The vibe and focus of Starz first financial results as a standalone company unveiled Thursday were of a fresh start after the premium cable and streaming platform separated from Lionsgate. And its the U.S. subscriber gains at Starz that had analysts looking beyond the $177.4 million restructuring charge for the companys content slate when considering the partial results for the...

Crew members working on an upcoming Terrence Howard film called Cipher are on strike against the production as they attempt to secure a union contract. Behind-the-scenes workers on the project, which is filming in and outside Louisville, Kentucky, began picketing on Wednesday after the production allegedly ignored a request to voluntarily recognize IATSE as the workers bargaining representative. The Hollywood...

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Nathan Kahane plans on stepping down by the end of the year, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter. The move frees up Erin Westerman, currently president of production and development, to take over all studio production under studio chair Adam Fogelson. Lionsgate had no comment. Kahanes contract is said to be expire at the end of...

Two years ago this month, the Writers Guild of America went on strike for, among other key issues, a set of landmarkAI protectionsto safeguard our writing and our finished work. It took six months of sustained solidarity, picketing and an outpouring of public support everyone from fellow unions, politicians and yes, evenElon Musk before the studios finally met our demands....

BBC Studios Productions, a unit of BBC Studios, has boosted its investment in Mothership TV, the unscripted production firm founded by former Channel 4 deputy director of programs Kelly Webb-Lamb, to take full ownership of the company. In late 2022, BBC Studios Productions had taken a 25 percent stake in the company. The transaction unveiled on Thursday marks the second...

HarbourView Equity Partners has acquired the rights to the producer royalty income streams of Grammy-winning producer-songwriter Rodney Darkchild Jerkins, the company confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. The acquisition marks another notable deal around Jerkins catalog, following the producer selling his publishing catalog to Recognition Music Group (formerly Hipgnosis Songs Fund) back in 2020. HarbourView declined to share financial...

Artificial intelligence has had a big impact on filmmaking, but wont replace Hollywood writers anytime soon, Imagine Entertainment co-founder Brian Grazer said Wednesday. No one can point to where AI could produce soul, or life essence, or the best entertainment storytelling. Movies and television usually become memorable because you feel the soul or energy of something that is another dimension,...

Rhode, the lifestyle brand founded in 2022 by model and influencer Hailey Bieber, has agreed to be acquired by e.l.f. Beauty in a blockbuster $1 billion deal. e.l.f. announced the acquisition Wednesday, with plans to add the fast-growing beauty brand to its stable that already includes e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. SKIN, Keys Soulcare, Naturium, and Well People. Rhode had total sales...

Broadways 2024-2025 season grossed $1.89 billion across all productions, marking the highest season on record and a recovery from the pandemic. The gross totals are up 23 percent from last season, and, significantly, the numbers also come in above Broadways 2018-2019 season, which had held the record for $1.83 billion in gross revenue and had been the benchmark against which...

Major Los Angeles studio and offices operator Hudson Pacific Properties has received a credit rating downgrade from SP Global. The credit ratings firm cut the debt rating for Hudson Pacific to B, from BB-, with a negative outlook. We expect ongoing studio and office headwinds will continue to pressure its key credit metrics over the near term and for access...

Creative Artists Agency has hired Brent Weinstein to serve as part of its senior leadership, overseeing a number of high-profile business areas including digital media, podcasts, games, talent business ventures, and speakers. Weinstein will also be involved in CAAs investments and MA activity. A veteran entertainment executive, Weinstein was most recently chief development officer of Candle Media, the rollup vehicle...

Regal Cineworld has earned a debt ratings upgrade from SP Global Ratings, with its analysts citing the Hollywood box office recovery to sustain continuing debt reduction efforts. The debt ratings firm raised Regal Cineworld to B from B-, with a stable outlook for company growth post-pandemic and post-bankruptcy. The company, which operates the Regal Cinemas chain in the U.S. market,...

After a two-year stint managing CNNs business during a leadership and strategy transition, David Leavy is heading back to his longtime home at parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. The executive had joined as chief operating officer of the cable news network during the short-lived Chris Licht-led era then stepped in to co-lead the brand days later after Licht was fired...