INDUSTRY NEWS PRO NEWSLETTER FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2018

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE: BLACK PANTHER NEARS $1 BILLION & LEADS AGAIN
This weekend’s box-office report, including the juggernaut that is Black Panther, followed by A Wrinkle In Time, The Strangers: Prey By Night, Red Sparrow, and Game Night. The full top 10 is here.
Source Article Here: Box Office Mojo
Author: Brad Brevet

 

PET CLONING: “JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOESN’T MEAN THAT YOU SHOULD.”
What cloning a pet costs, the way that it’s done, and why the author suggests the cost of cloning would be better spent on shelter animals.
Source Article Here: WTOP News (Washington)
Author: Jack Pointer

NEW CONTENT THIS MONTH ON: HBO, NETFLIX, HULU, STARZ, AMAZON & MORE
A look at the new shows, returning series, films and current content unveiling at different points this month via premium cable, streaming services, and more.
Source Article Here: Decider
Author: Jade Budowski

NOT JUST KIDS’ STUFF: 1000’S OF HOURS OF NEW CONTENT PLANNED BY NICKELODEON, DISNEY, CARTOON NETWORK
Nickelodeon, alone, has 800 hours of original content planned and here’s a look at where 3 networks are planning to branch out their audience reach with content risks.
Source Article Here: Fierce Cable
Author: Ben Munson

MR. WRONG: THE CON MAN WHO TOOK $1MILLION FROM WOMEN HE MET VIA ONLINE DATING….& HOW THEY TOOK HIM DOWN
“Relationship scams” online is a $220M dollar racket, grossing 6 times the haul from ransomware attacks, phising, and fake charities combined. Here’s the story of a man who financed his fake identity from over a dozen women, and those who worked together to fix it.
Source Article Here: The Atlantic
Author: Rachel Monroe

THE CONTENT REVOLUTION….YOU CAN’T KEEP UP…&WHY THAT’S A GOOD THING!
Here’s my take, first-hand, on the advent of Peak TV and streaming, as well as why it’s good for both the industry and the consumer.
Source Article Here: LinkedIn Pulse
Author: Karl Gibson

 

WHY BREAKING UP HURTS LIKE HELL: THEY’RE LIKE KICKING…..HEROIN?
A look at the way the brain works during the pain of a break-up, the addiction to what seems a lost ideal, and how to succeed beyond it.
Source Article Here: Psychology Today
Author: Guy Winch Ph.D.

 

BRAINWASHING THE CAPTIVE: THE CASE OF PATTY HEARST
The globally striking case of Patty Hearst and how hers was the second case of Stockholm syndrome – hostage identification syndrome – as well as the original case in Sweden that gave it its name
Source Article Here: The Daily Californian
Authors: Kewshwang & Staff Reporting

 

MADONNA’S ‘RAY OF LIGHT’ AT 20
Rolling Stone reflects on the Madonna album that marked a huge shift in musicality for the artist: “..It was still considered exotic to take Madonna seriously for her music, rather than her image. It took Ray of Light to change that.”
Source Article Here: Rolling Stone
Author: Rob Sheffield

FLASH IN THE PAN? HOW THE INTERNET SHUT DOWN VIRAL COMEDY SKETCHES
Just 13 years ago (2005), a comedy sketch could be uploaded to YouTube and change its creators’ lives overnight. Now – in the face of algorithms, changing standards of what makes for a viral share, and the decline of outlets that showcased viral sketch comedy – how do you break out, if at all?
Source Article Here: Wired
Author: Brian Raftery

Industry News Pro Newsletter for Sunday, February 25, 2018

#SCRIPT BUZZ: ‘GET OUT’
Jordan Peele’s debut film, which has grossed over $255M on a $4.5M budget, is the horror film that became a cultural phenomenon and Best Picture nominee. Here’s the Oscar-nominated script.
Source Here: LA Screenwriter
Author: Jordan Peele

US RANKS #19 OUT OF 29 COUNTRIES FOR WORKING WOMEN
The glass ceiling index ranks the best and worst place to be a working woman from 2017 to now, based on 10 indicators, shown in graphs, and where 29 countries fall within.
Source Article Here: The Economist
Authors: The Economist Data Team

“IT’S ALL HAPPENED SO QUICKLY” – THE 11-YEAR RISE OF JOHN OLIVER
From making his bones as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’s correspondent and anchoring Stewart’s chair , now to his eponymous HBO show, a look at how Oliver sees his show, career, and approach with viewers.
Source Article Here: The Guardian       Author: Emma Brockes

“..USE EVERYTHING FROM THE PAST. IF YOU KNOW WHERE YOU COME FROM, IT’S EASIER TO GET TO WHERE YOU’RE GOING.” – QUINCY JONES
Here’s the Quincy Jones interview from this month that went viral for Jones’ blunt takes on everything from Michael Jackson’s “greed” and Marlon Brando’s libido to the state of music today and more.
Source Article Here: Vulture
Author: David Marchese

CATCH UP TV: 14 TV SERIES ENDING IN 2018
From Scandal to Portlandia, a look at the 14 series ending this year, the total episode count, and finale dates.
Source Article Here: Vulture
Author: Devon Ivie

BROADCAST PILOT SEASON REPORT: 2018’s STATS ON DIVERSITY & WOMEN
Are we there yet? Not quite. A comprehensive breakdown on the diversity and female-led stats of the 2018 broadcast pilot offerings.
Source Article Here: Deadline Hollywood
Author: Nellie Andreeva

#OTT BUZZ: A TALE OF  TWO SUBSCRIBER RACES – CBS & HBO
CBS forges ahead in the OTT world, yet not at the level of  HBO’s subscribers. A look at the stand-alone servicesand where the majority of their customers are coming from.
Source Article Here: Madison.com       Author: Adam Levy

WANT TO BREAK INTO TV WRITING? THE LATEST THINGS TO KNOW
Top entertainment execs offer their advice to writers wanting to get into the TV business, including the vital skill of knowing the marketplace beyond a creative silo, how to handle pitch meetings, and more.
Source Article Here: Variety
Author: Danielle Turchiano

Back Together…. & Back In The News Pro Groove!

Hello Subscriber Friend,

This is Karl Gibson and it’s been a while since I posted here; the site was evergreen during the hiatus since curating news and coming across good, deep-dive pieces is one of my passions.
(I tried to leave it looking nice!)

I also did not work any of the news cycles of the last 4 years in any editorial capacity, so the ‘fake news’ nadir is flat-out laughable as a general chant and you won’t find that division here. Listen, there are several unfortunate realities I take issue with privately within my industry – the diversity statistics are, frankly, appalling… I think click-bait/ratings/letting algorithms dictate cacophony and thinking that engineering will replicate editorial standards will take time to realign in the news business. The sooner the better.

Still, journalism is a high-wire profession, it is increasingly dangerous on many levels, and there is the talent who make up the editorial and literary worlds where standards still matter, new voices emerge, familiar voices grow tall, and readership and engagement are the crux of that community.

In 2014, I resigned from my job as Editor of Studio System News. I wrote about it here, That company’s site no longer exists, long after I left. This site was created in 2016 as a passion to continue news discovery and to reconnect with long-held and new subscribers again in real-time.

The 2 years I worked on Studio System News were personally powerful in still meeting and hearing from subscribers all over the world from curating AM and PM newsletters with a very specific, media-savvy audience. It was a great connection and there will be more.  There’s years prior that we go back – from 7 years at The Hollywood Reporter (THR) and a year with the NYT in Hollywood – so we’ve been around each other for a long time. It’s a pleasure to see everyone’s career evolution and creative paths fly. We’re still here!

Shortly after creating this site, I got a job as a metadata coordinator for over 20 film studios. My employer had a newsletter product as well. This newsletter wasn’t a competing product, but I  paused this newsletter on my own to avoid any potential conflicts since I was working on studio assets.

After finishing that season, a studio brought me on as a consultant for 6 weeks and it has now been 15 months.
18 months is the legal consulting limit in CA, so it’s a perfect time to start the newsletter again. There’s no set schedule yet, but I’d like to do one at the end of the week starting very soon!

Thanks for reading, thank you for your support, thanks for your patience. I also appreciate and thank many for the  communications of friendship, moral support and professionalism.

See you soon!
Sincerely,
Karl Gibson   EditorialKarl@gmail.com

 

The Past 48 Hours: March 14, 2016

water drainWhat Water Crisis? Beverly Hills’ Water Wasters Put On Blast: “It’s Not Brain Surgery.”
The Gist: California’s State Water Resources Control Board ordered Beverly Hills residents to reduce usage by 32% compared to 2013 levels. So why isn’t it happening? Now, fines are being handed out in the five figures and some of the A-list water wasters – most blaming “pipe leaks”-  are being publicly named and shamed.
Source Article Here: The Los Angeles Times
Author: Matt Stevens

WI court“These girls are hauntingly real to me, and should be to everyone.” – The Case Behind The “Beware The Slender Man” Documentary
The Gist: An update on the real-life case of two 12 year-old Waukesha, Wisconsin girls who – thinking an Internet meme was real – stabbed a classmate 19 times in the woods, is now an HBO Documentary that premiered at SXSW last Friday. The victim survived the 2014 homicide attempt and it is still in appeal whether the teenagers will be tried as adults.
Source Article Here: Twin Cities
Authors: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Netflix's 'Love'“Sexy” experiences that are anything but; a desire for stability foiled by an inability to make concrete life choices.” – The Millennial Sitcom Trope
The Gist: Girls, Broad City, Love, and Master of None are just some of the millennial sitcoms reflecting the demographics of those “who have had the world’s information at their fingertips for most of their adult lives, and learned to take in conflicting information from different sources at once.” A comparison/contrast is here.
Source Article Here: Vulture
Author: Jenny Jaffe

video screenA Living Testament: Life After Death In Social Media
The Gist: It’s estimated that 8,000 Facebook users die each day and 30 million Facebook users passed away in the first 8 years of the platform. Yet, many accounts are left open to comment and persusal, which can be helpful to future family and generations. Here’s a look at how living databases are progressing in the social media sphere.
Source Article Here: BBC
Author: Brandon Ambrosino

IRS emblemFake IRS Thieves Netting $26.5 Billion: How To Avoid The Latest Scams
The Gist: Scammers posing as IRS agents who ask you for your social security number or any other information have even created alter Caller IDs to mimic the federal agency. The IRS Commissioner: “The IRS won’t be calling you out of the blue asking you to verify your personal tax information or aggressively threatening you to make an immediate payment.”
Source Article Here: Forbes
Author: Kelly Phillips Erb

Zadie SmithZadie Smith’s Top 4 Books Ranked
The Gist: A literary-world favorite since her 2000 debut novel, White Teeth, here’s a look at her Top 4 books, in advance of the Fall 2016 release of her next novel, Swing Time.
Source Article Here: Ebony
Author: Demetria Irwin

The Past 72 Hours: March 12, 2016

kate-del-castillo-la reina del sur“See, I just do things, and I never see the consequences.” – Kate del Castillo On The El Chapo Connection
The Gist: Kate del Castillo was already a working actress in Mexico when she landed a career-catapulting role as fictional drug trafficker Teresa Mendoza in the 63-episode series La Reina del Sur. In 2012 she tweeted to El Chapo and he actually responded. The New Yorker interview with del Castillo at home in Brentwood, The Go-Between, is here in its entirety.
Source Article Here: The New Yorker
Author: Robert Draper

Keith_EmersonKeith Emerson of Emerson, Lake and Palmer: 1944 -2016
The Gist: Keith Emerson was a founder, keyboardist, and one-third of the eponymous progressive rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer, whose 1970 recording of Lucky Man is a classic rock staple and featured Emerson’s Moog synthesizer work. The Santa Monica police department is investigating Emerson’s death at home as a suicide.
Source Article Here: Vulture
Author: Jackson McHenry

Revolving DoorMedia Industry Comings & Goings As of 3/11/16
The Gist: A one-page listing of who’s gone where and who has left (for now). Companies include: The New Yorker, Star Magazine, OK!, Wrap Media, Collab, Prodigy PR, and more.
Source Article Here: Mediabistro

 

 

billfoldsThe 25 Top Paying Jobs In The U.S. Right Now
The Gist: Glassdoor’s list of the 25 highest paying jobs by median salary, as well as how many job openings exist for each title. The list is on one page for ease of viewing.
Source Article Here: Glassdoor
Author: Glassdoor Team

The Vampire DiariesThe CW Renews 11 Shows For 2016-17 Season
The Gist: Jane The Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and The Flash are among the 11 renewed TV shows, including Supernatural, making history for the network as it’s renewed through Season 12.
Source Article Here: Entertainment Weekly
Author: Natalie Abrams

 

Marissa_Mayer#Video Watch: “I was the 7th C.E.O. In 61 Months.” – Charlie Rose Interviews Yahoo’s Marissa Meyer
The Gist: The entire hour-long interview with Yahoo’s C.E.O. and President on mobile growth, declining revenue, talent acquisition, Alibaba, talent flight, activist shareholders, and the work-from-home controversy. Mayer: “We haven’t turned Yahoo around yet.”
Source Article Here: CharlieRose.com

MeerkatThe Fast Rise & Low Simmer of An App: What Happened To Meerkat?
The Gist: Meerkat became the darling of SXWS in 2015 – the live-streaming app that showed real-time tweets in response to content streaming on your smartphone. The media, partnerships, and $14M in funding came fast, but then came Periscope and Facebook Live. CEO Ben Rubin has no regrets, but admits mobile broadcasting isn’t feasible for 99% of users. The story of Meerkat’s year-long glide back to earth is here.
Source Article Here: USA Today
Author: Edward C. Baig