#not every fan in Asia and Latin America will have Netflix

[sapphicisland]

Since gmmtv decided to release 23.5 on Netflix in certain areas and on YouTube in others the Youtube views have taken a hit because the primary audience only has it on Netflix. So if you are lucky enough to have 23.5 available on YouTube and you like the show try to re-watch the first episode a couple of times. If we could get the first episode to a million views that would be ideal since one of the measures for a thai shows popularity is it's Youtube views. And if you don't have it on YouTube but you don't have Netflix try a vpn before you resort to sites.

[comicweek]

Warner Bros. Discovery is to significantly expand its investment and production of Japanese anime through its existing local studio in Japan.

“We have a Japanese anime studio, which has been producing five or ten anime series per year, over the last few years,” said James Gibbons, WBD president of Asia-Pacific. “We’ve approved expansion to take that to more than ten series per year.”

The studio has been operational since 2011 and delivered over 80 titles in that span, a mix of high-quality anime, live action series and movies. These include “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure,” which was originally serialized in a manga magazine starting in 1987 and became an animated series that launched in 2012, the “Record of Ragnarok” series and a “Batman Ninja” anime movie.

“We’ve sold them to third parties. That has been one of the metrics. And they are doing very well,” said Gibbons. “And, so, because we see the appeal of the category, we are expanding it. Anime is one of the best ways to reach the 18 to 30-year-old audience, which is incredibly elusive. Globally, albeit not in every market, but certainly in the U.S., parts of Europe and Latin America, we’ve got strong anime audiences.”

Both “JoJo’s” and “Record of Ragnarok” are currently on Netflix and have ranked strongly, featuring in the streamer’s global weekly top ten.

“There is Japanese anime that comes from original IP. But there’s also anime that comes from elsewhere. And we’ve looked at our DC universe and said, ‘Can we take these characters and reinvent them in world of world of anime,’ which is not straightforward because you have to do it the right way. You have to work with the right studios to make it happen and to build your fan base,” said Gibbons.

[putonmyfavoriteshow]

This is probably just me being self-indulgent but here's my explanation of my latest hyper-fixation if you've kept following me thru this and have no idea what it is and are curious to know: "DCLA" stands for Disney Channel Latin America aka Disney Channel series that were originated out of Latin America, specifically Argentina, and more specifically what I personally refer to as "The Big 3"

The Big 3 are Violetta (2012-2015), Soy Luna(2016-2018), and Bia(2018-2020). These shows have been internationally popular for years (especially the first two) since besides Latin America, Disney Channel aired these shows in many countries across Europe, Africa, and Asia.

They're also considered to be telenovelas which means they follow a format of about 80 episodes per season and each episode basically picks up where the last left off. Violetta and Soy Luna have 3 seasons, Soy Luna's last season is 60 episodes, and Bia has 60 episodes per it's 2 seasons (they did not get renewed for a 3rd which was likely due to Covid + the move from network to Disney+). All of them are very music focused and consist of originals and covers within the show, soundtracks, and world tours that the casts have been on (Bia was unable to tour due to Covid). Each involve a mystery-drama surrounding family. And of course, there's your typical teen drama surrounding friends and romance. Unfortunately after Disney Channel has moved a majority of it's focus to streaming on Disney+, this format has been discontinued. However, D+LA greenlit a ton of 10-episode similar type series for the service with familiar actors from the aforementioned shows. These also have been shot in new locations as opposed to just Buenos Aires (which is the main location for Violetta, Soy Luna, & Bia). And seemed to be dubbed as well as subbed in multiple languages. (Violetta is sufficiently dubbed, Soy Luna and Bia don't have English dubs) Personally I watch with subs since it helps me with the language I am NOT fluent in, matches lip flap, and I just like hearing the character's real voices. There has been some debate over which of "The Big 3" is "the best" but personally I think they all have something to offer that makes them uniquely great. Also, I think nostalgia is a major factor to which show fans gravitated towards (many watched these shows when they first aired in their own country). Some of us have only discovered through Disney Plus and I do think order of viewing can sway opinion. And each have some problematic material that is worth criticizing - however, I do think they've eliminated most of these elements with every new series they've created (ie. consent, misogyny, & racism). But it's definitely worth noting and calling out!

Generally tone-wise I'd say Violetta is campy as all get out. Bia takes a more serious and mature route. And Soy Luna kind of toes the line between the two.

Disney does have a few other novelas and series such as Alex&Co (Italian music series), O11CE (Novela but NOT a musical show), Juacas (Brazilian series, no music- also not sure if dubbed or subbed in English?). Netflix has a few musical telenovela-esque series but shorter format (Go!,Cielo Grande). Nickelodeon also has similar musical telenovelas that do have the same longer episode format as well but they're not as easily accessible (Kally's Mashup, Club 57). And probably many more adjacent to the Big 3 to keep the interest going!

[some-lists]

10 Documentary Series for the Wanderluster

If you’re sick of being stuck indoors and isolated from the rest of the world, you might find yourself binge watching travel documentaries just like me.

I’ve always loved traveling. I’ve been to a handful of places, but there’s so much more out there. These docu-series will make you want to get off your butt and hop on a plane ASAP. Of course, that’s not really an option in this pandemic, but these shows can offer a nice dose of escapism right in your living room.

These are just a few available to stream that I really loved. (Btw, most of these are about food. Because I love food.)

1. Somebody Feed Phil

I love this show. Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal travels to some of the most beautiful locations around the world to try the best foods. He meets with locals, expats, and world renown chefs who show him the best local dishes and their culture. Phil isn’t the best food critic. Most of his commentary consists of, “Mmm, that’s good!” But his cheery, friendly demeanor makes for easy watching as he casually befriends locals in every international city he visits. Oh, and the theme song is killer.

Watch it on: Netflix

2. Street Food: Asia & Latin America

Get ready to be hungry! Made from the same people behind Chef’s Table, this series takes you to a different country in each episode. Street Food: Asia and Street Food: Latin America are actually listed separately on Netflix. But they are essentially two different seasons of the same show. You’ll meet local street chefs who’ve made their living cooking and selling their best comfort foods on the street. They share their stories of hardship, determination, sacrifice, joys, and successes. Each episode has close ups of every dish that will have you salivating.

Watch it on: Netflix

3. Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted

Season One of this National Geographic series is currently available on Disney Plus. We see chef Gordon Ramsay travel to some remote locations, where he not only learns about their local ingredients, but has to forage and hunt them himself. At the end of each episode, we see him face off with a famous chef from each region. It’s beautifully shot with some really breathtaking views of these amazing landscapes. We see the vast Sacred Valley of Peru, majestic glaciers of New Zealand, and tropical blue waters of Hawaii. Now, if only Disney Plus would release the second season.

Watch it on: Disney Plus

4. Down to Earth with Zac Efron

Down to Earth with Zac Efron is not just a feast for the eyes, but a series that will make you think. Zac Efron travels with his friend, Darin Olien, to learn about various methods of sustainable living. We learn about sustainable energy in Iceland, fresh water in France, and blue zone diets in Italy. They also take the time to explore and enjoy the best leisure activities and cuisine in each country.

Watch it on: Netflix

5. Conan Without Borders

Conan Without Borders is a segment of his talk show that is now available on Netflix (but only the first season). Of course, you can still watch more on YouTube, but those videos are cut into shorter segments. Conan’s buffoonery is put to good use as he travels to learn about other people and their countries. His shtick is the clueless, ignorant American abroad. It’s an honesty that’s rewarding, as he shows these countries in a light few Americans get to see. He’s hilarious in each episode as he accidentally (or not so accidentally) offends, but also learns from the locals in each country.

Watch it on: Netflix, YouTube

6. Travel Man: 48 Hours In...

Travel Man has had 10 seasons, and 7 (ish) of them are on Hulu. It’s a recent discovery for me, so I’m still making my way through the episodes. Richard Ayoade travels to a different city with a different celebrity for 48 hours. They do a lot of the typical things the average tourist would do. It features transportation, checking into a hotel (usually on the higher end), seeing the sites, and exploring different foods. Most of the celebrities who join him are British, so I’m not too familiar with them. It probably works better if you know who they are, but it doesn’t matter. Richard Ayoade’s dry humor makes each trip amusing regardless.

Watch it on: Hulu

7. Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father

British comedian Jack Whitehall takes a belated gap year trip with his 70-something year old father. The stark contrast between their personalities make for a very interesting vacation. We go on a real ride with the two as we get to know them and as they grow from the experience. Jack is full of energy and definitely more open minded of the two, but we can also see why his father gets annoyed with him. He’s a big kid and, at times, spoiled. At first Jack’s father comes across as snobby and ignorant, but we learn to laugh at his biting humor and his efforts to connect with Jack. We also get a bit of a different view of each location. We visit eccentric temples in Thailand, watch trained rats search for mines in Cambodia, check out motocross skiing in Germany, and more.

Watch it on: Netflix

8. Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations

Seasons 7 and 8 of the late Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations can currently be viewed on Hulu. If you’re a humanitarian at heart, this one is for you. Anthony Bourdain is after truth. He’s not interested in commercialized tourist traps or filtered Instagram photo ops. He’s after the real place, the real people, and the real history. He visits disadvantaged populations around the world. He meets with locals, journalists, and humanitarians in each country. Their conversations are often about poverty, political corruption, and marginalization. But he also has some lighter missions as well. A trip to Naples in search of the real Italian food experience. A discovery of Croatian culinary greatness. A cook off in Tokyo between the world’s greatest chefs. What we see is not always pretty. Sometimes it’s truly upsetting. But sometimes it’s great too. Either way, it’s the truth. What Anthony Bourdain ultimately does is capture the heart of the people, something traveling tourists often overlook.

Watch it on: Hulu

9. Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

I’m not a huge David Chang fan. I’ve only made it through one episode of Ugly Delicious. (It was the curry episode, because I love Indian food.) But I found Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner a much easier watch. It’s a lot more chill. There are only four episodes. (That helps.) He and a celebrity friend tour a different city, try the food, and just chat it up. This series focuses more on location and culture, rather than just the food itself. The personalities of his celebrity guests help provide color and humor to each episode. Kate McKinnon, as always, is a delight.

Watch it on: Netflix

10. Tales By Light

Tales By Light follows photographers around the world as they capture stunning works of art. This is a must see if you love art, especially photography. Watch humpback whales dance under water in Tonga, the colorful Festival of Holi in India, abandoned desert ghost towns of Namibia, and indigenous cultures of Australia. Season 3 is especially sobering. Photographer Simon Lister and UNICEF ambassador Orlando Bloom travel to Bangladesh to capture portraits of children in need. You’ll marvel at the beauty, but also cry for the less fortunate.

Watch it on: Netflix

[wkcdogshowlive]

The 145th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show will be held at Lyndhurst, a property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in Tarrytown, New York on Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13, 2021, with live coverage across FOX Sports networks. Due to the ever-changing government restrictions during the pandemic a move to a springtime, outdoor dog show was necessary to uphold Westminster’s strong commitment to the health and safety of everyone who attends our show.

When and Where is Westminster Dog Show 2021?

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show will return for the 145th year at Madison Square Garden on February 15 & 16, 2021!

Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream on Official Channel

Fox Sports, also referred to as Fox Sports Media Group, is the sports programming division of the Fox Corporation that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by the Fox broadcast network, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, and the Fox Sports Radio network. The division was formed in 1994 with Fox’s acquisition of broadcast rights to National Football League games.

It is possible to enjoy Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Online without cable. You can enjoy all the games on Fox Sports. For this, you have to spend a little cost. And you should confirm your subscription on Fox Sports.

A FOX SPORTS Digital Subscription can be purchased for either: $4.99 per month with payment in advance and automatically debited every 4 weeks, payable by credit/debit card or PayPal or.

Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream All Over The World

Sports is a very famous event not only in the USA but also in Various Countries. There is a lot of fans in The World who love to enjoy Sports. So it is possible to enjoy Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream from any corner of the world. For this, you need to know some channels and information. Only for the fans, we are sharing this. Let’s know about that.

Europe

You can watch Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live on Sky from the UK. Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed-line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. For the basic service, here’s what you pay: Installation: £0, £30 or £60 – Free if you get a Sky+HD box! You only pay the installation once.

Westminster Dog Show 2021 match will broadcast on ITV. ITV is a British free-to-air television channel. Previously a network of separate uniquely identifiable regional television channels, ITV currently operates in England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. From 2001 until 2013, the primary ITV channel was called ITV1.

BT Sport is a group of pay television Westminster Dog Show 2021 channels provided by BT Consumer; a division of BT Group in the United Kingdom and Ireland that was launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Broadcast Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.

Latin America

Movistar TV is a subscription television service operated by Telefónica. Currently, the service is available in Chile, Perú, Colombia, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Argentina. In Spain, this service merged with the satellite platform Canal+, resulting in a new platform called Movistar+. You can enjoy Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream From Latin America.

ky México is a company that operates a subscription television service in Mexico, Central America, Dominican Republic, and Panama. It produces TV content and owns several TV channels. It is one of Mexico’s leading pay-TV providers and is owned by Televisa and Vrio, a subsidiary of AT&T Latin America.

Asia

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When it comes to Sports in Japan, several TV companies are covering the sport on a free-to-air basis. These include the likes of Fuji TV and TBS. There is also however a major paid TV channel that covers Sports in Japan, with regular live shows as well as numerous archive shows. That is NTV G+, which we refer to as just G+ for simplicity purposes. Fran From Asia can enjoy Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream By using G+.

Oceania

Fans from Australia can enjoy Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream on Foxtel. NXE Australia Pty Limited is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995.

Fans From New Zealand can enjoy Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream on TVNZ. Television New Zealand, more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a state-owned television network that is broadcast throughout New Zealand and parts of the Pacific region. Although the network identifies as a national, part-public broadcaster, it is fully commercially funded.

Eurasia

Show Club will telecast Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream. Show Club is a 1999 American film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, who is discontented with his white-collar job. He forms a Show club with soap salesman Tyler Durden.

Teleport was the first Romanian Westminster Dog Show 2021 channel launched on 1 December 2003, by Silviu Prigoana, the man behind Taraf TV and Ethno TV. In March 2008, Realitatea-Caţavencu Group bought the station and brought a new team to manage the channel, team led by Vlad Enăchescu, a former manager at TVR1. You can enjoy your favorite Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live on Teleport.

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Behind This Modern World, There Is Another World That Is Called Internet World. If You Want To Watch Westminster Dog Show 2021 Online Without A Cable, You Have To Find The Online Accessible Channels. Watching Without A Cable Is A Prevalent Choice For Those With High Mobility, Or Simply Those Who Don’t Want To Use Cable. It will be The Best Streaming Services For You. There are many without cable site, for your knowledge we are sharing some of those.

DirecTV Now

It will be one of The Best options to enjoy Westminster Dog Show 2021 live streaming. For international users, It Can Be the Better choice for you. DirecTV Now Is The Channel Under The Umbrella Of AT & T. Any Package You Can Free Travel For A Week. Direct TV is one of America’s most popular satellite channels.

DirecTV Now starts at $40 per month with its Live a Little package, which includes more than 60 live channels. DIRECTV NOW lets you stream your favorite channels and On Demand titles for a low monthly price. There’s no bulky hardware or annual contracts required, but you will need hours on end to watch the news, Westminster Dog Show 2021, movies, and more on DIRECTV NOW. You can also stream on your computer and mobile devices.

FuboTV

FuboTV Is One Of The Better Option To The Streaming Channel. Fubo TV Is Available For All NCAAF Lovers For All Times. For Watching Westminster Dog Show 2021, You Can Use Fubo TV You Are Anywhere It Doesn’t Metter. To Gating Access To Fubo Tv, You Can Use iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Laptop, as well as PC.

This means you’ll get Sports. The only match you won’t get is on ESPN. Once you subscribe, you will be able to stream your local Show Event on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon, Fire TV, Chromecast, iOS, and Android.

FuboTV offers a $55 base package in addition to several a la carte channel additions ranging from $5 to $29 a month. You can upgrade your Cloud DVR storage and add one extra simultaneous stream for monthly fees.

Sling TV

You can enjoy Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream On Sling TV. It is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor aims to complement subscription video-on-demand services for cord-cutters, offering a selection of major cable channels and OTT-originated services that can be streamed through smart TVs, digital media players, and apps.

You do not need a Dish subscription to get Sling TV. It’s available on several different platforms including iOS, Android, Apple TV, and Roku. Plans start at $30 and include around 30 live TV channels. Local channels are limited or nonexistent on Sling TV. Sling is one of the most affordable cord-cutting services on the market, offering two packages Orange and Blue with 30+ live channels starting at $30 a month or combined for $45 a month. Orange offers the Disney Channel and ESPN, while Blue offers a slate of Fox channels, NBC, Bravo, and Discovery.

Westminster Dog Show 2021 on a Device

In This Modern Era in 2020, Smartphone Is The Most Using Thing To Watch Anything, To Get Information About Anything, And So On. For The Users Of Smart Phone We Are Ready To Give You The Information, So That, You Can Always Enjoy Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Show. You Can Install Official Broadcasting Software. Or You Can Get Access By Using Smartphone To Following Our Instruction. Always Follow Our Site And Enjoy The Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live Stream On Device. Let’s know about some apps to enjoy the Westminster Dog Show 2021.

Roku

Roku is a line of digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. The devices offer access to streaming media content from various online services. The line was introduced in May 2008 with its first model, developed in collaboration with Netflix. The Roku series has been considered on the overall market for digital media players, helping to popularize the concept of low-cost.

Roku is an app, which will provide you Westminster Dog Show 2021 Live streaming. After setting up Roku, access the Roku channel store for adding new channels. By entering the focus channel in the search bar, you will find an app, now install it. You have to subscribe to the channel from your devices to get access to Roku. You can access Roku by using the information on Channel. Then you will enjoy the live Event Westminster Dog Show 2021.

Roku streaming players start at just $29.99, and Roku TVs are available from a variety of TV manufacturers at affordable prices. There are no monthly fees for watching free channels or for using a Roku device. History Vault $4.99/month Stream acclaimed series like America the Story of Us and The Men Who Built America, probing documentaries, and captivating specials, all commercial-free. Choose from the largest collection of historical videos with new content added weekly.

Final Text

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[elves-n-angels]

Sebastian Stan’s Musings on Life in August Man Malaysia Issue 115

APRIL 18, 2018

Sebastian Stan is a humble man. Humble to a fault. One couldn’t imagine a superhero from the Marvel Cinematic Universe played by such a down-to-earth, unassuming man. But since 2010, Stan has played Captain Bucky Barnes, who had his big break as a leading character in Captain America: Winter Soldier. Maybe that’s how Marvel and Disney trick us into seeing these movies: they hire nuanced, thoughtful actors and not just action stars. Resistance is futile.

This year is shaping up to be a big one for Sebastian Stan, with new roles where he gets to show his acting chops, such as his turn in I, Tonya, where he plays the scheming husband of the title character, and a lead role opposite Nicole Kidman in Destroyer. Although he lives in New York, Stan frequently travels to Los Angeles for work, and it is during one of his westward treks that we caught up with him, in the penthouse of the Shangri-La, a luxurious beachfront Santa Monica hotel.

You’re originally from Romania. It’s a country sometimes viewed as the Latin country of Eastern Europe. Do you have a bit of Latin/romantic in you? Yes. I was born there and I left when I was eight. Then I lived in Austria for four years and then I came to the US in 1995.

I’m originally from France. Romanian is also a Latin language, like French. Romanian is a little bit closer to Spanish and Italian, with some Slavic stuff added. I’d say the filmmaking there is seemingly close to French style. It’s sort of deep. Tragic stories about suffering! (Laughs) It’s like the real life. I’m a fan. I love a lot of foreign movies. I’m trying to reeducate myself of what’s going on there, and I’ve watched more Romanian movies lately.

Are they offering you parts over there? No. I’m actually going back. First time I’m going back since 2004. It has been 14 years. I still speak the language fluently, although I have an accent. I’d like to find something one day potentially to reconnect. That’s the plan. I’m going back for their film festival. It’s nice to haveI, Tonya screened there. It’s a good reason to go. One of my goals is to meet with these filmmakers, get to know them. You never know. We’ll start a conversation.

I read your mum is a pianist. Did that play a part in you choosing an artistic path for your career? I don’t know. When we were in Austria for a little bit of time, in her mind she had always seen me as a creative type. She was pushing me a little bit towards acting, taking me to some open calls. She used to get a kick seeing me imitating people. I didn’t like it. I was in this tiny series when I was in Vienna, very briefly. I hated it. I hated the fact you had to be on the spot, you had to wait around to work. I was like “back off, leave me alone”. I rediscovered it on my own when I was a teenager in New York. I’m glad I did it later. I think she wanted me to discover it by myself.

What was it like to arrive in New York at 12 years old? It was very weird. A lot of my childhood was kind of chaotic, moving around. But this is what life is – the life of an actor. You’re always moving, four months there, 10 months there. I’m kind of used to change; I crave it. I like relocating and going to a place I’ve never been and restart, get to know it. All that stuff is fun for me, when doing my job.

I think the first time you got some mainstream visibility was when you did the TV show Gossip Girl, right? I did some things before that, but Gossip Girl, I think it was such a popular show; it was an unbelievable show. It was an amazing opportunity for me. First of all I was living in New York and it was shot in New York. I never thought my character would reoccur. Also one of my best friends was in it, Chace Crawford, so it was nice to reconnect with him. We were hanging out anyway, so it was like “let’s just go to work at the same time!”. I guess that was the first time that, here and there, someone was recognising me. I don’t think in the industry I was recognised for anything. But the show was so popular.

It was huge! I forgot how popular it was. I think it was setting trends.

You’ve been playing Bucky Barnes for close to a decade now. How has playing the role of Captain Bucky Barnes changed your life? Oh my God! I guess 2010 is when I started. It’s bizarre. It’s kind of strange! It’s certainly brought me a lot of exposure. I’m recognised here and there. It changed my life in many ways. From the perspective of having a lot of fans too. So many people coming up to you feeling they have a special bond to the character. It led to a lot of work opportunities as well, because of the exposure these movies have. It really catapulted me into the public eye, in a different way than I was used to. But in a nice way. I’ve been really grateful and lucky to come back and revisit that character over time. It’s even kind of strange to imagine what would life be without that character and without the people I’m playing with. It’s a giant family, Marvel, in a way. So you’re always looking forward to reconnecting with people, in a way. And you just hope it keeps going. I think to the outside world, it looks like they have a huge solution figured out: every movie’s a hit, every movie’s reviewed so well. But it’s really hard. I think every movie is created like it’s its first and last. That’s why it’s good. They’ve always come from a place of “let’s see what we can do with those characters”. It’s a big part of my life.

Was there anything that you wish you could have done differently for the role of Bucky Barnes, now that you know the character better? No, I’m really ok with the way things went. I felt that at the time, I did the most I could do with what they gave me. The knowledge that I had was the potential of certain things, but not knowing 100% if it was going to happen. I have hope and I’m excited about the future of the character, but then again, that’s not up to me.

Do you think any of the aspects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe relate to real-world events? Like reflection about the role of government? Or is it true fantasy? Look, I think it varies movie by movie, but there’s something to be said that these movies sometimes penetrate the real pulse of what’s going on. You can see it with Black Panther. It was not only a story that needed to be told, but it was something people wanted to see, needed to see. And there was a lot of themes that are prevalent to what’s going on today. So I think Marvel’s very smart with that kind of stuff, always finding a fine line between keeping you entertained and keeping you grounded so that you will be thinking of certain things. It’s an interesting time to have these movies now because they serve a lot of purposes. It’s almost like we really need heroes. We need leaders. There’s something subconscious there about the idea of feeling protected, feeling safe. Maybe these movies tap into something subconscious, into people’s desires, because we live in a scary world, it’s really terrifying out there. You turn your phone on and you’re shocked with all kinds of stuff, there’s another shooting, another attack, etc. I always think about one or two decades from now, when people will look back, how will they be looking at these movies and the pop culture of the time.

Are you surprised a movie like Captain America, which has very patriotic, “proud to be American” themes is doing so well overseas? I think Captain America’s been sort of updated. He’s more relatable than people initially thought. He’s a man lost in time. He’s actually a very sad character. He’s trying to find his way. The ideals he grew up with and made him do the things he wanted to do are no longer applied the same way in the modern world. It goes to show that there’s something about these movies that transcends stereotypes and perspectives. Especially in Asia, in China, these movies are huge.

How has your relationship with all the other actors in the Marvel Cinematic Universeevolved over the past decade? Are you friends with some of them? Oh yeah, for sure. I would say Chris Evans and Andy Mackie are probably the closest to me. Everybody gets along. I got to know different people this time around. I spent much more time with Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson. You said it’s been almost 10 years. You almost grow with those people. Some get married, some get divorced, some have kids, some moved houses. It feels like we come together, and a lot of things have happened since we’ve been in each other’s lives. It does feel like a family.

How do you think you would feel after the Marvel Cinematic Universe finally ends? Is it even going to end one day? I don’t know. Everything ends and begins one way, but I don’t know. These movies are still bringing people to the theatre. Why go to the movie theatre when you have a nice plasma TV at home? You can watch it there. But I feel these movies are still serving that experience visually. You can watch on IMAX, with advanced sound technology. And a big part of this is that technology right now is so great to help those stories to be told. Ten to 20 years from now, you may be able to pick your favourite character and make him do whatever you want. Netflix may own a country at that point!

In I, Tonya, you play Tonya’s husband Jeff. Was it quite a departure? How did you get into character? Did the moustache help? (Laughs) Anytime you have a moustache, it’s going to do something. People look at you, people look at it. It was just a great opportunity to do something different. It was fascinating because it was real people, they existed, they’re still alive. It was a wild story that always has some kind of weird mystique to it. You never know if that’s the truth. Or is there more? We may never know. But from an actor’s perspective, it was a great experience with an unbelievable cast, a really great director that I respected and taught me a lot. It was nice to lose yourself in the character. I enjoy being challenged and this was very scary for a lot of reasons, because he’s a live person and I’ve never played a live person before. He was a very controversial person. To this day I don’t really know the truth. Because based on her side of the story, he was loving at times, and then extremely abusive at others.

In the movie, he’s not really a villain… No and that‘s the problem. I think in that movie, the villain is the American dream, in a way.

I thought the reason people liked that movie in the US is that even though the protagonists did some terrible things, in the end they wanted to win, and there’s nothing more American than this desire to win at all costs. Exactly. And you see it with who is in office in the White House right now! That was very prevalent in our movie. And the winning aspect was exactly what you said. Everybody was obsessed with this idea of not being good enough, not having enough, got to do more, got to do this. And then something happened, and nobody knew how to react to it, nobody was prepared. These were the people that grew up very poor, they didn’t have a great understanding of money, they didn’t have a great understanding of fame. But they wanted it. It’s also about abuse. Abuse happens early on, you learn, and keeps being repeated. And the people who are victims of abuse unfortunately grow used to the idea that there is some love attached to it, and continue to seek it later on. It’s about the message you’re telling your kids early on.

This fascination probably explains why the movie was named I, Tonya and not I, Nancy… The title I, Tonya was inspired by the book I, Claudius, which is about the Roman emperor Claudius. It’s in our nature as people to be driven, to want to succeed. All these things are part of who we are. But what do we do with it? That’s ingrained. You could say, “How are we like that?” But go tell this to four generations back. Blame them! We’re still living very much in a time that’s been put in place decades ago.

I wonder if there has ever been an actor who did this to another actor to get a part they were both auditioning for… (Laughs) Don’t put it out there! I’m sure there are people capable of it!

Are there any actors or directors whom you haven’t worked with and that you would like to work with in the future? Of course. Andrew Garland is a director I was just talking about the other day. He’s incredible. Quentin Tarantino. I’d work with Sir Ridley Scott again in a second. I’d love to get a chance to work with Darren Aronofsky. Who wouldn’t work with Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg? Sometimes I’m worried about what’s going to happen when these guys are no longer around!

Can you tell me about the TV show you did a couple of years ago called I’m Dying Up Here? It was a fun experience, it was a director I liked very much. It was based on a book about the Comedy Store in Hollywood. It was the ‘70s, guys like Jay Leno, Robin Williams – a world I knew nothing about. It wasn’t that comedic, it had some dark undertones. I love comedy. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m funny, how I’m not funny. It’s still a work in progress. But I’d love to be in a comedy one day. That would be amazing.

It seems your relationship with celebrity is somewhat ambivalent. Do you even want to be more famous? I talked to Justin Theroux last year and he is known for avoiding fame. I’m definitely not seeking it. I like walking on the streets. I don’t know what it would be like to be someone who can’t walk on the streets. I have no idea what it would be like. I’d love to continue doing what I’m doing. Sometimes one is a by-product of the other. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, sometimes. I see it more of a responsibility than anything else.

There’s pressure? Of course there’s pressure. But what are you doing with being famous? Who are you helping? Bring attention with you to certain causes? That’s how I think of it. Otherwise it’s just self-oriented.

Can you tell us about your other movies that will be released this year? There’s one that I have just finished, which I was really happy about. It’s called Destroyer. That was a great experience that I was really happy with. Then there’s We Live in a Castle , which I filmed two years ago. It was a really nice experience, but a tricky film with a tricky story. In Destroyer, you can expect Nicole Kidman as you’ve never seen her before. I’ve never seen her play a part like this. She was unrecognisable in some scenes. It’s a really well-written script that was a bit twisted. It is set in Los Angeles and the city is a big part of it. The movie is about control and how we struggle with that. We all want control. Sometimes it’s also about who we present ourselves to be and who we really are. It’s a very interesting movie and I’m also excited because of the director, Karyn Kusama. She’s really talented.

Could you describe your own personal style? You’re a firm believer in letting your wardrobe do the work. I try to not wear anything that has a log on it. Seemingly I like a lot of black, I like a lot of velvet. I like leather. I always seem to wear boots! I’m always learning about fashion. Especially this year. I got to wear Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Tom Ford – I was really lucky to wear some really cool brands. But I never discriminate between labels. It could be Hugo Boss or Coach. I’m much more of a visual person. If I see something that makes sense, I go for it.

Do you go to fashion week? I did last year. It was great. I went to Tom Ford, Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein. They were all very different and unique. But it was cool, I liked it.

Is it easy to fit into the clothes after all the Marvel superhero training? (Laughs) No, I’m not sure if I train as hard as I used to! Maybe it’s become part of my regular lie and I don’t not ice it anymore. Sometimes you have to lose weight, sometimes you have to gain weight. You just go with the job; the job just takes over.

You have millions of followers on Instagram. How did you develop your fanbase? It’s always a learning lesson for me on social media. A lot of it happened with Marvel, obviously. I got on Instagram when the Winter Soldier movie came out, it was in 2014. It was strange. But now it’s become a really interesting way to be able to communicate with the fans. Sometimes a lot of people reach out and ask me questions or advice. And that’s always very fulfilling.

What made you change your mind on social media? You used to not be on it. I wasn’t on it because I didn’t think I was going to be good at it. I’m still trying to figure it out, in a way. I’ve figured out how to enjoy it, though. I have just realised it was a necessity, in a way. It was part of the way the world was going. When someone really explained it to me that it was a way to keep in touch with your fans, vice versa, that really opened it up for me. Before I thought, “What am I going to say?” At least now we have a connection.

How much do the fans mean to you? Well none of this would happen without the fans. They’re the ones that go to the movies, they’re the ones that spend the money, they’re the ones that connect with those characters and relate to them. A lot of them put their hearts out and become vocal. I’ve had a lot of fans come up to me and tell me how much they relate to these characters, to the Winter Soldier, and how much he means to them. You need that support. That’s the feedback you’re looking for. Acting, to me, is an amazing experience. For me, personally, it’s gratifying. There’s a sense of release, a peace I get. But in the end, it’s a way to communicate something with somebody. That’s how I’ve always seen it. Here’s a character that’s going through this, maybe you’re related, maybe he’ll make you think about your life, make you question some of your decisions. How would you have acted in that scenario? It’s life on the screen!

[perfectirishgifts]

The Best Things I Ate - And Watched - In 2020, Pandemic Edition

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The Best Things I Ate - And Watched - In 2020, Pandemic Edition

Go Ice Cream’s chocolate sorbet was one of my favorite dishes this year.

Normally, at this time of year, I’d be making a trip to Chicago to see the city’s Christmas tree, or taking the train to Toronto for some shopping and dining.

This year, I’m not going anywhere — just like much of 2020. Leaving Michigan has been off limits for me since the pandemic began, and that’s affected my ability to list my favorite dishes of 2020.

But, I’ve discovered some treats, thanks to a little indoor dining and a lot of carry out. And I’ve also gotten to watch some enthralling and comforting food television. Here is my list.

Favorite Dishes

Go Ice Cream Chocolate Sorbet. In February, my friend Margaret Petersen and I set out to find the best local plant-based ice creams for my story in the Ann Arbor Observer.

The tour followed a story I wrote last year for FORBES that featured Brooklyn’s Van Leeuwen ice cream, which actually offers more plant-based flavors than dairy ones.

We found one of the best at Go Ice Cream, a small but growing business in Ypsilanti, Mich., Rob Hess’ chocolate sorbet is creamy, chocolatey and sweet, but doesn’t have a drop of dairy.

You can find it at markets in the Ann Arbor area, or by ordering ahead and picking it up at Hess’ window in a downtown Ypsilanti alley.

A variety of Sweetwater’s donuts.

Sweetwater’s Donut Mill Boston Cream Pie Donut. In August, I made one of the longest trips I took all year to Battle Creek, Mich, about 85 miles away.

I was picking up the six free donuts that Sweetwater’s Donut Mill gives you on your birthday, with the purchase of another six.

The Boston Cream Pie donut is worth the drive. The donut is deliciously yeasty, the cream filling is like the creme patisserie you see on The Great British Bake Off, and the chocolate icing is lick—it-off-the-top worthy.

If that’s not your style, you can choose from 54 other flavors.

KPOP Foods Honey Glaze sauce. Earlier this year, flavorist Donna Wamsley predicted that Korean flavors were about to head into the mainstream.

That prompted Theo Lee, the co-founder of KPOP Foods, to offer some me samples of his Korean-inspired sauces.

Three of them are based on gochujang, the traditional Korean chili paste that’s a popular ingredient and condiment. The Honey Glaze sauce is dynamite, to quote BTS.

It’s sweet and hot, and I’ve used it on everything from roast cauliflower to rice and salmon. It would be great on a burger, and of course, on barbecue, whether Korean or American.

Zingerman’s Roadhouse Chicken and Waffles. On March 15, I ate my last meal to date at the front counter of Zingerman’s Roadhouse, the sit-down sibling of Zingerman’s Deli, that serves classic American dishes.

Cases of COVID-19 were climbing, and we all figured Michigan would join Ohio and other states in issuing a stay at home order. I wanted one last meal at the counter, where I ate almost every week.

The fried chicken was crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside, and the waffle was both crispy and tender. I waved to the kitchen staff, and took selfies of them and the food. Sure enough, the state shut things down the next day.

I’ve eaten Roadhouse food since, but mainly from carry out boxes. The counter where I liked to sit has remained closed. But I fondly remember that last meal in normal times.

Brisket tacos from Ricewood BBQ.

Ricewood brisket tacos. Before the pandemic, I had discovered Ricewood BBQ in Ann Arbor, which operates out of a window inside York, a gourmet store and cafe. Ricewood has been winning awards for its rice bowls, topped with barbecue meats, Asian sauces and condiments.

As a special, Ricewood offers brisket tacos on Thursday. They’re nice and flavorful, and you can get side dishes like sesame cucumbers, kimchi and red cabbage slaw.

Since it’s all take out, you can use York’s outdoor seating, or look for a nice spot around Ann Arbor to enjoy your food. I often found a picnic table at a nearby park.

Favorite Food Shows

Phil Rosenthal has a loyal band of fans.

Somebody Feed Phil, Season 4. Phil Rosenthal lives a charmed life. He was the executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond, which maintains a loyal following 15 years after it went off the air (it lives on in continuous reruns).

Several years ago, he launched a series on PBS called I’ll Have What Phil’s Having. To put it gently, the concept was good, but the show needed some work.

There were an awful lot of corny jokes, and many critics wondered why Rosenthal got a food show when he’s not a chef or a cookbook writer.

However, he clearly loves dining and travel. Over the years, he’s eliminated some of the eye-rolling jokes and focuses on the people, places and dishes that he profiles.

As a result, he’s brought attention to locations and local purveyors, whose business has been boosted by his loyal band of fans.

I’ll forever be grateful to Rosenthal for this season’s episode in the Mississippi Delta which features the late Julia Reed. Her death this summer saddened so many of her friends and admirers, who deeply miss her witty writing about the South.

This series also takes viewers to Singapore and to Seoul, where another one of my favorite shows this year is set.

Hello! First Time In Korea, Finland. My friend Luke Song, the noted milliner, was born in South Korea and avidly keeps up on shows from his birthplace. During the pandemic, he’s sent me links to shows he thinks I might enjoy.

One is a series called Hello! First Time In Korea. It’s a pretty simple premise: a foreigner living in Korea invites three friends from their home country to visit. A camera crew follows them around Seoul and to spots around the country, as they sample Korean culture.

Episodes of the show can be found on YouTube, with English subtitles. Hands down, the most popular visit was by three young men from Finland, who came to see their friend Petri, an entrepreneur and official at the Finnish embassy.

The trio – Vili, Vilppi and Sami — enchanted Korean viewers with their love of the country, especially its food.

The program is a master class in all manner of Korean cuisine, from chicken and beer to live octopus and the sprawling variety of Korean table d’hote.

The Finns were such a hit that they were invited back to film a second series, and all the episodes have significant food elements.

You can find clips of just the eating sequences, but you shouldn’t miss the charm of the friends exploring South Korea.

You’ll see Korean beaches, national parks, museums, saunas, and a memorable baseball game.

Terrific drinking manual, plus regular social appearances.

Drinks with David Lebovitz. In 2020, cookbook author David Lebovitz published Drinking French, a lovely handbook to all kinds of French beverages, including cocktails, hot chocolate and aperitifs.

With his book tour scrapped by the pandemic, Lebovitz became one of the many writers and chefs who offer Instagram Live presentations. His have featured his drinks, food, his hilarious partner Romain, and various culinary guests.

Follow him on Instagram or Facebook to find out when he’ll be offering his next video.

Flavprful Origins looks at foods in China.

Street Food Latin America and Flavorful Origins. Both these programs are available on Netflix NFLX , and they’re culinary educations in places that aren’t often seen in food documentaries.

Street Food Latin America is the successor to Street Food Asia, and depicts a number of chefs, cooks and vendors across South and Central America. Many of those featured are women, and many have plied their trades for decades.

One takeaway is just how hard these cooks and vendors work to produce their authentic dishes.

Flavorful Origins is a series of vignettes on dishes in different regions of China, easily binge-able. In Series Three, the filmmakers visit the sprawling Gansu province in Northwest China.

You will see everything from hand-pulled noodles to mutton, lily plants to buckwheat, and up close views of all the steps that are required.

Hopefully, by this time next year, we’ll be able to travel to China, or Paris, or Seoul, and taste all these dishes for ourselves.

From Food & Drink in Perfectirishgifts

[businessliveme]

Netflix Hopes ‘Stranger Things’ Can Be Its Billion-Dollar Franchise

(Bloomberg) — Days before the July 4 holiday in the U.S., hundreds of fans of “Stranger Things” lined up along the beach in Santa Monica, California, to attend a fair modeled after the Netflix Inc. show.

Clad in shirts with the names of characters and the high school in fictional Indiana, they waited more than an hour to ride a Ferris wheel, eat ice cream and snap selfies in a photo booth.

Read: These Netflix Shows Should Be On Your Radar Pronto

The event, one of two in the U.S., is part of the biggest marketing campaign ever undertaken by Netflix, the world’s largest paid online TV network. Over the past few weeks, Netflix has attached “Stranger Things” to Schwinn bikes, Nike shoes and Coke soft drinks — all to hype the Independence Day arrival of the show’s third season.

Read: Netflix to Adapt Classic Novel ‘100 Years of Solitude’ as Series

On Monday, Netflix begins a long promotion with Microsoft Corp. The tech giant is bringing back Windows 1, the first version of the software that made it the most valuable company. The app includes Microsoft Paint and the word processor Write, as well as games and videos from “Stranger Things.” The show is set in 1985, the same year Windows 1 was released.

Like any campaign, this one is designed to draw in current fans and attract potential new ones. But it’s also an important test of whether Netflix can turn “Stranger Things,” already its most popular original show in the U.S., into something much bigger. The company, with worldwide subscribers approaching 160 million, is beginning to angle for a piece of the $122 billion consumers spend on entertainment-linked merchandise.

“The category is massive, and Netflix wants to play a part,” said Gene Del Vecchio, a consultant and adjunct marketing professor at the University of Southern California. “They are going to need a strategic plan if they really want to reap the benefits as they go forward.”

Pillars of Profit

The world’s largest entertainment companies are built on properties like “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Star Wars” and “Batman” that remain in the public eye via T-shirts, games and toys long after people stop watching the latest season. “Star Wars” has generated more than $20 billion in merchandise sales — a virtuous cycle in which T-shirts and action figures drive ticket sales for each new movie.

For all of Netflix’s success, it has struggled to dispel industry criticism that it churns through projects, never giving a show more than a few weeks in the spotlight. The Los Gatos, California-based company cancels the vast majority of new series after just a couple seasons because viewership falls off. Sustaining interest is the key if Netflix wants its shows to sell toys, clothing and video games.

“Stranger Things” debuted over the July 4 weekend in 2016 with little fanfare. A quirky piece of nostalgia for the 1980s, the show was created by two brothers without a hit to their name and a cast full of kids and journeyman actors. The creators were initially concerned because they saw few billboards or traditional marketing materials.

Magnet for Viewers

Viewers showed up right away. Within weeks, the cast was on magazine covers and talk shows. The show was nominated for Emmy awards, and was, by outside estimates, one of Netflix’s most-watched original series.

“Whenever we do survey work, it’s the No. 1 show in terms of customer favorites,” said Michael Nathanson, an analyst with MoffettNathanson LLC.

“Stranger Things” proved Netflix could make a hit on its own. Unlike “House of Cards,” “Orange Is the New Black” or “The Crown,” the show was produced without the help of a major studio. It is also the kind of hit media companies dream about. It appeals to all ages, and lends itself to costumes and toys. But Netflix didn’t even have a licensing department when that first season appeared.

“Stranger Things” has since served as Netflix’s marketing guinea pig. The company bought its first Super Bowl ad to promote season two, and forged deals for “Stranger Things” T-shirts, dolls and a mobile game.

In September, Netflix hired Disney veteran Christie Fleischer to lead its consumer products group. She, in turn, has beefed up the group with additional hires from Disney.

While Netflix has a huge head start on traditional media companies in streaming, Disney is still the model for a modern entertainment company. Every new TV show or movie at Disney is the start of a franchise that makes money in a multitude of ways.

Frozen Treats

“Frozen” generated $531 million in toy sales in the U.S. in 2014, according to research firm NPD Group Inc. “Star Wars” is a video game, theme-park attraction and toy juggernaut.

“Netflix stumbled into ‘Stranger Things’ merchandise,” Del Vecchio said.

It’s an open question whether Netflix can develop shows that deliver those kinds of sales. Internet TV is still in its early days, and the company debuts whole series all at once, making it harder to sustain the attention of viewers the way a weekly program might.

“The shows get big buzz and then start to fade,” said Allen Bohbot, who produces the kids’ show “Super Monsters” for Netflix. “With TV, the show is on every day and repeats every week. There is a constant in-your-face reminder to a kid that a show will be there.”

He can speak first hand. Netflix bought the underlying characters from “Super Monsters” and licensed Hasbro Inc. to produce a line of toys. The toys didn’t catch on in a big way, and a more ambitious release schedule for the show didn’t seem to help.

None of those concerns have stopped some of the world’s largest companies from working with Netflix and “Stranger Things” to reach new customers.

“We’re always out looking for things we can do to drive and build cultural relevance,” said Eli Friedman, Microsoft’s general manager of brand marketing. “There’s lots of buzz around the show.”

Shares of the streaming company have risen 41% this year, compared with a 19% gain for the S&P 500 Index.

Tech Camp

The promotion with Microsoft will last all summer. The software giant will produce a video game rooted in “Stranger Things” and offer science camps at its U.S. stores all summer, named after the “Camp Know Where” in the series. Technophiles will be able to take science and engineering classes at more than 80 stores in the U.S., and learn how to make a minigame tied to the series.

Fleischer has been laying the groundwork for the “Stranger Things” promotion for months, and, for the first time will roll out products worldwide, including Latin America, Asia and Europe.

The company is developing campaigns for “Dark Crystal,” a series based on the Jim Henson characters, “Klaus,” an animated movie, and “La Casa de Papel,” a Spanish heist show, according to people familiar with the company’s plans who asked not to be identified. In 2020, a Finnish video game company will release a mobile game based on “Stranger Things.”

Bohbot, who produces “Super Monsters,” believes Netflix will ultimately figure out how to turn its online hits into merchandising bonanzas.

“Nickelodeon was nothing until SpongeBob came along and became a hit,” Bohbot said.

The post Netflix Hopes ‘Stranger Things’ Can Be Its Billion-Dollar Franchise appeared first on Businessliveme.com.

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Oh, Snap! ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Crushes $1.2B+ Global & $859M Overseas Record Bows; Pushes MCU Pics WW To $20B – International Box Office

MONDAY UPDATE: With Sunday actuals tallied, Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame has rocketed even higher than the record-smashing estimates we saw yesterday. Through Sunday, the Anthony and Joe Russo-helmed giant collected $866M at the international box office, topping the already colossal $859M projection. Although domestic numbers won’t be confirmed until midday Pacific time, they are on the upswing and help snap Endgame’s global debut to $1.222B. With the updated figures, the 22nd MCU movie overtakes Iron Man 3 as the No. 17 film ever on the worldwide charts — after just five days in release.

In China today, Endgame is estimated to have assembled another $18.2M ahead of a four-day extended break that begins Wednesday. This is not included in the totals above. When added, however, it thrusts Endgame past The Fate Of The Furious globally, as well as Wolf Warrior 2 and Frozen overseas. There will be more leapfrogging once the rest of Monday is included in tomorrow’s update.

Related Story

Anthony And Joe Russo Talk ‘Avengers: Endgame’s Global Reach, Say Disney+ Vs. Netflix Is Race To Watch

The Top 5 offshore markets through Sunday saw slight shifts. Notably, the UK came in higher than the estimated $53.8M which was already a record-setting weekend in the market, beating previous all-time best Spectre.

Here’s the updated Top 5 through Sunday: China ($330.5M), UK ($56M), Korea ($46.9M), Mexico ($31.9M) and Australia ($31.2M).

Russia, the final market to join the team, bows today as Endgame looks to cross $1B internationally with this week’s May 1 holiday a factor in many hubs. We’ll be following ongoing play throughout the week. See below for more detail on the full opening session (and check here for a running table of records).

2ND SUNDAY UPDATE, writethru after 8:33AM: It all comes down to this: Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame has obliterated worldwide, overseas and domestic records, hammering home an $859M start at the international box office for an astounding $1.209B global launch. It is the first film ever to surpass $1B worldwide in its debut, reaching the milestone in just five days. Within the snap of a weekend, this reckoning with Thanos becomes the No. 18 film on the all-time global charts, leapfrogging Captain America: Civil War and the recent Captain Marvel. Endgame‘s massive bow also puts the collective cume of the 22 MCU films released to date at $19.9B global.

Through Friday (see earlier posts below), the Anthony and Joe Russo-helmed Endgame had already logged the biggest global and international openings ever. The previous record holder for a worldwide launch was Avengers: Infinity War at $640M and without China in the opening suite. Endgame is now Marvel and Disney’s 2nd billion-dollar release of 2019 (alongside Captain Marvel which itself has benefited from the Endgame effect), and Marvel’s 8th billion dollar film ever.

While the industry always expected Endgame to have a stratospheric, record-busting launch, last week folks were cautious about predicting a $1B global opening (the extra runtime, China not having a full non-workday weekend, etc). However, as early offshore play, including China, coupled with North America’s amazing trajectory, signs began to point to this 22nd MCU pic coming in above $800M overseas and getting close to $1.2B for worldwide, both as we noted below yesterday.

Ultimately, Endgame, which had exhibitors keeping the lights on around the clock in many hubs, scored the highest opening weekend in industry history in 44 overseas markets. Included in that is China which posted an estimated debut of $330.5M (RMB 2.22B) over five days, the biggest local or Western film bow ever. Endgame is instantly the No. 4 Western title of all time there. Along with China, among the offshore markets to log the biggest opening weekend ever are Australia, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Spain and the UK.

In the latter, Endgame’s $53.8M launch replaced Spectre’s claim to the biggest UK opening ever, even though James Bond had a 7-day start in his home territory back in 2015.

There is joy, and awe, in Burbank today. Cathleen Taff, Disney’s President of Theatrical Distribution, Franchise Management and Business & Audience Insights, tells Deadline, “We’re ecstatic” and also “floored and amazed by the response from fans around the world.” Endgame’s opening is not just about a number, says Taff, but the word of mouth that has propelled the record weekend. She cites the “can’t-miss factor” for the “ultimate culmination of this franchise that the Marvel team has been building for a decade now.”

In IMAX, Endgame, which is the second film in history to be shot entirely with its cameras, smashed the format’s all-time worldwide opening record with $91.5M. That tops the global IMAX debut of Star Wars: The Force Awakens by 92%. In 3D, this is the top global launch ever with an estimated $540M of the total in the format.

Megan Colligan, President, IMAX Entertainment and EVP IMAX Corp, credits the “thoughtfulness” with which Marvel has built out the MCU to get to this moment and “deliver audiences the ultimate movie event.” The Russo brothers shooting with IMAX cameras also “signaled to fans that this is a way to see the movie” and speaks to IMAX’s strategy of aligning with filmmakers as “pure partners right from the start.” Colligan predicts a “lot of jet fuel” in Endgame’s tank.

Certainly, to what extent frontloading is a factor on Endgame will be a question going forward in terms of where it ends up, but it is likely to take on a water-cooler/must-see element for non-core fans as well as generating repeat-viewing. All markets are now open save Russia which bows on Monday. There and elsewhere the May 1 holiday falls this week, including in China which gets an extended four-day break. We’ll be keeping an eye on the midweeks as further thresholds continue to be crossed.

Immediately below is a breakdown on Endgame‘s international estimates through Sunday as well as a snapshot of the other pics in play overseas. See below those for earlier updates on the weekend as it unfolded.

NEW AVENGERS: ENDGAME On its way to an $859M launch at No. 1 in 54 markets, Endgame’s international play began with China’s record-breaking midnights on April 23, which then funneled into a record-breaking opening day on April 24.

Despite record presales, there had been early concern that given the Middle Kingdom’s five-day opening included only one non-school/non-workday the start could come in only around $250M. But word of mouth off great online scores pushed it to the biggest opening of all time at $330.5M (RMB 2.22B). It is already the No. 4 Hollywood film ever (behind The Fate Of The Furious, Furious 7 and Infinity War) and logged the biggest single day ever on Saturday.

China IMAX was good for a huge $42.4M on 609 screens. That beats recent local smash The Wandering Earth by 66% for an all-time record — and tops Infinity War’s entire Middle Kingdom run in the format ($41.2M). Nine of China’s Top 10 cinemas were IMAX with per-screen averages of $69.5K for the format’s best-ever recorded there.

IMAX also set opening weekend box office records across 49 other markets, including France, Germany, Italy, Japan, India, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, among others.

Overall, Endgame posted the highest opening weekend in industry history in 44 markets. With China, that also includes Australia, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Spain and the UK. Iron Man, Cap, Thor and the gang further set the highest industry single-day grosses in 29 markets, including the above.

Thanos was on fire in Latin America where every market logged the biggest weekend ever. Across the region, the cume was $100M, topping Infinity War’s record $74M. In Asia-Pacific, the regional total was $545M to top IW’s record $340M. Europe/Middle East/Africa brought in $214M for another regional record, topping Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ $172M.

In broken-out highlights, Endgame’s $53.8M UK launch replaced Spectre’s claim to the biggest opening ever, even though James Bond had a 7-day start in the market a few years back. In India, a staggering $26.7M is the biggest opening weekend ever for a Western title. Japan’s $13M is tops for an MCU movie in that market. In the Philippines, Endgame is already the 2nd biggest movie overall ever, just with opening weekend on the books.

Here are the Top 15 markets through Sunday: China ($330.5M), UK ($53.8M), Korea ($47.4M), Mexico ($33.1M), Australia ($30.8M), Germany ($26.9M), India ($26.7M), Brazil ($26M), France ($24.2M), Italy ($19M), Philippines ($17.9M), Thailand ($14.3M), Indonesia ($14.1M), Spain ($13.3M) and Japan ($13M).

MISC UPDATED CUMES

The Curse Of La Llorona (WB): $7.9M intl weekend (71 markets); $45.7M intl cume Dumbo (DIS): $6.4M intl weekend (51 markets); $220.6M intl cume Wonder Park (PAR): $5.6M intl weekend (53 markets); $58.1M intl cume Shazam! (WB): $5.4M intl weekend (80 markets); $215.2M intl cume Captain Marvel (DIS): $2.1M intl weekend (45 markets); $696.6M intl cume Pet Sematary (PAR): $2M intl weekend (49 markets); $49.7M intl cume Little (UNI): $700K intl weekend (13 markets); $6.6M intl cume Breakthrough (FOX): $600K intl weekend (17 markets); $7.6M intl cume Us (UNI): $500K intl weekend (48 markets); $76.6M intl cume How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (UNI): $400K intl weekend (35 markets); $356.4M intl cume

MORE…

2ND SATURDAY UPDATE, writethru after 8:31 AM post: Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame has now collected $487M worth of infinity stones at the international box office. That’s through Friday, and does not include an estimated $82.4M in China on Saturday which pushes Iron Man, Cap, Thor and the gang across the $300M mark there. With domestic’s $156.7M estimate through Friday, the global total (again, excluding China’s Saturday) is $643.7M. We are looking at a worldwide opening over $1.1B, an all-time — and mindboggling — industry record.

Overseas, the $487M through Friday already breaks the record for the highest opening weekend internationally ever, topping The Fate of the Furious‘ $443M (which had China in the opening suite). The global total through Friday is also a new benchmark, overtaking the highest worldwide opening weekend which was previously set by Avengers: Infinity War ($641M, and no China).

While the industry always expected Endgame‘s to be a stratospheric launch, last week folks were cautious about predicting a $1B global opening (the long runtime, China’s lack of days off during the debut, etc). Given the incredible trajectory the 22nd MCU pic has been on this weekend — and a lack of down-drag from the extra runtime coupled with round-the-clock screenings in many markets — sources now see Endgame reaching even higher, to a $1.1B worldwide take, and, yes, even nearing $1.2B.

Of that, this reckoning with Thanos is now looking to reach well into the $800Ms overseas.

In IMAX, and this is only the second movie ever to be entirely shot with its cameras, Endgame has already scored the best opening weekend ever with $52.1M through Friday. IMAX set record opening days in 45 overseas markets, including Friday openers Mexico, Japan and India, to add to previously reported record openings in Germany, France, Taiwan, Brazil, Argentina, Italy and the UAE. The offshore cume, outside China, is 11.9M. In the Middle Kingdom, the IMAX total through Friday is $28.2M. That surpasses The Wandering Earth‘s six-day opening weekend of $25.5M and also beats Infinity War‘s full opening week of $26.9M.

China’s business overall will slow on Sunday which is a workday (to compensate for next week’s four-day holiday which will likely further fuel Endgame), but the movie has already set a record as the fastest to RMB 2B in the market — that includes local Chinese New Year titles like The Wandering Earth this year.

Elsewhere, new markets that were added on Friday include Mexico where the Anthony and Joe Russo-helmed series finale logged the biggest all-time industry single day with $12.5M, 35% higher than Infinity War‘s opening day.

Other milestones accrued on Friday include Vietnam‘s best single day ever, India‘s best Western opening (and No. 3 for any movie — notable in a market that is 90% local — plus 56% bigger than Infinity War) and Japan logging the top Marvel start at 70% over IW.

Here are the Top 5 grossers through Friday: China (217.4M/$300.3M including Saturday), UK ($27M), Korea ($23M/$34.5M including Saturday), Australia ($19.7M) and Germany ($15.2M).

2ND FRIDAY UPDATE 10:18 AM PT, writethru: Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame continues smashing records at the international box office, crushing $305M in just its first two days. Now playing in 46 offshore markets, the 22nd MCU entry is pacing ahead of Avengers: Infinity War in each of those and set a new industry single-day benchmark in the UK on Thursday with $15.3M. The Anthony and Joe Russo-directed Endgame has the same bragging rights in all Latin American markets that opened yesterday, including Brazil ($7M).

Not included in the international total above is the China Friday which is coming in at an estimated $61.9M, that puts the Middle Kingdom tally through three days at $216.4M. As noted below, this tramples Infinity War‘s weekend launch last year, which had a straight three-day FSS bow of about $190M. Thursday’s Endgame China number was down 40.5% from Wednesday, an expected drop, with Friday’s estimate up on that by 31.7%. Saturday will go higher. Also as previously noted, Endgame is on track to leave the $300M threshold well in its dust over the five-day Middle Kingdom launch which nonetheless includes only one non-work/non-school day.

We are in uncharted waters with Endgame, but an international opening of well over $700M is now in sight. Couple that with domestic’s likely $300M start and we are ready to call an unprecedented $1B global opening a strong possibility. As we reported in our worldwide preview, to make that happen China and/or the U.S. would need to overperform. China is certainly doing it with two days of play to go (though we do expect Sunday to see a steep drop given folks need to work that day). The rest of international has blown up through Thursday, and will see Mexico join the team today, plus there’s all that Saturday and Sunday on deck. We will of course know more as the weekend progresses. In the meantime, it’s not all about China overseas…

Along with the UK, which came in 86% over Infinity War, and Brazil (+67%), Thursday launch markets that opened to the biggest single-day record ever include Panama, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Trinidad, Uruguay, Portugal, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Serbia (non-local), Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine.

In Europe, new hubs that saw the No. 2 biggest all-time opening day include Croatia and Hungary. Israel, Poland and Slovenia scored the top superhero bow ever.

In holdovers, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Philippines and Thailand gave Endgame the 2nd best industry single day on Thursday, after posting the highest all-time industry single day on Wednesday. Australia and New Zealand, which had Anzac Day, dipped by just 3% and 1%, respectively. Also yesterday, Taiwan and Malaysia posted the best all-time industry Thursday.

For IMAX (the film is only the second ever fully shot with its cameras), there have been opening day records in 38 markets including China, France, Germany, Taiwan, Brazil and Argentina. The global total through Thursday in the format is $33M. In China, Endgame made $21M over the first two days which tops the 3-day opening weekend record held by Infinity War ($20.3M).

The Top 10 overall international markets through Thursday are China ($154.5M – does not include Friday estimates), UK ($15.3M), Korea ($14.6M/$22.7M estimate with Friday), Australia ($13.9M), Italy ($10.4M), Germany ($9.7M), France ($9.6M), Philippines ($7M), Brazil ($7M) and Indonesia ($5.1M).

More to come tomorrow.

FRIDAY, 1ST UPDATE, 6:45AM PT: While we wait on Avengers: Endgame’s full Thursday numbers at the international box office, the Disney/Marvel marvel has today added another milestone to its gauntlet. In China, with Friday’s early estimates included, our band of heroes has crossed the $200M mark, and in so doing topped the first full weekend of Avengers: Infinity War. Early figures from local ticketing platform Maoyan have Endgame already at RMB 1.44B/$214M through Friday. Infinity War bowed to RMB 1.272B across a Friday/Saturday/Sunday weekend last year.

Endgame is on track to leave the $300M threshold in its dust over the five-day Middle Kingdom launch which nonetheless includes only one non-work/non-school day. That’s something that had given our experts pause coming into the session, but strong word of mouth is fueling a great start beginning with the record-breaking Wednesday earlier this week. Yesterday’s dip from Day 1 was a little more than 40% which was to be expected, while today should be up from Thursday by about 30%. We’ll update these unofficial local figures in just a little bit, and have more from around the world.

PREVIOUS, THURSDAY UPDATE, writethru: Along with its record-breaking first day in China, Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame is crushing into the all-time books with a cumulative $169M through Wednesday at the international box office. That one-day gross includes the $107.5M start in the Middle Kingdom yesterday as well as debuts in 24 other material markets. Each of the openings on Wednesday was bigger than Avengers: Infinity War, putting Endgame, from directors Anthony and Joe Russo, ahead of the previous installment in all markets.

In China, the running cume estimate through Thursday (ie today, and still an early number which is not fully included in the total above), is $153M (RMB 1.03B). This reflects a $45.5M Thursday which is a roughly 42% drop from Wednesday (sans midnights). That’s an expected dip given the hyper-anticipation for opening day. The full weekend, which is a 5-day frame that includes just one non-workday, is looking towards the $300M+ zone.

Endgame set a new IMAX opening day benchmark (including midnights) with RMB 93M ($13.8M) from 608 screens, surpassing Infinity War by 82%. IMAX repped about 13% of the Middle Kingdom launch gross, as well as the Top 10 locations and 88 of the 100 best-performing sites. The 22nd MCU entry is only the second film in history to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras. (For more on the China opening, see here.)

The series-ender is poised to be an all-time international and global record-breaker and we’ll have a clearer picture of just where it’s headed when more markets come online. Right now, the international opening estimates are trending well upwards, into the $700M+ range. Domestic has previews starting tonight local time while overseas today adds the UK and Brazil with Friday recruiting Japan and Mexico to the team.

Overall through Wednesday, eight markets have logged the biggest industry single-day record, including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, Philippines and Korea (the latter in terms of admissions). Among records for opening days are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Netherlands and a handful more.

In the UK, early indications point to record-setting numbers for midnights and the rest of the session. Applaudience reports that as of midday local time today, about 1.2M tickets have been sold for the FSS.

Turning back to Wednesday numbers, the next best launch after China was in Korea at $8.4M, which as well as being the top all-time industry single day in admissions, is the best non-holiday opening day ever. (Early estimates today have Korea adding another $6M.) On Wednesday, Iron Man and the crew came in 40% higher than Infinity War there. Some markets had even bigger increases over Infinity War with Hong Kong up 98%, Germany 95% ahead and France over by 64%.

The No. 3 opening grosser after China and Korea so far is Australia with $7M for +17% on IW. ComScore’s PostTrak locally reports that the film has five out of five stars in Oz and an 88 Total Positive score from audiences with a 68% “definitely recommend.”

Rounding out the Top 10 Wednesday openers are France ($6M/+64%), Italy ($5.8M/+66%), Germany ($5.6M/+95%), Philippines ($3.9M/+45%), Hong Kong ($2.7M/+98%), Taiwan ($2.6M/+50%) and Indonesia ($2.5M/+42%).

The assembled Avengers also hit the highest superhero opening day of all time in Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

The post Oh, Snap! ‘Avengers: Endgame’ Crushes $1.2B+ Global & $859M Overseas Record Bows; Pushes MCU Pics WW To $20B – International Box Office appeared first on Gyrlversion.

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[jillmckenzie1]

Cinema Latino

Insomnia and I have been bitter sisters for a long time now. She knows my secrets and reminds me of them, over and over and over during the tiny hours when all sensible and peaceable people should be sound asleep. I admit that some of this is my own fault. My two favorite cocktails war it out; Sudafed and caffeine team up against melatonin and merlot. Eventually I decide that the drugs aren’t making me feel better, they’re just making me feel a different kind of bad. Then it’s back to just me and Insomnia in a monogamous, monotonous relationship. I lie awake and fester in my thoughts, or walk around my tiny house, or read boring books for hours. I’m currently reading an endless saga of Ice Age people who saunter across Asia in real time, stopping occasionally to have some bad sex. Eventually, morning comes (if not as quickly and enthusiastically as the book’s characters) and, bleary-eyed and jangly, I saunter over to Aurora, because Asia is too far away.

I don’t have a lot of business in Aurora, although there’s some cool stuff happening in the arts district. I wandered over there because I have a long-running self-improvement campaign in place and “maintain my Spanish skills” is part of that. I landed in the parking lot of Sonora Cinemas, a Spanish-language movie theater on 6th and Peoria at 10am on a Sunday morning, which is when the cool people all show up to the movies.

I’m a fan of low-brow venues and dive bars and have spent a non-negligible amount of time at the Elvis Cinema, which has cheap prices, dark hallways, and sticky floors. The Sonora is not that. It’s big, bright, and sparkling clean. Your feet practically bounce off the carpet. The smartly-dressed manager asked in English to assist me. I requested a ticket for How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World. He explained that that film was only in Spanish. I am a six-foot, blue-eyed, natural blonde–more Cameron Diaz than America Ferrera. I appreciated his courtesy, but replied that Spanish-only was fine. I used to get the same question at theaters when I lived in Latin America and conducted the entire ticket transaction in Spanish. I look unequivocally white-bread.

I find my seat in Theater Two. I am the only person in this theater. I even turned on my cell phone flashlight to check out the dark corners of the seating area. It’s completely empty. So basically, I went from the dark, empty solitude of my sleepless bedroom to the dark, empty solitude of a weekend-morning movie theater. #Winning. I spread out and put my feet up. Even though every sign on the doors warned in Spanish that outside food is not allowed, I snuck in my own snacks. My 2019 nutrition plan doesn’t include Raisinettes. I brought a refillable water bottle and a navel orange because I am extremely cool and also, pooping in your 30s is a different game than pooping in your 20s.

I picked HTTYD in Spanish, no subtitles, both because I didn’t want the crutch of reading the text in either language and because I thought a cartoon would be easier for my rusty language skills to handle, although it’s harder to read lip and facial cues on a cartoon character. I’m gonna say this: HTTYD3 is not Dreamwork’s masterpiece. I remember reading a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel in college in the original Spanish, and being totally befuddled by it. I got a copy in English to clarify the narrative, only to discover that it was just as bizarre in English and I had understood it perfectly in Spanish to begin with. I felt the same way about this movie; it felt entirely unnecessary and full of contrived weirdness. Maybe I didn’t get on the HTTYD wagon soon enough in the franchise? Maybe something was lost in translation? I’m pretty sure I got the gist of the movie…the problem was that there wasn’t much gist to be gotten. Lots of dragons, a villain, a noble young hero, fire and explosions abound. Spoiler alert: the good guy won. I think the bad guy got swallowed by the ocean or something suitably tasteful and punishing.

This is the point where I rant about why Hollywood makes so many terrible movies: they make them for the world market and explosions don’t require dialogue, much less subtitles or translation. More profit, but lots of boring, flammable plotlines out there lately. Sadly, this has even infected “children’s” movies like HTTYD. I actually fell asleep during the movie, which tells you that Sonora’s seats are comfortable, the movie was tepid, and that insomnia really does end in Aurora.

On my way out I checked out the bathrooms because there is nothing more important than bathrooms in a venue. I am happy to report that they were glittering and spotless. Countertops and floors were bone-dry. The dispensers had soap, the towels were stocked. Lovely. The manager smiled at me as I walked out and invited me to return again soon.

A fellow was standing by the door of the theater as I walked outside.

“Oh, my god!” he exclaimed, in Spanish. “Where the f— did you come from? What’s going on here?!”

I have to take this as evidence that he didn’t expect me, the white lady, to be there, which is kind of the reason I was there. This is where I get philosophical. Why leave the house when you can see everything in the world on Netflix or Hulu at home? Putting on pants is such a drag. My reasons to be there were many of the same ones that make me support live theater and music. There’s something about a social, group experience that makes it entirely different than listening  or watching alone in your bedroom. And if you make an effort to be somewhere that most people “like you” are not, it expands your world. You see new things and meet new people who remind you that the world is a very big, highly variegated place. It’s good for your soul and your language-processing brain lobes to do something outside your norm. Take a risk. Head to Aurora. There are some new releases playing in the matinee.

from Blog https://ondenver.com/cinema-latino/

[digital-strategy]

Much has been said about AT&T’s supposed plans for HBO, the US-based premium cable network that’s often considered the most valuable component of Time Warner (which AT&T bought for $108B in June 2018 and renamed WarnerMedia). The prevailing narrative suggests AT&T wants HBO to become Netflix – something Netflix has been expecting HBO to attempt since at least 2012. This sparked considerable outrage from fans of HBO, most of whom believe such a move would not only dilute the network’s best-in-class content offering, but fundamentally rewire the company. After all, this is the brand that long professed “It’s not TV. It’s HBO.” And, well, Netflix is trying to be TV.

Being protective of the HBO that exists today is sensible. No matter who you are, there’s something to love. Not only is HBO the most profitable single network in the world, it also produces much of the industry’s best content (averaging ~25% of all nominations for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Comedy Series at the Emmys since 2013, despite airing only 4% of all series). The company’s talent-friendly development team and creative expertise have also made it the “network of choice” for Hollywood’s most celebrated showrunners, writers and stars. And for video distributors, there’s no network they can sell that has a greater impact on profitability than HBO.

But to continue to win, HBO, like all successful businesses, needs to change and grow. This isn’t about failure, nor empire building. Instead, its about adapting to the fundamental changes to the very business HBO conquered. Over-the-top distribution means more than moving content from the TV to an internet-enabled device. It means competing in a market that’s not fair, that’s fought both locally and globally, and where every participant must make and do more than ever before. And so before one critiques what HBO should be, or what AT&T might want it to be, it’s important to address three key areas of context.

  #1 – Why HBO Needs More Content

While the SVOD narrative typically focuses on original television series, movies are incredibly important. This is particularly true for HBO. While the network’s catalog is primarily composed of TV content, films represent 73% of total viewing and 34% on HBO Go/HBO Now (the network’s closest Netflix comp). In addition, 40% of all of HBO’s viewers watch only on the network’s film content. This engagement stems from HBO’s dominant share of major studio “Pay-1” deals, which provide the network with an exclusive first window to the films theatrical distributed by Warner Bros., 21st Century Fox, Universal Studios (excluding DreamWorks Animation) and Summit Entertainment. To point, the network has often marketed the fact that it had exclusive rights to half of the biggest 25 films at the prior year’s box office. However, increasing verticalization across the media industry means that most Pay-1 deals are likely to be taken off the market in the years to come.

Although HBO will likely be able to renew its deal with sister company Warner Bros. (#2 at the 2017 box office), the recently acquired Fox (#4) is likely to be retained by Disney for its forthcoming streaming service and/or Hulu. Universal’s Pay-1 (#3), meanwhile, is expected to stay within NBCUniversal/Comcast (though its OTT video play remains unclear) and Summit is now owned by Lionsgate (see below). Among studios not on HBO today, the odds are long. We already know Disney’s catalog (#1) will be exclusive to the company’s streaming service once its deal with Netflix ends in 2019. Lionsgate/Summit (#6) is expected to divert its content to Starz (which it bought in 2016). Paramount’s (#7) remains up for grabs, but if/when Viacom is acquired by CBS, it’s likely to end up on CBS All Access. Sony (#5) is also TBD, but as a perennial acquisition target, its Pay-1 may also vanish. And should any deals come available (such as Universal), they’ll be hotly contested and unprecedentedly expensive. For years, HBO faced only one or two competitors in bidding for these rights. Now it also faces well-capitalized competitors such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. And if HBO does win, they will still experience a net reduction in their total Pay-1 share of top films.

However, this is as common a problem as the solution is clear. Most modern networks, including AMC and Netflix, began with only licensed content. But as licenses became more costly and scarce, and programming competition more intense, almost all of these networks progressively shifted their budget to original content (85% of incremental spend at Netflix is now on originals). HBO helped pioneer this path back in 1995 when it greenlit Oz, and today nearly 50% of its budget is on Originals and exclusive sports. Going forward, this share (and thus the company’s output) will need to grow further. Fortunately, the company has several years to replace its Pay-1 catalog as its current deals covers movies released through 2021 and 2022 (and these films would then be available for roughly 15 months before leaving the service).

Beyond simply offsetting Pay-1 losses, it’s important to consider how the programming requirements for SVOD services are greater than those of traditional (i.e. pay-TV) networks. Today, fewer than a quarter of HBO’s subscribers actually subscribe to HBO at $15 per month. Instead, most subscribe to a premium cable bundle of HBO+Showtime+Starz (at $25 or $30) or as part of an “everything TV” package ($120+). Over-the-top, however, HBO is sold à la carte – which provides greater pricing transparency to customers, lacks multi-network bundling, and is month-to-month versus annual. This challenges HBO core’s programming strategy, which aspires to have at least one show for every subscriber at all times.

In the over-the-top world, HBO is asking customers to pay $15 to watch four episodes of a single show each month (and $45 total to watch a single season), plus the occasional movie. Not only can these subscribers choose lower-priced substitutes with substantially greater volume (and an increasingly comparable library of Emmy nominees), they can simply wait until a given HBO show has finished its weekly releases and then binge it for a single month’s fee (or they can wait until several shows have accumulated and binge them all for that same $15). This “binge-and-churn” behavior is common in for à la carte SVOD services, but it’s new for the premium cable networks who used to collectively offer several shows per month as part of an annual, bundled contract that their subscriber couldn’t pause and restart.

For similar reasons, HBO’s low-volume strategy also exposes the company to significant creative risk. If a series misfires (HBO’s Here and Now premiered in February 2018 and was cancelled two months later), the network can ends up with no new content to offer the show’s target audience for more than two months. As a result, HBO can encounter significant customer churn (which means lost revenue, increased customer acquisition costs and lower viewership of all other HBO content – including future premieres). Increased output not only reduces this programming risk, it also helps sustain a $15 month-to-month subscription.

  #2 – Why HBO needs to be more global

While HBO content is available worldwide and the company counts close to 90MM international subscribers, the nature of these subscribers and the company’s foreign operations varies significantly. Outside the US, HBO operates under a number of business/operating models. The first model is “owned and operated channels” (or “O&Os”) where HBO shares the same responsibilities and costs as it does in the US. In some markets, HBO’s O&O networks are available only via traditional TV (HBO Asia) or OTT subscription (HBO Nordic), while in others it might be available through both channels (HBO in Brazil). The second model is joint venture networks, which are co-financed by HBO but co-owned and operated by a local partner (HBO Latin America was set-up by minority owner and day-to-day operator Ole Communications, with Sony, Disney and Universal all serving as partners). HBO’s third model is licensing. Here, the network either licenses its brand and original content to a foreign operator (HBO Canada is owned and operated by Bell Media, a large telco) or just its content (in the UK, Germany and Italy, HBO content is only available on one of Sky’s self-branded networks, along with considerable non-HBO content). In some of these markets, HBO isn’t even a paid channel – it might be available on basic cable, or even via broadcast.

This multi-model strategy create a substantial range in per-subscriber economics, with HBO receiving as much as $10 per viewer/subscriber month in some markets and as little as $0.08 in others (both subject to currency swings). In aggregate, REDEF estimates that HBO’s foreign business (90MM subscribers + international licensing revenue) generated $1.3B last year – with its domestic operations generating more than three times as much on 60% fewer subscribers. While HBO’s international strategy might thus seem to have left considerable money on the table, it also allowed the company to expand globally without investing heavily in local offices, navigating complex regulatory and distribution agreements, or developing (and in many cases, even licensing) market-specific content. As a result, HBO spent some 20 years generating billions in revenue with almost no costs or efforts. International was, in a sense, considerable upside to a lucrative domestic business.

However, many of these advantages have atrophied as over-the-top distribution has emerged. For example, a network can now operate in foreign markets without many of the aforementioned operational costs and burdens (Netflix is available in Cuba, for example). And international exposure produces competitive advantages that bolster every other market, including domestic. As a result, HBO’s remunerative foreign model has begun to feel expensive, not gilded. We see this in a few ways.

First, it means HBO doesn’t have a direct relationship with (or individually know) the majority of its international viewers and subscribers. Second, the network can’t serve these customers on a common platform. This makes investing in technology and product more costly, limits customer data/personalization, hinders the ability to perform content analytics and prevents subscribers from watching HBO outside their home country (Netflix subscribers can watch Netflix anywhere). Third, HBO’s foreign deals can tether the company to the decline of traditional TV and/or limit its ability to prepare for life after it. In today’s brand-centric marketplace, for example, HBO is without a consumer-facing brand in many of the largest global markets (e.g. the UK, Germany, Italy). And in some of the markets in which HBO is a branded channel (Canada), HBO only controls its brand guidelines – it can’t force its partners to launch à la carte OTT offerings, increase marketing spend, invest in local originals or licenses, etc. With its joint ventures, HBO faces the even larger challenge of having to persuade its local partners to reinvest in and cannibalize their shared business in order to help HBO improve/grow the business they don’t share (i.e. other markets, their tech stack, etc.).

This model can also limit HBO’s ability to invest in content overall. Netflix, for example, uses its foreign markets not as upside to its US operations, but as an opportunity to bolster its worldwide content catalog (including the US). There’s no The Crown, Dark or 3% if Netflix doesn’t operate in the UK, Germany or Brazil, for example. There would also be fewer US-originated series (and likely fewer high-budget series) were Netflix not available – and thus able to monetize – on a truly global basis. Finally, there’s the economic argument. Due to the low-touch nature of OTT distribution, global networks benefit from unprecedented operating leverage. While HBO’s largely risk-free and margin-rich $1.3B in international subscription revenue makes Netflix’s high-risk 4.5% margin on $5.1B (or $227MM net) seem paltry, Netflix has seen international contribution margins grow an average of 11 percentage points in each of the past four years. If this trend (and that of revenue growth) holds, Netflix will net $1.25B abroad in 2019.

  #3 – Why HBO needs more subscribers and more usage

Scale, defined by both the number of subscribers and their frequency of use, has always mattered in the video business. But it is now existentially relevant. As a network gets larger and more used, every aspect of its business becomes easier and more defensible. Growth makes it easier to afford content (costs don’t vary based on viewership, while efficiency does), launch this content (viewers tend to concentrate their online video use on their default service), and ensure these investments are successful (even the smallest niches can be economical if a network’s install base is large enough).

Today, for example, Netflix will often release B-grade shows to greater success than its primary competitors (Amazon/Hulu/HBO/Showtime/Starz) do with great ones (which are far harder to find and make). Furthermore, Netflix can often economically outspend these competitors on either category of series while releasing more of them. In today’s blockbuster-driven media environment, the number of “at bats” is a significant advantage; one “home run” (e.g. Game of Thrones) can be worth dozens of singles or doubles, if not more.

We also see scale dynamics play out in HBO’s most valued market: talent. Over the past year alone, Netflix has made $100-300MM deals with top-tier showrunners Shonda Rhymes, Ryan Murphy and Kenya Barris. While each creator doubtlessly would have loved to produce for HBO, the network can’t put out the sufficient volume of series needed to recoup nine-figure deals or satisfy the appetites of each creator (in 2019, Murphy alone will have more than half as many shows on the air as HBO). No other network or studio has ever made a nine-figure  deal based around potential output (WBTV’s Greg Berlanti deal involved buying out the back-end for nearly a dozen series already on the air). Reach is also believed to be behind Netflix’s deal with Barack Obama, who is rumored to have turned down higher offers from competing networks because he wanted to maximize his social impact.

It’s not just former presidents who are attracted to Netflix’s sizable audience. Netflix’s attempt to corner the market in stand-up comedy is buoyed by the exposure it affords comics. Ali Wong recently told Fortune that while she was previously unable to fill a venue in San Francisco, she’s now selling “out within 30 seconds” thanks to Netflix. Networks have always raised a comedian’s profile, but never to this degree and at such volume. And HBO, the previous leader in premium stand-up, admitted in 2017 that the prices Netflix was paying had largely forced the company to pull out of the category.

What I’ve described above is a positive feedback loop (or “flywheel”) – one that’s distinct from the competitive dynamics of traditional television, and helps to smother competition (Netflix’s investment strategy is predicated upon squeezing many of its competitors out of the industry). Consumers only need additional à la carte services if the service they’re already using isn’t good enough. And given there’s no ceiling to how much content these digital services can provide, and many reasons to crank out ever more, viewing time inevitably concentrates. This is why many people believe only a few D2C platforms will be viable over the long run (and the top one or two platforms will capture almost all of the value). While this theory is in stark contrast to the communitarian dynamic of pay-TV (which supports dozens of Big Media companies on a relative equal basis), it adheres closely to the outcomes and dynamics exhibited in most consumer digital markets (e.g. social networking, ride sharing, smartphones, search, online advertising).

This “(a few) winners take most” dynamic has also transformed HBO’s competitor set. There has never been evidence that any of the big three premium cable networks (HBO, Showtime, Starz) cannibalized one another. In fact, their individual successes tended to lift the premium cable bundle overall. But in the new digital, à la carte world, each of these networks is determined to be one of the few enduring digital platforms. As a result, they – and others such as CBS All Access – are ramping up their original programming, growing marketing spend and rapidly expanding abroad (and on a D2C basis). Those that do so successfully will compress the success of the others.

And then there are the digital players. In each of 2016, 2017 and 2018, Netflix grew its content spend by HBO’s entire budget. While the network’s average quality might lag that of HBO, volume and spend compensates for a lot (the two networks had roughly the same number of Emmy nominations in 2018, and Netflix had four Outstanding Series nominees to HBO’s five). And while many of HBO’s newest competitors (e.g. Amazon, Apple) have different business models, they compete for the same finite supply of potential series, consumer spend and consumer attention. Apple, which has yet to launch its video offering, looks to be pursuing HBO’s content model – a dozen or so annual releases of highly differentiated, high quality programming – except that the shows are likely to be given away for free to the company’s 1B+ active users. One can debate whether the need to generate a direct profit in video is a strategic advantage or cost, but not whether this will affect HBO both directly and indirectly. To defend against these challenges, HBO needs to fuel every component of its flywheel.

  The War of Would-Be Usurpers (and Its Many Battles)

As any Maester would tell you, the fate of any war’s victor is to await the next one. By almost every measure, HBO has won the past two decades of cable television (thus covering both its ascendance and peak). But the future of media looks very different than its past. And while the company’s profits, B2B and B2C brands, internal development capability, and market-leading content catalog will endure for years to come, HBO will need to change and adapt.

Many envision (or expect, or fear) this means HBO will need to replicate Netflix. It shouldn’t and doesn’t have to. There can be a bigger, stronger and better version of the HBO we enjoy today. And in the second part of this two-part series, we’ll detail a six point plan to get it there.

You can reach Matthew Ball at mb.ball@gmail.com or @ballmatthew. 

via REDEF ORIGINAL: Why HBO Needs to Grow (The Future of HBO, Pt. I)

[entmtbiz]

Legion Explores the Cerebral Side of Superheroes

FOX's Highly-Anticipated New Drama Spurs Viewers to Question Their Reality

Legion premieres Thursday, February 9 at 9PM on FOX

HONG KONG, Jan. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Am I clinically insane or do I have powers unknown to the average human? That is the question at the heart of Legion, a brand new kind of superhero story from FOX. A highly-anticipated drama series featuring a cast of standout stars from award-winning producers, Legion is a more psychological, cerebral take on the superhero genre that asks viewers to question everything they know. The eight-part series premieres on FOX on Thursday, 9 February at 9PM.

  Inspired by the Marvel Comics X-Men character, Legion is the story of David Haller (Dan Stevens, Downton Abbey), a troubled young man who may be more than human. Diagnosed with schizophrenia as a child, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. Now in his early 30s and institutionalized once again, David loses himself in the rhythm of the structured regimen of life in the hospital: breakfast, lunch, dinner, therapy, medications, sleep. David spends the rest of his time in companionable silence alongside his chatterbox friend Lenny (Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation), a fellow patient whose life-long drug and alcohol addiction has done nothing to quell her boundless optimism that her luck is about to change.

However, the pleasant numbness of David's routine is completely upended with the arrival of a beautiful and troubled new patient named Syd (Rachel Keller, Fargo). Inexplicably drawn to one another, David and Syd share a startling encounter, after which David must confront the shocking possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees may actually be real. David escapes from the hospital and connects with a team of unconventional mental health specialists who open David's eyes to an extraordinary new world of possibilities. The audience is left to question -- what is my own reality?

Lucien Harrington, SVP of Marketing & Communications for FOX Networks Group in Asia, said, "Legion is a unique take on the superhero genre. The story explores universal human experiences that each of us can relate to, like second-guessing our thoughts and feelings or asking, is it just me? Even though Legion has a clear superhero thematic that Marvel fans will love, it's a series with a rich, emotionally-charged subject matter that every viewer can connect with. Legion is another example of FOX bringing audiences the best stories, first."

Produced by Hollywood's Elite

Legion stars a cast of memorable talent; including Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, Beauty and the Beast), Rachel Keller (Fargo) and Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation, Dirty Grandpa). Behind the scenes, the Legion team is no less star-studded. Legion's executive producers include Noah Hawley and John Cameron, the pair responsible for FOX's Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning series Fargo on FX. The Legion executive production team also includes the award-winning director, writer and producer Bryan Singer, who has directed big-budget superhero films including X-Men and X-Men: Apocalypse.

Legion is a FOX original series; produced by FX Productions and Marvel Television. In Hong Kong, the series will premiere at 9:00pm on Thursday, February 9. [FOX (Now TV Ch. 518)]

Project Legion

Are you ready to question your reality, explore new possibilities and ask Is It Just Me? In Hong Kong, FOX invites everyone to visit  "Project Legion" from 9 to 14 February at World Trade Centre, Causeway Bay. At this activation, you can see the world in a whole new way and question your perceptions -- just as the character Legion must do in FOX's newest television series. Through a mirror maze with design that closely matches the aesthetics of Legion, visitors will be challenged to rethink reality as they encounter the unexpected around every corner. What exciting truths and unforgettable moments will you discover? Stop by the mirror maze activation to celebrate the launch of Legion and take part in this remarkable experience. For more information and to reserve your spot, please go to http://ift.tt/2klLYIr.

High resolution images can be downloaded at: http://ift.tt/2klzoc6 

About Fox Networks Group Asia

FOX Network Group Asia (FNG) is 21st Century FOX's international multi-media business. FNG develops, produces and distributes more than 300 wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, sports, factual and movie channels in 45 languages across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. FNG's core channel brands include FOX, FOX Sports, FOX Life, FOX+ and National Geographic Channel. FNG's movie channels include FOX Movies, FOX Movies Premium and SCM (formerly Star Chinese Movies. Non-linear brands include FOX Play, FOX Play+ and Nat Geo Play. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions, reach over 1.8 billion cumulative households worldwide. In addition, FNG owns and operates two production studios and produces thousands of local programming hours for its wholly owned channels and third parties. FNG has been in operation since August 14, 1993.

About FX Productions

FX Productions (FXP) produces FX's acclaimed hit drama series The Strain; the upcoming limited series Trust; the comedy series Louie, Archer and Baskets, and the upcoming Better Things and Atlanta, and the FXX comedy series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, You're the Worst and Man Seeking Woman. FXP co-produces the drama series The Americans, Tyrant and the upcoming Taboo; the limited series Fargo and American Crime Story; and the comedy series Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll.

About Marvel Entertainment and Marvel Television

Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy-five years.  Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. 

Marvel Television develops and produces some of the world's most creative and popular live-action and animated programming for broadcast and cable television networks plus digital platforms including a historic deal with NETFLIX. Its portfolio of self-produced series includes "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." for ABC, "Marvel's Daredevil," "Marvel's Luke Cage," and the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning "Marvel's Jessica Jones" for NETFLIX and "Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man," "Marvel's Avengers" and "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy" for Disney XD. Marvel Television's upcoming projects include "Marvel's Iron Fist and the culminating Marvel's The Defenders" for NETFLIX as well as "Marvel's The Punisher" (NETFLIX), "Marvel's Cloak & Dagger" (Freeform), "Legion" (FX), and "Marvel's Runaways" (Hulu).

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Read this news on PR Newswire Asia website: Legion Explores the Cerebral Side of Superheroes