John Lasseter is sort of over at Pixar
One of the biggest surprises in the long list of executives and talent that where outed by the #MeToo movement was Pixar and Walt Disney Studios chief creative officer John Lasseter. The Oscar winner who directed the first two “Toy Story” films and has generally been given a majority of the credit for turning around Walt Disney Animated Studios over the past decade. What the public was unaware of were accusations of inappropriate behavior over the years that many would constitute as sexual harassment. oth Variety and The Hollywood Reporter were working on stories about Lasseter, but Disney got ahead of them and announced he was taking a “leave of absence” before they published. In a statement he said he would take a six-month sabbatical to tackle “missteps” he’s made with employees. Whether Lasseter actually returns to his former position in 2018 is unclear.
FCC votes to remove Net Neutrality rules
It may not affect you tomorrow. It may not affect you next month. But it’s likely the FCC’s decision to remove the Obama-era Net Neutrality rules will affect how you consume entertainment in the not so distant future. The change means your cable provider or wireless provider can implement new pricing structures that could charge your more for different aps or, more importantly, streaming services. You may get charged a higher fee to use Netflix or Hulu. Streaming HBO GO may cost you more than just having a traditional HBO subscription. Using social apps such as Tindr, Instagram or Facebook could cost more. There are lawsuits trying to reverse the decision in court and there are rumors of some bipartisan agreement to pass something in Congress, but Trump has already made his support for dropping the rules on record. Oh, and there are already providers planning rate hikes for 2018.
Jeffrey Tambor is and then isn’t done with “Transparent”
The most unsuspecting subject of Hollywood’s shocking sexual harassment claims was against “Transparent” star Jeffrey Tambor. The actor won an Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe for playing a 70-ish transgender woman who transitions late in life on the groundbreaking Amazon series. On Nov. 8, just two months from the launch of season 4, Tambor was accused of inappropriate behavior by both his former assistant and later by a show regular, actress Trace Lysette. Tambor seemingly made his intention to withdraw from the show’s fifth season on Nov. 19. The problem, however, is that as of early December Amazon had not continued its investigation and Tambor was still under contract. Tambor’s representative noted, “No final decision for next year has been made, either by Jeffrey or by Amazon.” Show creator Jill Solloway has gone silent and it appears the year will end with no resolution to what has seemingly turned into a legal mess.
Hulu makes its move with “Handmaid’s Tale”
Until this year, Hulu wasn’t considered by many in the industry as in the same league as streaming services Netflix and Amazon or prestige content creators such as HBO, FX or AMC. They had launched shows such as “The Path,” “Difficult People” and aired the last two seasons of “The Mindy Project,” but they never had anything truly buzzworthy. That changed with the critically acclaimed “The Handmaid’s Tale” which won eight Emmy Awards this past September including Outstanding Drama Series, Lead Actress (Elisabeth Moss) and Directing (Reed Morano). Considering Netflix still hasn’t won Emmy’s top category that was a pretty big deal. Moreover, it set the stage for Hulu to launch Stephen King’s “Castle Rock,” produced by J.J. Abrams and “The First,” starring Sean Penn, in 2018. Not only does the industry now see Hulu as a serious competitor on the original content landscape, Disney just took control of it with their acquisition of 20th Century Fox (and the company’s shares) and plan to make it an integral part of their streaming strategy.
The summer downturn which didn’t destroy the year’s box office
By the end of June members of the media and studio executives were apoplectic over the summer box office results. Movies such as “King Arthur: The Legend Of The Sword,” “Snatched,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” “Alien: Covenant,” “Baywatch” and “Rough Night” had all been spectacular disappointments at the box office. Every studio had a costly misfire on their books and the prospects for the second half of the summer looked bleak. How would the business ever survive when its usually lucrative summer season was a “relative” bust? Well, thankfully there were three other seasons to make up the slack. The yearly box office won’t hit the record heights of last year’s domestic take ($11.3 billion), but it should be the third highest gross of the decade. As for tickets sold, it’s a slight downturn, but after the holiday season it will be no less than the tickets sold in 2011 and 2014. As for future summers? Perhaps the studios should stop blaming Rotten Tomatoes (a panic move if ever there was one) and concentrate on making better movies because that’s what made moviegoers head to the theater the rest of the year (and realize the R-rated formula needs to be tweaked in the age of Trump).
