Latest Business News
Disney’s Legal Woes Mount As Exec Notes “Pay Equity Nightmare” in Unsealed Court Docs
In 2014, Nancy Dolan — manager of creative music marketing at Disney — was denied a promotion to director over the objections of her supervisor, president of music Mitchell Leib, who said she was “worth her weight in gold.” He urged higher-ups to reconsider the decision. “Nancy back-filled and took over the entire position of […]
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‘Green Book’ Writer’s $34M New Movie Production Sued By IATSE Over Alleged Unpaid Crew
The producers of That’s Amore ran out of money and skipped town without paying $570,000 in wages to dozens of workers while continuing to incur costly expenses to promote the movie, according to a complaint filed against the production. In a lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on Dec. 8, IATSE says that it […]
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‘I Am a Voter’ Co-Founder Mandana Dayani Signs With CAA (Exclusive)
Human rights activist and business leader Mandana Dayani has signed with CAA. Dayani created and founded along with CAA I am a voter., a nonpartisan organization looking to boost civic engagement. More recently, she served as president of Archewell, the Los Angeles-based production, audio and philanthropic company founded by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Archewell […]
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“For Sale” Sign on Paramount Will Shape Shari Redstone’s Legacy
The entertainment company that everyone in Hollywood is talking about is based in a nondescript three-story office building in the Boston suburb of Norwood, Massachusetts. Nestled between an indoor ice-skating rink and a Home Depot distribution center is the headquarters of National Amusements, Inc., a movie theater operator with 22 cinemas in the U.S., almost […]
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Sports Rights Arms Race Reshapes the Streaming Wars
To understand the connection between sports and streaming video, consider this: Amazon’s $1 billion per year deal to stream Thursday Night Football is literally changing U.S. internet habits. Comcast president Mike Cavanagh, speaking Dec. 4 at a UBS conference, said Amazon’s TNF game “comprises roughly 25 percent of all internet traffic on Thursday nights” and that it single-handedly […]
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RTL Group Sells Dutch TV Operation to DPG Media for $1.2B
RTL Group has signed a deal valued at $1.2 billion (1.1 billion euros) to sell its Dutch television operation RTL Nederland to European group DPG Media. The deal comes after Dutch authorities blocked RTL’s original plans to merge its Dutch TV operations with Talpa Networks, the TV group controlled by TV mogul and The Voice […]
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20th TV Head of Production Nissa Diederich to Depart
Nissa Diederich, executive vp production at 20th Television, is stepping down from her post. Diederich will leave 20th after more than two decades at the Fox-turned-Disney studio. She has been in her current job for two-plus years after taking over for Jim Sharp in 2021. Prior to that, she was executive vp production at Touchstone […]
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Bob Iger’s Disney Self-Evaluation Revealed in Pay Discrimination Fight
In 2019, Disney just couldn’t miss. The company’s stock had catapulted to a then-all time high off the back of Disney+’s debut, the acquisitions of 21st Century Fox and operating control of Hulu, and a record year at the box office led by Avengers: Endgame. The board thought Bob Iger had a fantastic year stewarding […]
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Klutch Sports Acquires Rep 1 Baseball Agency
UTA and its strategic partner Klutch continues to be active in the M&A space. The talent agency’s strategic partner Klutch Sports has acquired Rep 1 Baseball, a full service sports representation agency focused on professional baseball players. Klutch will form a new division, Klutch Baseball, which will be led by Chris Koras, the current CEO […]
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Disney Activist Fight Escalates as Nelson Peltz Nominates Former CFO Jay Rasulo for a Board Seat
Disney’s former CFO is now part of Trian’s proxy fight with the entertainment giant. Jay Rasulo, who was once seen as one of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s heirs apparent at the company, has been nominated for a seat on the company’s board by Trian Partners. As expected, Trian also nominated its founder Nelson Peltz for […]
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Endeavor Invests In Chess Website As WME Aims to Build Business
WME has signed Chess.com, which bills itself as the world’s largest online platform for the game. As part of the signing, the entertainment agency will work with Chess.com to expand the popularity of chess across digital media, fashion, film, food, music, sports, television and theater. The goal is to develop non-scripted content, including documentaries, build “celebrity-centric […]
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Super Bowl Goes to Los Angeles In 2027
The Super Bowl is returning to Los Angeles. The NFL says that Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium will host the 2027 Super Bowl, a move that will make L.A. the center of the sports universe for the second half of the 2020s. The 2027 Super Bowl will be broadcast by ABC and ESPN, the first time the […]
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CAA Promotes Two to Executive, 14 to Agents
Major talent agency giant CAA has promoted 16 rising employees to agent or executives. Khalil Roberts becomes an executive in the agency’s book department after he joined CAA in 2019 as a receptionist, and most recently served as a coordinator. And London-based Sarah Phillips, who also joined the agency in 2019, has been upped to […]
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WWE-Major League Wrestling Antitrust Face-Off Ends In Settlement
WWE has settled a lawsuit brought by a rival accusing it of monopolizing the professional wrestling media market. In a joint filing, lawyers for the company and Major League Wrestling on Monday notified the court of a deal resolving the case. Details weren’t disclosed. The suit, filed last year, accused WWE of “unlawfully interfering with […]
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More Media Megadeals in 2024? Top Accounting Firm Thinks It’s a Good Bet
This year saw a slowdown in terms of media and telecommunications sector dealmaking, but there are signs of a recovery in M&A activity, top accounting and consulting services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a Wednesday report. Deal talk has returned to the sector with a vengeance, driven by recent talk that Paramount Global and its parent […]
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“You Pay to Play”: A Major Showdown Over Funding Streaming TV and Movies Is Underway in Canada
U.S. streaming giants were already in an uncomfortable position after Canada reined them in with first-time spending obligations to support the production of homegrown movies and TV series. But as 2023 ends, the country’s TV and telecom regulator is at odds with American streamers over how much cash they are now obligated to fork over […]
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