Entertainment Lawyers

 Can Paramount Global recover from the PR disaster which has been its M&A attempts this year to return as a thriving, competitive entity? On the bombshell news that Shari Redstone, CEO of Paramount’s controlling National Amusements, Inc. torpedoed the SkyDance Media offer that looked like a done deal, Paramount itself is left in a very unenviable position. Brandon Blake, an entertainment lawyer with Blake & Wang P.A., surveys where the group now stands.   Brandon Blake A Cancellation Not Well Received From Paramount’s tanking share price, which reached its lowest point in five years off the back of the news, to the frantic rounds of insult-trading and lawyering up we have seen, one thing is clear— the rest of Paramount’s stakeholders aren’t happy.   Not helping that overall atmosphere are the reports that Redstone jettisoned the deal from a combination of her personal offer waning as SkyDance sought to court non-voting shareholders and a general annoy...

 The Italian film landscape has been hampered by considerable uncertainty around its film and tax credit offerings over the past months. Last week, we finally saw news break that the uncertainty could be at an end, with new revisions on the way to the Italian cultural ministry for final approval. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A. reveals what this could mean for productions keen to capitalize on Italian filming opportunities.   Brandon Blake More Stringent Eligibility Rules While the 40% tax credit for some locally-produced movies and TV series will remain in place, the eligibility rules have reportedly been tightened considerably. There are also updated terms around crew incentives, which raises the possibility of Italian writers and directors needing to be attached to productions. There will also be a “minimum expense limit” for work done in Italian territories, with at least one full filming day in the country being needed to qualify. T...

  Godzilla Minus One was one of 2023’s most unexpected breakout hits. Given the Toho-backed monster movie wasn’t even expected to head to a home release, its record-setting current dominance of the No. 1 spot on both Netflix and iTunes is yet another feather in its scaly cap. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A. has the good news to share.   Brandon Blake A New Record This marks the first time that a film streaming on Netflix and available as an iTunes VOD release has taken the first position on both charts. That this record would go to an unexpected, unannounced release is even more exceptional. The film took $56M in North America in its theatrical release cycle.   It likely could have done more, too. Thanks to the complexities of its agreement with Legendary Entertainment, Godzilla Minus One had all theatrical dates pulled after February 2024 due to the March release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, to avoid in-fran...

 Ah, Paramount. When speculation was swirling about a coming buyout of the Hollywood legacy studio last year, few could have predicted the rocky road to closing a deal- any deal- that would result. While Sony’s potential bid is still on the table, albeit revised to account for regulatory hurdles the company would face, it seems that SkyDance Media isn’t yet ready to toss in the towel and step away from a potential deal entirely. Brandon Blake, take a look entertainment lawyer Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A., breaks down the latest developments in this saga for us.   Brandon Blake The State of Negotiations Part of the problems Paramount is currently facing stem from a perception that the potential SkyDance Media deal would favor the Redstone family over the interest of its other shareholders, a perception which has created considerable bad blood for the deal both in-house and on the stock market. The company’s Class B stockholders have even threatened legal action...

 If you have fond memories of scaling the couch (and siblings) as you flew to the kitchen for snacks during a TV movie commercial break, the latest takeaway from this year’s Upfronts might be right up your alley. Everyone else may be left a little annoyed- but the technology and market trends behind this “new” old development are interesting, at least. Our entertainment attorney Los Angeles in the know, Brandon Blake of Blake & Wang P.A. dives deeper into this new face for an old TV friend.                                                                         Brandon Blake Ad-Supported Expands to Movies With both Amazon and Netflix making their first in-person pitches to advertisers at this year’s Upfronts, we knew there was going to be a lot of focus on their TV slates. Seeing movies introduce...

 What a difference half a year can make! With Netflix’s ad-supported subscription tier first launched only 18 months ago, the streamer has managed to nearly double its subscriber base since the start of 2024. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer , Brandon Blake, fills in the details. Brandon Blake Impressive Subscriber Gains Netflix’s total subscribers for the ad-supported tier now number 40 million monthly active users. In January 2024, it was 23 million. The streamer was understandably gleeful to reveal this news at its first in-person Upfronts presentation in New York earlier this month. At its first-ever Upfronts presentation, which was held digitally in 2023, the ad tier had 5 million monthly active users.   Additionally, we were told that 40% of active signups now opt for the ad-supported plan, in countries where it is currently available. Of course, much of this can be attributed to a rather kind price ($7 domestically) for this tier, well below most of ...

 With Netflix the only streamer operating fully in the black, there has been much speculation about which streaming platform will be the first to break into true profitability, with many believing we will see this happen by the end of this year. As many have predicted, it seems Disney+ may be on the verge of taking this streaming milestone. Brandon Blake, our entertainment attorney Los Angeles at Blake & Wang P.A., breaks down the facts and figures.   Brandon Blake Significantly Reduced Streaming Losses For Q1 of 2024, which is Disney’s fiscal Q2, Disney’s combined streaming business, which now included sole ownership of Hulu as well as ESPN+, managed to reduce their losses to only $18M. While subs rose significantly, average revenue per user did slip a little. This is mostly thanks to growth from their recent deal with Charter, which introduced some reduced, wholesale pricing to the mix. Revenue came in at $6.2B. Surprisingly, if we remove ESPN+’s sports-focuse...