Top News:
Thomas Buckley / Bloomberg:
A look at Pixar's missteps since COVID-19: movies were released on Disney+ and key executives departed, leading to a focus on sequels to get back on track — After duds and missteps, the famed animation studio sees Inside Out 2 as key to restoring the magic.
Discussion:
Screen Rant, ComingSoon.net, World of Reel, @brianstorms@mastodon.social and The A.V. Club
Press Gazette:
UK banker Crispin Odey sues the Financial Times for libel over its June 2023 publication of allegations that Odey had sexually assaulted multiple women — Former City banker Crispin Odey is suing the Financial Times for libel after it published allegations that he had sexually assaulted multiple women.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Talking Biz News, Telegraph, London Evening Standard, City A.M. and Financial News
CNBC:
Source: Nelson Peltz has sold his full Disney stake; in April, Peltz' Trian Partners lost a proxy battle after trying to elect Peltz and Jay Rasulo to the board — Activist investor Nelson Peltz has sold his entire stake in Disney, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, The Ankler, New York Times, Axios, 24/7 Wall St., Yahoo Finance, Deadline, The Wrap, Gizmodo, The Hollywood Reporter, Reuters and Variety
Daniel Frankel / Next TV:
Virtual MVPD Philo, which carries 70+ entertainment channels and has 1M+ subscribers, raises prices for its Core tier to $28 per month, and adds AMC+ to Core — Sports-free virtual pay TV service is now streaming 70 channels for $28 a month, but it is tacking on AMC+ for free
Discussion:
The Streamable, Philo blog, @tvgrimreaper, StreamTV Insider, The Desk and Cord Cutters News
Anthony D'Alessandro / Deadline:
Brian Weinstein moves from president and COO of Bad Robot to serving as 3 Arts Entertainment co-CEO and senior adviser to Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer — Former Bad Robot President and COO, Brian Weinstein, is heading over to Lionsgate in what is a dual role: He'll be the Co-CEO …
Peter Beaumont / The Guardian:
A Haaretz journalist reveals Israeli security officials threatened him and blocked his reporting about a Mossad chief's efforts to intimidate an ICC prosecutor — Haaretz journalist was warned of ‘consequences’ if he reported on attempts by Mossad chief to intimidate ex-prosecutor
The Hollywood Reporter:
Reality TV is facing a slowdown as jobs become scarce, budgets get crunched, and executives take fewer risks, coming as a surprise to some industry insiders — Development and production have been sluggish since the strikes, leaving desperate workers in the lurch: “All of a sudden the faucet just turned off.”
Discussion:
Becca Gross on LinkedIn and Steve Katz on LinkedIn
The Citizen Lab:
An investigation finds seven Russian and Belarusian journalists and activists who were targeted and/or infected by Pegasus between August 2020 and January 2023 — Summary — In a joint investigation with Access Now, we found that seven Russian and Belarusian-speaking independent journalists …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Access Now, Committee to Protect …, @Xeniax@mastodon.ml, @citizenlab@mastodon.social and The Guardian
Steven Lee Myers / New York Times:
Researchers: an ex-Florida deputy sheriff who received asylum in Russia is behind a growing network of 160+ fake news sites mimicking US, UK, and French outlets — In 2016, Russia used an army of trolls to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. This year, an American given asylum …
Discussion:
Media Nation, Florida Politics, Sun-Sentinel, The Overspill, @spaceyg, @recordedfuture, @authorpmbarrett, @davidcorndc, @ecgreaves, @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org, Sarah Brandt on LinkedIn, Daniel Volker on LinkedIn, Recorded Future on LinkedIn, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, @briankrebs@infosec.exchange and NewsGuard, more at Techmeme »
Daniel Frankel / Next TV:
A survey of 2,008 US adults who identified themselves as “sports viewers”: 42% are likely to subscribe to Venu Sports, assuming a price point of $35-$40/month — Are legions of youthful consumers ready to sign up for the sports streaming joint venture, regardless of what its price ends up being?
Discussion:
Horowitz Research, Horowitz Research, The Streamable, Media Play News and The Desk
Annie Aguiar / Poynter:
Q&A with Kira Lerner, democracy editor at the Guardian US, on trying to avoid stories that play on people's fears, focusing on service journalism, and more — As the 2024 presidential election approaches, Poynter spoke with The Guardian US's democracy editor about the beat
Discussion:
@kira_lerner and Poynter Institute on LinkedIn
Katie Campione / Deadline:
Sources: writers at iHeart's 100-member podcast unit prepare to strike if a contract deal isn't reached by the end of May; they unionized 2+ years ago — EXCLUSIVE: More than two years after unionizing through the WGA East, the writers at iHeartPodcasts still don't have their first deal with the network.
Discussion:
@iheartpodunion and @iheartpodunion
Sara Fischer / Axios:
The Atlantic and Vox Media sign multiyear licensing and product deals with OpenAI; The Atlantic plans an experimental Atlantic Labs with OpenAI's and other tech — - The Atlantic has been publishing content since 1857. … - Both agreements also allow OpenAI to tap into the respective …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Awful Announcing, Engadget, Vox Media, @stephentotilo, Media Voices, Poynter, Columbia Journalism Review, @vox_union, @xpangler, @emilybell, @nxthompson, @vox_union, The Atlantic, @edmundlee, @pranavdixit, @rafat, @jeffjarvis, @tsuvik, @tomwarren, @nkulw, @edmundlee, @openai, The Hollywood Reporter, VentureBeat, @attackerman.bsky.social, Bloomberg, @WarnerCrocker@mastodon.social, The Verge, @quillmatiq@threads.net, @daveleebbg@threads.net, @kylie.robison@threads.net, @reckless1280@threads.net, @jbillinson@threads.net, The Information, Variety, The Wrap, The Drum, @dandock.bsky.social, @dandock.bsky.social, The Hill and @chrismvasq.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »
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