Entertainment Lawyers

 It’s that time of the month again- Nielsen’s latest round of streaming ratings are in. It’s always interesting to see what’s hot (and what’s not) on the streaming charts, so Brandon Blake, our entertainment lawyer Los Angeles in the know from Blake & Wang P.A. is here to unpack this week’s top streaming titles.                                                                             Brandon Blake You Remains on Top, but The Four Seasons Has a Strong Start Netflix’s comedy, The Four Seasons , opened on streaming this week, and managed to rack up 1.3B minutes of watch time, even without a full week to attract viewers. This took it straight into second place.   However, it was still beaten out by You for the number 1 spot, which was also the top performer in the prior set...

 Samsung, already a leader in sheer volume for FAST channels, is now introducing a broadcast network-style central platform to anchor its dominance in this growing market. Unveiled at their NewFronts presentation last week, there could be interesting shifts ahead. Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A., takes a closer look.                                                                            Brandon Blake Introducing Samsung Television Network Ambitiously calling it the “broad-FAST channel of the future,” the new FAST “network” will incorporate live sports offerings alongside key library fare such as late-night stalwarts. Letterman himself made an appearance at the NewFronts event to talk more about the show’s new channel.   We’ve seen cons...

  Lionsgate Shareholders Weigh in on Looming Split from Starz As we approach the final formalities in the separation between Lionsgate and its Starz arm, we’ve finally seen regulatory processes close and the split head to shareholders for a final vote. With further details, we have entertainment lawyer Los Angeles , Brandon Blake, at Blake & Wang P.A.                                                                        Brandon Blake Overwhelming Investor Support During a special shareholders meeting last Wednesday, Lionsgate shareholders gave their overwhelming support to the planned split between the two entities. This will see Lionsgate rebrand as Lionsgate Studios Corp, and Starz reformed as Starz Entertainment Corp. Other necessary proxy resolutions, including the new board of director...

 FAST streaming services have become a critical cornerstone of the streaming ecosystem, if an often forgotten one. While Roku holds the crown in the FAST arena, Samsung’s recent advances in the space have certainly created some competition for them— and may have actually claimed the crown. Brandon Blake, our expert entertainment attorney in Los Angeles from Blake & Wang P.A., looks for a winner in the battle of the FAST providers.                                                                           Brandon Blake The Battle of the FAST Platforms Samsung is certainly happy to claim the FAST crown, and with 700 FAST channels now open in the US market under their banner, they may have a point. As with Roku, they had a natural entry into the FAST ecosystem, in this case through their Smart T...

  LA’s production-related woes are hardly news at present. With a dire need to encourage more TV series and films to choose LA as their filming destination, hoping to offset the 30% plunge in production we’ve seen over the last 5 years, there could well be reason to believe mid-budget movies will be returning to the LA area. Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A., shares the news.                                                                          Brandon Blake   New Plans   We’ve already seen some major proposed overhauls to the city’s tax incentive plans, which would bring LA back into line with some of the more compelling local and international location destinations. However, a small local group, including some LA City Councilmembers, ar...

  The quiet and often under-considered success of the Roku Channel may be leaving its own mark on the entertainment landscape. Last week, NBCUniversal announced a partnership with LG Smart TVs that will see 40 new FAST channels launch. Our entertainment lawyer in the know, Brandon Blake of Blake & Wang P.A., unpacks this exciting new development for us.                                                                            Brandon Blake   New FAST Offerings   These new FAST channels will cover a broad range of subjects, from “standard” entertainment to sports, news, true crime, and even a dedicated Spanish channel. The deal includes key live event shows like Dateline 24/7, NBC News, and Today All Day alongside their extensive TV show library and films from the Univer...

  As the post-pandemic box office recovery accelerated over the past 2 years, we’ve seen over and over again how a smart theatrical release can drive extra value and marketing for streaming releases. After one of the longest theatrical windows of the modern entertainment era, A24’s Babygirl is finally shifting over to streaming on Max. To tell us more, we have Brandon Blake, best entertainment lawyers in Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A.                                                                               Brandon Blake   121-Day Window   Although there is, strictly speaking, no set modern theatrical window as we once saw, with 90 days being the then-standard, we have seen the post-pandemic period slowly default to either 45-day runs or 31-day runs in genera...

 The Chinese New Year box office has launched what may be the world’s next biggest animation success. As Ne Zha 2 continues to blow through local Chinese records, it’s also beginning to make its name on the global stage. Brandon Blake, entertainment lawyer Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A., shares this exciting news.                                                                     Brandon Blake Bigger than Inside Out 2 ? It is thoroughly remarkable to be talking about global records around a film that has yet to release outside of the Chinese market. Ne Zha 2 will only open this week in North America, New Zealand, and Australia. However, with takings now topping $1.37B from its Chinese run alone, Ne Zha 2 has already knocked The Super Mario Bros. Movie out of its spot on the Top 3 animated films of...

 The record-breaking Thanksgiving box office was a win for blockbusters. However, while the shattered records and beefy takings are certainly impressive, let’s not let it overshadow the many success stories we saw from the indie arena as well. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A., shines a spotlight on some Thanksgiving indie success stories.                                                                            Brandon Blake A Fantastic Weekend for All Even with the powerful performances from Moana 2, Wicked, and Gladiator 2 , speciality films left their own mark on this past weekend’s box office, with 3 indie movies managing to find a spot in the Top Ten.   A24's latest release, Queer , made a strong debut with $188,800 on seven screens...

  Despite being a two-and-a-half-decade-old franchise, it seems that Gladiator , the massive Roman epic by Ridley Scott, still has pulling power with modern audiences. After a spectacular international debut, the film will head to domestic screens this weekend. Brandon Blake, our entertainment lawyer Los Angeles and insider from Blake & Wang P.A., shares this success with us.                                                                            Brandon Blake Best Start for Ridley Scott Gladiator 2 opened in 63 international markets last weekend, with the US debut this coming weekend. It has accumulated almost $90M in its first weekend, aligning well with pre-release projections. Incidentally, this also makes it Ridley Scott's best overseas start as director.   Nor do Pa...

  The American Film Market is facing a pivotal moment as seven leading sales agencies demand its return to Los Angeles, threatening to create their own marketplace if the event remains in Las Vegas for 2025. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A., unpacks this development for us.                                                                             Brandon Blake   The Las Vegas No-No   Despite an increased attendance of 5,500 at the Palms Casino venue, major industry players (including AGC Studios, Black Bear, FilmNation, and Lionsgate) expressed strong dissatisfaction with the new Las Vegas location. Complaints ranged from inadequate facilities to logistical challenges, with sources citing expensive equipment rentals and elevator delays disrupt...

  While the blockbuster slate for September and October has not really performed as we’d hoped, we’ve seen some fantastic performances (in their class) from specialty and indie releases of late. As we get stuck into the demographics for these films, one thing is surprisingly clear- they lean toward older demographics, the same people that have been reluctant to return to theaters in the wake of the pandemic closures. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney , Brandon Blake, takes a look at this fascinating revelation- and what it could mean for theaters domestically.                                                                              Brandon Blake   A Thriving Specialty Market   Despite the slightly lackluster performance of Venom: The Last Dance this wee...

 According to the latest data from FilmLA, only a fifth of scripted projects released in 2023 were filmed in the greater Los Angeles area. However, more than a quarter of industry workers still call LA home. Brandon Blake, our entertainment lawyer Los Angeles and industry insider from Blake & Wang P.A., looks at this thorny issue in greater depth.                                                                           Brandon Blake A Talent and Incentive Mismatch As of 2023, 18% of scripted productions released were filmed in LA. This is a notable drop from 2022 (22%) and 2021 (23%). However, 27% of industry workers still operate from LA. Of course, some of that can be attributed to the strikes, but low tax incentives/rebates and high location costs are also key issues. Plus, the strikes weren...

 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 Ir...

  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 standi...

 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 sel...

 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 ...

  A Rebrand is in the Works for Paramount Global It’s no secret that much of the growth in the streaming industry over the last year and a half has been driven by global-focused policies rather than the domestic market. With Paramount in the midst of a massive shakeup to their business, the news that a rebrand, as well as a shift in focus, for the Paramount international studios business is coming is no surprise. But what does the future hold for the changed service? Blake & Wang P.A entertainment attorney , Brandon Blake, breaks down what we know. Global Mindset, Local Execution High-end scripted content in a wealth of languages, created to drive growth for Paramount+, seems to be the name of the game for the refreshed face of Paramount Global. Replacing the ViacomCBS International Studio brand, Paramount’s business outside the US will now operate as Paramount Television International Studios, or PTIS. And they’re not shy about the intention to drive acquisitions and engagemen...

  While the streaming wars heat up, Netflix is still managing to hold out in its top position as the US’s most-watched streamer. Entertainment attorney and legal expert, Brandon Blake, breaks down the latest Nielsen weekly U.S streaming chart data as Netflix manages to score a 10/10.                                                                       Brandon Blake In this week's latest figures, covering the start of August, we saw All American , a Netflix property now wrapping up its 3rd season, manage to rack up 1.433B viewing minutes. In doing so, it just edged out another Netflix original, Outer Banks , with 1.423B views. Not perhaps a total reflection on their relative viewer pulling power, as All American had an extra 3 days on the service to pull interest. Of course, the Nielsen ratings are not free...

  This week we see WGA West President David A. Goodman go on record as ‘very pleased’ that the 34-month agency campaign from the WGA has drawn to a close. David Goodman further states that they have ‘achieved their goal’, with the talent agencies representing their writers now sharing aligned goals with the WGA itself. It’s pretty clear they are glad to see issues such as packaging fees and agency-owned production entities put to rest, deeming them ‘problematic business practices’ from the start. As Goodman himself puts it, ‘a writer’s agent should make more only when his client does.’ While the core idea of packaging- bringing together the separate creative elements of a show in one bundled whole- is perhaps not all that worthy of worry, the WGA has long maintained that they create a conflict of interest for the agent. As a knock-on effect, the agent has an incentive to low-ball their writer-client in favor of agency-owned production interests. In fact, the WGA has claimed this to...