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Connect Ventures, From the CAA, Adds to Leadership

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 Connect Ventures, the venture capital arm of the CAA, has built out its leadership team further. Brandon Blake, our entertainment attorney from Blake & Wang P.A, tells us more about the change. Brandon Blake Post-Expansion Leadership Connect Ventures was the CAA’s first expansion into venture capital, founded in 2020 as a joint venture with New Enterprise Associates. It works as an investment vehicle, helping to start up and grow early-stage consumer businesses not just for media and entertainment, but also sports, gaming, health and wellness, and e-commerce.   Their team is now joined by both Nicole Quinn and Michael Blank as managing partners, while Adam Friedmann from the CAA joins as a venture partner. He will be their daily lead for both Hollywood talent management and sports representation. NEA Remains New Enterprise Associates remains as a partner, although together with the CAA, this is something of a relaunch of the firm to be a proper new entrant in...
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The Box Office Bounce is Heading Up

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  The box office and its recovery have been a major worry for most entertainment players since the COVID closures contributed to an industry-wide shakeup. Despite some ups and downs, however, the trend has been up, and it should be a good year for theatrical, as Brandon Blake, USA-based entertainment lawyer Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A.                                                                     Brandon Blake Strong Stable Slate   Notably, this will be the very first year after the closures where we have the thing most essential to box office success: a reliable and stable slate with real weight behind it. The early 2020s, obviously, had COVID-linked disruptions to filming, and the box office moved right on to the dual strikes of 2023, further impacting the flow of films. With a full sl...
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Avatar Continues its Box Office Streak

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  With two new releases performing as anticipated, and Avatar still powering up numbers, it’s another good January weekend for the box office. Here’s a look at the last weekend’s box office, from Brandon Blake, USA based entertainment attorney Los Angeles with Blake & Wang P.A.                                                                           Brandon Bake Winning Streak   Avatar: Fire and Ash may bring no surprises with its success, but there’s certainly plenty of victory in its current numbers. Ending the January box office in No. 1 for the fourth weekend in a row, it managed to bring in $21.3M over 3,700 screens. That brings its total cume to date to $342.6M in the US. It’s a little behind the first 2 films, but given the film made it to the coveted $1B mark in just thr...
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Your Oscar Race Round-Up: What’s Looking the Hottest?

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  Award season is progressing full speed ahead, with the buildup to this year’s Oscar ceremony. While it’s always possible for a new upset to derail the awards train, Blake & Wang P.A. review entertainment lawyer Los Angeles in USA, Brandon Blake, looks at the films that have had success so far, and how we might see the converted golden statues awarded this March.                                                                        Brandon Blake   The Last Stretch for Contenders   With the formal awards show set for 16 March this year, we’ve seen a few unexpected contenders issue their own challenge to what looked like a very solid Best Picture lineup late last year.   One to watch: Blue Moon . From the Sony stable, this film has picked up a lot of positive word of mouth,...
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Will The Coming Mergers Impact Sundance?

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With the interesting developments around bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, it’s looking like a complicated festival season. But what will these major shifts among the traditional Hollywood studios mean for the coming film festival season? Brandon Blake, review here entertainment attorney Los Angeles USA with Blake & Wang P.A., offers his thoughts on these changes.                                             Brandon Blake   Upcoming Lineups, Looming Chaos Just ahead of Sundance releasing its 2026 plans, which will be its last year in Park City, we have a very unusual M&A landscape, where a somewhat hostile set of dueling bids has eclipsed the fact that Warner Bros. is heading for new ownership entirely. Warner Bros. has not been a major festival name for some time now. But it’s a chaotic merger (and that’s being kind), and the likelihood of escaping its impact ...
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Versant Will Start the New Year as a New Company

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 In a planned company split that is going far smoother than it is for Warner Bros, Comcast has now shared that Versant will be ready to operate as a standalone company from January. Blake & Wang P.A.one of the top entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, USA, Brandon Blake, unpacks what we know.                                                                           Brandon Blake Board of Directors Approval One of the last hurdles in the planned split of most of their cable TV assets from Comcast proper has now been passed, with Comcast’s board passing approval of the spinoff company. This will happen on Jan 2, after the close of trading in the US.   This split will see many familiar assets move into Versant control, including SyFy, MSNBC, E!, CNBC, the Gold Channel, and Oxygen. Ver...
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The Battle for Warner Bros. Goes to the Second Round

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   It’s time for round 2 of the battle for ownership of Warner Bros Discovery, as it will remain for a few months yet. WBD has asked its potential bidders for a second (sweetened) round of offers this week. Our expert entertainment lawyer from Blake & Wang P.A., Brandon Blake, sums up the status of the deal-making so far.                                                                                                                                       Brandon Blake   Non-Binding Bids, But Little Revealed   Let’s recap what we know to date. The first round of non-binding bids ended in the last weeks of November. Param...
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