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New Projects Casting - Award Season - Streaming Changes - Women's History Month - Re-Opening

By Sean Gregory, March 09, 2021

How's everyone holding up? Ready for some sunny spring weather? I know I certainly am. It feels like the industry is just about ready to burst with new opportunities popping up at every turn, and it's equal parts exciting and daunting to stay on top of. Luckily, UTD is here to keep everything in check for you 💯 Now is a great time to make sure that you've updated your demographics and skills sections to ensure that the projects you're seeing in your searches on UTD Actor best reflect what you currently offer. Did you pick up a new instrument during the past year? Start working on learning a new accent or language? There's most likely a project out there waiting for you to show off your fresh skills!

We still have a few events coming up in the next few weeks, so make sure you mark your calendars now to sit in on one of our virtual workshops and learn how to make UTD work for you this spring!

Upcoming Workshops

Join Abigail Hardin (creator of the Up-To-Date Actor) and Annie Chadwick (career coach and founder of Up-To-Date Theatricals) at one of their upcoming workshops. Click on each link for more info!

Women's History Month

We're so excited to celebrate Women's History Month throughout March, raising the voices of the scores of women that continue to make our industry an exciting, diverse, authentic landscape that continues to push for further inclusivity and genuine representation. 2020 has been a year like no other, and with it has come a slew of remarkable women that are breaking barriers in entertainment across the globe. Variety has compiled their annual International Women's Impact Report for the last year - take some time to read about this year's honorees!

Lauded journalism and women's rights activist Gloria Steinem took aim at the current state of female representation at large, and the long winding road of work still ahead: "Change is slow. Like a tree, it grows from the bottom up, and we still have a long way to go. But we just need to keep going and to celebrate how far we’ve come."

Streamers and other networks are pooling their content for the month and featuring dozens of women-made and/or women-led projects, with companies like Hulu launching new sections of their platform dedicated to spotlighting female driven shows and movies that have been awarded for their gender-balanced production processes. Check out this extensive list of offerings from a handful of on-demand and cable networks from Variety!

Netflix Head of Global TV, Bela Bajaria, has announced that the first $5 million of the company's new $20 million Creative Equity Fund will go toward programs and initiatives around the world that help to foster and uplift women in the entertainment space. The money will be spread out through third parties and Netflix-affiliate programs, creating "workshops to train aspiring women writers and producers on how best to pitch their creative vision" and "shadowing opportunities on productions which enable women to gain valuable first hand experience with a literal seat at the table," Bajaria wrote in a blog post. "Experience has taught me that great stories are universal: they can come from anywhere, be created by anyone, and be loved by everyone – what matters is that they are told authentically. Now we need to ensure that traditionally disadvantaged voices – in this case women – get the same chances to be heard in our industry as men have been for generations."

More articles:

International Women's Day: Female-Centered Content Coming in 2021

Women’s History Month: Events & Programs To Watch For During March

Melissa Errico, Ann Harada and More to Headline New York Theatre Barn's Women In Theatre Roundtable

Award Season Updates

Oscars and SAGs and Writers Guild, oh my! This year's award show nominee fields are continuing to expand and diversify, and it's been such an exciting race to watch. Here are the latest updates from some of the biggest names:

Writers Guild Awards (March 21st) - The WGA East will be holding their annual "And the Nominees Are..." Panels throughout the day tomorrow via a joint livestream with Variety, which presents an exciting opportunity to hear from over a dozen nominated film and television writers from this year's field, including folks working on THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT, MRS. AMERICA, FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE, and more!

SAG Awards (April 4th) - Another joint film and TV award show, reception of the SAG Awards outcomes has become a mixed bag in recent years, though with the strength and diversity of many of this year's categories, analysts are predicting a close race between newcomer favorites like LOVECRAFT COUNTRY and BRIDGERTON versus more established names like BETTER CALL SAUL and OZARK.

Academy Awards (April 25th) - Voting for the 93rd Academy Awards opened up last Friday, with nominees expected to be announced next Monday. Because of the Academy's modified rules for this year's nominees, over 223 of the 366 films up for nomination have been submitted as Best Picture contenders, leaving many Oscar voters with the daunting task of viewing as many submissions as possible in just a few months' time. One exciting development has come in the form of a notable uptick in Latinx content and nominee hopefuls in the running this year, adding to the overall increase in diversity that the Academy has been sorely lacking up until this point.

The 26th annual Critics Choice Awards crowned their winners last night, with NOMADLAND once again snagging Best Picture and Best Director, along with Best Adapted Screenplay. Daniel Kaluuya, John Boyega, and Chadwick Boseman all repeated their Golden Globes wins in their respective categories. On the TV side, SCHITT'S CREEK continued its run with Dan Levy and Catherine O'Hara taking home prizes for their acting, and TED LASSO winning Best Comedy.

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts presented their International Awards ceremony last week, where Carey Mulligan's PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN took home top honors with a Best Picture coronation and Mulligan receiving Best Lead Actress in Film as well. NOMADLAND's Chloé Zhao and THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 continued their award season momentum with Best Director and Best Screenplay wins, respectively, making Zhao the first woman to receive the AACTA International Best Direction in Film honor.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The Television Academy is continuing to do its part in analyzing its current diversity and inclusion practices with the hiring of ReadySet, an organization dedicated to restructuring companies' leadership and representation practices. "We believe the Television Academy is uniquely positioned to drive impactful change across the industry," ReadySet CEO Y-Vonne Hutchinson said. The initiative will kick off with a series of staff and membership surveys to identify key issue areas and opportunities for expansion and improvement within the Academy. "Now, more than ever, we believe we must increase visibility, equity, and power for those marginalized and underrepresented in our industry," Television Academy chairman Frank Scherma noted.

Time's Up CEO, Tina Tchen, < style='color: orange;' target='_blank' href='https://uptodateactor.com/news/article.php?link=2fdae&email=Yes'>has already shared her thoughts on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's recent statement on the steps it will be taking to enact change among its ranks: "On behalf of the many artists who look to us to hold the HFPA's feet to the fire on the racism, disrespect, misogyny, and alleged corrupt financial dealings of the Golden Globes, we need to see specific details, timetables for change, and firm commitments." Execs from both groups met last week to discuss the type of change Time's Up expects to see from the Globes governing body, and their message is simple and straight-forward: "The right words are not enough. The clock is ticking."

The latest research from the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that Black women and girls have been making notable onscreen gains over the past few years, while uncovering deeper issues of colorism that persist in the fight for true representation. The report found that 6.1% of all characters in 2019 family films were Black girls/women, inching closer to the current figure of Black women making up 6.5% of the U.S. population. It was determined that there was still little movement in the way of darker-skinned female characters, as 80% of the characters were found to have light or medium skin tones. "This revealing new study shows we need to be more aware of the persistence of stereotypes affecting Black girls and women — and avoid repeating those mistakes when making writing, casting, and other content production decisions," actress and institute founder Geena David wrote.

HBO Max breakout star LOVECRAFT COUNTRY has been making waves as a major player in the sci-fi space since its first season debut last fall, and with Michael K. Williams' win at Sunday night's Critics Choice for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series momentum is still growing. Williams is excited to see what LOVECRAFT means for the future of Black-led content. "What I mostly hope is that youth, particularly youth from my community who watch this, get a sense of the legacy which we come from. The greatness and all the obstacles that we’ve overcome to be alive today." The show has also found itself under scrutiny over the past week after a viral TikTok showed an extra on the show receiving skin-darkening make-up from the production team, which HBO quickly condemned and promised to "ensure this doesn’t occur again in the future."

A handful of UK talent agents are coming together to fight race issues faced by British actors looking for jobs and opportunities in the country. The group is part of the Personal Managers' Association (PMA), representing over 180 member agencies, including some of the UK's top companies like Curtis Brown and 42 Management and Identity Agency Group. "We are putting ourselves in the arena to raise awareness for actors on race and want to take on the challenge to create real change," the group shared in a joint statement.

The Return of the Big Screen 🍿

The movie theater landscape in New York City has finally emerged from its long COVID slumber, with all houses in the city opening at 25% capacity last Friday and many reporting selling out by showtime. Weekend estimates showed a 525% surge in viewership in the NYC area compared to the weekend prior, reporting $744K in revenue from 83 sites in and around the metropolitan area. Some theaters are continuing to take added precautions to keep people safe, as the IFC Center in Greenwich Village opted to not serve concessions until they get a better feel for audiences' level of comfortability with returning to the theater for the first time in almost a year.

It's no surprise that studios and theater owners alike were excited to see doors open to audiences once again, even at 25% capacity. "New York is the media capital of the world, and you can’t truly launch a blockbuster without the cultural buzz that comes out of this city," IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond mused. Media personalities and politicians shared their thoughts on the reopening on Twitter, with former presidential and currently NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang tweeting a pic of him with a ticket for viewing later that day, in an effort to inject some faith and goodwill in the safety of returning to the theater.

The reopening also spells good news for top theater execs as well: AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron spoke about the theater group's wild year navigating COVID and the recent "Reddit rally" enjoyed by the company's stock offerings back in January. "The way I’ve lived since last March, when we went from having $5.5 billion in annual revenue to having no revenue at all, long-term planning for me has been a week from Thursday," Aron quipped, which became quickly ironic after the company confirmed the CEO still took home $21 million in compensation and stock options in 2020, more than doubling his $9.7 million package from the company in 2019.

Not all theater groups have enjoyed the heightened success that AMC has: Alamo Drafthouse announced plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, forcing them to shutter several of their locations nationwide in an effort to reorganize and hopefully stave off a full company shutdown in the coming months. The companies are continuing to fight with studios to secure more lucrative exhibition terms for upcoming releases, as theaters are now entering into a new era of competition with streaming platforms hosting fresh releases either simultaneously or even before the offerings land in movie theaters.

More articles:

‘Raya And The Last Dragon’ Opening To $8M+ As Pic Hits Disney+ & NYC Reopens

Movie Theater Operator Marcus Corp. Posts Dim Q4 Results, But Execs Anticipate A "Real Summer Season"

Streaming Services Rebound Faster than Cable

COVID has undoubtedly thrown a wrench in the works for every facet of the entertainment industry, but it has become increasingly clear in the past few months that streamer content is poised for a swifter, grander revitalizing in a post-COVID world than its linear counterparts. Streamers saw a 38% jump in development deals in the last few months of 2020, while cable offerings were down 42% for the previous year. It's no surprise that as more companies launch their own streamers and creating their own content, the competition continues to heat up and diversify, but with the international availability of many streamers' offerings consistently on the rise, many analysts are left wondering what the future of commissioned works in the streamer vs linear space may look like.

TV upfronts - the process of media companies hashing out ad time for their next year of shows - have undergone a similar reckoning over the last year, mainly spurred on by the desire for many companies to delay their ad funding in 2020 due to the pandemic. As the new upfront season approaches in May, ad execs are looking to shift their focus to maintaining their relevance and revenues in an increasingly streamer-friendly world. "We are looking for where our targets for our advertisers are consuming content and what is the most effective and efficient way to reach them," independent media-buying agency head David Campanelli stated. "You are really buying across the portfolio and not just what the big shows are going to be in primetime."

I feel like I'm saying this phrase just about every month now - "the most recent newcomer to the streaming space" - Paramount+ is holding out on high hopes to keep CBS afloat in the streaming wars in 2021. The company's rebrand of their 2014 CBS All-Access app, which proved to be a stagnant non-competitor in the arena, will now be home to a host of new content geared toward both children and adults, a move that CBS execs hope will bump the fledgling service to the head of the pack in the months to come. The current slate at Paramount+ is promising: Spongebob spin-off KAMP KORAL, a FRASIER reboot, a new series based on Nick's AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, a revamped 60 MINUTES; though promising, many of Paramount's new titles are only in the earliest stages of development. Will the streamer "Chop to the Top", or go the way of Quibi? Only time will tell. ⏰

NYC Reopening Program Hits AEA Roadblock, Statewide 'NY PopsUp' Approved 

Actors' Equity has informed its members that New York City's upcoming Open Culture program falls short of the union's pay and safety guidelines, and is warning members to get more information and contact their representatives before accepting any contracts. On a broader scale, AEA has fully embraced the statewide NY PopsUp program, which worked with the union to ensure equitable wages and fulfill its safety requirements for its members. The Open Culture program "does not require proof that producers pay any wage at all – while explicitly permitting ticket sales and collecting donations," AEA executive director Mary McColl writes. The union says they will continue to push Mayor Bill de Blasio's office to enact these changes before they throw their support behind the initiative.

Several Broadway theaters will begin opening their doors to audiences for the first time in over a year beginning in April. While we'll still have to wait a few more months to catch a Broadway show, New York's NY PopsUp program will be commandeering the Music Box, along with other NYC mainstays like the Apollo Theatre, St. Ann's Warehouse, and Harlem Stage to host PopsUp programming in the coming months. Several events have already begun to circulate through the city, including a series of dance performances that are being hosted by the Brooklyn, Queens, and Bronx Museums and impromptu street performances from famous Broadway names. Let the arts revival commence!

New York's arts sector will also receive an influx of $40 million in funding over the next year, with the announcement that 1,225 arts and cultural organizations would be receiving varying levels of grants to help get them back on their feet in the wake of the pandemic. The priority of the funding from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) in historically underrepresented communities, as well as small and medium-sized groups in the state.

Quick Bites

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY: Arts organization Off The Lane will be offering a $5,000 grant to young dancers looking to move to New York City, in honor of late Broadway great Ann Reinking. The scholarship will be open to dancers across all disciplines, with applications beginning in May and the winner announced in September.

Lithuania has been enjoying a boom in film and TV production since the introduction of its robust 30% tax credit in 2014, and the Baltic country sees the oncoming post-COVID production boom as a source of major economic growth in the coming years: "[W]e are trying to push the ceiling up and up and put us even more on the map."

Beth Harmon’s next opening has been decided: Level Forward has acquired of the stage rights to the Netflix smash hit THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT for musical development. No word on any production plans for the musical at the moment, but I’ll be waiting patiently to make my first Opening (K)night joke when the time comes ♟

Any BRIDGERTON fans are most likely well acquainted with Vitamin String Quartet, the group responsible for the energetic string arrangements of top songs from artists like Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish. The L.A.-based collective has enjoyed a 350% increase in streams since the series' premiere, sitting atop iTunes' soundtrack charts for six consecutive weeks.

What to Watch & Read

• ‘All In’s Janelle Monáe Talks Oscar-Shortlisted Song, "Turntables"
• Sophia Loren & Frank Langella In Conversation
• Matthew Bourne's New Adventures Festival Launches March 5 With Stream of SWAN LAKE
• Filmed Presentation of GUTENBERG! THE MUSICAL! Will Stream

Award-Winning Scripts

THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY Billie Holiday’ Screenplay: Read Suzan-Lori Parks’ Script

MINARI: Read The Screenplay For Lee Isaac Chung Movie

Best-Of Lists

The 7 Best Movies New to Netflix in March 2021

The Best New Movies on Amazon Prime in March 2021

That's all for this week, folks! Don't forget to check out our Free at Three with Actors Connection this Thursday at 3 PM EST, and be on the lookout for more events in the coming weeks. We would love to see you there!

Peace and love ✌️