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  • All Blogs/ Entertainment Industry Insights: Feb. 07 2023

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New Projects Casting - Production Politics - Content Trends - Awards News

By Abigail Hardin, February 07, 2023

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Happy Tuesday, UTD!

February is Black History Month!

Here is a great list of TV programming that celebrates Black voices, icons, and stories across entertainment, politics, sports, and more.

TV has historically been one of the first places that new ideas can reach a mass amount of people, making representation so important. Here is a look at the 30 most Influential Black TV characters of all time. From THE JEFFERSONS to THE WALKING DEAD these 30 actors have helped pave the way for people of color in entertainment and helped shape the country at large. Many people have said that Dennis Haysbert playing President Palmer in 24 from 2001-2005, helped "open [the public's] minds and their hearts a little to the notion… that a Black man could be President of the United States."

Theatrical advocacy organization Black Theatre United will host a four-part discussion series titled The Business of Show in honor of Black History Month. The first entry, set for February 27 at 3 PM, will feature the founders of BTU. A May 16 session will cover the meaning of EDIAB and a September 12 session will focus on Minding Your Business. Read more to RSVP.

Upcoming Workshops

Have you RSVP'd for one of our upcoming workshops? This month Annie and I are offering two different sessions of our incredibly popular SEEKING REPRESENTATION 101 workshop. Late-Winter / Early-Spring is a great time to start building a new representation campaign. We will show you how to find agents/managers looking for talent such as you, and how to best introduce your talent.

Already have representation? We will also discuss how to better work with your existing agent, and the steps you can take to increase the number and quality of auditions you get from your representation.

Our first session is this Thursday! Space is limited, RSVP is required. Lastly, there will be a Q&A at both sessions where you can ask any and all of your questions regarding the Up-To-Date Actor.

Hope to see you there!

Awards
Tony Awards: 1st round of eligibility

The Tony Awards announced their first batch of eligibility determinations last week. The first round included INTO THE WOODS, KIMBERLY AKIMBO, & JULIET, A BEAUTIFUL NOISE, AIN'T NO MO', 1776, and more. The Tony Awards eligibility cut-off date for the 2022-2023 season is Thursday, April 27, 2023, for all Broadway productions which meet all other eligibility requirements. Nominations for the 2023 Tony Awards will be announced on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.

& JULIET star Justin David Sullivan has removed their name from Tony consideration. The non-binary actor, who plays a non-binary character, was asked to choose between actor and actress when submitted for eligibility. They ultimately decided to withdraw as the gendered awards are not inclusive.

"I was told that I had to choose [the category in which] I felt comfortable, and in that process, I struggled a lot," Sullivan told Playbill. "There's nothing more that I want to empower than non-binary people, to show that it's possible to be non-binary on Broadway, play a non-binary character on Broadway and be nominated, and possibly potentially awarded. I felt like I couldn't choose. I didn't feel right being in either category because it didn't resonate with me. I decided the only thing that felt right to me would be to abstain from nomination consideration. So I will not be considered for a Tony nomination."

Broadway World has announced the winners of their 2022 Off/Off-Off Broadway Awards. Check out the full list of the audience's favorite performances and productions from last year's season.

Oscar Nomination Controversy

After conducting a review of the campaign procedures around this year's Oscar nominees for the indie film TO LESLIE, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to not revoke Andrea Riseborough's nomination for Best Actress. Riseborough's nomination raised questions as to whether her out-of-left-field, grassroots nomination (for a film that was seen by few and had zero budget for an awards campaign) was in violation of current campaign procedures.

TO LESLIE took in a little over $27,000 during its brief theatrical release in October, making it among the lowest-grossing movies ever to score an Oscar nom. The principals took it upon themselves to make sure the pic was entered and uploaded onto the Academy's screening portal, and Riseborough and director Michael Morris turned to friends to help support the film. Screenings were hosted by the likes of Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow, Courteney Cox, Edward Norton, Jennifer Aniston, and Minnie Driver.

Considering the road to the Oscars begins at the festival circuit, here are IndieWire's 15 most popular Sundance 2023 stories to help you feel like you were there.

Production Politics
New York Looking to Boost Tax Incentives

In the recent 2024 proposed state budget, announced last Wednesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is looking to lure production back by reinstating the previous 30% tax credit (currently at 25%) and boosting the annual cap to $700 million from $420 million. The new proposal will have to be approved by legislators and would run through 2034. Also included in the proposal is a change to the payout structure (which many had complained about) and further incentives for series that have filmed 6+ episodes in other jurisdictions to relocate to New York. There is still a minimum required budget of $1,000,000 in the NYC/Westchester area and $250,000 minimum elsewhere in the state.

The new proposal comes as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced new film incentives, as well, last month.

China's Balloon & Hollywood Implications

Hollywood is bracing for a new intensified level of scrutiny after the Chinese spy balloon entered U.S. airspace and was shot down off the coast of South Carolina over the weekend. A little-publicized provision of a recently passed defense bill restricts the U.S. government from spending funds on movies that, to gain entry into the Chinese marketplace, are altered in the face of Chinese government dictates.

The Motion Picture Association is watching as the Department of Defense creates actual policy guidelines for military cooperation. There is a long tradition of U.S. government assistance on film and TV projects, including the most recent TOP GUN: MAVERICK, typically in the form of military equipment and technical advisement. While the number of U.S. releases in China has been falling in recent years, and the actual number of movies that seek Department of Defense cooperation is small, there are studio concerns that the provision will only lead to a further reduction of exports. And some in the industry see the provision as symbolic, another way to target left-leaning Hollywood in the culture wars.

Content Trends
Sitcoms Renaissance: Multi-Cams

Move over single-cam, comedy has a renewed demand for multi-cams! With successes like NBC's NIGHT COURT reboot, every major broadcaster and some streamers (hello, Netflix) have several studio audience comedies in development for the current pilot season. Viewers' warm reception and the undeniable cost-effectiveness are making multi-cams a hot trend. So, brush off your comedy skills and start exercising that funny bone 💪 sitcoms are here to stay.

Content Ain't Cheap

Continuing on the topic of content, Amazon disclosed that its spending across TV, film, and music content jumped 28% in 2022 — thanks in large part to pricey deals for the NFL's THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL and fantasy epic series THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER. The streamer's total expenses for video and music for 2022 were $16.6 billion, up from $13 billion in 2021, Amazon disclosed in its annual report filed with the SEC Friday, a day after reporting mixed results for the fourth quarter of 2022.

While Amazon is fanning its billfold, spending on "high end" TV fell by 4% in the UK last year across both non-U.K. and domestic markets. This fall comes despite the success of many series such as BRIDGERTON, LORD OF THE RINGS, and SLOW HORSES. Although the drop is small, the news is a surprise to a booming industry that had seen a mega 155% rise in 2021 and now accounts for a far bigger slice of the TV/film pie. Folks will now be wondering whether the decline is a sign of things to come. With the world entering a recession, buyers from across the globe have floated "belt-tightening" and the new wave of streamers, which had shown such a tendency to throw money at international content, are rowing back.

Keeping it Local Down Under

🇦🇺 Australia has announced plans to impose content quotas on Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and other international streamers starting April 1, 2024. Local press reports suggest the required investment level will be set at 20% but this hasn't been confirmed. The Revive policy suggests local audiences are predisposed to streamers over broadcasters and that the subscription streaming market is worth nearly $2.5BN ($1.7BN) in revenue. It accepted that "[t]hese new streaming platforms are producing some high quality Australian content," but added: "However, unlike free-to-air broadcasting services and subscription television, these services have no requirements to make Australian content available on their platforms. The ready availability of mass content produced in other countries, particularly the United States, risks drowning out the voices of Australian storytellers."

Trial & Error

As of last Monday, January 30th, Peacock has stopped allowing new users to sign up for the free tier. To get Peacock, users will now need to subscribe to the Premium plan ($4.99/month) with ads or Premium Plus ($9.99/month) without ads. Back in 2020, NBCUniversal touted the free, ad-supported option of Peacock as a competitive advantage in the streaming wars. Now that others, such as Netflix, are rolling out paid ad-supported plans, it seems Peacock is jumping ship and diving into the paid-only deep end.

High School Censorship Continues

On January 5, a high school production of Paula Vogel's INDECENT was canceled in Jacksonville, Florida, in what students believed was an act of antisemitic and homophobic censorship. Student Madeline Scotti posted an Instagram video announcing the production's cancellation, citing Florida's recent "Don't Say Gay" law as the culprit. A month later, the students are determined to put on their show, but the escalating anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in Florida has made them cautious. They fear a production of INDECENT will be a high risk for hateful attacks should they perform it in Florida. It's a sign of the danger that LGBTQ students face in states like Florida, where censorship and homophobic rhetoric have escalated.

Similarly in Ohio.... Students at Ohio's Cardinal High School were rehearsing for their production of THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE when the school board told directors the show was canceled. In a statement to The News-Herald, Cardinal Local Schools Superintendent Jack Cunningham said the show's "dialogue and song lyrics contain vulgarity and are therefore not suitable for our preteen and teenage students in an educational setting." According to The Hill, Assistant Director Mandi Matchinga said Cunningham cited complaints against the production in a meeting in January. The concerns included the depiction of Jesus, explicit language, and the fact that one character's parents are gay.

Original SPELLING BEE cast member Jesse Tyler Ferguson responded to the cancellation in an Instagram video. "I guarantee there's someone at this school who's maybe being raised by gay parents, but definitely more than one person at this school is gay or lesbian or bisexual," he said. "The message that this sends to them, that that is not 'family appropriate' or 'family friendly,' rather, is toxic and harmful and kind of abusive." Ferguson goes on to share that he and his fellow SPELLING BEE original Broadway company members are working on connecting with the cast via Zoom, though further plans have not yet been finalized.

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