More from Erik Hayden
Stevie Van Zandt and the Art of Not Giving Up
Stevie Van Zandt is full of contradictions, but owns them. The E Street Band member, songwriter, activist and producer is uncompromising when it comes to creative ideas, charging forward on a vision even when it leads to commercial dead ends. Yet he’s also an insider’s insider with a rolodex of heavyweight artists, executives and directors […]
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America’s Most Trusted News Anchors Are …
“The gatekeepers are gone,” Colin Jost told a roomful of journalists at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 27, before pivoting to the punchline: “Did you know that 90 percent of people now get their news exclusively from social media? And that must be true because I saw it in a random guy’s TikTok.” For those […]
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Byron Allen’s Media Company to Undergo Layoffs
Byron Allen’s media firm is set to undergo a notable round of layoffs, the company disclosed. “Allen Media Group is making strategic changes to better position the company for growth that will result in expense and workforce reductions across all divisions of the company,” a rep for Allen Media told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday. […]
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Endeavor to Be Taken Private Three Years After IPO
After three years as a publicly traded company, the Ari Emanuel-led Endeavor is going private. The Beverly Hills-based sports and entertainment giant — the owner of talent agencies WME and IMG as well as assets like the PBR bull riding organization, betting data firm OpenBet, marketing agency 160over90 and hospitality firm On Location — will […]
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Amid Lawsuit, Gersh Has a Deal to Buy A3 Artists’ Departments
Less than a month after a lawsuit was filed against the chairman of A3 Artists Agency seeking to block its sale, rival Gersh says it has closed a deal for the digital and alternative departments of the talent firm. Some forty five staffers — twenty five of which are agents — will move over to the […]
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The New York Times Sues OpenAI and Microsoft After Impasse Over Deal to License Content
As artificial intelligence products from tech giants threaten to upend the media landscape, major newspaper and magazine companies have faced a dilemma: take the money from AI giants in a licensing deal or fight with a lawsuit. On Wednesday, The New York Times chose the latter, filing a lawsuit in the U.S. Southern District of […]
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Wall Street Likes Bob Iger’s Disney Growth Vision, So Far
If the first year of Bob Iger’s sequel era leading Disney was centered on “fixing” (and, in some cases, dismantling former chief Bob Chapek’s org structures, along with 8,000 layoffs), the mogul now wants Wall Street to view Hollywood’s marquee brand as a “building” growth vehicle, premised on righting the ship in direct-to-consumer streaming with […]
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Bob Iger On SAG-AFTRA Strike Talks: “We Don’t Have Much Time” to Save Summer Film Slate
In July, on the same day SAG-AFTRA called for its members to strike against Hollywood’s major studios, Bob Iger made remarks at a billionaire’s retreat that cast union asks as “not realistic.” More than 100 days later, the Disney chief gave an update on how the work stoppage has hit his company as talks with […]
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With Streaming Losses Narrowed, Paramount Sees Growth Ahead — Is Wall Street Buying It?
After exceeding revenue estimates and topping expectations for how much it could cut losses in its streaming unit (only $238 million in the red is a win right now), Wall Street analysts picked through Paramount Global’s Nov. 2 earnings report for how it’s faring in a battle to survive in a landscape with far larger […]
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Paramount Cuts Streaming Losses to $238M as Subscribers Grow to 63M
Amid its quest to slim down its asset portfolio to scale up its core entertainment ambitions, Paramount Global hit 63 million global streaming subscribers in the latest quarter (up from 61 million as of the end of June) and kept narrowing losses in its direct-to-consumer segment to $238 million, a possibly encouraging sign for Wall […]
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UTA Executive Jay Sures Denounces Letter on Israel-Hamas Conflict
A top executive at one of Hollywood’s largest talent agencies weighed in at length on Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and denounced a letter that sought to take issue with statements of condemnation that were publicized shortly after the massacre that killed more than 1,400 people. Jay Sures, vice chairman at United Talent Agency […]
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When Stars Wade Into Politics, How Much Do People Listen?
Since Hamas’ attack on Israel, Hollywood studios, guilds, executives and talent have grappled with what, if anything, makes sense for them to speak out about during an escalating war. Perhaps that’s why multiple open letters — Gal Gadot and Amy Schumer were actively involved in one that launched with a website titled “No Hostage Left […]
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