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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/04/business/media/disney-sean-bailey-live-action.html

The Man Reimagining Disney Classics for Today’s World
Sean Bailey is in charge of live-action remakes of films like “The Little Mermaid.” It’s a job that puts him in the middle of a partisan divide.
By Brooks Barnes
June 4, 2023Updated 1:14 p.m. EDT

For more than a decade, Sean Bailey has run Disney’s animated film “reimagining” factory with quiet efficiency and superhero-sized results. His live-action “Aladdin” collected $1.1 billion at the box office, while a photorealistic “The Lion King” took in $1.7 billion. A live-action “Beauty and the Beast” delivered $1.3 billion.

Disney likes the cash. The company also views Mr. Bailey’s remake operation as crucial to remaining relevant. Disney’s animated classics are treasured by fans, but most showcase ideas from another era, especially when it comes to gender roles: Be pretty, girls, and things might work out.

The reimaginings, as Mr. Bailey refers to his remakes, find ways to make Disney stories less retrograde. His heroines are empowered, and his casting emphasizes diversity. A live-action “Snow White,” set for release next year, stars the Latina actress Rachel Zegler as the princess known as “the fairest of them all.” Yara Shahidi played Tinker Bell in the recent “Peter Pan and Wendy,” making her the first Black woman to portray the character onscreen.

“We want to reflect the world as it exists,” Mr. Bailey said.

But that worldview — and business strategy — has increasingly put Disney and Mr. Bailey, a low-profile and self-effacing executive, in the middle of a very loud, very unpolite cultural fight. For every person who applauds Disney, there seems to be a counterpart who complains about being force-fed “wokeness.”

Many companies are finding themselves in this vise — Target, Anheuser-Busch, Nike — but Disney, which has a powerful impact on children as they are forming life beliefs, has been uniquely challenged. In this hyperpartisan moment, both sides of the political divide have been pounding on Disney to stand with them, with movies that come from Mr. Bailey’s corner of the Magic Kingdom as prime examples.

Consider his remake of “The Little Mermaid,” which arrived in theaters two weeks ago and cost an estimated $375 million to make and market. The new version scuttles problematic lyrics from the 1989 original. (“It’s she who holds her tongue who gets a man.”) In the biggest change, Halley Bailey, who is Black, plays Ariel, the mermaid. Disney has long depicted the character as white, including at its theme parks.

Support for Ms. Bailey, notably from people of color and film critics, has been offset by a torrent of racist commentary on social media and movie fan sites. Others have blasted “The Little Mermaid” for failing to acknowledge the horrors of slavery in the Caribbean. A few L.G.B.T.Q. people have criticized Disney for hiring a straight male makeup artist for the villainous Ursula, whose look in the animated film was inspired by a drag queen.

Disney has long regarded these kinds of social media storms as tempests in teapots: trending today, replaced by a new complaint tomorrow. In 2017, for instance, a theater in Alabama refused to play the live-action “Beauty and the Beast” because it contained a three-second glimpse of two men dancing in each other’s arms. It became a global news story. Ultimately, the fracas seemed to have no impact on ticket sales.

The upshot? Disney hoped “The Little Mermaid” would generate as much as $1 billion worldwide, with the furor evaporating once the film arrived in theaters. Feedback scores from test screenings were strong, as were early reviews. “Alan Menken just told me that he thinks this one is better than the animated film,” Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief

Instead, “The Little Mermaid” will top out closer to $600 million, box office analysts said on Sunday, largely because the film faltered overseas, where it was “review bombed,” with online trolls flooding movie sites with racist one-star reviews. The film has done well in North America, outperforming “Aladdin” and receiving an A grade from ticket buyers in CinemaScore exit polls, although attendance by white moviegoers has been soft in some parts of the United States, according to analysts. Support from Black and Latino audiences have made up the slack.

Mr. Bailey declined to comment on the racist responses to the film. “While the international opening was softer than we would have liked, the film is playing exceptionally well which we believe sets us up for a very long run,” he said on Saturday.

Mr. Bailey, 53, has survived box office shoals that were far worse, including misfires like “The Lone Ranger.” The less said about his live-action “Mulan,” the better. But Disney has always supported him. “I’ve taken some big swings and had some big misses,” Mr. Bailey said. “I’m grateful that the leadership of the company understands that is part of any creative business.”

Mr. Bailey has been president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production for 13 years — an eternity in Hollywood, where film chiefs are often jettisoned every few years. Over that time, Disney has been roiled by executive firings, multiple restructuring efforts and shifting strategies for film distribution. The steady-handed Mr. Bailey, who is popular with stars and their agents, has helped provide stability.

“He’s a nice, decent, respectful, fair guy who does his job quietly, without fanfare,” said Kevin Huvane, a Creative Artists Agency co-chairman. “But that doesn’t mean that he is passive. Quite the opposite. He gets his hands dirty. If a deal isn’t working, he gets in there and he finds a way to make it happen.”

In 2014, for instance, Mr. Bailey flew to Budapest from Los Angeles at a moment’s notice to have dinner with Angelina Jolie. She had agreed to star in “Maleficent” but seemed to be getting cold feet after reading a revised script. Whatever he told her worked; “Maleficent” and a sequel took in a combined $1.3 billion.

“Sean is what we don’t see often these days, and certainly not in film,” Ms. Jolie said by email. “He’s consistent, stable and decent. When we have challenges, as all films do, he is even and fair. It may not be exciting for a story, but it is what we need more of.”

Disney’s live-action films did not often showcase women before Mr. Bailey arrived, and diversity was almost nonexistent. Mr. Bailey has almost exclusively focused on female-led stories. He has also championed young actresses of color — Storm Reid, Nico Parker, Naomi Scott — and female directors, including Ava DuVernay (“A Wrinkle in Time”), Julia Hart (“Stargirl”) and Mira Nair (“Queen of Katwe”).

“I think what he is doing is vastly important,” said Geena Davis, an actress and gender equity activist. “It’s not just about inspiring little girls. It’s about normalizing for men and boys, making it perfectly normal to see a girl doing interesting and important things and taking up space.”

The next film from Mr. Bailey’s division, “Haunted Mansion,” arrives in theaters on July 28 and stars LaKeith Stanfield (an Oscar nominee for “Judas and the Black Messiah”), Rosario Dawson, Owen Wilson and Tiffany Haddish. “Haunted Mansion” was directed by Justin Simien, the creator of “Dear White People,” and inspired by a Disney theme park ride.

“I felt that we had an opportunity to try and create a really cool, Disney-appropriate PG-13 movie that does have some real scares but also charms and delights,” Mr. Bailey said.

Mr. Bailey, who watched “The Little Mermaid” 18 times as it worked its way through Disney’s pipeline, has more than 50 movies in various stages of development and production, including live-action versions of “Moana,” “Hercules” and “Lilo and Stitch.” Yes, “Hocus Pocus 3” is happening. (His division makes two or three big-budget films annually for release in theaters and three modestly budgeted movies for Disney+.)

“Mufasa: The Lion King,” a photorealistic prequel directed by Barry Jenkins, the Oscar-winning “Moonlight” screenwriter, is scheduled for release in 2024. Mr. Bailey said “The Lion King” could expand into “a big, epic saga” like the “Star Wars” franchise. “There’s a lot of room to run if we can find the stories,” he said.

Restarting the five-film “Pirates of the Caribbean” series is another priority, although nothing official has been announced. “We think we have a really good, exciting story that honors the films that have come before but also has something new to say,” Mr. Bailey said. Will the franchise’s problematic star, Johnny Depp, return as Captain Jack Sparrow? “Noncommittal at this point,” Mr. Bailey said, seemingly inching the door open.

One of the knocks on Mr. Bailey is that he has not created a new franchise; almost none of his bets on original movies have paid off. The sled-dog drama “Togo,” made for Disney+ in 2019, was a critical hit that failed to break out. “Tomorrowland,” an ambitious fantasy from 2015, crashed and burned. At some point, studios cannot endlessly recycle old stuff. A Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox ends up as a blank page.

“It’s really hard to crack through and get an original, hugely commercial win,” Mr. Bailey said. “We’re going to keep trying.” He pointed to a project based on “The Graveyard Book,” about a boy raised by the supernatural occupants of a cemetery.

Every studio has been struggling to come up with original hits. But the added glare that seems to come with any Disney effort adds a degree of difficulty.

Like Mr. Iger, Mr. Bailey does not hide his political leanings. He is close to Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, a friendship that started in 2000, when Mr. Bailey held a fund-raiser for him in Hollywood. (Mr. Bailey has a lot of famous friends. He goes way back with Ben Affleck, helped Dwayne Johnson start a tequila brand and serves on the board of Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute.)

But Mr. Bailey is in the business of making movies for everyone. That challenge is part of what keeps his job interesting, he said.

“How do you deal with audiences that are changing outside our country, inside our country?” Mr. Bailey said. “How do you tell stories — stories that matter to everyone — in a world that is increasingly polarized?”

Brooks Barnes is a media and entertainment reporter, covering all things Hollywood. He joined The Times in 2007 as a business reporter focused primarily on the Walt Disney Company. He previously worked for The Wall Street Journal. @brooksbarnesNYT
 


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-viaplay-shares-plunge-60-015330403.html

Viaplay shares plunge 60% as outlook worsens, replaces CEO
Terje Solsvik and Anirudh Saligrama
Sun, June 4, 2023 at 8:53 PM CDT

OSLO, June 5 (Reuters) - Shares of Swedish streaming company Viaplay Group fell by 60% on Monday to a record low after warning of a weakening business environment as rising living costs dent demand, and announced it was replacing its chief executive.

The group, which competes with Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co's Disney+, lowered its short-term organic sales growth projections for 2023 to 16%-17.5% from its previous forecast of 24%-26%.

Viaplay also said cost cuts were taking longer than planned, and predicted an operating loss of between 250 million and 300 million Swedish crowns ($23.0 million-$27.6 million) in the second quarter.

Jorgen Madsen Lindemann, a former CEO of gaming and esports group MTG, Viaplay's previous parent company, will take the helm with immediate effect, replacing Anders Jensen, Viaplay said in a statement.

Jensen said in the statement that "in the light of current challenges, the company is best served if I step down, and I have therefore decided to do so."

Operating in 33 markets, including direct-to-consumer offers in the United States and Canada, and partnerships in Canada, Austria and Germany, Viaplay had set out to grow rapidly with a mix of entertainment productions and premium sports rights.

But on Monday, it said it was withdrawing its longer-term financial guidance and expects to provide an update on its medium-term outlook when it releases second-quarter results on July 20.

Viaplay said the rising cost of living had led to lower demand in Nordic and international streaming, lower wholesale subscription sales, and a sharp and rapid deterioration in Scandinavian TV and radio advertising markets. It added that foreign exchange headwinds have increased.

Monday's statement stands in contrast to comments from the company on April 25, when it said it had started the year "in line with our guidance", pointing at the time to a strong momentum despite economic uncertainty.

While Viaplay also issued a profit warning last year, the size and scope of the latest downgrade still came as a shock, analysts at Jefferies said in a note to clients.

Among Viaplay's Nordic subscription offers are football rights such as the English Premier League and car racing, including Formula 1.

It expects second-quarter sales of between 4.5 billion Swedish crowns and 4.6 billion Swedish crowns. It also expects to have 7.7 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter which compares with 7.6 million for the first quarter.

Viaplay's shares fell 58.6% by 0831 GMT to 93.40 Swedish crowns. ($1 = 10.8616 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh and Anirudh Saligrama in Bengaluru; Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Sharon Singleton)
 
https://nypost.com/2023/06/04/cbs-mulls-sale-of-its-west-57th-st-broadcast-center/

CBS mulls sale of its West 57th St broadcast center
By Steve Cuozzo
June 4, 2023 11:53am

CBS is “eyeing” a momentous move from its longtime broadcast facilities on West 57th Street. Sources said the network, which merged with Viacom in 2019 into what’s now called Paramount Global, is expected to soon put out a request for proposals to solicit offers on two fronts.

One might be to sell CBS’s sprawling, 600,000 square-foot broadcast center on West 57th between Tenth and Eleventh avenues — the long-ago site of a dairy depot, where CBS has had a presence since the 1950s.

The RFP would also seek a new location in Manhattan for the network’s broadcast home.

The ideal scenario would be to find a single landlord to both buy the 57th Street enclave and lease or sell space it owns elsewhere to CBS for the net’s production needs.

BS might not need as much space as it now has since several entertainment shows moved elsewhere.

But a relocation of any size would mark the end of an era for the network and for the far West Side.

CBS considered selling several times both before and after the Viacom merger.

It most recently mulled a sale to raise cash in 2019, The Post reported, but sold its office headquarters tower known as Black Rock instead.

CBS senior vice-president for broadcast publicity Deborah Marcus didn’t get back to us.
 


Interesting tech 6 flags is testing. Given some of the lines I've seen at WDW shops recently, this would help a lot.

Also an interesting comment in the article:

When you visit a Walt Disney park, you’re not just committing to standing in line for rides. You’re also going to wait for food, to get into shows, and to make purchases at gift shops all around the park. That’s true – maybe even worse at Comcast’s Universal Studios (where staffing levels seem a little light compared to Disney World).

I've not been to Universal but I did notice staffing seemed very high at most WDW shops, with 4 or 5 CM's working the resort shops, where there used to be two.

https://www.thestreet.com/travel/di...ing-tech-no-more-lines?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

Disney Theme Park Rival Adds Time-Saving Tech (No More Lines)

Daniel Kline

The theme park giant has done something that will make visits to its parks much more pleasant while also solving another pain point.

When you visit Disney World, Universal Studios, or any other theme park, you’re agreeing to spend a day waiting in a lot of lines. Even on a so-called “slow” day at the biggest theme parks in the United States, lines for popular rides can easily top an hour while very few will simply let people walk on.

When you visit a Walt Disney (DIS) - Get Free Report park, you’re not just committing to standing in line for rides. You’re also going to wait for food, to get into shows, and to make purchases at gift shops all around the park. That’s true – maybe even worse at Comcast’s (CMCSA) - Get Free Report Universal Studios (where staffing levels seem a little light compared to Disney World.

Disney, Universal and Six Flags offer added-fee ways to spend less time standing in line waiting for rides. Disney World, for example, has its Genie+ and Lightning Lane services which allow people who pay to wait in much shorter lines on popular attractions. Universal parks offer a much-pricier Express Pass (the price varies based on how crowded the park is) that lets holders use a separate (and shorter) line for most rides. Six Flags has The Flash Pass and The Flash Pass Junior to reduce the wait in line.

Neither Disney nor Universal, however, has a democratic way for park visitors to spend less time waiting in a grab-and-go situation. Disney does allow advance ordering at some quick-serve restaurants, but it has nothing close to what rival Six Flags (SIX) - Get Free Report has been testing. The second-tier theme park company, which offers regional parks focused on thrills rides, will soon be testing Amazon’s (AMZN) - Get Free Report “Just Walk Out” technology at its theme park in New Jersey on June 1.

“If all goes well a similar rollout will be planned for the Six Flags Magic Mountain location in Los Angeles,” Modern Retail reported.

Amazon has piloted “Just Walk Out” at its own Amazon Go convenience stores. Customers who wish to shop in the store simply open the Amazon app, take what they want from the shelves, and walk out of the store. When they leave, the charges appear in the app, charged to the user’s Amazon account.

The technology has also been tested in airports around the country. Using it at Six Flags would, in theory, speed up the process of getting in and getting out at grab-and-go locations. That should lessen wait times, limit crowds, and make shopping in those locations more appealing (thereby increasing sales).

That’s at least what Coca-Cola (KO) - Get Free Report, which has partnered with Six Flags and Amazon to bring the technology to Six Flags’ “Quick Six” store. A sort of convenience store that sells, food. beverages, candy, and Six Flags merchandise, customers will use Amazon technology to charge people’s purchases to whatever payment method they used to enter the store.

Six Flags Global Vice President Stephanie Borges told Modern Retail why Six Flags was testing the Amazon technology.

“We always look [at] how can we use technology and innovation to enhance the guest experience. We look at holistically a consumer coming to our parks and all the different things that they’re doing in that day and one of the pain points is always lines,” she said.

Coca-Cola’s Director of Amusement and Entertainment Partnership Rachel Chahal told the website that if the technology could increase Coke’s sales at the store by 10%, it would be worth implementing at other Six Flags locations. She also noted that the “Just Walk Out” technology cut transaction times from around six minutes to under one minute.
 
Some good press (Apple team up), as usual offset by some bad press...

https://nypost.com/2023/06/05/pixar-is-losing-hollywoods-animation-war/

Pixar is losing Hollywood's animation war

Johnny Oleksinski

Pixar has hit a Wall-E.

The Disney-owned animation studio responsible for the “Toy Story” and “Cars” franchises, among other huge hits, just can’t make a winner anymore.

Thirteen years ago Pixar was riding high, scoring a Best Picture Oscar nomination for “Toy Story 3.” And its last success, 2019’s “Toy Story 4,” grossed over $1 billion worldwide.

Four years later, it’s an animation afterthought that can’t compete with Universal’s DreamWorks Animation or Sony Pictures Animation anymore.

Acknowledging its decline, the studio laid off 75 employees this week to offset recent losses.

Pixar’s once-unquestioned position in the family-movie game of thrones has been rapidly usurped by bloodthirsty competitors.

Last weekend, Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” raked in a huge $120 million, while Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” just topped $1.3 billion worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing animated film ever after Disney’s “Frozen II” and the remake of “The Lion King,” both from 2019.

Audiences are demonstrably interested in animated films — just not in Pixar.
Pixar's latest film, "Elemental," holds a 60% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.
Pixar’s latest film, “Elemental,” holds a 60% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.
AP

Yes, the studio is about to re-enter the fray with “Elemental,” a 3D movie in which the main characters are cutesy fire and water elements, which screens in the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday and opens wide June 16.

But critics were unimpressed by its premiere last month at the Cannes Film Festival. “Elemental” currently holds a 60% score on RottenTomatoes, making it the second-worst-received movie ever from the studio. Only “Cars 2” fared worse at 40%.

Box-office projections, according to The Wrap, have the film earning a paltry $40 million in its first weekend — one of the worst Pixar openings in history.

“Elemental” looks like it’ll be yet another in a string of embarrassing Pixar flops.
Pixar's "Onward" hit theaters in the days before pandemic lockdowns began.
Pixar’s “Onward” hit theaters shortly before pandemic lockdowns began.
AP

The studio’s “Onward” premiered in March 2020, shortly before pandemic lockdowns began, and floundered as a result. “Luca” and “Soul” went straight to Disney+ and made little cultural impact. “Lightyear,” which hit theaters in 2021, was a dud that misjudged ticket-buyers’ appetite for a Buzz Lightyear origin story.

Asked why Pixar is stumbling, a Hollywood source said, “Two words — John Lasseter.”

Lasseter, once the chief creative officer of Disney Animation and Pixar, was a founding employee of Pixar, from the studio’s first film, 1995’s “Toy Story,” to 2018’s “Ralph Breaks The Internet,” and was the creative force behind their biggest hits.

He directed “A Bug’s Life,” the Oscar-nominated “Toy Story 3” and two “Cars” films, and was made CCO when Disney acquired Pixar in 2006.
"Toy Story"
A scene from “Toy Story.”

Lasseter was forced out of Disney in 2017 after accusations of sexual misconduct were made against him by employees, including “grabbing, kissing, making comments about physical attributes,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. The exec apologized, and took on the role of Head of Animation for Skydance Animation in 2019.

Pete Docter, the director of “Inside Out,” replaced Lasseter at Pixar, and the studio hasn’t regained its footing since the change-up.

“Docter is a sweet guy — not a leader,” the source said. “People like him, but nobody reveres him like they did Lasseter.”

Lasseter, who was also a champion of “Spirited Away” genius Hayao Miyazaki, was in the artistic mold of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, whom he worked alongside, and who prized boldness and animation during his successful tenure.

“Eisner was a brilliant leader who was an inspired risk-taker and never a blamer,” the source said. “You felt safe with him. And animation was his way of becoming Walt 2.0.”

Current top dog Bob Iger, on the other hand, is better known for acquiring and maintaining existing brands, such as Star Wars and Marvel, not for championing original animation.

Pixar’s recent movies have lacked the spark of those from the 1990s and aughts. The flicks made during Docter’s reign have leaned cerebral and the characters, blobby, like in “Soul.”

And millennials, who grew up with and stuck by Woody, Dory and Mike Wazowski, don’t seem all that interested in the newer properties.

Once Hollywood’s hottest new toy, Pixar looks doomed to be like its “The Good Dinosaur” — unsuccessful and extinct.
 
Some good press (Apple team up), as usual offset by some bad press...

https://nypost.com/2023/06/05/pixar-is-losing-hollywoods-animation-war/

Pixar is losing Hollywood's animation war
Johnny Oleksinski

Pixar has hit a Wall-E.

The Disney-owned animation studio responsible for the “Toy Story” and “Cars” franchises, among other huge hits, just can’t make a winner anymore.

Thirteen years ago Pixar was riding high, scoring a Best Picture Oscar nomination for “Toy Story 3.” And its last success, 2019’s “Toy Story 4,” grossed over $1 billion worldwide.

Four years later, it’s an animation afterthought that can’t compete with Universal’s DreamWorks Animation or Sony Pictures Animation anymore.

Acknowledging its decline, the studio laid off 75 employees this week to offset recent losses.

Pixar’s once-unquestioned position in the family-movie game of thrones has been rapidly usurped by bloodthirsty competitors.

Last weekend, Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” raked in a huge $120 million, while Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” just topped $1.3 billion worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing animated film ever after Disney’s “Frozen II” and the remake of “The Lion King,” both from 2019.

Audiences are demonstrably interested in animated films — just not in Pixar.
Pixar's latest film, "Elemental," holds a 60% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.
Pixar’s latest film, “Elemental,” holds a 60% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.
AP

Yes, the studio is about to re-enter the fray with “Elemental,” a 3D movie in which the main characters are cutesy fire and water elements, which screens in the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday and opens wide June 16.

But critics were unimpressed by its premiere last month at the Cannes Film Festival. “Elemental” currently holds a 60% score on RottenTomatoes, making it the second-worst-received movie ever from the studio. Only “Cars 2” fared worse at 40%.

Box-office projections, according to The Wrap, have the film earning a paltry $40 million in its first weekend — one of the worst Pixar openings in history.

“Elemental” looks like it’ll be yet another in a string of embarrassing Pixar flops.
Pixar's "Onward" hit theaters in the days before pandemic lockdowns began.
Pixar’s “Onward” hit theaters shortly before pandemic lockdowns began.
AP

The studio’s “Onward” premiered in March 2020, shortly before pandemic lockdowns began, and floundered as a result. “Luca” and “Soul” went straight to Disney+ and made little cultural impact. “Lightyear,” which hit theaters in 2021, was a dud that misjudged ticket-buyers’ appetite for a Buzz Lightyear origin story.

Asked why Pixar is stumbling, a Hollywood source said, “Two words — John Lasseter.”

Lasseter, once the chief creative officer of Disney Animation and Pixar, was a founding employee of Pixar, from the studio’s first film, 1995’s “Toy Story,” to 2018’s “Ralph Breaks The Internet,” and was the creative force behind their biggest hits.

He directed “A Bug’s Life,” the Oscar-nominated “Toy Story 3” and two “Cars” films, and was made CCO when Disney acquired Pixar in 2006.
"Toy Story"
A scene from “Toy Story.”

Lasseter was forced out of Disney in 2017 after accusations of sexual misconduct were made against him by employees, including “grabbing, kissing, making comments about physical attributes,” according to the Hollywood Reporter. The exec apologized, and took on the role of Head of Animation for Skydance Animation in 2019.

Pete Docter, the director of “Inside Out,” replaced Lasseter at Pixar, and the studio hasn’t regained its footing since the change-up.

“Docter is a sweet guy — not a leader,” the source said. “People like him, but nobody reveres him like they did Lasseter.”

Lasseter, who was also a champion of “Spirited Away” genius Hayao Miyazaki, was in the artistic mold of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, whom he worked alongside, and who prized boldness and animation during his successful tenure.

“Eisner was a brilliant leader who was an inspired risk-taker and never a blamer,” the source said. “You felt safe with him. And animation was his way of becoming Walt 2.0.”

Current top dog Bob Iger, on the other hand, is better known for acquiring and maintaining existing brands, such as Star Wars and Marvel, not for championing original animation.

Pixar’s recent movies have lacked the spark of those from the 1990s and aughts. The flicks made during Docter’s reign have leaned cerebral and the characters, blobby, like in “Soul.”

And millennials, who grew up with and stuck by Woody, Dory and Mike Wazowski, don’t seem all that interested in the newer properties.

Once Hollywood’s hottest new toy, Pixar looks doomed to be like its “The Good Dinosaur” — unsuccessful and extinct.

To be fair, Pixar has really only had the one real flop - Lightyear. The rest were all impacted by the pandemic and released to Disney+. We'll never know how they would have done at the box-office under normal circumstances. Soul is actually pretty good and Luca is a masterpeice. Turning Red might have been a tough sell (though it's not bad). The loss of Lasseter was tough for sure. I know there were issues with him, but he is still a genius!
 
To be fair, Pixar has really only had the one real flop - Lightyear. The rest were all impacted by the pandemic and released to Disney+. We'll never know how they would have done at the box-office under normal circumstances. Soul is actually pretty good and Luca is a masterpeice. Turning Red might have been a tough sell (though it's not bad). The loss of Lasseter was tough for sure. I know there were issues with him, but he is still a genius!

That is very true, Soul and Luca have pretty darn good RT scores but I'm not sure either one would have been box office blockbusters pre-covid. In my mind, since Elemental is really their first post-covid release into an almost "normal" box office environment, a lot is riding on it. We shall see.

And speaking of Lightyear, I was not surprised by its BO failure. When I first started seeing the ads, which I half pay attention to at best, I had assumed it was going to be a D+ series, it did not have a major motion picture look to it at all.

And and speaking of Lasseter, they really should have found a way to rehabilitate him rather than cut him loose. A genius, as you said!
 
And speaking of Lightyear, I was not surprised by its BO failure. When I first started seeing the ads, which I half pay attention to at best, I had assumed it was going to be a D+ series, it did not have a major motion picture look to it at all.
To follow up on this - I wonder if whoever greenlit this was one of the ones recently let go? The more I think about, the more I think it should have been nothing more than a short run series on D+ instead of setting our shareholder dollars on fire with a theater release.
 
https://deadline.com/2023/06/sag-aftra-strike-authorization-approved-actors-vote-1235408671/

SAG-AFTRA Members Overwhelmingly Approve Strike Authorization
By David Robb
Labor Editor
June 5, 2023 7:23pm PDT

SAG-AFTRA members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if upcoming contract talks fail to produce a satisfactory agreement by June 30. The vote revealed Monday was 97.91% in favor, with nearly half of eligible members — 47.69% — casting ballots. According to the union, nearly 65% of eligible members voted.

The vote comes just two days before the guild will begin bargaining for a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers; two days after the Directors Guild reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP for its own new contract; and 35 days into the ongoing Writers Guild strike.

Following the SAG-AFTRA vote, the AMPTP said this evening in a statement that “We are approaching these negotiations with the goal of achieving a new agreement that is beneficial to SAG-AFTRA members and the industry overall.”

“The strike authorization votes have been tabulated and the membership joined their elected leadership and negotiating committee in favor of strength and solidarity,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher. “I’m proud of all of you who voted as well as those who were vocally supportive, even if unable to vote. Everyone played a part in this achievement. Together we lock elbows and in unity we build a new contract that honors our contributions in this remarkable industry, reflects the new digital and streaming business model and brings ALL our concerns for protections and benefits into the now! Bravo SAG-AFTRA, we are in it to win it.”

“I could not be more pleased with this response from the membershi,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. “This overwhelming yes vote is a clear statement that it’s time for an evolution in this contract. As we enter what may be one of the most consequential negotiations in the union’s history, inflation, dwindling residuals due to streaming, and generative AI all threaten actors’ ability to earn a livelihood if our contracts are not adapted to reflect the new realities. This strike authorization means we enter our negotiations from a position of strength, so that we can deliver the deal our members want and deserve.”

“Our goal in this negotiation is to ensure our members working in film, television and streaming/new media can continue to earn a professional living with a contract that honors our contributions,” Drescher and Crabtree-Ireland wrote in a booklet that accompanied the ballots. “We need a contract that will increase contributions to our benefit plans and protect members from erosion of income due to inflation and reduced residuals, unregulated use of generative AI, and demanding self-taped auditions.”

“A strike is never a first option, but a last resort,” they wrote. “The business model of our industry has changed significantly. We have fully entered a digital and streaming entertainment industry, and that demands a contract that is relevant to the new business model and must be contemporary to meet the financial needs of our members today.

“Our members are governed by contracts that reflect the business of 30 years ago. And too much has changed since then for those contracts to serve us well. The rise of streaming, artificial intelligence (AI), and the impacts of other technology advances on entertainment, coupled with a steep increase in the cost of living — all while studio profits and executive pay rise meteorically — means that we need to seek new and imaginative ways to move forward. And believe us when we say, we have! If ever there was a time to take action and demand seminal change it is NOW!”

The union, they wrote, “is entering into these negotiations in good faith and demanding a fair deal for our members from the AMPTP. We hope and expect they will respond in good faith. While the union’s leadership, National Board and negotiating committee members regard a strike as a last resort, we believe we must be ready for any eventuality, and have all of the leverage possible in order to secure the best deal.”

SAG-AFTRA hasn’t struck the film and TV industry since the merger of SAG and AFTRA in 2012. Their last strike against the studios was in 1980 — a 95-day walkout that established contract terms for pay-TV and videocassettes.
The guild’s negotiating committee and National Board unanimously recommended membership approval of the strike authorization.
 
To follow up on this - I wonder if whoever greenlit this was one of the ones recently let go? The more I think about, the more I think it should have been nothing more than a short run series on D+ instead of setting our shareholder dollars on fire with a theater release.

I think Lightyear should have been more like "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" and it would have been more appealing.
 
https://variety.com/vip/vision-pro-disney-apple-bob-iger-future-entertainment-1235634051/

June 6, 2023 6:00am PDT
What a Disney-Powered Vision Pro Means for Entertainment’s Future
By Andrew Wallenstein

Leave it to an entertainment mogul to pull off a great cameo, even if it’s at a tech-industry presentation instead of in a movie.

When Disney CEO Bob Iger graced the virtual stage toward the end of Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference to help plug the heavily hyped new headset Vision Pro, he almost stole the show from Tim Cook. The Apple CEO may have played the leading man in this particular production, but Iger is a lock to win best supporting actor.

Iger was onscreen for no more than four minutes of the two-hour-plus runtime, but that was all he needed to offer a spellbinding vision of a future in which Vision Pro came across as nothing less than a game-changing new medium for entertainment.

Of course, Iger’s vision for Vision Pro came with few specifics beyond the fact that Disney+ will be available to watch on the headset when it launches. Cook referenced the participation of other streaming services, but again no
details.

Still, there were technical details aplenty on Vision Pro’s “spatial” video and audio capabilities, which made wearing the device sound something like clamping an Imax screen to your face.

The rest of Iger’s message seemed fanciful as he imagined all the possibilities of what’s to come from Disney via Vision Pro without spelling out exactly what if any of the features he was describing was actually going to be available at launch. Some seemed as theoretical as all the great gizmos you used to see on an average episode of “The Jetsons” but probably won’t ever experience as real-life products.

Nevertheless, Disney’s Vision Pro segment of Cook’s presentation made for a tantalizing dream — even if making it a reality may take Disney’s Imagineering division a century to execute.

The odd thing about Disney’s inclusion was that at first blush it seemed as if Apple was intentionally playing down any entertainment tie-in to Vision Pro. The headset’s demo clearly emphasized applications that had more to do with work and telecommunications than content. And early reports that director Jon Favreau was collaborating with Apple on programming for the headset weren’t evident in the presentation.

But then came Iger, whose mere presence as an outsider in a presentation otherwise stuffed with Apple execs thrust Vision Pro’s entertainment potential front and center. He teed up a sizzle reel that, for example, teased a world in which viewers could use Vision Pro to “experience your favorite stories in unexpected ways,” as a multiscreen display of “The Mandalorian” unspooled onscreen that looked as cluttered as a cockpit dashboard.

Yet as Iger’s Apple cameo continued, I found myself tugged in opposite directions between reveries of entertainment nirvana and memories of promotional excess that have made the VR/AR/MR/XR category such a disappointment.

That visualization Disney offered at WWDC of Vision Pro enabling me to look at an augmented-reality 3D version of Mickey Mouse prancing around my living room? It gave me a bad case of déjà vu for the kind of visual trickery made famous by Magic Leap, the last ballyhooed startup that was supposed to make a headset that merged the actual with the digital for consumers. Then the company burned through enough billions to force a pivot to the enterprise market.

That invocation of Disney+’s “What If” series about Marvel superheroes, but with the twist here that the consumer becomes the protagonist as the headset allows the story to unfold from the Vision Pro’s perspective? No thanks, I’ve seen enough of Netflix’s interactive “Choose Your Own Adventure” nonsense, from “Black Mirror” to “Bear Grylls,” to steer clear.

How about watching sports in a whole new way, where you feel like you’re sitting courtside or in the game itself while you access statistics and make bets as if you had seven eyes in your head to do all this? Sounds dandy, I guess, but I’ve seen NBA commissioner Adam Silver serve up similar demos in recent years that never actually seem to make it to market.

Even if Vision Pro looks like the world’s coolest ski goggles, will that make watching a movie inside a bulky headset any less cumbersome? Or make trying the co-viewing watch party mode these devices everyone thought for one hot minute during the pandemic would popularize?

I understand that Vision Pro is not the fully realized incarnation of what this product could one day be. But I also understand that there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed in marketing, and it’s between what a product can actually do at launch and what is really just pie in the sky. Go a little too far to entrance the customer and you’ve overpromised/underdelivered.

Disney and Apple are continuing down a path that has been so thoroughly scorched by innovative but impractical experiments that never seem quite ready for primetime that it’s hard to get enthusiastic about sampling the next one, particularly when it comes to strapping anything to your head. Google Glass and 3DTV also bear some blame here, but we still have yet to mention the biggest offender on this front.

That would be Meta, which found out the hard way how difficult it can be to realize the promise of a sizzle reel that goes way too far. Think back to 2019 when Mark Zuckerberg first unveiled the Facebook Horizon VR social platform.

Fast-forward four years, and the metaverse his company has spent billions to bring to life has been a disaster. While a few too many shortsighted critics are prematurely dancing on Horizon’s grave, it is fair to say the company may have been better served not overpromising.

Apple has clearly been on the mind of Zuckerberg, who conveniently timed the unveiling of the latest incarnation of Meta’s own handset, Quest 3, to a presentation of his own last week with more than a few nods toward the mixed-reality approach Vision Pro was expected to employ. One can only imagine what Zuckerberg thought of the Disney portion of the Apple showcase given Quest’s own flirtations with Hollywood have never gotten buy-in from the likes of Iger.

Who knows, maybe David Zaslav or Shari Redstone sense an opening here and are furiously trying to get Zuckerberg on the phone as we speak?

Iger understands the risk he takes when a mogul of his stature shills as a sidekick pitchman for Cook, lending his gravitas to the latest doohickey du jour coming out of Cupertino. But Iger is a longtime Apple polisher, and for good reason: You can argue that nothing has burnished this man’s mystique more than his close association with Apple going back to the Steve Jobs era.

When Jobs first introduced iTunes, it was Disney that struck first among the content companies to get its TV shows and movies on the platform. Planting his flag first in Vision Pro is right out of the same Iger playbook.

But don’t forget how early hype eventually gave way to sobering reality for iTunes: The download-to-own $1.99-per-episode offering Apple tried to make the model for the digital distribution of entertainment was eventually vaporized by Netflix’s all-you-can-watch rental buffet alternative. Iger sprinkling Disney pixie dust on that launch didn’t ultimately matter.

Nearly 10 years ago, when Zuckerberg first unveiled the device previously known as Oculus Rift without much fanfare focused on its implications for entertainment, I nevertheless wrote a commentary breathlessly titled, “Oculus Rift Just Put Facebook in the Movie Business.”

Thankfully, I also had the good sense to label the article with a more cautionary hedge anchored by a very well chosen parenthetical: “Virtual reality headsets pose (very) long-term threat to the theatrical business.”

A decade later, I don’t regret going out on that limb, because I still do believe these headsets will eventually become an entertainment medium in their own right. And even as I wouldn’t be surprised if it took another 10 years for Apple and Disney to get even closer to that goal, my faith isn’t even shaken by the overcaffeinated marketing that does the companies that employ it a disservice.

This time around, though, I’ll be very, very, very cautiously optimistic.
 
The Next Big Thing. Likely the reason DIS popped 2 points yesterday PM, and is up a point or so today. Maybe this will replace watching TV or movies, but it will never ever replace human face-to-face interaction. Human animals are hard wired that way ever since the dawn of mankind.
 
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/b...ators-hulu-shows-disappear-remove-1235508084/

Disney Creators Vent Over Disappearing Film and TV Shows On Streaming

As the company takes a $1.5 billion write-down from shedding more than 70 projects on Disney+ and Hulu, creatives bemoan lack of transparency: "It's a whole climate of devaluing."
June 6, 2023 9:57am PDT
By Ryan Gajewski

Eliza Skinner had no idea that her Disney+ series Earth to Ned would be permanently taken off the platform until a text on the show’s writer group chat in mid-May shared an article about Disney removing more than 70 films and series from its streaming services that month. Among the disappearing titles was the comedic talk show — which launched in 2020 with Skinner as head writer — centering on an alien welcoming celebrities to his spaceship.

Due to its classification as a streaming variety series, Skinner says the writers and performers weren’t receiving residuals, although the show’s team had heard rumors blaming Disney’s tax bill. But while her loss isn’t a financial one, Earth to Ned can no longer serve as a calling card to help land future gigs for Skinner, who also doesn’t own a physical copy of the show.

“It’s part of this overall mindset of the value of art and creativity that like, ‘Wow, you spent all this time on this, then you at least deserve a phone call,'” Skinner, who has been picketing with fellow Writers Guild members, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “You at least deserve to understand a little bit what’s happening with your work. But it’s a whole climate of devaluing.”

During a May 10 earnings call, Disney CFO Christine McCarthy announced that it would be “removing certain content from streaming platforms.” The company, which has been undergoing rolling layoffs, disclosed in a securities filing on June 2 that it would take a $1.5 billion write-down from the axed programming. More content is expected to disappear in the third quarter.

“I would certainly just be curious to know more about what influenced the decision,” says filmmaker Ashley Avis, whose 2020 Disney+ feature, Black Beauty, which adapted the classic novel and featured the voice of Kate Winslet, was part of the exodus. “It’s tough as an artist to try to know where to navigate.”

Among the titles permanently pulled May 26 from Disney-owned platforms Disney+ and Hulu were a mixture of shows ranging from Y: The Last Man, Dollface and The Mysterious Benedict Society to series based on the films Willow, Mighty Ducks and Turner & Hooch. Also gone are such features as Kenneth Branagh’s Artemis Fowl and last year’s Cheaper by the Dozen remake.

Phoebe Robinson, star and creator of comedy series Everything’s Trash, which debuted on Freeform in July, was similarly not notified that it would be delisted from Hulu, which she quips is “not the way I would have handled it.” Robinson laments that the show wasn’t given more time to find an audience, especially considering the voices it was aiming to amplify. “It’s quite curious that at a time when TV shows are, at a somewhat glacial pace, becoming more inclusive in front of and behind the scenes, there is suddenly no money left,” notes the 2 Dope Queens alum. “We out here, worked hard to develop our skill sets, got in the room — and now there’s no coins?”
But Disney appears to be following a playbook of other large media companies that are belt-tightening. In January, Warner Bros. Discovery signed deals with Roku and Tubi to feature some of its content — including Westworld, The Time Traveler’s Wife and FBoy Island — after WBD announced late last year that it would be pulling those and other titles to license bundles of its shows to free, ad-supported television platforms. In January, Showtime made a move to trim short-lived original series as Kidding, Super Pumped and American Rust from the Paramount Global-backed cable channel’s streaming platform.

If providing an infinite home for an endless array of titles had appeared at one point to be part of the allure of the streaming era, devoid of the constraints inherent to linear TV channels, the bloom may be off the rose. “This is bad, both for the creators and potentially for the platform,” says Michael D. Smith, professor of information technology and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University, and author of Streaming, Sharing, Stealing. “Streaming platforms should be able to direct people to the right content.”

Although Disney hasn’t announced a deal to license the jettisoned titles to FAST platforms, experts expect media companies with vast libraries to continue to see the promise of these channels. Tim Hanlon, CEO of media consultancy Vertere Group and a previous consultant for FAST service Pluto TV, envisions a world in which, say, Amazon’s recently concluded The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ends up on such a platform in the future: “Logic would dictate that it’s time to figure out how to further monetize that show, now that its first run is done.”

For creators, having their work disappear is only the latest in a running list of reasons why streaming projects bring frustrations. “All things being equal, most people would prefer to work on a network or cable show as opposed to a streaming show because the rates are better, and you’re more likely to see residuals,” says Nick Wiger, an Earth to Ned writer whose credits include both cable and streaming. “But in terms of jobs that are offered, it’s like, ‘I got this streaming job, or I could not work,’ and that’s a calculation a lot of people are making.”

Creators say they’re open to tackling the kinds of projects that studios perceive as valuable, but that remains easier said than done, due to the lack of transparency regarding not only why certain titles were shed but just general viewership intel. Smith also notes the fragmentation inherent with FAST platforms, leading to a lack of widespread user data to inform ad selection.

According to Skinner, creatives have been led to believe that working with celebrities or proven IP is a way for projects to get attention, but the fact that Disney recently cut titles in both categories perpetuates the lack of clarity. “We have no idea how to plan ahead in any direction because it’s very hard to tell what’s going on,” she says. “If you go into a museum, no one says, ‘People don’t stop at this painting for very long anymore — let’s throw it in the trash.’ Or if you did, we would all have to assume, ‘Well, that painting is worthless.'”
 
WBD popped 4% today, anyone see any news that would have caused this? Other than a few minor analyst updates, I don't see anything.
 

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