THB #93: The Batman (no spoilers)
| March 6, 2022
-30-
May 1, 2022
"Netflix, the great disrupter whose algorithms and direct-to-consumer platform have forced powerful media incumbents to rethink their economic models, now seems to need a big strategy change itself. It got me thinking about the simple idea that my film and TV production company Blumhouse is built on: If you give artists a lot of creative freedom and a little money upfront but a big stake in the movie’s or TV show’s commercial success, more often than not the result will be both commercial (the filmmakers are incentivized to make films that will resonate with audiences) and artistically interesting (creative freedom!). This approach has yielded movies as varied as Get Out (made for $4.5 million, with worldwide box office receipts of more than $250 million), Whiplash (made for $3.3 million, winner of three Academy Awards), The Invisible Man (made for $7 million, earned more than $140 million) and Paranormal Activity (made for $15,000, grossed more than $190 million).From the beginning, the most important strategy I used to persuade artists to work with me was to make radically transparent deals: We usually paid the artists (“participants” in Hollywood lingo) the absolute minimum allowable by union contracts upfront, with the promise of healthy bonuses based on actual box office results—instead of the opaque 'percentage points' that artists are usually offered. Anyone can see box office results immediately, so creators don’t quarrel with the payouts. In fact, when it comes time for an artist to collect a bonus based on box office receipts, I email a video clip of myself dropping the check off at FedEx to the recipient."
Jason Blum Sees Room For "Scrappier" Netflix
| April 30, 2022
"As a critic Gavin was entertaining, wry, questioning, sensitive, perceptive"
Critic-Filmmaker Gavin Millar Was 84; Films Include Cream In My Coffee, Dreamchild
April 29, 2022
| January 24, 2022
DP/30 Audio: Bombshell, Jay Roach
| December 13, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Jonathan Majors
| December 4, 2019
DP/30 Audio: The Mustang, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
| December 4, 2019
An awards show based on the entertainment media makes all kinds of sense. Not the critics….. the feature writers….. the popular press. Maybe not restricted to the foreign press. I hope that it can be pulled back together as a credible awards show. The GG’s had a niche. Especially the early date.
Bob Burns: When was the Globes ever a “credible awards show,” other than in terms of ratings for NBC? When I was growing up, they were a total joke (the Pia Zadora era), and they so clearly existed only to ride the coattails of the Oscars. Stars played along, because who doesn’t like being wooed and coddled? Their increased “respectability,” such as it was, over the years was baffling to behold. The Academy at least reflects the consensus taste of 9,000 or so film professionals; the Globes reflects the p.r. sensibilities of 80 or 90 film journalists, some of whom the word only seems to loosely define. That said, I’d have no problem if someone repurposed them in the way you propose.
pardon me…. I did not intend to imply that the HFPA has been a credible awards show in the past….. just a hope that we could see it, or a replacement, emerge as a credible awards show in the future….. with an entertainment press membership. Anyone who has been reading David’s columns for 20 years, or recent ones, knows about the HFPA.
It is creepy that the HFPA racket has been allowed to continue as long as it has. Then again…. NBC gave us Trump.
Bob: Ah, I see. I misunderstood your phrasing of “be pulled back together as a credible awards show.” Thought you were saying it used to be and could be again. Sorry about that. I suppose I’d be okay with it continuing on with some credibility, but part of me just wants it to die and stop diluting the impact of the Oscars. I think a big part of my nostalgia for the Oscars has to do with it being the only game in town for so long.
Indie Spirit has the same freewheeling dinner party vibe as the GG. It doesn’t have the early date tho. But I’d much rather see the Indies get some more love and attention than an Oscar wannabe show. Even SAG would be preferable…although it’s far less freewheeling…but at least you’d give some attention to the stunt people.