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New Projects - Cinema Viewership - Future of TV - A New Reshape

By Sean Gregory, September 14, 2021

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Last weekend was a big one in entertainment as the Creative Arts Emmy and Video Music Awards crowned this year's winners, and with the Primetime Emmys set to drop this Sunday evening, it's safe to say the fall award season is officially underway. The rest of the industry is still a bit quiet from the late summer/early fall turnaround, but we still have plenty to chat about this week, so let's get to it!

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Broadway Remembers 9/11

The American theater community was one of the first to reopen its doors following the horrific events of 9/11, and the 20th anniversary of the tragedy found itself squarely placed amidst a familiar, uneasy reopening environment in the US. But as only arts workers can do, a bubbling resilience rippled across the country last weekend, as COME FROM AWAY's performance in Washington D.C. welcomed thousands to the National Mall and others shared their stories of how the theatre helped reunite a nation in grief.

Author Christina Ray Stanton shared how LaChanze's performance in the May 2002 reunion concert of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND spoke to a city and nation that was still very much in mourning, the actress herself having lost her husband in the attacks: "I had seen this show many times, but never had the lyrics held more meaning. When Ti Moune’s parents sang, 'New dreams are everywhere, choose your dreams with care,' I heard them like it was the first time. Sitting in the third row, my heart—closed and shut off since the attack—cracked and melted, and I started sobbing too. For the first time since 9/11, I let my heart open up, and I finally let myself mourn in a way I hadn’t before."

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Shake-ups continued among the top brass of the Times Up organization last week as Eva Longoria announced her departure from the group, alongside the decision to dissolve the 71-member advisory board that included names like Reese Witherspoon and Jessica Chastain. Former CEO and president Tina Tchen resigned her post last month after allegations that she provided counsel to ousted New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. "It’s okay to make mistakes in the efforts to topple the patriarchy," Longoria said of the current trajectory of the organization. "We’ve been under thousands of years of a patriarchal society. It’s not going to topple in the three years that Time’s Up has existed. We have so much more work to be done."

Discussions between IATSE representatives and the AMPTP have yet to produce a new back-to-work deal, after negotiations over the weekend resulted in a continued stalemate. While the threat of a union strike looms with each passing day, union negotiators are hoping to have their requests for broader COVID protections and a more generous revenue share from streaming projects met before members are forced to the picket line. "The most important thing we can do now is show our solidarity," one union negotiator wrote in an update email to members.

A new indie film studio promises to bring fresh opportunities to filmmakers from underrepresented communities, specifically women, Latino and LGBTQ+ filmmakers. Avenida will offer fledgling productions support in crowdfunding and production needs, as well as affordable access to its 70,000-square-foot studio space in Echo Park near downtown Los Angeles. Featuring art from local Latino artists, studio heads Fanny and Nelson Grande have high hopes for what they will be able to accomplish in the months ahead: "We want people to feel like, ‘OK, I have all the comforts and everything I need. You don’t get the scraps, the leftovers—everything that they really need to feel inspired."

Playbill walked alongside the hundreds of protestors that gathered for the Trans March on Broadway last week, as organizers called for equitable treatment and respect for trans artists in the Broadway community and beyond. "I want this march to show people not only in the theater district, but in the entertainment industry at large, that trans people can exist in these spaces," trans activist Sis said. "The point is to showcase a group of trans people existing as they are."

It is no secret that Broadway has plenty of work to do when it comes to creating space for previously underrepresented communities on its stages, and the League's first Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion takes that charge personally. Gennean Scott shared her plans for the future of diversity on Broadway, acknowledging the troubled past of performative activism and, at times, non-exist transparency surrounding the League's goals for DEI initiatives. "Honestly, for many years the League hasn’t done a great job of communicating about our actions or even our new programs, but that’s why [the DEI Director role] was created: to listen to our members and the community, serve as a resource, expand our existing slate of programs and provide even greater access to all," Scott wrote. "People need to know that our commitment is not just talk."

Movie Theaters Enjoy Summer Viewership Boost

The box office is back, baby! Movie houses across the country raked in an astounding $1.75 billion in revenues from May 7th to Sept 6th, accounting for 80% of the total year-to-date box office in the US of $2.21 billion. Disney came out on top with $438 million, followed by Universal and Focus with $407.4 million.

Many are pointing to the strong numbers of Disney's SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS as a validating win for theatrical releases, and rightly so: The latest Marvel flick raked in a whopping $94 million over the four day Labor Day weekend viewing window. And with the next installment of the VENOM and JAMES BOND franchises waiting in the wings during October, theater owners are feeling vindicated in their faith in physical viewership after the COVID shutdown. "In places where people feel safe … the results have been there," IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said.

AMC also capitalized on the Labor Day box office rush with their first ever national ad featuring Nicole Kidman, a $25 million endeavor meant to stir up the uneasy movie-goers of the country and assuage any doubt that theaters are the place to be for movies as we head into the fall. And more safety reinforcement may soon be on the way: President Biden laid out his recommendations for live event venues in the country as shows and movies continue to premiere, asking for vaccine requirements or proof of negative tests as a requirement of entry. Biden previously set forth an emergency order that mandates all companies with 100+ employees to require vaccines of its workers.

Industry Intel

Today's closely-watched California recall vote is receiving extra eyes from productions concerned with the future of the state's generous tax credit, which embattled governor Gavin Newsom signed into law back in July. Nearly all prospective Republican replacements are in opposition to the incentive program, which provides up to a 25% discount on production spending in CA. The election is currently running in the state, with polls closing tonight at 8 PM PST.

The 2021 Creative Arts Emmys took place last weekend, with industry favorite THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT raking in nine wins as a part of Netflix 34 trophy dominance at the ceremony. Disney+ pulled in 13 awards, headlined by THE MANDALORIAN's seven wins. The Primetime Emmys is set for this Sunday on CBS, tune in to see which productions take home the top acting and ensemble prizes!

The BAFTA's have set their 2022 eligibility requirements for its 2022 season which runs from January 1st, 2021 to March 31st, 2022. The first round of changes put into place before the 2021 nomination pool was hailed as a success for representation, as many in the industry felt that BAFTA's 120 new changes ushered in a significantly more inclusive field. This year's changes include the re-implementation of a theatrical release requirement for films debuting after July 1st, updates to the voting process, and more.

Film technology has been enjoying a renaissance of sorts during the COVID shutdown and production restructuring, as the advent of LED screens becoming more commonplace among projects that are able to afford the pricey tech. Slowly taking the place of the tried-and-true green screen approach, designers have begun dabbling with LED billboard tech that allows them to project images behind the action in real time, cutting out the need for a more lengthy post-production process. "It’s that amazing blend between the practical and the digital that is so fun about this technology," ILM's ED of virtual production Chris Bannister said. "As new storytellers get involved, it’s just going to continue to grow the opportunities of the technology and there’s just more and more stories that can be told with it."

In case you didn't see this on social media last week - Steve from BLUE'S CLUES is here to deliver all the feels as a part of Nick's 25th anniversary of the iconic kid's show. Grab some tissues 😭

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The Future of TV

Looking down the Disney+ slate for the next few years, one thing becomes clear: Franchises and spin-offs are quickly becoming the name of the game, at least at the House of Mouse. Disney only announced one new film during its investor presentation that included what seemed to be a never-ending list of TV shows destined for the streamer over the next few years. So how does that leave room for innovative new shows on the industry's largest streaming platforms? "The easiest thing to do if you’re a studio is to pull from what you’ve already got — that’s kind of step one," one analyst said of companies' willingness to revive old titles over greenlighting new works.

Not all hope is lost for creators looking to push new titles. Nielsen's weekly ratings of the most-watched shows featured Netflix titles in every slot in the top 10, most of which are only in their first or second seasons. OUTER BANKS and HIT & RUN took the top two slots, and while the survey only covered content from Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video and Disney+, the findings point to a continued eagerness from viewers to seek out new and diverse content in 2021.

And ironically, Disney might still be banking on that being the case. The newest class of the company's directing program will set students in the driver's seats of some of the studio's biggest episodics, including BLACK-ISH, SNOWFALL, and GOOD TROUBLE. "We are grateful for the support and partnership of our participating Disney productions, showrunners and producers, as well as our creative executives and senior leaders, who are all helping accelerate our participants’ careers and ensuring that diverse directing talent is fostered and championed at our company," Disney's Tim McNeal said. The future of TV may be a mix of new and old, past favorites revived and present binge-worthy hits, but in any case, I'm continuing to hope that we are making space each day for new voices and underrepresented talent to make their way to the television table 🤞

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A Call to Reshape the Theatre

As we've written about extensively over the last few months, Broadway and regional theatre in the US has been the subject of a much-needed revision and revitalization process, and with any hope, the fruits of the industry's labor will become more visible on stage and at creative decision-making tables in the months and years ahead.

Is a new landscape as close to the horizon as the banner DEI initiatives would lead you to believe? Time will tell, but the emergence of projects populating the likes of the August Wilson and the Lyceum that would, at one time, have only been considered for Off and Off-Off Broadway venues paints an interesting (and hopefully encouraging) picture of how the industry has responded to the activism of the last year. Broadway newcomer PASS OVER has floored audiences for several weeks now (myself included), and producer Matt Ross believes that Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s latest work may just be a sign of the changing times. "I don’t think there’s an increased appetite for these plays. What I think has increased is our acknowledgment of an appetite that has long existed," said Ross. "Why couldn’t these plays be a dominant form of Broadway?"

And then there comes the pervasive issue of access. U.K. director Dan Hutton argues that theaters are not unlike parks in their public offerings of spending time together and taking in entertainment, but you'd be hard pressed to find a theater that you could stroll in for free, as is the case for nearly any public park. "In short, we have as a society come to the conclusion, consciously or otherwise, that investment in public parks is inherently a good thing: The purpose they serve is worth investing in for the benefit of all," Hutton wrote in his book TOWARDS A CIVIC THEATER. "But for the most part, if we want to engage in the output of the theatre in some way, we have to pay a ticket price, likely to cost anywhere between $10 and $200."

Now extend this question to those who are on the precipice of their career, and their only avenue to a professional life of theatre is through the industry's favorite gateway: The unpaid internship. There are only a certain percentage of individuals who can afford to take on these roles, most of which require at least 40 hours a week in the theatre world, and without their experience, it becomes incredibly difficult to build a resume and establish stepping stones to the higher echelons of the industry. Advocacy group Lift the Curtain polled hundreds of interns from the past 10 years to collect their experiences and form what they hope will be a list of requirements for organizations offering intern positions, but the road is a long and winding one at best. We must continue to advocate for more sensible, accessible entry points into our industry, particularly for individuals from underrepresented communities, in order to adequately create the next generation of inclusive theatre both in front of and behind the curtain.