Hollywood Week: Disneyland Expands, Participant Shutters Shop, Streaming Wars

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Category: Entertainment News
Published on Saturday, 20 April 2024 13:56
Written by Janet Walker

Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger alluded to the Disneyland expansion during the recent shareholders meeting and the city of Anaheim made it official paving the way for the biggest expansion to the amusement park in thirty years.

When asked, in a previously vetted question, "how is Disney striving to restore the perks service level and details that truly make a Disney theme park experience special?" Iger responded, "We also recently shared a breakdown of how we plan to spend $60 billion in the next 10 years as part of our plans for turbocharging growth in our experiences business."

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He further explained, "And while about 70% is focused on capacity expanding investments like bringing new lands and creating new attractions adding new characters and bringing shows to life the remaining approximately 30% is focused on the technology and the maintenance needed to do exactly what you're talking about in terms of maintaining a top quality guest experience let me conclude just by saying that we agree our parks are special places and they continue to be a top priority for us."

So as the Anaheim City Council overwhelming approved Disney expansion plans, Disneyland, which is already a must-see destination for visitors and Californians alike, will be expanded to be more than simply an amusement park, it will be an experience.

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Streaming Wars Heat Up

Streaming giant Netflix announced this week it had added more than 9million new subscribers as it battles with Disney+ for the greatest market share of global subscribers.

"The company now has 269.6 million global subscribers. The company said in its quarterly letter that it will stop reporting subscriber numbers and average revenue per member beginning in the first quarter of 2025," reported The Hollywood Reporter.

As the streaming wars continue, Disney is looking to dethrone Netflix and take over the title of King of Streaming as Iger explained in the recent shareholder meeting as the mouse house recently added Hulu to their Disney plus platform.

"We're on the right path. There's certainly competition in the industry fragments today but we like our hand with Disney plus and ESPN plus and with their combined power I think Disney has a real chance to become the ultimate streaming destination for consumers," said Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger.

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Participant Media Closes

Documentary friendly distributor Participant Media, owned by tech billionaire Jeff Skoll, announced this week that it was closing its doors, a victim of the ever-changing Hollywood content creation landscape.

Participant Media, like most small distributors and funders, experienced a seismic shift due to the pandemic that forced closures across the board and forced many into an immediate restructuring mode, and forced the hard choices including continue to operate.

Skoll who has recently had health issues, also had in-house tragedies, "The departure of two key executives, [Jonathan] King, who left in 2019, and documentary champion Diane Weyermann, who died of cancer in 2021, had a profound impact on Skoll and affected the direction of the company, multiple sources say. "Diane was a pillar at the company, and her personal ethos shaped it. Her death was a horrible, horrible loss," says one industry source. That their absences came as the COVID-19 pandemic was rocking the industry only contributed to the sense that Participant was adrift," reported The Hollywood Reporter.

Participant's executives seemed to have an ability to pick slates that tapped into an lost humanity, an almost nostalgic time when people actually felt compelled toward creating a better existence. Among the company's most memorable titles are Green Book, which took the Oscar for Best Picture, the documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which also won an Academy Award. Other films in association or funded by Participant include Roma, Deep Water Horizon, The Help, Good Night Good Luck, and Spotlight, which also won an Academy Award.

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