Hollywood

Hollywood Moguls Stopping Obama Donations Because of President's Piracy Stand: 'Not Give a Dime Anymore'

Lindsy Embree — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:59:26 -0500

Full article: Deadline Hollywood
Nikki Finke
Internet sites on their SOPA-strike may be conducting a blackout but Hollywood studios are conducting a boycott. Hollywood studio chiefs individually and as a group are drawing a line in the sand on the piracy issue with the Obama re-election campaign and refusing to give any more donations.

Hollywood's New Math: No Need for Studio Walls in Leaner Times

Lindsy Embree — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:52:00 -0400

Full article: Reuters
Brent Lang
Paramount's decision to merge its home entertainment, licensing and digital operations -- coming on the heels of Disney's consolidation of its DVD and tsotchke arms -- reflects the new Hollywood math. With DVD sales on the decline and video streaming on the rise, there is less need for distinct studio fiefdoms to handle the same entertainment properties across ancillary markets.

Hollywood Downloads a Post-DVD Future

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:31:36 -0400

Full article: Los Angeles Times
Ben Fritz
Across Hollywood, a quiet revolution is brewing that's about to transform living rooms around the world. After desperate attempts to prop up the industry's once-thriving DVD business, studio executives now believe the only hope of turning around a 40 percent decline in home entertainment revenue lies in rapidly accelerating the delivery of movies over the Internet.

A New Try at Curbing Piracy

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:20:49 -0400

Full article: New York Times
This month, several major Internet service providers, including Verizon, Comcast, AT&T and Time Warner Cable, agreed to help movie studios and record labels identify Internet users who downloaded copyrighted content illicitly, warn them about the piracy and punish recalcitrant abusers. The agreement has troubling elements.

Google, Hollywood and the Politics of Piracy

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:08:16 -0400

Full article: Politico
Jennifer Martinez
It was the shot heard round the entertainment world. Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said his company would not sit quietly by if Washington enacted anti-piracy legislation that forced search engines to police copyright law online -- such as stopping illegally streamed movies or sporting events.

Theaters, Studios at Odds Following Report of DirecTV Deal

Lindsy Embree — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 08:18:29 -0400

Full article: Wall Street Journal
Michelle Kung
Movie-theater owners responded with outrage after a trade magazine reported that four of Hollywood's six major studios had signed on with a new video-on-demand proposition from DirecTV, offering movies to rent for $30 only 60 days after being released in theaters.

Writers, Hollywood Studios Reach Contract Agreement

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:40:25 -0400

Full article: Los Angeles Times
Richard Verrier
After less than three weeks of talks, the Writers Guild of America and Hollywood's major studios have reached an agreement on a new three-year contract.

Zediva Streams New Releases Through Copyright Loophole

Lindsy Embree — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:19:35 -0400

Full article: Wired
Ryan Singel
Zediva, a streaming movie service you've likely never heard of, is a most clever and useful middle finger to Hollywood -- even if the site is careful to say it's not about sticking it to the studios. Zediva's offering is quite simple: New release movies that you can't get on Amazon, Netflix or iTunes. They haven't struck any deals with studios and don't plan on doing so.

Hollywood Studios Sue Hotfile over Copyright

Lindsy Embree — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:32:18 -0500

Full article: Reuters
Five Hollywood studios are suing a website that streams movies, accusing it of copyright infringement on a "massive scale". The Hollywood studios say that Panamanian Hotfile actively encourages users to upload and disseminate copyrighted content, and pays them to do so. They say that Hotfile has profited from the arrangement.

A New Model for Film Music

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:15:24 -0500

Full article: New York Times
Michael Cieply
In an unconventional deal that may promise a revival in film music, the Cutting Edge Group, effectively bought the musical portion of "The King's Speech" months ago. The investment then let the film's producers hire an award-winning French composer and recruit the London Philharmonic Orchestra to record works of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms that would otherwise have been performed by a small ensemble.