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Irish Film Scene Fights Back with Tax Incentives

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 It’s been a year for competitive tax incentives, as both states and countries seek to compete with the “classic” choices and get themselves a share of the entertainment industry’s budgets and spending. Now Ireland is joining the fray. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney  at Blake & Wang P.A., analyzes this latest competitor on the tax incentive scene.                                                                          Brandon Blake Boosting Homegrown Talent Dublin will introduce a 40% tax incentive for its 2025 budget. Interestingly, this incentive is aimed at mid-range and lower-budget films with a maximum budget of $22M (€20M) and will need a significant management presence from Irish talent. This would boost the existing Section 481 film tax incentive by roughly 8%. The broader Irish film scene has been buzzing of late, with Small Things Like These featured on the Berlinale and Kneecap taking home the Berlin Film Festival’s Audience Award and Sundance awards. It’s curren
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New Joker Movie Gains Chinese Release Date

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  Joker: Folie à Deux has managed to net itself a Chinese release date, which is still notably difficult for many newer Hollywood properties to leverage in the post-pandemic entertainment environment. This new development is, perhaps, most notable because the original Joker movie itself was never launched on Chinese shores. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A., has the full details for us.                                                                          Brandon Blake October Release The movie will open in Chinese cinemas on October 16, two weeks after its widespread release date, shortly after the so-called Golden Week for that market. The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, made its global debut at the Venice Film Festival, earning a 12-minute standing ovation. It's slated for an international rollout starting October 2, with a US release on October 4. What is particularly surprising about the announcement is that the film has an
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Are Wide “Specialized Releases” Becoming the New Norm?

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 Traditionally, the film industry saw appealing popular fare head to a default wide release, while more specialized, genre, and indie projects would seek out only limited runs. This dynamic seems to be shifting fast in Hollywood as we see more and more “specialty” projects conquer wide-release models. Industry expert from Blake & Wang P.A., entertainment attorney Brandon Blake, gives us some insight into this new development.                                                                                Brandon Blake A Year of Wide Releases In 2024 alone, we’ve seen Megalopolis , Conclave , The Apprentice , and now also The Substance opt for wide releases, even on short runs. Previously, these would have seen a Los Angeles and New York debut at best. In the case of The Substance , this is also a first for a niche streamer, MUBI. Its widest release before the nearly 2k screen debut for The Substance was Passages , which played in 114 theaters.   This shift to broad re
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It Ends with Us Takes Its Own Box Office Milestone

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  In a year packed with box office milestones, another has fallen—this time, from a much unexpected source. The “little film that could,” It Ends with Us , has set its footprint in the record books. Our best entertainment attorney in Los Angeles from Blake & Wang P.A., Brandon Blake, has the happy news to share.   Brandon Blake Top-Grossing Romantic Drama It Ends with Us is now the top-performing romantic drama since the 2018 edition of A Star Is Born . With its total global ticket sales now sitting at a hair under $310M, it may even unseat the latter film’s global total if it continues to hold strong. This puts the film ahead of films such as Crazy Rich Asians, The Fault in Our Stars, and Anyone but You . Sony’s latest push into attracting more female demographics to its movies seems to be paying off for them. A Social Success? Some of this success can possibly be attributed to its remarkable quirk of timing. Releasing shortly after a much-anticipated blockbuster lik
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Toronto Film Festival Announces Plans for Official Market in 2026

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 The Toronto International Film Festival, finishing off a heady and booming 2024/25 market, has unveiled plans to launch its first-ever formal content market in 2026 alongside its traditional film festival program. This development marks a significant shift for TIFF, which has previously operated without an official bazaar for buyers and sellers. Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer at Blake & Wang P.A., has the exciting news for us.                                                                          Brandon Blake Broadened Offerings In a story that broke late last week, TIFF’s chief programming officer, Anita Lee, announced the festival’s intention to diversify its offerings and establish itself as a robust platform for launching and marketing films and facilitating their buying and selling. This is quite a change from older TIFF iterations. The new market aims to create opportunities for international companies, national promotion agencies, and emerging producers to part
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Paramount: New Questions And The Old Merger

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 While the last-minute counter bid for Paramount Global has been withdrawn, leaving the proposed merger with Skydance Media (almost) guaranteed, plenty of challenges remain for the beleaguered Hollywood stalwart. Brandon Blake, our entertainment lawyer in the know from Blake & Wang P.A., has another update on Paramount’s turbulent journey to new ownership. Particularly, what this will mean for the Paramount+ platform.                                                  Brandon Blake The Streaming Question While Paramount+ has achieved a small profit in the direct-to-consumer unit and is projected to reach profitability for the full fiscal year 2025, the company is still exploring strategic options for the 68-million-subscriber service. Potential partners have reportedly expressed interest in joint streaming ventures. Skydance Media, now poised to acquire Paramount, remains optimistic about Paramount+’s long-term prospects but seems reluctant to discuss Paramount’s streaming f
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A New Shakeup in the Hollywood Landscape as Two Key Management Firms Merge

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 In what we can only sincerely hope will be a far smoother merger process than that which has faced the beleaguered Paramount Global Group, two major Hollywood business management firms are set to merge into a new, expanded entity. Blake & Wang P.A. You could see an  entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, Brandon Blake, shares the news.                                                                 Brandon Blake New Deal, Few Details Hollywood business management stalwarts Goldman & Knell will merge with their rival firm, Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman, in another shakeup to the established landscape. While Focus Financial Partners unveiled the deal itself last week, we have yet to be introduced to many of the details. Goldman & Knell, particularly, have a reputation for providing investment advice and industry planning to key Hollywood businesses, including advice on navigating the rocky field of work stoppages we’ve seen in recent years. Fast Close Interestin
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