Hollywood Buzz: June 2023

By Natalie Lifson, Agent Trainee at Buchwald and your co-Editor-in-Chief at THA

THE WRITER'S STRIKE

• A comprehensive, regularly updated timeline of the writers strike available here.

• On 6/30, SAG and AMPTP announced they will extend contract negotiations to July 12th. (Deadline, 6/30). Read about the possible SAG strike that will occur if an agreement can’t be reached: (Deadline, 6/29)

MAJOR NEWS

• SAG and AMPTP extend contract negotiations to July 12th (Deadline, 6/30)

• NBCU announces the launch of 30+ new FAST channels on Amazon Freevee and Xumo Play (Deadline, 6/29)

• Live news is coming to Max; Warner Bros Discovery to add CNN on streaming service (Bloomberg, 6/28)

• California lawmakers passed a bill that outlines new safety regulations for guns on set. This is the first time Film & TV safety regulations have been codified into law in the U.S. (6/27, Deadline)

• Roku will stream Formula E races as part of its first ever live-sports deal (6/27, Variety)

• Paramount+ becomes the new streaming destination of Showtime (Deadline, 6/27). In preparation for this, Paramount+ canceled four shows (Deadline, 6/23)

• Ryan Seacrest replaces Pat Jajak as “Wheel of Fortune” host (Deadline, 6/27)

• The Directors Guild of America signs a contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, after 87% of members voted in favor of the deal (Deadline, 6/23)

• Warner Bros. Discovery is negotiating the sale of $500 Million worth of Film and TV Music Publishing Assets, totaling approximately half of their library (Variety, 6/22)

• Oscars: Academy approves major change to Best Picture eligibility (Deadline, 6/21)

• Ryan Reynold’s production company Maximum Effort launched a new channel on FuboTV with a new original show called “Bedtime Stories with Ryan” (Hollywood Reporter, 6/15)

• Alex Cooper (“Call Her Daddy” podcast host/EP) teams up with Matt Kaplan (ACE Entertainment Founder/CEO) to launch a new, Gen Z-focused production company called Trending (Variety, 6/14)

• The Grammy Awards adds 3 new  categories: Best African Music Performance; Best Pop Dance Recording; and Best Alternative Jazz Album (Grammy.com, 6/13)

• Stephen Colbert renews CBS contract for 3 more years at “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (Hollywood Reporter, 6/13)

• Netflix to enter live-streamed sports with celebrity golf event (WSJ, 6/12)

• Amazon FreeVee announces the launch of 33 new FAST channels from MGM and Warner Bros. Discovery (Hollywood Reporter, 6/12)

• Netflix password crackdown drives U.S. signups to highest levels in four years (Variety, 6/9)

• AMC EVP/CFO, Patrick Connor, states that AMC “overspent” on programming and marketing and will scale back moving forward (The Wrap, 6/8)

• Amazon plans ad tier for Prime Video streaming service (WSJ, 6/7)

• ABC officially named the top broadcaster of entertainment programming this year (Deadline, 6/2)