An improv comic, an NHL player and a Fortune 500 CEO walk into a theater but its no joke, its big business. The Second City, the venerable Chicago-based improvisational comedy institution, has quietly built out a surprising side-hustle: Using the fundamentals and tactics of improv to teach corporate executives and professional athletes how to be better communicators. That division, Second...

By most Hollywood metrics, David Ozer was a success. Following in his fathers footsteps, he started out in radio ad sales, made the move to account executive over at 20th Century Fox and continued on an upward trajectory as an exec at several major companies, including Starz Media and Sony Pictures Television. Everyone agrees that Ozer was a charismatic guy,...

Heat captures a certain vibe unique to Los Angeles. Michael Mann didnt film a single scene on a soundstage, electing to shoot across more than 70 real locations throughout the city. The train that Robert De Niro gets off of in the opening credits is the actual Blue Line of the citys metro system. The house where Al Pacino has...

Imax is seeing a surge in global box office based on a mix of Hollywood and foreign local, language titles and other alternative fare to drive revenue and profit gains, judging by the film technologies companys third quarter financial results unveiled on Thursday. Lifted by Hollywoods ongoing recovery at the multiplex, Imax posted a 50 percent rise in global box...

Broadway musicians have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, averting the possibility of a strike. Local 802 AFM, the union which represents musicians, had said they would strike immediately if a deal could be reached with the Broadway League, a trade association for producers and general managers, after a mediation session Wednesday. This was the second threat of...

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision reported higher adjusted profitability for its third quarter, driven by continued growth in streaming profits and the impact of previously taken cost efficiency measures. But the company on Thursday posted a 2 percent U.S. revenue decline to $831.3 million in the third quarter of 2025 as an 11 percent advertising revenue drop couldnt be fully outweighed...

The Hollywood Reporter raised a glass and a coffee mug to some of the entertainment industrys unsung heroes on Wednesday morning, hosting its Power Business Managers breakfast at Wolfgang Pucks Cut in Beverly Hills. The 15th annual event, presented by City National Bank and sponsored by Wheels Up and Delta Airlines, accompanied THRs annual Business Managers Power List recognizing the...

With the NFL, every deal is a big one. As the dominant content provider in live television, when the league strikes a new agreement or makes a change to its programming, it will be felt across the media ecosystem. Many of those big changes happen at the leagues owners meetings, held multiple times per year at various locations across the...

How expensive is it for one of the worlda largest tech companies to secure control of the worlds most famous spy? About $20 million. In February, Amazon announced that it had struck a deal with Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, the longtime stewards of the James Bond franchise, to give the tech company full control over the character and...

Versant is bolstering its communications team ahead of its spinoff from NBCUniversal. Amanda Cary and Jamie Palatini, both industry veterans, will join the company as vps of communications. Cary will oversee comms for the companys entertainment portfolio which includes cable channels USA Network, E!, Syfy and Oxygen and digital properties Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango while Palatini will head up sports...

Creative Artists Agency has appointed Sarah Schweitzman as co-head of CAA Media Finance, joining Roeg Sutherland. Schweitzman and Sutherland will jointly oversee the division, which handles packaging, financing, production and sales for independent film, television and digital projects at the agency. Schweitzman replaces CAA Media Finance co-head Benjamin Kramer, who jumped ship this summer to join Teddy Schwarzmans indie studio...

Anna DerParseghian was 15 when she started as a filing clerk at a business management firm. It was supposed to be a part-time job, chosen by her high school career office. At the time, the plan was to become a doctor and save the world, she says. But when she turned 20, her mentor sent her to a firm in...

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos says the streaming giant has little interest, if at all, in bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery. Nothing is a must for us to meet our goals that we have for this business, he said during an after-market analyst call after Netflix unveiled its third quarter financial results, without mentioning WBD directly. The executives comments came on...