Showbiz Sandbox

Showbiz Sandbox 134: Video-On-Demand Rides To The Rescue At Sundance

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:25:55 +0000

This year’s Sundance Film Festival came to a close last weekend awarding top prizes to a wide range of movies. Independent film industry veteran Michael Tuckman sizes up this year’s festival and highlights some of its most noteworthy movies. Tuckman explains how video-on-demand has become a big part of the distribution strategy for such films, [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 133: Oscars Celebrate The Past; Sundance Discovers The Future

J. Sperling Reich — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:57:30 +0000

This year’s Oscar nominations have finally been announced and they are full of surprises. Actors and actresses which seemed like shoe-ins for a nomination were completely overlooked. Films that nobody thought would be considered for Best Picture wound up in the list of nine nominated titles. Meanwhile up in Park City, Utah this year’s Sundance [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 132: Moviegoing Is Alive And Well In The Modern Age

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:28:33 +0000

According to mainstream media, nobody goes to the movies anymore. However news about the death of movie theaters has been greatly exaggerated according to John Fithian, President of the National Association of Theater Owners. In fact, statistical trends for the last three decades show that movie attendance is actually on the rise. In a discussion [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 131: Broadway Flops Find New Life On The Road

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:13:14 +0000

Even the worst Broadway flops can wind up turning a profit once they begin touring in cities throughout the world. Patrick Healy, the theater news and features reporter for the New York Times, explains how sometimes it doesn’t matter if you make it big on the Great White Way, provided you’re a hit in Buffalo. [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 130: It’s The Data, Stupid (or Why Live Nation Bought BigChampagne)

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 04:39:27 +0000

As 2011 comes to an end mainstream media companies continue to struggle with how to distribute their content through the Internet. That was never more apparent than this week as concert promoter Live Nation acquired BigChampagne, a media tracking and technology company. Joe Fleischer, Big Champgne’s chief marketing officer, explains why a live-event company is [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 129: Ticket Masters – The Rise of the Concert Industry and How the Public Got Scalped

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:10:09 +0000

Anyone who has ever tried to get good tickets to see their favorite band in concert knows how frustrating it can be. Josh Baron and Dean Budnick, two editors of Relix magazine, spent three years speaking to hundreds of industry veterans to research the history of modern ticketing. Their book, “Ticket Masters: The Rise of [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 128: Have Yourself A Movie Little Christmas

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:23:45 +0000

Tis the season for holiday movies and there is no shortage of Yuletide titles to choose from. Thankfully film critic-at-large Alonso Duralde comes to the rescue by sifting through decades of Christmas movies in his book “Have Yourself A Movie Little Christmas“. He highlights some of the classic, and not-so-classic, films worth watching during the [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 127: Has NBC Lost Touch With Its Community?

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:45:43 +0000

When NBC removed the quirky sitcom “Community” from their mid-season schedule the show’s cult following went berserk. Fans launched petitions via Twitter and Facebook and in an ironic twist, got the show selected as TV Guide Magazine’s second annual Fan Favorites winner. In a desperate effort to find success with their primetime programming, NBC has [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 126: Foot In Mouth Disease Sweeps Through Hollywood

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:20:08 +0000

Getting publicity in Hollywood can be a very difficult task. If you are an A-list director like Brett Ratner or a hot actor like Ashton Kutcher however, all you need to do is make a bigoted statement or fire off an ignorant Twitter post and you’ll get more ink than you ever wanted. Ratner’s homophobic [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 125: Are Radio D.J.’s A Thing Of The Past?

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 04:43:17 +0000

Radio listenership has eroded over the past several years as consumers have adopted streaming music services such as Spotify and Pandora. To stay competitive and survive, Clear Channel, the nation’s largest radio station operator, shocked the industry this past week by firing dozens of local D.J.’s and replacing them with a national programming team. Indie-label [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 124: UltraViolet Is A Solution In Search Of A Problem

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:14:45 +0000

More than 75 companies have teamed up to form UltraViolet, a new service that promises to give consumers the freedom to watch movies and television shows wherever and whenever they want. However, early adopters have discovered that untethering content from physical media such as DVDs can be a tedious and confusing process. As the entertainment [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 123: DVR Data Can Save TV Shows From Cancellation

J. Sperling Reich — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:50:20 +0000

It turns out your DVR can be helpful beyond just recording your favorite television shows. Examining which commercials you skip past might be able to help predict box office flops and monitoring which shows you watch can save a borderline series from being canceled. We’ll debate whether television networks and movie studios can benefit from [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 122: The Real Story Behind Steve Jobs And Pixar

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:20:24 +0000

Millions mourned the loss of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs this past week when the innovator behind the Macintosh computer, the iPod and others died at the age of 56. Though the endless eulogies of Jobs always mention Jobs Pixar tenure, they rarely provided any real detail. Truth is Jobs lost money with Pixar for ten [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 121: Why 3D Movie Tickets Are About To Get More Expensive

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:16:48 +0000

As moviegoers grow more skeptical over paying premiums to see 3D movies you would think now would be a bad time to raise ticket prices yet again. However, if Sony Pictures has their way that’s just what may happen. Last week the studio told exhibitors they would no longer pay for 3D glasses after May [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 120: Netflix Must Adapt To A Hollywood It Helped Create

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:45:52 +0000

Ryan Lawler has spent the last two years writing about online video and digital media trends for GigaOm, a beat he’s covered for a number of publications. Who better to help us sort out what’s been going on with Netflix over the past two weeks? Despite a plunging stock price, slower subscriber growth and increased [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 119: Thompson On Toronto and Telluride

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 03:27:55 +0000

The Toronto International Film Festival has become a mandatory stop for studios opening awards contenders in the fall. The last four best picture winners at the Academy Awards, including The King’s Speech, all played in Toronto. Along with the smaller, cozier Telluride Film Festival, Toronto is where some films first start picking up awards buzz. [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 118: Mr. Television Rates This Year’s New Shows

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:49:52 +0000

There’s a good reason Marc Berman is known as Mr. Television. As the man behind MediaWeek’s daily television newsletter The Programming Insider his commentary on the medium reached more than 50,000 readers per day. Berman recently launched TV Media Insights, a new online destination for television and media with its own newsletter, forum and podcast. [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 117: Crunching The Numbers Behind Summer’s New Box Office Records

J. Sperling Reich — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 05:18:31 +0000

Big budget sequels and super hero movies helped push the bar on summer box office records slightly higher. North American grosses rose to $4.4 billion as overseas markets improved to $8.2 billion in receipts. But how much did all those blockbusters actually cost to produce and market? After all the money is counted, how profitable [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 116: Will Hollywood Miss Steve Jobs?

J. Sperling Reich — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:14:34 +0000

Last week’s news that Steve Jobs was stepping down as the CEO of Apple caused headline writers all over the world to work overtime. Sure Jobs became a household name by helping revolutionize personal computing, but he also helped shape the modern entertainment industry with products such as iTunes, the iPod and the iPad. And [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 115: Record Industry Wages A Quiet War Over Song Rights

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:58:05 +0000

When the United States copyright law was revised in the mid-1970′s a little-known provision was included that lets musicians and songwriters reclaim ownership of their recordings after 35 years. Artists such as Bryan Adams, Bob Dylan, Loretta Lynn, Tom Petty and Tom Waits are set to regain control of their recordings starting in 2013 thanks [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 114: Hollywood Overflows With Streaming Content Deals

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:52:22 +0000

Digital distribution of television shows, movies and music has become quite trendy in Hollywood. Not a week goes by that companies such as Netflix, Spotify, Hulu and others aren’t in the news cutting some sort of deal with a big studio, television network or record label. This past week retail giant Amazon and online video [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 113: Hollywood Studios Think Twice About Comic-Con

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 06:13:31 +0000

Attendance at this year’s Comic-Con was higher than ever. Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times and Alex Billington of First Showing were in San Diego last weekend sitting in on, if not moderating, panel discussions with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Francis Coppola and “Game of Thrones” cast members. In filling us [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 112: Why Netflix Had To Raise Its Prices

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:04:00 +0000

You would have thought the world was coming to an end last week after popular movie streaming service Netflix raised its prices by 60%. The company’s customers took to blogs and social networks in revolt, threatening to cancel their subscriptions. However, between the cost of mailing DVDs and paying increased licensing fees for content, a [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 111: Can Paste Magazine Ignite A Digital Publishing Revolution?

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 06:18:02 +0000

Less than a year after ceasing publication of their print edition Paste Magazine has revived itself in a new digital format. The popular music and culture magazine shunned the traditional print medium and relaunched as a weekly web periodical chock full of long-form features, downloadable music and multimedia content. Editor Josh Jackson reveals how the [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 110: “Transformers” Proves Mediocrity Makes Money

J. Sperling Reich — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:02:46 +0000

When “Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon” hit theaters over the Fourth of July holiday weekend fans of the franchise were relieved to discover it wasn’t nearly as bad ad the second film. That seems to be a fairly common response to Michael Bay’s latest critic-proof popcorn blockbuster. The highly anticipated movie made nearly $400 [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 109: Making Grammar Fun (And F*cking Funny)

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:38:14 +0000

When Chris Baker isn’t working on Madison Avenue for a big advertising firm, he is creating some of the world’s most exclusive websites… literarily. TheWorldsMostExclusiveWebsite.com only lets verified celebrities and big wigs past the home page. His website M. Night School is crowd-sourcing enough funds to send director M. Night Shyamalan back to film school. [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 108: China Becomes Hollywood’s New Best Frenemy

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 05:35:00 +0000

Hollywood movie studios have been raking in the yuan at the Chinese box office over the past year. This despite China missing the most recent World Trade Organization deadline to open its market to more foreign films. Forced to work through government sanctioned monopolies, studios have been aggressive about getting their movies in front of [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 107: The Pros And Cons Of Cloud Music Services

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 03:17:56 +0000

After months of rumors and speculation Apple finally announced their cloud music service last week. Aptly named iCloud, the new service joins similar offerings from both Amazon and Google. Though each of the services has their benefits, no two are exactly alike. Amazon and Google stream music over the Internet and require you to upload [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 106: A Tony Awards Preview Of Broadway’s Billion Dollar Year

J. Sperling Reich — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:35:04 +0000

Even without all the news surrounding the troubled production of “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark”, Broadway gave us plenty to talk about over the past year. This season brought more critically acclaimed (and financially successful) productions than during any time in recent memory. Brian Scott Lipton, editor-in-chief of TheaterMania.com, tells us who he thinks will [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 105: The Dark Truth About Digital Cinema

J. Sperling Reich — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:15:13 +0000

When Ty Burr, film critic for The Boston Globe, noticed that the films he was seeing didn’t appear as bright as they usually do he did a little investigating to figure out why. What he discovered, and documented in a recent front page article, is that some major theater chains are leaving moviegoers in the [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 104: ‘Pirates’ Proves The Importance Of A Global Box Office

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 24 May 2011 06:12:03 +0000

Despite earning more than $90 million in North America during its debut weekend, the opening of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” did not live up to many industry insiders lofty expectations for the movie. However, considering the film made an additional $260 million in more than 100 international territories, its impossible to consider [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 103: Midnight In Cannes – This Year’s Fest Sparks Fireworks

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 17 May 2011 06:07:37 +0000

Woody Allen’s film “Midnight In Paris” opened the 64th annual Cannes Film Festival last week, but it was Terrence Malick’s long awaited “Tree of Life” which everyone was eager to see. The film divided audiences with some booing loudly and others proclaiming it a masterpiece. We provide all the highlights from this year’s festival, including [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 102: Why Music Videos Matter (Again)

J. Sperling Reich — Mon, 09 May 2011 21:07:28 +0000

Music videos rose to prominence in the 1980s to become on of the most important promotional vehicles for new music. As fans grew tired of watching their favorite musicians lip sync their way through elaborate videos MTV and the like stopped showing them. However, with the advent of inexpensive production equipment and the ability to [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 101: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner To Corner Office

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 03 May 2011 05:41:25 +0000

Starting out on the streets of Brooklyn, New York as a drug dealer in the late 1980s, hip-hop star Jay-Z has transformed himself into a recognizable brand encompassing music, clothing, restaurants, nightclubs and an NBA basketball team. Our guest this week is Forbes staff writer Zack O’Malley Greenburg who tells the improbable story of how [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 100: In Showbiz, As In Life, Size Matters

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 05:41:17 +0000

It’s hard to believe we’ve recorded 100 episodes of Showbiz Sandbox. It’s also hard to believe that a 3D porno (okay, an erotic comedy) could ever smash a box office record set by “Avatar”. But that’s exactly what happened in Hong Kong, where “Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy” opened to USD $2.19 million. The producers [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 99-B: The Special Excuse Episode

J. Sperling Reich — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 05:10:20 +0000

The dog ate our homework! Here we were, all prepared to fill you in on the week’s top entertainment headlines during this week’s episode, when unexpected travel plans got in the way. Entertainment journalist extraordinaire Michael Giltz was hoping to talk about daytime soap operas “All My Children” and “One Life To Live” being canceled [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 99: How To Fix Hollywood’s Obsolete Residual Payments System

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 05:14:31 +0000

Labor and contract negotiations are a constant concern in Hollywood. Entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel is a contributor to The Hollywood Reporter and has written a book about the industry’s labor disputes, “Hollywood on Strike!: An Industry at War in the Internet Age“. The book grew out of his coverage of the labor unrest that began [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 98: Why New Distribution Models Terrify Hollywood

J. Sperling Reich — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 23:35:04 +0000

Movie studios, television networks and record labels still haven’t updated their business models to account for video and music streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. Now companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple plan on introducing a whole new group of media subscription services. With premium video-on-demand on the horizon it’s no surprise the entertainment [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 97: What The Failure Of “Mars Needs Moms” Means For Hollywood

J. Sperling Reich — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:50:21 +0000

When Disney’s animated film “Mars Needs Moms” flopped at the box office, film industry insiders struggled to pinpoint a possible cause. Was it the motion-capture animation style? The lackluster storyline? Are multiplexes saturated with too animated family films? Have higher 3D ticket prices caused moviegoers to become more picky? We are joined by New York [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 96: Why Facebook Is Becoming Your Friendly Neighborhood Video Store

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 06:41:21 +0000

In their never ending quest to replace declining DVD revenue movie studios have begun renting movies on Facebook. Such partnerships are focused on more than just sales, or finding a Netflix competitor, they are also about marketing. As Facebook users rent and purchase movies they’ll be transformed into a social marketing army. Mel Gibson made [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 95: The Media Is Charlie Sheen’s Worst Enabler

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 05:27:01 +0000

It’s hard to believe that we’re writing headlines about Charlie Sheen for the second week in a row. Alas, the actor went on a whirlwind media campaign let the world know he was ready to go back to work on his hit sitcom. Mainstream media reveled in an endless supply of Sheen’s erratic and manic [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 94: Charlie Sheen Is More Entertaining Than The Oscars

J. Sperling Reich — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:37:17 +0000

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards are finally over and, as expected, “The King’s Speech” took home most of the top prizes, including Best Picture. IndieWire’s Anne Thompson gives us her take on all the winners and losers, not to mention the poorly received Oscar telecast. One day before the Oscars Anne was at the Independent [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 93: A Film Festival Fit For An iPhone

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 05:13:41 +0000

Innovative filmmakers have taken a liking to iPhones and Flip cameras that can record HD video. They’ve begun churning out creative pieces shot entirely on the tiny devices. Ruben Kazanstev co-founded the iPhone Film Festival to promote some of this new work. He is surprised at how popular the festival has been explains how the [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 92: The Awards Otherwise Known As The Grammys

J. Sperling Reich — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:10:08 +0000

Indie rock darling Arcade Fire provided an upset at this year’s Grammy Awards by taking home the prize for Album Of The Year. Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild helped write the Grammy telecast and he provides an insider’s perspective on the show as well as a peak backstage. Unfortunately, nobody can explain why Lady [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 91: Super Bowl Ads Suffer Their Own Recession

J. Sperling Reich — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 02:10:58 +0000

More than 111 million people watched this year’s Super Bowl telecast; more viewers than any broadcast in U.S. television history. That’s great news for companies that spent big money to run ads during the game. Unfortunately, most of the usually entertaining commercials were downright dreadful. Whether praiseworthy or offensive, we give you the low down [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 90: Pick Up Artists Score At Sundance

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:49:29 +0000

The Sundance Film Festival was held in Park City, Utah over the past two weeks and word is that this year’s official selections were well worth the trip. Just back from the festival, Anne Thompson of IndieWire’s Thompson On Hollywood blog fills us in on all the buzzworthy films and why so many of them [...]

Showbiz Sandbox Special Episode: Dissecting This Year’s Oscar Nominations

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:35:09 +0000

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this year’s Oscar nominees yesterday and we were happy to see there were a few surprises. While “The Social Network” has been a favorite among critics, Academy voters favored “The King’s Speech”, nominating the historical drama for 12 awards including Best Picture. Even the Coen Brothers’ [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 89: The Rising Fortunes Of Lady Gaga

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 06:11:20 +0000

Lady GaGa may be well on her way to earning more than $100 million dollars this year. With a new album and a world tour, Zack O’Malley Greenburg, a staff writer at Forbes, believes the pop star has the potential to become one of 2011′s highest paid musical performers. Greenburg stops by to help us [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 88: How Many Producers Does A Movie Need?

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 01:49:51 +0000

Other than some pointed barbs from comedian Ricky Gervais this year’s Golden Globe Awards were truly predictable. Nicole Sperling of the Los Angeles Times attended the ceremony and tells us all about it. She also explains why the Academy Awards only allow three producers to be nominated for each Best Film nominee. Relativity’s Ryan Kavanaugh [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 87: The Oscars Have A Mommy Complex

J. Sperling Reich — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:58:46 +0000

It seems as if this year’s supporting actress awards are being overrun by a handful of horrible mothers. “The Fighter” and “Animal Kingdom” feature just the kind of evil matriarchs Oscar voters have reward in the past. Stephen Farber of the Daily Beast and Hollywood Reporter discusses the evolution of flawed movie mommies from “Mildred [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 86: Why TV Viewing Is Rising As Moviegoing Declines

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:04:36 +0000

On more than a few occasions during 2010 one could hardly fault moviegoers for feeling as if they’d been duped as they left theaters. Movieline journalist and author Alonso Duralde believes that in at least seven instances films were misrepresented by their marketing campaigns. He discusses, among others, the arthouse movie that was sold as [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 85: How To Save The Movie Business

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 06:13:11 +0000

In an age of video on demand and mobile computing, the traditional method for releasing films doesn’t seem to be working. As ticket prices rise, moviegoing and ticket sales are declining. Even worse, the fastest declining segment of moviegoers is young adults who can’t find movies that speak to their generation. Independent producer Cotty Chubb [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 84: A Black List Every Screenwriter Wants To Be On

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 06:37:23 +0000

Since 2005 Hollywood studio executive Franklin Leonard has compiled an annual list of the industry’s “most liked” unproduced screenplays. Dubbed The Black List, past selections have gone on to win Academy Awards (“Juno”) or be turned into critically acclaimed films (“The Social Network”). Leonard talks about the project he began on a whim and how [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 83: The Social Network Tops Critics Year-End Picks

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:06:12 +0000

Even the latest “Chronicles of Narnia” film can’t steal the spotlight from “The Social Network”. David Fincher’s little Facebook movie is the toast of critics groups throughout the country with most selecting it as the year’s best film. “Blue Valentine” may be getting overlooked when it comes to top awards, but the MPAA decided to [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 82: Training For The Awards Season Marathon

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 06:17:56 +0000

The end of the year always has more “best of” lists and awards show news than any media outlet knows what to do with. Over the past week nominees were announced for the Independent Spirit Awards, the Grammys and the Annies (for animated films). In Europe, they’ve already started holding awards ceremonies, with “The King’s [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 81: Kanye West Spins His Own Hype

J. Sperling Reich — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:06:56 +0000

The week of Thanksgiving is usually slow when it comes to entertainment news, but not this year. There was a horse race at the box office as Disney’s 50th animated feature nearly toppled the seventh Harry Potter film at the box office. “Tangled” received positive reviews and earned an impressive $69 million over the four [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 80: Disney Dumps Fairy Tales For Original Stories

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:31:19 +0000

As “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1″ debuted to $125 million in its opening weekend, Disney prepared to release its 50th animated feature film less than a week later. However, despite building a multi-billion dollar empire based on stories that feature princesses, according to Dawn C. Chmielewski of the Los Angeles Times “Tangled” [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 79: A New Social Music Chart To Rival Billboard?

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:57:23 +0000

Media measurement company BigChampagne believes that ranking songs and musicians based on radio airplay and record sales is an antiquated method. Joe Fleischer, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, explains how they’ve added social platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Pandora into the mix to create the Ultimate Chart, a new music chart giving industry heavyweights [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 78: The Fight Over Streaming Television Online

J. Sperling Reich — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 03:55:13 +0000

As if broadcast and cable networks didn’t have enough to worry about with online streaming offerings from Apple and Google, they now have startups such as ivi.TV to contend with. The company recently launched an online service that retransmits signals from broadcast television stations in New York and Seattle with more cities coming online soon. [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 77: It’s Official – Hollywood To Make Nothing But Sequels

J. Sperling Reich — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:39:30 +0000

With the seventh installment of the Saw franchise and Paranormal Activity 2 topping this week’s box office, it’s not hard to see why Hollywood studios have been greenlighting sequels and prequels. They range from high profile titles such as “The Hobbit” and “Avatar”, to questionable projects such as “Top Gun 2″. Don’t even get us [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 76: Taking On The Hobbit And Ticketmaster Down Under

J. Sperling Reich — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 23:49:46 +0000

Our friends Down Under generated a lot of entertainment news this past week. In New Zealand a union boycott of “The Hobbit” may cause Warner Bros. to relocate the production to another country. Director Peter Jackson has publicly opposed such a move, but as the Hollywood Reporter’s Jonathan Handel explains, this may just be Warner [...]

Showbiz Sandbox 75: Hollywood Stunned By A Jackass (And It’s Not Perez Hilton!)

J. Sperling Reich — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 21:29:34 +0000

Everyone expected the latest installment of the low-rent “Jackass” franchise to bring in a few bucks, especially since it was filmed in 3D, but nobody expected the movie to take in $50 million in its debut weekend and set records for an October opening. Another surprise from this past week came when gossip blogger Perez [...]