Disney Content Spending in 2023 May Be Lower Because of Writers Strike, CFO Says

warns could be used as “plagiarism machines” to craft scripts without writers. According to a WGA memo, the strike is costing Hollywood’s economy $30 million a day. Jack Kyser, the chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, estimated that the 2007-2008 strike cost his state $2.5 billion; this time the estimate of potential damages are likely to top at least $3 billion. Midway through the last strike, Kyser told the L.A.

Charna Flam Snoop Dogg’s summer concerts celebrating the 30th anniversary of his debut studio album, “Doggystyle,” have been postponed. Originally scheduled for June 27 and June 28 at the Hollywood Bowl, the shows have now been pushed back to Oct. 20 and 21. The rapper made the announcement via Instagram, informing fans and followers in a video. “Hollywood Bowl! June 26 and 27, we gotta move that date! Me and Dr. Dre, we stand in solidarity with the writers, so what we’re gonna do, we gonna push it back to Oct. 20 and Oct. 21.” The post was accompanied by the caption, “Due to the ongoing WGA strike and the DGA and SAG/AFTRA negotiations, we have decided to postpone the shows scheduled for June 27 and June 28 at the Hollywood Bowl.”

Ellise Shafer Tom Holland has given an update on the development of his fourth “Spider-Man” movie. At the premiere of his new Apple TV+ show “The Crowded Room” in New York City on Thursday night, Holland told Variety that though he can’t share too much, he has “been having meetings” about the next chapter in the Marvel franchise. However, those conversations have been put on hold for now due to the ongoing writers strike. “I can’t talk about that, but I can say that we have been having meetings. We’ve put the meetings on pause in solidarity with the writers,” Holland said. “There’s been multiple conversations had, but at this point it’s very, very early stages.”

organization said in a statement.Established in 2008, the Television Academy Honors recognize “Television with a conscience,” per the official branding. This year’s recognized productions are “37 Words” (ESPN), “As We See It” (Prime Video), “Mo” (Netflix), “The Rebellious Life of Mrs.

experienced minor technical glitches in its first day of rollout, a WBD spokesperson confirmed to TheWrap that they were quickly remedied. “You must always anticipate issues on a tech rollout of this scale,” the spokesperson added.Weidenfels noted that the most evident improvements consumers will see are faster downloads and better technical stability and content discovery.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Max, Warner Bros. Discovery’s bulked-up and revamped streaming service that takes the place of HBO Max, makes it U.S. debut on Wednesday (May 23). Max makes several subtle enhancements aimed at making the service easier to use and more engaging — while execs say it should also be more stable than HBO Max. According to the company, a “large portion” of HBO Max subscribers will have their apps automatically updated to Max — while in some cases, users will be prompted to download an updated Max app. If all goes as planned, HBO Max subscribers will have their previous plan (including their username, password and billing information), profiles, avatars, and settings including “Continue Watching” and “My List” items migrated over to the new Max.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube’s biggest ad innovation for 2023? It might be borrowing a well-worn page from old-fashioned linear TV. At the YouTube Brandcast upfront event Wednesday in New York, execs announced the introduction of 30-second unskippable ads in top-performing YouTube content on TVs — you know, just like the commercials that have run on broadcast and cable networks for decades. YouTube also will start testing new “Pause Experiences” for YouTube on TV screens, showing an ad when viewers pause a video akin to the pause ads Hulu first bowed four years ago. In their pitch to Madison Avenue types, YouTube execs also boasted of the streaming service’s massive reach: More than 150 million unique viewers in the U.S. watched YouTube and YouTube TV on televisions for the month of December 2022, according to Nielsen estimates. YouTube remains the No. 1 most-watched service on TV screens in America (across both streaming platforms and traditional TV networks), and in April was one of the only streamers to see month-to-month growth, per Nielsen.

It was a tale of two coasts today, as WGA picketers and their allies targeted Disney’s upfront presentation in New York and also the company’s Burbank lot in Los Angeles. And the two scenes were very different.

Rita Ferro, Disney’s ad sales and partnerships chief, urged media buyers at the company’s New York upfront Tuesday to “lean into all aspects of diversity” with their marketing commitments.

As the writers strike enters its third week, there’s little sign of resolution between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Picket lines surrounding studio offices and production sets continue to draw striking writers and other entertainment industry workers, including members of SAG-AFTRA, the PGA and IATSE looking to show solidarity with their colleagues. With their pens down professionally, writers have taken the opportunity to channel their talents toward the strike, crafting some clever puns and harsh roasts for media executives.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Since the writers strike started on May 2, celebrities have turned out to support WGA members picketing for a better guild contract. Actors like Fred Armisen are also writers who are members of the WGA, while some SAG-AFTRA members are walking the line to support their colleagues. Since most TV shows and movies have suspended production until the strike is resolved, stars, writers and filmmakers like Christopher Nolan are taking to the streets to show their support for members of the Writers Guild of America.

EXCLUSIVE: 1883 breakout Isabel May is set to star opposite Jurnee Smollett in the thriller Sunflower, which Misha Green is directing for Lionsgate, in her feature debut.

Cannes Delegate General Thierry Fremaux said U.S. professionals were welcome to speak out about the writers’ strike within the framework of the 76th edition, running from May 16 to 27.

Nearly two weeks into the national writers' strike spearheaded by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), little progress has been made between both sides. The WGA has a litany of requests for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Disney won’t give a figure for the cost of the ongoing WGA strike yet, noting that the “new development” has not yet been quantified by the company.“We have not estimated that because that’s a new development and we haven’t really quantified what that is, because we don’t know how long it’s gonna last,” CFO Christine M. McCarthy said of the WGA strike during Wednesday’s earnings call.

told the Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.Gilroy’s comments come in response to criticism from writer Abdullah Saeed, who last week accused the “Michael Clayton” screenwriter of scabbing — failing to honor a strike — because he continued to work on “Andor” as showrunner after the writers’ strike began.Gilroy’s representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap. However, Gilroy was hardly alone.

William Earl On May 2, the Writers Guild of America called for a strike after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers fell through. The first week was robust with picketing in New York City, Los Angeles and Atlanta, with the striking shutting down productions. As the strike enters a second week, Variety is still reporting from the picket lines. *Mother and Kid Day at the Netflix picket drew a huge crowd, seemingly showing that Week 2 crowds would be as robust as Week 1. *Variety spoke with Michele Mulroney, vice president of the WGA West who brought her son Mateo to Mother and Kid Day, about what AMPTP needs to do to resume talks.

William Earl The 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards ran a lot like a COVID-era awards show, as the non-live event padded out two hours of runtime with throwback clips, a result of a quick pivot due to the writers strike. (And actually, this was a repeat of the very same thing the MTV Movie & TV Awards did during COVID in 2020, when it also had to trot out dusty clips in lieu of new material.) In the days leading up to the show, Variety broke the news that host Drew Barrymore was pulling out of her hosting duties in solidarity with the strike. After that, producers hoped to still pull off some sort of live event sans host. But when the WGA announced it would picket the event on Sunday, producers gave up and announced that the show would shift to a pre-taped event.

McKinley Franklin editor Joel McHale showed his support for the Writers Guild of America in a very Joel McHale way: With a series of bad jokes. At City Year Los Angeles’s 12th annual Spring Break: Destination Education event this Saturday, McHale opened up the night series of events by addressing the looming “elephant” in the room at Sony Picture Studios in Culver City. Following an introduction from Tony Vinciquerra, CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, McHale addressed the ongoing writer’s strike in his opening speech. Vinciquerra did not address the strike at the event. 

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Judd Apatow thinks the studios and streamers already have an idea of when the writers strike may end. “I think they probably already know what they’re going to bend on,” Apatow told Variety Saturday at the Rock4EB benefit in Malibu. “I would assume they already know what date this is going to end. They’ve probably been planning this for years.” The writer-director reflected comments heard on picket lines in Los Angeles and New York after talks cratered between the Writers Guild of America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the writers union began to strike Tuesday. Apatow explained that he sees the strike as a calculated business move by Hollywood’s largest employers.