The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), theMotion Picture Associations anti-piracy organization, has expanded its membership to include the influential webcomic platform Naver Webtoon, marking a significant expansion into an area of IP creation thats surged in global relevance in recent years. Naver Webtoon is the first and only webcomic and webnovel company to join ACE to date, as well...

The 2010s changed home entertainment forever. During this decade, power and momentum swung towards global subscription video on demand (SVOD) platforms selling their content directly to consumers. However, the same period may have been a zero-interest rate phenomenon. These subscription streaming giants are here to stay, but their distribution strategy will become increasingly indirect. Deloitte predicts that the industry will...

The Art Directors Guild has elected Joel Cohen as its latest staff leader, replacing outgoing national executive director Chuck Parker. Cohen, who served under Parker for more than two years as associate national executive director, was voted in during the unions latest officer elections, the results of which were announced Wednesday. During his campaign, Cohen promised to fight for the...

Californias program that provides tax relief to film and TV productions is potentially looking at a major revamp amid an increasingly tit-for-tat race to host Hollywood. Lawmakers, in a revised version of a bill that aims to increase the cap on the program from $330 million to $750 million a year submitted on Tuesday, propose vastly boosting the credit to...

Want to feel your movie seat moving, get pelted by wind and snow or even smell a certain scent? If so, the opportunity to do so in the U.S. just increased exponentially if all goes as planned. AMC Theatres and next-generation cinema technology company CJ 4DPLEX are partnering for the first time to bring 65 premium SCREENX and 40 4DX...

The talent and literary agency Innovative Artists is raising outside cash for the first time. The agency, led by founder and CEO Scott Harris, has raised an undisclosed amount from the private equity firm Coral Tree Partners, led by partner Will Wynperle, which invests in media and entertainment companies. It is the first time in Innovatives 42-year history that it...

A federal court has rebuffed a bid from a trio of music publishers suing Anthropic to stop the use of their lyrics to train the Amazon-backed companys AI system. U.S. District Judge Eumi Lee on Tuesday found that Universal Music Group, Concord Music Group and ABKCO didnt prove that the existing licensing market is being undercut by Anthropic pilfering their...

He has juststepped asideas one of the most influential talent agents of his generation, having shepherded the careers of everyone from Ben Affleck to Matthew McConaughey to Angelina Jolie, but Patrick Whitesell is in no mood to get wistful. My lifes work has been building this company, so in that regard yes, its an end of an era moment. But...

Jeff T. Daniel has been named president of the Shubert Organization, the biggest theater owner on Broadway with 17 of the 41 theaters. Daniel had been working as chief strategy officer at Shubert since 2023, after spending 14 years as co-chief executive officer of Broadway Across America, a major presenter of touring Broadway shows in North America. He will continue...

The U.S. advertising business is entering an uncertain economic environment as the possibility of tariffs, reduced tourism and other factors set to cause the stateside ad market to slow down in 2025, according to Magnas spring 2025s forecast. The media intelligence firm expects ad revenues for traditional media owners (exclusive cyclical ads like politics advertising) to decline by 1 percent...

The Directors Guild of America has appointed negotiations committee leaders for its upcoming 2026 talks with studios and streamers and they are two familiar names. Film and television director Jon Avnet will serve as chair of the unions negotiations committee for its Basic Agreement and Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement while veteran television helmer Karen Gaviola will serve as...

For the first time in 15 years, the powerful but discreet organization that negotiates union contracts on behalf of Hollywoods major studios and streamers has named a new leader. Gregory Hessinger has been selected to helm the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers as former president Carol Lombardini steps into an advisory position. The change marks a post-strikes shakeup...

Good Night and Good Luck, starring George Clooney, broke the record for highest weekly gross for a play last week, with an eye-popping $3.3 million. That total was brought in across only seven preview performances, and bests the record set by Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhall. Othello initially broke the record for highest grossing play the week of...