Hollywood Week: Paramount Presses Pause, Nicole Brown Simpson Doc, AFI’s Jan Hagg Dies

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Category: Entertainment News
Published on Saturday, 04 May 2024 10:49
Written by Janet Walker

Paramount Chief Shari Redstone has allegedly backed away from two major offers including a $26billion offer from Sony Pictures and David Ellison's Skydance, fueled by Oracle's Larry Ellison, that would have taken control of Redstone's National Amusements.

"Paramount (No 134 of the Fortune 500) announced on Monday that Bob Bakish, president, and CEO, would be stepping down as CEO and from the board of directors, effective immediately. The media giant now has an "Office of the CEO" comprised of three senior company executives: George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS; Chris McCarthy, president and CEO Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, and Brian Robbins, president and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon," Fortune reported.

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The shakeup, if industry rumor is correct is due to Bakish's allegedly less than enthusiastic reception toward the Skydance deal. The exclusive bidding window between Ellison and Paramount expired at midnight Friday, May 3.

It's doubtful that the recent midnight deadline will be the last offer from Ellison and his Skydance Production house, which has produced a string of box office winners including the recent Tom Cruise Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1, and who can tap into the unlimited resource available through Larry Ellison.

The all-cash deal from Sony Pictures and private equity giant Apollo, valued at $26 billion, is also on the table, although it seems unlikely that Redstone will accept the deal.

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Will Paramount Expand Streaming

To calm investors Redstone is reportedly considering a streaming deal with NBCUniversal's Peacock which would add a third streaming vehicle to the Paramount Plus/Showtime streaming options. The deal will not dethrone Netflix, the reigning king of streaming, but will position itself as a strong competitor in the tiered streaming structure of options.

"Depending on your region, you could subscribe to one of the "Big Five" American streaming giants (i.e. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Max, or Disney+). Other streaming platforms are more popular than the Big Five in certain regions. Case in point: Disney+ Hotstar is India's most popular streaming platform. In fact, India is one of the major media markets that Netflix has struggled to dominate," reported A Good Movie to Watch.com

Just as Google will undoubtedly remain number one in search, in perpetuity, all other search options fight for a strong second.

The streaming wars have an identical structure with Netflix remaining number one with more than 270million global subscribers, Disney plus and the Disney options, are a distant second, although after the recent shareholder meeting it became clear that CEO Bob Iger would be structing the Disney streaming options to be a strong competitor and challenger to Netflix to reach the same level of subscribers.

For the remaining U.S. based streamers, the world of subscribers remains open, uncommitted, or married to a single source for their video content. And for the Big Five and those muscling their way into the top ten, the global options are propelled by content.

For now, the sale of Paramount Global is paused, even as the committee continues to explore sale options.

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Nicole Brown Simpson Doc Set to Air

A four-part limited series on Nicole Brown Simpson, who was viciously murdered, alongside a good Samaritan, Ron Goldman, allegedly by her former husband, disgraced gridiron great O.J. Simpson, is set to air in June, on A&E Networks.

"The ex-wife of O.J. Simpson who was found murdered in 1994 outside her Brentwood condominium. Simpson was famously accused and acquitted of her murder, as well as the murder of Ron Goldman. The fallen football star was later found liable for both of their deaths in a 1997 civil lawsuit," reported The Hollywood Reporter.

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Jan Hagg, Founder of AFI Director's Workshop for Women, Dies

American Film Institute announced this week that Jan Hagg, the founder of the AFI Director's Workshop for Women, died. She was 90.

"She joined the AFI staff in 1971, and among her duties was to administer the nonprofit's film grant program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Three years later, with $35,000 in start-up funds from the Rockefeller Foundation, Haag launched the Directing Workshop for Women with help from Tony Vellani, Joan Didion, Mathilde Krim, Eleanor Perry and others," reported The Hollywood Reporter.

Her contribution to the advancement of female director's is unmatched as the AFI Director's Workshop for Women, which began in 1974, when only three women across forty years, had opportunities to helm productions, continues to graduate award winning directors.

AFI Director's Workshop for Women lists the distinguished DWW alums including Maya Angelou, Anne Bancroft, Neema Barnette, Pippa Bianco, Tessa Blake, Tricia Brock, Ellen Burstyn, Rebecca Cammisa, Dyan Cannon, Hanelle Culpepper, Dime Davis, Jan Eliasberg, Naomi Foner, Jennifer Getzinger, Lyn Goldfarb, Randa Haines, Victoria Hochberg, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Lesli Linka Glatter, Siân Heder, Lynne Littman, Matia Karrell, Maggie Kiley, Nancy Malone, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, Becky Smith, Cicely Tyson and Joanne Woodward.

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