Skydance Media has finalized a significant deal with Paramount Global, ushering in a new era for the companies. David Ellison, Skydance’s founder, will become chairman and CEO of the expanded Paramount, while former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell will serve as president. Shari Redstone emphasized her father Sumner Redstone’s vision that "content was king" when he acquired Viacom in 1987. “We want to fortify Paramount for the future while ensuring that content remains king," she stated. Redstone expressed confidence in Skydance’s [...]

A24, the independent studio renowned for its arthouse cinema, Oscar-nominated films, and high-quality horror movies, has seen its valuation surge to an impressive $3.5 billion after a fresh injection of capital. This new funding round, spearheaded by venture capital giant Thrive Capital, marks a significant milestone in the studio's financial growth. While A24 has not disclosed the specific amount raised in this latest funding effort, a source familiar with the details, who requested anonymity due to the confidentiality of the [...]

After the 2023 Hollywood strikes, actors and writers are fighting to keep their health insurance amid industry slowdowns. Many face challenges meeting earnings or workday requirements for their union health plans. Actor Miki Yamashita, known for Cobra Kai and The Lion Guard, needs surgery for non-cancerous tumors diagnosed in April. To qualify for her union’s health insurance by June 30, she had to overcome limited work opportunities during the SAG-AFTRA strike. By mid-June, she was $12,000 short of the threshold. [...]

YouTube, renowned for pioneering user-generated content, has expanded its dominance from online platforms to TV screens. According to Nielsen's The Gauge report for May, YouTube captured 9.7% of all U.S. TV viewership, surpassing Netflix's 7.6%. This significant shift is prompting media giants like Netflix, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery to reassess their strategies in an increasingly digital-first landscape. Rich Greenfield, a media analyst at LightShed, emphasized YouTube's impact, stating, "Imagine YouTube on the biggest screen in the house, the TV. [...]

The big new character in Pixar’s Inside Out 2 is Anxiety, which makes sense, given how much pressure was being loaded onto the film before its release. In a Time feature, Pixar’s creative head and director of the first movie, Pete Docter, candidly admitted: “If this doesn’t do well at the theater, I think it just means we’re going to have to think even more radically about how we run our business.” Hollywood at large—the executives, producers, financiers, and other [...]

Pirates abound on the internet, with illegal streaming sites offering a stolen lineup of TV shows and movies larger than the combined catalogs of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon’s Prime Video. These operations are becoming increasingly sophisticated, moving overseas and taking advantage of the rising popularity of streaming to steal more content. In response, entertainment companies—under pressure from Wall Street—are striving to catch up. Hollywood is hopeful that shutting down these illegal sites could attract new customers to legitimate services. On [...]