Byron Allen On His $10B Offer For ABC And Other Disney Networks: “Capital’s Not An Issue”, But Bob Iger “Is Not Ready” Yet To Pursue Linear Sale

EXCLUSIVE: Byron Allen’s Freestyle Digital Media has picked up the North American VOD rights to Emmy winning filmmaker Kern Konwiser’s documentary, Still a Black Star about Japanese artist and environmental activist Mago Nagasaka.

“In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks targeting Jews in Israel this past weekend, we must all do what we can to support the innocent people experiencing so much pain, violence, and uncertainty – particularly children,” declared Bob Iger tonight as the Walt Disney Company announced it is donating $2 million for humanitarian relief in Israel.

Jaden Thompson After making it known in September that he’s interested in acquiring ABC from Disney for a price tag of $10 billion, Byron Allen assures Variety he still has his eyes set on ABC and promises he’s ready play ball when Disney is ready to sell. “I think ABC’s a real possibility. They say they’re not ready,” Allen said at the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery’s Visionary Ball on Wednesday night.

Disney is raising select prices at its theme parks as it prepares to embark on a long-term expansion of its parks and resorts portfolio.

There was no picketing Monday by SAG-AFTRA members due to the Indigenous Peoples Day holiday, but the leadership of the actors guild did return to the bargaining table with the studios and streamers.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz, who dropped a long battle with Disney early this year, has amassed a large stake in the media giant and is said to be seeking board seats.

William Earl Activist investor Nelson Peltz has amassed a $2.5 billion stake in Walt Disney Co. and is preparing to make a second run at pressuring the company to grant him with board seats, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. Peltz’s Trian Fund Management is responding to the steady slide in Disney shares, which are down about 16% for the year to date.

Jennifer Lee, Chief Creative Officer at Disney Animation, confirmed this afternoon that work has quietly begun on a third edition in the company’s Frozen film franchise during a keynote session at the London Film Festival (LFF). 

SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, is attending New York Comic Con on Oct. 14 for the panel “AI in Entertainment: The Performer’s Perspective”.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Actors union SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP concluded a full day of negotiations on Monday, the first time negotiators have been in a room together since the union declared a strike on July 14. While little details were shared about the talks, both sides plan to meet again this week. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP met for a full day bargaining session and have concluded.

SAG-AFTRA is set to sit down with the studios today to restart talks on a deal for the actors.

Back at the bargaining table Monday for the first time in more than two and a half months, SAG-AFTRA and the Hollywood studios and streamers have a long way to go to make a deal – even with the momentum gained by the end of the writers’ strike.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor AI, streaming residuals and minimum rate hikes will be among the key issues on the table when SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s largest employers sit down Monday for the first formal bargaining talks since the performers union went on strike July 14. SAG-AFTRA and negotiators for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are expected to meet around midday at the union’s Miracle Mile headquarters at SAG-AFTRA Plaza. The talks follow the settlement the AMPTP reached last week with the Writers Guild of America after a 148-day strike.

Ron DeSantis was in Anaheim on Friday speaking at the California Republican Party Fall Convention. However, a new filing in federal court this week reveals that if it were up to the Florida governor, he’d get as far away from Disney as he can — on both coasts.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Lead negotiators for SAG-AFTRA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will head back to the table on Monday, Oct. 2, after a bitter concurrent strike led by the Writes Guild of America was resolved on Tuesday. “SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will resume negotiations for a new TV/Theatrical contract on Monday, Oct.

Andrew Wallenstein President and Chief Media Analyst Allen Media Group CEO/founder/chairman Byron Allen reaffirmed his interest Wednesday in bidding $10 billion for TV brands from Disney, citing his experience with similar assets in his own portfolio. “I think broadcast television and linear channels, I think is a great business,” he said in a Q&A at the Code conference in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

EXCLUSIVE: The roller coaster ride of the Writers Guild and the Hollywood studios trying to seal a deal to end the writers’ nearly 5-month-long strike isn’t over yet.

The WGA is heading back to the bargaining table with the CEOs of Netflix, Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros Discovery on Friday.

EXCLUSIVE: The Writers Guild and studios and streamers are set to meet again tomorrow for further talks on a new contract for scribes.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America resumed bargaining with the major studios on Wednesday, as the 142-day writers strike closed in on a record duration. In a break from previous sessions, several top CEOs joined in the talks on Wednesday in Sherman Oaks. They were Bob Iger of Disney, Ted Sarandos of Netflix, Donna Langley of NBCUniversal and David Zaslav of Warner Bros.