News
April 30, 2018
April 27th News Report from your Los Angeles Representative
Happy Friday everyone,
A spate of first quarter earnings were reported this week and Amazon made headlines as it revealed a net share income that has doubled from the same period in 2017. As detailed in the Hollywood Reporter below, Amazon also disclosed for the first time yesterday that it has 100 million Prime members.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/amazon-delivers-strong-quarter-prime-subscriber-reveal-1106244
Netflix's stock took a bit of a beating this week after it announced its largest junk bond offering to date. As reported in Variety below, the streaming giant plans to raise $1.9 billion in debt financing, the biggest offering in Netflix's history, and the fifth time in a little more than three years that it is raising $1 billion or more through bonds.
http://variety.com/2018/digital/news/netflix-stock-drops-junk-bond-debt-1202784948/
The return of The Handmaid's Tale this week also put streamer Hulu in the news. Amid Disney's looming takeover (it owns 30 per cent of Hulu and is about to assume Fox's 30 per cent share), The Hollywood Reporter took an in-depth look at the how the Toronto-shot series put Hulu on the map and has driven the company's biggest growth spurt in its 10-year history.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/hulu-2018-handmaids-tale-season-2-new-shows-disney-takeover-1105298
Finally this week, the movie exhibition business held its annual CinemaCon gathering in Las Vegas. Following a clippings report that highlighted all the news from the disruptors, I think it's fitting to wrap up with The Wrap's article on takeaways from CinemaCon: "Change Is Everywhere, Movies Endure".
https://www.thewrap.com/7-takeaways-cinemacon-2018-change-everywhere-movies-endure/
I'll be out of the office next Friday, so this report will return on Friday, May 11th.
Warmest regards,
Kelly
Kelly Graham-Scherer
Los Angeles Representative
Toronto/ Ontario Film Office