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  • All Blogs/ Entertainment Industry Insights: Oct. 11 2022

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New Projects - COVID Protocols - Production Numbers - New Venues & Rehearsal Spaces - Regional Theatre Changes

By Abigail Hardin, October 11, 2022

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Happy Tuesday, UTD!

I hope your week is off to a good start! If you haven't already, don't forget to register for our workshop at Actors Connection next week. This month we're talking about how to find Film/TV/Theatre projects that are a right fit for you, specifically defining your type, and how to craft an effective direct submission. The workshop is free, registration is required. Hope to see you there!

A Moment of Reflection 🚀

Last week, when combing through the news feeds for updates and pertinent articles for this weekly roundup, I clicked on an article that featured an excerpt from William Shatner's recently released memoir Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder. The excerpt is a beautiful recount of the 90-year-old's trip to space. Normally we wouldn't include an article like this as it doesn't pertain to the industry or craft itself. However, Shatner's profound experience left an impact on me.

I would imagine going into space as this mind-blowing, exhilarating, expansion. But Shatner had a very different experience, "I discovered that the beauty isn't out there, it's down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound." Apparently he is not alone. This sentiment is referred to as the "Overview Effect" and has been felt by many astronauts.

Essentially, when someone travels to space and views Earth from orbit, a sense of the planet's fragility takes hold in an ineffable, instinctive manner. Author Frank White first coined the term in 1987: "There are no borders or boundaries on our planet except those that we create in our minds or through human behaviors. All the ideas and concepts that divide us when we are on the surface begin to fade from orbit and the moon. The result is a shift in worldview, and in identity."

This touched me greatly. With the perpetual discord in our country, and across the globe, I was humbled to take a moment and remember that we truly are ALL connected. We are all one. There was peace in this moment that affected me greatly. I felt you might also benefit from taking a momentary pause and reflect with gratitude for all of the beauty, wealth, and harmony that surrounds us.

Create a great week! ☮️

Production Numbers
Linear Examined, New Studio Space, Fall Box Office Waning

A big conversation among major studios since the beginning of the pandemic has been the gradual shift away from the traditional yearly release schedule for linear projects, as more and more studios workshopped the idea of year-round content to keep in line with streaming offerings. ABC, for one, isn't ready to abandon the traditional fall and spring release schedule just yet. "We really tried to create that nomenclature to separate ourselves from this idea of year-round development, which I think in a lot of circumstances historically has just kind of been endless and shapeless, and ours is very strategically pointed," ABC exec Simran Sethi said, believing that this return to the norm will help the studio keep content fresh and viewers tuned-in 📺

A new $600 million studio project will transform one of the largest production spaces in Hollywood, creating a state-of-the-art 620,000-square-foot campus that will encapsulate two city blocks upon completion. Echelon Television Center will make its home at the former Metro Pictures and Technicolor lot, updating and revitalizing many of the existing structures to provide contemporary service with a nod to the golden age of Hollywood 🎬

Analysts are holding out hope that October provides a much-needed boost to fall box office numbers, after a disappointing September left theaters crossing their fingers for a new blockbuster to scare up some big sales figures. BLACK ADAM is predicted to bring in a healthy dose of the superhero crowd, along with several spooky flicks in HALLOWEEN ENDS and PREY FOR THE DEVIL. But fall also brings with it the slow-to-ignite film festival circuit offerings, which typically require several months worth of social media hype and favorable reviews on a good year, let alone in a third COVID Fall. Not to hate on festival offerings, of course - many tend to fill out the SAG, Golden Globe and Oscars voting cards each year, after all 🏆 Cate Blanchett's TÁR certainly has our interest, as do a host of other highlights from Cannes, Venice and more. Get out there and support our indie market!

COVID Protocols 😷

Amid ongoing negotiations between unions and the AMPTP, Hollywood's current COVID protocols are set to remain in place until a new agreement has been struck between the groups. Originally set to expire at the end of September, the production guidelines have been in place in their current form since September 2021, establishing testing, tracing, and zoning protocols to keep cast and crew members safe during production. With so many municipalities easing up completely on COVID restrictions, it will be interesting to see where the groups land in this latest round of discussions!

CBS Studios is taking matters into its own hands when it comes to COVID protocols, as the industry continues waiting on the outcome of negotiations between the AMPTP and the major Hollywood unions. Cast and crew members in direct contact with cast members (Zone A) will be tested weekly, while Zone B members will test every other week. Contract tracing has been done away with except when federally mandated, and waiting periods after positive tests were reduced to 30 days. We'll keep an eye out to see how the rest of the industry responds!

NYC: New Venues & Rehearsal Spaces
Second City Making Home in Brooklyn

News also broke that famed comedy collective Second City will establish its first physical presence in New York next summer, the first time in its 63-year tenure that the group will have a sit-down location in the city. For those missing the days of UCB classes - the wait will soon be over!

Shetler Studios Reborn

The 2020 closing of Shetler Studios on 54th Street was an unfortunate pandemic casualty. Luckily, the space is being reborn as AMDA Studio Rentals! AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts stepped in when the space, located on West 54th Street, originally closed to preserve the facility and transform it into a new campus, but is now offering the renovated studios for public rentals again. Visit their website for more info.

TV Talk 📺

The latest round of movement from production companies this fall came from Lionsgate and companion service Starz, which the group initially acquired in 2016 for $4.4 billion. After hinting at a potential divestiture of the longtime streaming platform last year, Lionsgate confirmed that it is actively looking to spin off the company as a separate entity, in the hopes of increasing the valuation of the Starz library and bumping prices for investors. No firm plans have been shared yet, but separating the groups would open up the further possibility for acquisitions from larger competitors down the line.

NBCUniversal Iced Out on Bundle Proposals

NBCUniversal has apparently been taking a page out of favorite child's book THE OFFICE, channeling its inner Jim Halpert and pushing to develop an alliance between Peacock and fellow streaming platforms HBOMax, Paramount+, and more with a potential streaming bundle for users. Their response?

Even though Peacock enjoyed a 2 million bump in subscribers in Q3, no major studios have moved forward at joining forces with NBCU at this point. I've always believed that streaming bundles are the way of the future, just as we've seen with HBOMax and Discovery+, so time will certainly tell how things will shake out. In the meantime - poor Peacock 🦚

Bye Bye EPIX

Dual cable and streamer network Epix will officially rebrand as MGM+ come next year, as the now-Amazon-owned company slowly begins to consolidate its assets in the wake of its $8.5 billion acquisition earlier this year. Epix head Michael Wright believes the name update will encourage potential viewers to check out "the best service that many people have never heard of", saying the weight of the MGM brand should provide a viewership boost in 2023.

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Regional Theatre
Condemnation of Racist Response to OSF Season

In the aftermath of a series of disturbing racist threats and instances of harassment, Theatre Communications Group, The Dramatists Guild, and The Shakespeare Theatre Association shared a joint statement in support of Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Nataki Garrett, and her decisions to diversify the company's offerings and departing from the traditional Shakespeare-heavy season slate. "This violent response to her artistic choices strikes right at the heart of who we are, not just as members of the American theatre, but as citizens," the coalition wrote in its statement. "If, by producing writers of the global majority, an artist like Nataki Garrett can be subjected to death threats, what does that say about the precarious situation our theater industry is in? In the face of violence, how will systemic change ever occur?"

Changing of the Guard

It's been a tumultuous last few weeks among leadership teams at regional theaters across the country; the effects of COVID are still very much being felt, and the changeover among artistic directors, managing directors, and executive directors continues to make headlines. We've thrown together a round-up of the changes coming to theaters throughout the US: