Saturday, August 26, 2023

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 20th to 26th, 2023 - Update #13

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

NETFLIX - From Variety:  Director Sammi Cohen talks about directing Adam Sandler's daughters in the Netflix teen movie, "You're So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Warner Bros. Pictures has moved it big event film, "Dune: Part Two," to 2024.  The sequel to the Oscar-winning "Dune: Part One" is now scheduled to hit theaters March 15, 2024.

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Paramount+'s steaming sequel "Frasier," the sequel to the long-running NBC sitcom, "Frasier" (1993-2004), will beginning streaming with two episodes on October 12, 2023. Afterwards, new episodes will arrive on Thursdays.  The first two episodes of the 10-episode series will also air on CBS on October 17th.

CELEBRITY - From Variety: Grammy-winning recording artist, Britney Spears, says news of her divorce from her husband of 14-months, Sam Asghari, is "nobody's business."  However, she did say that she couldn't take the pain anymore.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 8/18 to 8/20/23 weekend box office is Warner Bros.'s "Blue Beetle" with an estimated take of 25.4 million dollars.

From Here:  A review of "Blue Beetle" by Leroy Douresseaux.

From Deadline:  At the specialty box office (art house), the 20th anniversary re-release of the South Korean film, "Oldboy," grosses 495,000 dollars on 250 screens. It may reach 1 million dollars before the end of its first week back in circulation.

From Here:  This is a nearly seventeen year-old review of "Oldboy" by Leroy Douresseaux.

AMAZON - From Variety:  Amazon has cancelled its series, "A League of Their Own," so it won't have a second and final season.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  American television writer, producer, and director, David Jacobs, has died at the age of 84, Sunday, August 20, 2023.  He was best known for creating the long-running CBS dramas, "Dallas" and its spin-off, "Knots Landing."  He left "Dallas" after its third season in order to focus on "Knots Landing" for the duration of its 14 season fun.  Jacobs received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations - one for his work on the ABC TV movies, "Homefront" (1991) and the subsequent "Homefront" TV series (ABC, 1991-93).

From THR:  American film and television actor, Ron Cephas Jones, has died at the age of 66, Saturday, August 19, 2023.  Jones was best known for his role as "Walter Hill" on the former NBC drama, "This Is Us."  As Walter Hill, Jones received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations.  He won twice in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series" (2018, 2020). Jones also had roles in USA Network's "Mr. Robot," Netflix/Marvel's "Luke Cage," and Apple TV+'s "Truth Be Told," to name a few.

WRITERS/ACTORS STRIKE:

From THR:  As talks with the Writers Guild of America stall, the studio trade association, AMPTP, has retained D.C.-based firm, The Levinson Group, to pursue a fresh messaging strategy.

From Deadline:  Regarding the Hollywood writers strike, the AMPTP (representing the studios) released the details of a proposed labor agreement that it made to the WGA (the Writers Guild) on August 11th.

From Deadline:  A pair of former production assistants-turned-assistant directors have created a nonprofit in hopes of providing financial aid to PAs (production assistants) who’ve been put out of work due to the strike.

From Deadline:  Writers Guild (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) will resume strike talks today, Fri., Aug. 11th.

From Deadline:  Meeting for the first time in more than three months, the Writers Guild and the AMPTP on Friday failed to reach an agreement to resume contract negotiations. The Writers Strike will go on indefinitely.

From Deadline:  Hollywood’s superstars are answering the call from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, donating $1 million or more each to help their fellow performers during the ongoing actors and writers strikes.  Among the big donors are Leonardo DiCaprioMeryl StreepOprah Winfrey, and Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.

From Deadline:  If you are interested, here is a list of the film and TV productions SAG-AFTRA has granted waivers to continue filming.

From Variety:  International superstar, Dwayne Johnson, makes a seven-figure contribution to the "SAG-AFTRA Foundation Relief Fund." Foundation president, actor Courtney B. Vance, says the amount will remain confidential.

From Variety:  Why haven't A-list stars joined the SAG-AFTRA picket line?, asks "Variety."

From Deadline:  Author George R.R. Martin, whose works were the basis for HBO's "Game of Thrones," says the strikes will be long and bitter.

From THR:  Production works at Warner Bros. Animation (66) and at Cartoon Network (22) have gone public with their attempt to unionize via The Animation Guild.

From Variety:  Halted film productions due to the writers and actors strikes are costing each Hollywood studio at least 600,000 dollars per week.

From Variety:  Said at a strike meeting: “Without a transformative change in SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with the AMPTP, the acting profession will no longer be an option for future generations of performers, and actors already working in the industry will need to pursue other careers in order to survive.”

From Deadline:  If you are a "social media influencer" who is NOT  a member of SAG-AFTRA, you can be barred from future membership for promoting a film or television series during the actors' strike.

From Variety:  The SAG/AFTRA strike begins in New York and Los Angeles.  Hollywood actors began striking today, Fri., July 14th.

From Deadline:  The site has the video of the powerful strike speech given by SAG-AFTRA president, Fran Drescher, the actress best known for CBS' former sitcom, "The Nanny."

From Deadline:  Concerning the Hollywood writers strike (via the WGA), the Hollywood Studios (as represented by the AMPTP) is to let the writers go broke before resuming talks deep into the Fall.

From Deadline: SAG-AFTRA is already preparing strike picket signs in case the actors' strike begins next week.

From Deadline:  WGA is picketing the New York City filming location of the 12th series of FX's "American Horror Story" (entitled "Delicate") after series co-creator Ryan Murphy threaten litigation against an east coast strike captain.

From THR:  TV super-producer, Ryan Murphy, in a letter from his attorney to the leadership of the Writers Guild of America, threatened litigation against Warren Leight, an East Coast strike captain and Strike Rules Compliance Committee member who has subsequently forfeited those positions.

From Deadline:  The Hollywood studios via the AMPTP has given Canadian actors a new contract, including a 5 percent raise.

From Deadline:  Writers Strike puts the spotlight back on the challenge from writers for animation productions to be covered by the WGA.

From THR:  Studios won't give writers better pay, and now, are laying off janitors.

From Deadline:  The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has reached a tentative new three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So what does the Writers Guild (WGA), currently on strike and negotiating with the AMPTP, think of that deal.

From Deadline:  Netflix shareholders declined to support the 2023 pay packages of top executives during a non-binding vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.  The vote won't prevent these execs from getting their loot (an total of $166 million), but this is a rare public rebuke.  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has urged shareholders to vote "No" because the pay was "inappropriate" at this time.

From Deadline:  Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav gave the commencement address at Boston University. There he was met with jeers and also chants of "pay your writers" from picketers and from some in the audience.

From Deadline:   President Joe Biden speaks on the Writers Guild of America strike.

From Deadline:  Retaliation! The studios have starting informing writer-producers who have "overall" and "first-look" deals that such deals are being suspended.

From Deadline:  Retaliation!  Prolific HBO creator, David Simon, who is best known for "The Wire," is one of the many writers who have had their overall deals suspended the studios due to the WGA strike.  Simon has been with HBO for 25 years.

From Deadline:  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is on strike.

From Deadline:  Disney, HBO/HBO Max, and CBS have sent letters to showrunners (the TV equivalent of film directors) instructing them to return to work, inspite of the writer's strike.

From Deadline:  The WGA's chief negotiator, Ellen Stutzman, talks about the state of the writers' strike, including the lack of engagement on the part of the strike's other party, AMPTP.

From Deadline:  What went wrong between the WGA and AMPTP? What could they not agree on that led to a strike?

From Deadline:  The site explains the WGA strike: the issues, the stakes, movies and TV shows affected, and how long it might last.

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