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Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Amazon’s Prime Video is going big with fall TV, launching the most expensive TV series in history, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” and taking full control of NFL’s “Thursday Night Football.” But on the film side, things are a little less groundbreaking and more in flux as the industry waits to see what the e-commerce giant plans to do with MGM and which top movie-studio exec Amazon will select to run its film business. Among those whom Variety hears Amazon has spoken with in recent weeks are Netflix film chief Scott Stuber, Paramount Pictures alum Emma Watts and Warner Bros. vet Toby Emmerich. But according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, though Amazon “loved” Watts and doesn’t see Stuber as being interested in this type of role, deliberations are far from over and Amazon still has distance to go before the top film exec is chosen.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Despite what the splashy yacht parties in Cannes suggest, media companies really are trying to save money right now. Really! Top execs at Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Netflix, Paramount Global, Amazon and NBCUniversal parent Comcast have all promised shareholders during recent quarterly earnings calls that they’ll be spending wisely amid the economic downturn. Sweeping layoffs and other cost-cutting strategies, including the removal of underperforming content from some streaming services, has been among the first orders of business in 2023. But no matter how many jobs these Hollywood heavyweights cut (in Disney’s case, 7,000 over the first half of the year), reaching an outlandish savings target (nearly $4 billion for the post-merger Warner Bros. Discovery) is going to require pinching pennies in more areas than staff headcount. While CFOs are shredding budgets to ribbons, TV’s latest FYC season poses another quandary: What is the cost vs. benefit of an Emmy this year? And does the statuette’s symbolic value go down if the best-of-television awards are not televised due to the writers strike?

Disney CEO Bob Chapek is facing a crisis of confidence in his leader­ship that is fueling an atypical level of turmoil at the top of the world’s largest entertainment company.Though Chapek’s current em­ployment contract, expiring next February, is expected to be renewed soon, according to sources, his tenure as CEO has been marked by upheaval since he was named to the job in February 2020. Some of the disruption has been far out of his control, such as a global pandemic.

Amazon bought MGM for its history — but not necessarily its standalone future.The e-commerce giant surprised Hollywood on Thursday by announcing the completion of its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, an iconic Hollywood brand whose presence in the modern entertainment industry has diminished over time and numerous changes in ownership since the mid-1980s.The Federal Trade Commission had suggested it might object to Amazon’s purchase of MGM, raising the prospect of a long fight. On the heels of Thursday’s closing announcement, the FTC still raised the threat of a future challenge to the combination.Analysts expect the tech company to try and exploit MGM’s best-known pieces of intellectual property for future gain — but don’t believe the studio has a long path ahead as a separate, influential entity.

Jake Kanter International TV EditorEndemol Shine Australia’s co-CEOs Mark and Carl Fennessy are leaving the company after more than 10 years following Banijay’s takeover.The leading lights in Australian TV helped Elisabeth Murdoch establish Shine Australia in 2009 and oversaw its merger with Endemol in 2014.