If you love movies, then there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of the Sharknado series. After all, this Syfy franchise about tornados that scoop up hungry sharks probably won’t receive any Oscar nominations in the near future. But while Sharknado may be driven by a silly premise, the making of these movies is serious business. Along with hiring actors and designing sets, the producers must also bring in a crew that is capable of handling everything from setting up Continue reading
Much like the retail industry, Hollywood studios did not particularly enjoy 2017. Ticket sales at the nation’s cineplexes fell by an estimated 4 percent, representing the movie business’s lowest attendance in 22 years. What’s more, experts say those numbers would have been even worse without the help of December blockbusters like the new Star Wars and Jumanji films. But as sales at the traditional box office fell last year, business began booming for the subscription-based ticket service MoviePass.
For Continue reading
For many Americans the holiday season is the perfect time to relax and watch some TV as another long year draws to a close. Of course, one of the most popular genres among viewers in December are Christmas movies, such as Netflix’s recent hit A Christmas Prince. Along with its seasonal appeal, the movie also seems to have a “so bad it’s good” quality that many have found irresistible. In fact, social media users have been buzzing about it Continue reading
This past summer, more than 68,000 video game fans packed the Los Angeles Convention Center for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (known as E3). For years only industry insiders and media representatives were invited to preview the latest titles and technology at this annual occasion. But in 2017 E3’s organizers opened up the convention to the public in order to involve even more people in what many consider to be gaming’s top event.
That is unless you live in Brazil. Next Continue reading
Last week we looked at how Netflix has loaded on debt while developing a new slate of original content. Although the streaming giant is taking a big risk with this strategy, many entertainment industry insiders still think Netflix is in a much stronger position than traditional movie theaters. With attendance down 3 percent from 2016, AMC Entertainment recently downgraded its outlook for the rest of the film industry’s year. The announcement sent theater stocks tumbling and caused the top four Continue reading
In 2007 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike for 100 days, bringing much of the entertainment industry to a halt. The action left tens of thousands of workers idled and reportedly cost the Los Angeles economy $2 billion. The writers eventually reached a deal with Hollywood studios and ended a dire situation that neither side wanted to see happen again.
Ten years later, though, these two groups found themselves at yet another stalemate during Continue reading
For 82 years, the accounting firm PwC (formerly PricewaterhouseCooper) has tallied the votes and handed out the envelopes at the Academy Awards. Although it’s not the company’s most lucrative contract, the Oscars are nevertheless one of the crown jewels of PwC’s clientele. Not only does the awards show give the firm a marketing boost, but it also acts as evidence for PwC’s ability to handle situations in the spotlight smoothly.
But as anyone who watched Sunday night’s broadcast knows, that Continue reading
In recent years Hollywood has watched its dominance over entertainment decline as new forms of media like streaming video become more and more popular. As a result, today’s movie studios don’t take many risks when they’re planning the next crop of summer blockbusters. That’s why remakes and sequels appear so often now in multiplexes: Hollywood hopes that the public’s previous knowledge will encourage them to buy tickets to familiar franchises.
This plan didn’t exactly work in the summer of 2016, Continue reading