developed in the last few years.

More Tales from Directors and Actors

Women Speak on Treatment in Hollywood

There have been so many great inside looks at the industry through the eyes of well-known stage and screen legends over the last few weeks - we just can't pass up the opportunity to share their stories!

Emily Blunt is following up on her criticism of female roles in Hollywood, saying that she had once requested to have a character written in the same way a man would be: "Fallible and complex and difficult and shady." Her latest acting/EP venture in Amazon's THE ENGLISH follows the story of a frontier woman looking to avenge the death of her son, a role that Blunt describes as having a "fever in her for revenge" in a "toxic, rather masculine landscape."

Blunt was joined by Chloë Grace Moretz and Margot Robbie in sharing the female experience in Hollywood over the last few weeks, with both stars speaking candidly about their time working with male counterparts. Moretz, having been in the spotlight since she was 7, shared her struggle with bringing issues to a mostly male-dominated decision-making table, saying many of her concerns "would get shot down" by "older men for sure who would infantilize [her]."

For Robbie, her time working with Martin Scorsese on THE WOLF OF WALL STREET proved to be an empowering step in her career toward becoming a writer, producer, and actress. "It was like the crazier you are, the more Marty will like it," she said of collaborating on writing a scene for the movie during shooting. "And the more screen time you're going to get." The confidence Robbie gained from her WOLF OF WALL STREET days translated into an ease of advocating for herself in several projects in the years following, even up to her current involvement in the upcoming BARBIE movie.

On the other hand, director Greta Gerwig wasn't so sold on the widespread appeal of the Mattel-backed flick. "It was terrifying,' the Oscar-nominee said of beginning to write the film, noting that the "really interesting terror" can mean that's typically "where the best stuff is... 'This could be a career ender,' then you're like, 'OK, I probably should do it.'" The plot Gerwig eventually landed on heavily revolves around women's perception in society and the continued influence of the patriarchy... honestly, I can't wait to watch 🍿

Leo, Austin Butler, MAD MEN

Apparently, we may never have had Leo as Jack Dawson in Titanic 😲 director James Cameron shared that DiCaprio almost left the audition after saying that he doesn't read for parts, thinking that the role was going to be offer-only. Cameron apparently explained that the movie was about to take "two years of [his] life", while Leo would be free to go off and work on other projects, so the director's message was clear: "You're gonna read or you're not gonna get the part." Even the stars do cold reads!

As a protege of Leo, I hope Austin Butler is still doing his callbacks 👀 the ELVIS star spoke to Deadline about his life after playing The King, and what it felt like to take on a role with such a rich history. "It felt like there were a million spinning plates that I was trying to spin, so that was terrifying," Butler said, saying that the fear of getting everything right began to blend into an energy of spontaneity with each scene. In the end, his time as Elvis served as a sort of blueprint for stardom: "He's protecting me from certain pitfalls and things, so I owe him for that as well."

In the spirit of the season, some folks in Hollywood are also sharing their true feelings for other celebs 🎄 John Slattery opened up about how hard co-stars found it to work with Jon Hamm on MAD MEN, cause he's just too darn good looking. "Guest stars would sometimes walk up to him and their lines would go right out of their heads," Slattery said. "They just wouldn't know what to do. It happened on more than one occasion." Meanwhile, in an interesting worlds collide moment, Madonna apparently has a thing for David Harbour? Stranger things have happened 👻

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Upcoming Latine Town Hall

SAG-AFTRA has partnered with the Casting Society to host a new virtual town hall focused on representation for Latine actors, to be held tomorrow at noon. The latest in the CSA's Equity in Entertainment series, ¡MI GENTE! Our History and Future in the Industry will bring together a panel of casting directors, writers, actors, and more to discuss increasing opportunities for members of the Latine community in the entertainment industry. "It is time we are let out of the box we have been put into and most importantly, I hope we can get to a point where we drop labels and can all become truly equal," CD Carla Hool said.

Revising Award Categories

THE CROWN's Emma Corrin is ready for award ceremonies to embrace a more inclusive slate of gender-neutral competition fields. "When it comes to categories, do we need to make it specific as to whether you're being nominated for a female role or a male role?" Corrin said. A statement from a BAFTA spokesperson has since claimed that the organization is "engaged in proactive and thoughtful consultation on this subject," though few award shows have shown true interest in revising their categories to become more inclusive since the topic first arose in the public dialogue several years ago.

Industry Intel

Ratings World Shake-Up

As we've been covering over the last year or so, Nielsen may no longer be regarded as the be-all, end-all gold standard for TV ratings. Viewers, advertisers, and studios alike have voiced their displeasure for how the company accrues and turns around its data for linear vs digital media, and a newcomer to the ratings ring is looking to give the long-time leader a run for its money. NewsGuard, originally having made a name for itself as a fact-checking service, has slowly been meeting with ad companies and gauging their interest in switching from Nielsen's reign over to the streamlined NewsGuard approach. Move aside, streaming wars - rating companies are about to show down!

Marin Theatre Changing Hands

LEADERSHIP UPDATE: Jasson Minadakis will officially end his 17-year run as artistic director of Marin Theatre Company next March, after producing nearly 100 shows during his tenure. "It has been a defining period in my career and my life, and I am proud of what we have achieved," Minadakis said.

Broadway Book Club Announces Selection Committee

Looking for the perfect gift for a theatre-lover in your life? Broadway Licensing's 2023 Broadway Book Club subscription packages will be curated by Lloyd Suh, Paula Vogel, Jocelyn Bioh, and Lucas Hnath, guaranteeing four installments of exciting plays to read next year, from the classics to up-and-coming favorites!

On The Rise

TV Shows, New Names in Entertainment

YELLOWSTONE franchise writer Taylor Sheridan has become something of a new-age Dick Wolf in the last few years, with the launch of YELLOWSTONE spinoffs 1883 and 1923, as well as TULSA KING and MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN helping cement his place as one of the top-watched creators across both cable and streaming channels. The "Taylorverse", as many are now calling it, has even been competing stride-for-stride with the various STAR WARS series on Disney+ for the highest number of viewing hours across all platforms in 2022. Move over LAW AND ORDER, there's a new sheriff in town 👮‍♀️

ABC Entertainment Talent and Casting debuted its latest Disney Television Discovers: Talent Showcase cohort to a panel of agents, managers, casting directors, and more this past weekend. Participants will gain exclusive access to execs within Walt Disney Studios and beyond, helping them establish connections for the next steps in their careers. It's never too early to start prepping for next year's showcase!

Talent agency Kaplan/Perrone has joined forces with the Fulfillment Fund on two of its initiatives aimed at providing access to higher education for students in underrepresented communities. KP Partners will support both the College Success Program and the Career Expo held by the Fund, helping high school students and college grads establish themselves in the early part of their careers. "Students from marginalized communities often lack exposure to and experience in career fields, including entertainment," KP said in a statement. "Across the board, we're hoping to help students on their path toward building successful careers."