News
July 7, 2017
June 30th News Report from your Los Angeles Representative
Happy Friday everyone,
Just weeks ago the Writers Guild of America and the studios negotiated a new contract and Hollywood breathed a collective sigh of relief: now industry watchers are on tenterhooks again as the current SAG-AFTRA contract talks seem to have hit a snag. As detailed in Deadline below, last Sunday the union accused management’s AMPTP of demanding “outrageous rollbacks” at the bargaining table and says it will ask members for strike authorization if a fair deal isn’t reached by today.
http://deadline.com/2017/06/sag-aftra-contract-talks-strike-threat-issues-1202120937/
The latest round of California tax credits was announced this week and as a result another show will relocate from Vancouver to Los Angeles. As reported in Variety below, the second series of Timeless is the 12th show to relocate to LA after receiving tax credits and the fourth which has moved from Vancouver.
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/timeless-relocating-california-tax-credit-1202482741/
Hot on the heels of Apple hiring two top TV executives, comes news this week that Facebook is also on the verge of investing big in the original content game. As detailed in Vanity Fair below, Facebook is reportedly telling studios and agencies that it is willing to commit as much as $3 million per episode in its push to develop original, television-quality shows that would debut on the social network.
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/facebook-original-video-series-hollywood
Reports this week that the MPAA has hired a firm to audit ticket sales in China threw into sharp relief just how important foreign box office has become to Hollywood's bottom line. As reported in Indie Wire below, many top movies now make less than 20% of box office revenues in North America, meaning while tentpole movies are essential to Hollywood, Hollywood no longer controls the tentpoles.
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/06/hollywood-foreign-box-office-transformers-the-last-knight-movie-business-1201847189/
Finally this week, LA-based attorney Lorraine D’Alessio published a column advising Canadian producers how to get the best deal from potential American partners. As detailed in Playback below, among other things she stresses the importance of knowing your incentives and not being afraid of conflict.
http://playbackonline.ca/2017/06/26/column-how-to-negotiate-a-great-deal-with-a-u-s-company/#ixzz4lD7zs6kb
Warmest regards,
Kelly
Kelly Graham-Scherer
Los Angeles Representative
Toronto/Ontario Film Office