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The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Heat IndexJoe IannielloThe former CBS CEO, who exited in January after the merger with Viacom, walks away with his full separation fee of $125.4 million.Suzanne ScottThe Fox News CEO takes fire from critics who note opinion hosts including Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Jeanine Pirro initially downplayed the novel coronavirus threat.Eric ShanksAs major leagues go dark, the Fox Sports CEO finds success with NASCAR iRacing, which draws 1.2 million viewers April 5, growing its audience for three straight weeks.Sam GoresBefore launching a $1.1 million employee relief fund, the Paradigm Talent Agency chief is sued by a fired agent after presiding over 200 staffer layoffs and pay cuts.Showbiz Stocks$24.97 (+14.3%) FOX CORP. (FOX)Fox broadcast network enjoys lower exposure to the coronavirus pandemic thanks to its lighter load of scripted fare and reliance…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Why Bankruptcy May Not Be the Best Option Right NowUntil this year, the world was getting pretty good at relaxing in movie theaters. The seats were growing ever bigger and made of higherquality fabric. And unlike on airplanes, consumers were invited to recline the seat as far back as possible. But then the novel coronavirus spread, and something changed. Consider the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of VIP Cinemas Holdings, a multinational and the world’s largest manufacturer of luxury recliner seating for movie theaters.On Feb. 18, VIP Cinemas filed for bankruptcy, which might at first sound like bad news. But this debtor came to Delaware court with what specialists call a “prepackaged plan of reorganization.”VIP Cinemas got a lender to put up money for operations during the bankruptcy process. VIP’s creditors had agreed to swap debt for equity in the company.…3 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020AS SXSW OFFERS ‘VIRTUAL’ FESTIVAL, FILMMAKERS WEIGH PROS AND CONSDeal of the WeekWith postponed or canceled film festivals pivoting to alternatives, filmmakers are deliberating on what to do with their stranded selections.South by Southwest has partnered with Amazon Prime Video to launch a “film festival collection,” where films originally bound for SXSW could play exclusively on the platform for 10 days — the length of the now-canceled Austin fest. The collection, introduced by SXSW director of film Janet Pierson and Amazon Studios’ Jennifer Salke, will not be subject to Amazon Prime’s paywall, thereby offering exposure to a wider audience base — anyone in the U.S. with an internet connection — than titles would have gotten in person. But filmmakers, who spoke with THR anonymously for fear of burning bridges with SXSW and Amazon, worry that screening their features online,…2 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Who Delivers for Passover and EasterThis year, holidays that are typically celebrated with friends and family will be spent at home with much smaller groups. But if cooking for Passover or Easter isn’t in people’s wheelhouses, a slew of L.A. restaurants will be serving holiday meals and treats; check websites for delivery versus curbside pickups.PASSOVER While the deadline has passed to get in most pre-orders for full Seder dinners (April 8 or 9 this year), there are plenty of restaurants offering special dishes through April 16. Canter’s is preparing family meals for the entire week. “We’ve been here for almost 100 years and we’re planning on being here for another 100,” says Jacqueline Canter of her family’s delicatessen in the Fairfax District, which will be serving up brisket, chicken or turkey dinners with matzo ball…3 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020‘People Are Going to Have Bigger Needs Now’Like many in the world, Cheryl Saban is hunkering down at home with her husband, music and media entrepreneur Haim Saban, while holding down the fort on two professional fronts. As the president of Saban Family Foundation, she continues to meet virtually with her staff of five, which will be busier in the coming months as vital services are pushed to the brink more than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic. As of July 2019, the foundation had donated $420 million to 1,000 causes and institutions including the Saban Community Clinic’s three Los Angeles locations. “People are going to have bigger needs now, once the dust settles a little bit,” she says.The Saban Family Clinics, which provide quality medical and dental care to more than 20,000 of L.A.’s most vulnerable…3 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020A Big, Soggy Goodbye to My (Modern) FamilyIt spoils nothing to reveal that in the Modern Family finale, there is a group hug so spectacularly COVID-unsafe that one 6-foot space is occupied by 16 different people. If Seinfeld was a show about nothing (Was it? Did any comedy ever have more plot?), Modern Family was always, unabashedly, about emotion. OK, why mince words in a post-apocalyptic world: It was about love. Certainly we always aimed for the high physical comedy moments: Phil, wearing a dog’s shock collar, reaching the edges of the yard … Claire smiling lugubriously at the topic of death … Gloria shooting a raft out from under Manny … Cam, in a Stanley Kowalski white T-shirt, yelling for a lost Stella, the dog.But these were adornments in the Modern Family house. The bricks and…4 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Taking WFH Offices to the Next LevelRight before California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a statewide stay-at-home order March 19, interior designer Oliver Furth (whose clients have included Imagine co-chair Michael Rosenberg and UTA’s Jim Berkus) saw a flurry of activity. Says Furth, “We just rushed home offices for two clients, including a feature film director.” Interior and graphic designer Marissa Zajack, of Marissa Zajack Creative, has been busy too, helping client Alexis Martin Woodall, president of Ryan Murphy Productions. “I am in the process of doing a home office for her — since she’s home all the time now,” says Zajack. “Specifically, it’s a home-office-slash-closet. This is a rental home, and she wants an area that does double duty.” With it looking likely that people will be working at home for a long stretch, A-list interior…3 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020HOW I’M LIVING NOWDAVID MUIRAnchorWHAT DOES YOUR DAY LOOK LIKE NOW?I work from home for much of the day and go in late afternoon — we’re all trying to limit any kind of interaction. I’ll be honest: When I walk down those hallways to set, it’s eerily quiet. Doors are closed because producers are working from home or in isolation. I miss that interaction — a huge part of what brings a broadcast together. But these are different times, so I make the walk now not seeing anyone other than a director.SAMANTHA BEELate Night HostWHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF?I have for sure learned that there’s a homesteader lurking inside me not too deep. This is the moment that this part of me has ignited. Like, I completely know how to raise chickens…6 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Mrs. AmericaA century after female suffrage became the law of the land, there is still no constitutional ban on legalized discrimination against women. The closest America came to passing the Equal Rights Amendment was, ironically, nearly half a century ago. The new miniseries Mrs. America — debuting on Hulu after being greenlit at FX — is just about as compelling a depiction as one could hope for of the long fight for the ERA’s ratification, as well as the ultimately successful conservative backlash against the bill.Created by Dahvi Waller (a former writer-producer on Mad Men) — with episodes directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Captain Marvel, Mississippi Grind), Amma Asante (Belle) and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang) — the nine-part drama alternates between anti-feminist activist Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett) and…4 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Hollywood’s Virus Relief Efforts: ‘The Response Has Been Slow’On March 12, Broadway shut down, leaving thousands of performers and stagehands out of work. In the aftermath, Madam Secretary actor Erich Bergen called Rosie O’Donnell with a plan to help those in need. “He said right from the get-go to do it as a benefit for The Actors Fund,” O’Donnell recalls. “They give you actual money so you can live. That’s what we want.”But since the March 22 live-streamed event — which featured performances by Kristin Chenoweth, Tituss Burgess and Darren Criss and raised $600,000 for the fund — the number of Hollywood figures stepping up to assist less-fortunate industryites appears to have slowed even as hundreds of thousands of showbiz rank and file remain out of work. Per publicly disclosed individual donations, the entertainment industry’s one percent has…6 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020MGM Quietly Bets on Big-Swing OriginalsWhile other major Hollywood studios are grinding to a halt, MGM is making showy moves. Film chairman Michael De Luca, who was installed in January, is taking this time to attempt to reshape the company not just as a library of IP — think the James Bond and Creed franchises — but one that has a future with original material.In March and early April alone, he has hired executives and closed several splashy deals as some rivals appear to be in pause mode. THR has learned that MGM is acquiring Ridley Scott’s Gucci, a true-crime drama about the murder of fashion trailblazer Maurizio Gucci, and closed a deal for Lady Gaga to star. The studio beat out Netflix and at least one other streamer for the project about the machinations…2 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Tiger King and the Rise of Stay-at-Home StreamingHow much have you seen, read or heard about Netflix’s Tiger King?Among U.S. adults who watched Tiger King, 22 percent had a “very favorable” impression of Joe Exotic (above), while 19 percent had a “very unfavorable” view.Streaming Wars Platform BattleSource: THR/Morning Consult poll conducted April 2-4 among a nationally representative sample of 2,200 adults; Nielsen “Streaming TV Update” for March 2020.…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Networks Fill Programming Void With SpecialsBig DealAs broadcast networks begin to grapple with unfilmed episodes and scheduling uncertainty while production across the industry remains frozen, the at-home special has become the latest go-to format to help draw both ratings and funds to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic.NBC’s veteran head of specials Doug Vaughan led the charge for what has become a massive multiplatform, star-studded global special called One World: Together at Home that will air on ABC, CBS and NBC. Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert will host the April 18 two-hour special that will be curated by Lady Gaga and benefit Global Citizen and the World Health Organization.The special is, per sources, one of several in the works that has ignited bidding wars among the broadcast networks. Programs like Garth and Trisha Live…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020500 Big NumberRep SheetRosa Salazar, who stars on Amazon’s Undone, has left Paradigm for UTA.Newcomer Paul Mescal, who will lead Hulu’s upcoming Normal People adaptation, has signed with CAA.Ellen Page has signed with UTA.Love Is Blind’s Giannina Gibelli has signed with CAA.Scandal alum Dan Bucatinsky has signed with Gersh for acting.Next Big ThingJeff LovenessREPS LBI, Hansen JacobsonWHY HE MATTERS The Rick and Morty writer and co-producer has been tapped to pen the script for the third installment of Ant-Man, again directed by Peyton Reed and starring Paul Rudd. Loveness has Marvel experience, having written comics centering on Spider-Man, Groot and Nova, as well as past gigs penning jokes for Jimmy Kimmel Live! and TBS’ Miracle Workers.…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020A SOUNDSTAGE BECOMES A MASK FACTORYJeremy Garelick was set to start filming on the eighth feature under his American High production banner in Liverpool, New York, when, on March 20, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued the state’s shelter-in-place order.“Everyone was ready to go. Then the virus shut us down,” says Garelick, the writer-director behind The Wedding Ringer and other comedies, who founded the shingle in 2017 in partnership with LD Entertainment. American High focuses on high-school-set content, working out of an old Syracuse-area high school, where it has filmed seven features in two years. Its most recent release is Big Time Adolescence, starring Pete Davidson (which has shifted from theatrical to VOD release).While reading the news, Garelick came across a story about a local 3D printing company, Budmen Industries, that had designed and begun manufacturing face…2 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Hollywood Execs Rally to Feed the Front Lines of the COVID-19 EpidemicSocial ActionFounded by a group of execs (including HBO’s Nora Skinner, Discovery’s Erin Arend, Magnet Industries’ Jeff Berman and Hello Sunshine’s Sarah Harden), the relief effort Help Feed the Frontline Fighting COVID 19-L.A. raises funds to purchase meals from restaurants that are then delivered to Los Angeles health care workers. “We are now delivering 10,000 meals a week to 13 hospitals,” says co-founder and Horizon Media managing partner Shannon Pruitt of the group, which has partnered with chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen and former Top Chef winner Brooke Williamson of L.A. restaurant Playa Provisions. The group has so far raised nearly $600,000 through its GoFundMe page. “For health care workers, it shows that the community is rallying to support them, while at the same time it helps local businesses…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Hitched, Hatched, HiredWeddingsHrishikesh Desai, a partner and head of the literary department at ICM Partners, married Justine Roach, a social worker and therapist, on March 21 at her parents’ home in Beverly Hills after coronavirus concerns derailed their 200-person celebration at the Ojai Valley Inn. The couple had a fiveperson ceremony and FaceTimed Desai’s parents and Roach’s sister and brother-in-law.BirthsBrooke Robertson Dinneen, vp corporate communications at Paramount, and husband Kevin Dinneen welcomed Colin James Dinneen on March 9 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.Theresa Kang-Lowe, a partner and literary agent at WME, and husband Jonathan Lowe welcomed Theodore “Teddy” Eunshik Lowe on March 13.CongratsEvan Shames was tapped vp development for Fox Entertainment’s SideCar Content Accelerator on March 31.InventTV hired former Endemol Shine executive Michael Weinberg as president, Jeff Marcus as executive…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Step Up and Simmer DownDuring past natural disasters, many celebrities had been able to insulate themselves from danger by climbing aboard a private jet and zipping off to somewhere safe. There, from a comfortable distance, they were able to tweet emotional support to jetless fans. COVID-19 has changed that dynamic. As we read about famous people contracting the virus — among them Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, Idris Elba and Andy Cohen — and others dying from it, such as playwright Terrence McNally, actors Mark Blum and Andrew Jack, and jazz musician Wallace Roney, it’s clear that there is no insulating from danger for anyone. Perhaps because of the imminent threat, stars’ public response has been much more engaged. Some have been inspiring, some funny, some tonal head-scratchers — and some actually harmful to public…4 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020The Top Salon Beauty Hacks While Isolated at HomeSocial isolation is difficult enough without seeing gray hairs emerge. But while salons are shuttered and elective procedures put on hold, beauty gurus are still staying in touch with their flocks.HAIR COLOR “We have been mailing out clients’ formulas to them with all the instruments they need,” says Paul Labrecque, who owns salons in New York and Palm Beach and tends to the tresses of Warner Bros. chair Ann Sarnoff. “If they need extra help, I will FaceTime with them.” Kadi Lee of Highbrow Hippie salon in Venice also has been dispensing customized kits. “We have been leaving them in driveways,’’ says Lee. “People are looking at you on Zoom, so these take care of the hair that frames your face and your hair part. All clients have to do…3 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020HOLLYWOODFROM A DISTANCEJON M. CHU, KRISTIN CHU, WILLOW AND HEIGHTSLos AngelesMarch 31, 12:10 p.m.Crazy Rich Asians and now-delayed In the Heights director Jon M. Chu is staying home with his wife, Kristin, daughter Willow (left) and son Heights — along with his suddenly essential gear: “I’ve got my laptop, my big screen, all my hard drives and my iPad,” he says. “It was a little chaotic at first, but I’m settling into a rhythm now.”JASON BLUMSanta MonicaMarch 31, 2:50 P.M.Producer Jason Blum is at home with his wife, Lauren Schuker Blum, and two children. There, he spends his days managing calls and prepping upcoming projects, including The Forever Purge.ROBERT GREENBLATT (left) AND STEPHEN LOGUIDICEHollywood HillsMarch 31, 12:49 p.m.The chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment, with partner Stephen Loguidice, is at home prepping the debut…2 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020‘I FEEL A VERY INTENSE SENSE OF MISSION’Shortly after 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, Chris Hayes sat down at a small table at the MSNBC offices at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York with his producer and a member of the New York Times editorial board to record an episode of his podcast, Why Is This Happening?As he listened to his guest talk about the history of the Electoral College, Hayes twice peered up at a screen in the corner of the room to see a chyron below anchor Chuck Todd that blared, “Stocks suffer their worst day since 1987 crash as alarm grows over coronavirus pandemic.” He stayed focused on the interview.A few hours later, filming his nightly show, All In, Hayes sat face-to-face with his guest, an emergency room doctor in New York, to…11 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020In 1960, FDR’s Virus Battle Inspired CampobelloIn 1960, Warner Bros. made a virus movie with a happy ending. Sunrise at Campobello tells the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt contracting polio at age 39, 11 years before becoming the U.S.’ 32nd president in 1932. It was based on Dore Schary’s 1958 Tony-winning play, which made a star of Ralph Bellamy, who reprised the lead in the film. (The drama also marked the Broadway debut of James Earl Jones.) THR’s film review said “the play was an excellent job and has been improved upon.” Bellamy, who died in 1991, said it was about “the indomitability of the human spirit — the courage and will to survive.” Dore was Hollywood’s widest-spectrum multihyphenate: playwright, screenwriter, producer, director and president of MGM. He also was a major Democratic Party supporter and…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Best Case 2020: U.S. Box Office Down 40 PercentBy April 3, the greatest calendar migration in the 100-year-plus history of the movie business was complete as virtually all major summer tentpoles relocated amid the coronavirus pandemic.The release-date shuffle revealed the industry’s collective hope that moviegoing will return to normal levels by mid-July. If this scenario holds, North American box office revenue will struggle to hit $7 billion for the year, the lowest figure in more than two decades and nearly 40 percent behind 2019 ($11.4 billion), per London-based research firm Gower Street Analytics.The company estimates that domestic revenue will come in at $6.82 billion if all 5,400 theaters stateside stay shuttered for a full three months, with traffic returning to normal levels immediately. If theaters are closed for three months, but traffic builds slowly, that number could be…2 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020‘There’s Going to Be So Much Jockeying’Within days in mid-March, soundstages in the U.S. went from bustling hubs to abandoned ghost towns as the novel coronavirus forced studios to shut down filming. “There is nothing like being the only person on a movie lot,” says Mark Nicholas, one of few people able to keep working at Manhattan Beach Studios in California in order to assist in the live-streaming of local mayor and sheriff news addresses. “It’s deathly quiet and feels very much like The Walking Dead.”While most lots sit empty for the foreseeable future, the question atop industry insiders’ minds is how the executives in charge of them plan to handle a production logjam that’s likely to await them on the other side of this crisis. Dozens of films and TV series that had to pack…3 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Rights Available!The Plain Janes (LITTLE, BROWN BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS, JAN. 7)BY Cecil Castellucci AGENCY WMEStreaming services actively looking to bulk up their content for children and young adults should explore this graphic novel, illustrated by Jim Rugg, about a group of suburban misfit girls dedicated to fighting apathy with guerrilla works of art.Churchill’s Shadow Raiders (CITADEL, APRIL 28)BY Damien Lewis REP InkwellLike Dunkirk and 1917, Lewis’ book offers a time-restricted look at war through a specific mission — Operation Biting, a daring one-night parachute-and-sea raid to capture the Germans’ advanced Wurzburg radar system, changing the tide of World War II.…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Alison RomanOver a bottle of orange wine on the back patio of Carroll Gardens mainstay Frankies 457, Alison Roman percolates with a confidence that cools only when talk turns to the uptick of new people sliding into her DMs.The New York Times food columnist and best-selling cookbook author (Dining In and Nothing Fancy) has spent the week fielding concerns about pantry stocking, uncomplicated recipes and her preferred nonperishables, mostly on Instagram, where her follower count has grown to nearly half a million. It’s not the questions catching her off guard — Roman’s candor and engagement have earned the 34-year-old cult-like devotees — it’s who’s asking those questions. “This is a different group, the people who weren’t really cooking before,” she says, “the ‘Oh f*ck, what do I do now?’ people.”But this…2 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Virtual Plans for Religious HolidaysAmid the Safer at Home order, L.A. synagogues and churches are broadcasting services online. “It reminds me of the 10 plagues,” Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center tells THR of Passover during the time of COVID-19. Echoes Fuzzy Door Productions president Erica Huggins, “Given our current plague, the connection has not been lost on anyone.” Many plan to gather via Zoom. Says Jason Alexander of the “e-Seder” he’s invited to, “I’m hoping I only need to provide the salted water, because where the hell am I going to get a lamb shank?” Adds manager Jeff Field, “I am putting a bottle of Purell on my door so the angel will pass over us.” Barbra Streisand and James Brolin celebrate Passover (first night is April 8) and Easter (April…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020Yes, I Did Say That!“The beast comes at night.”CHRIS CUOMO The CNN anchor, in a remote interview with Anderson Cooper from Cuomo’s basem*nt, describing his battle with COVID-19. “I’m just sweating it out,” he said of losing 13 pounds in three days from the illness.“If we’ve learned anything in the past two weeks, it’s people … so want to get out of their houses.”ADAM ARON The AMC Entertainment CEO, on CNBC, predicting that movie theaters could be reopened by mid-June.“It would be nice if I could actually see me being famous out there. ”JOE EXOTIC The star of Tiger King, in an interview from prison posted by Netflix, commenting on his newfound infamy thanks to the documentary series’ huge audience.“I like to ask for ranch dressing wherever I go.”JENNY YANG The comedian, in a…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020‘People Will Remember Who Stood Behind Workers in Difficult Times and Who Didn’t’As the coronavirus takes a toll on the U.S. job market — nearly 10 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the two weeks ending March 28 — U.S. entertainment companies like Disney are furloughing “nonessential” employees and asking executives to take pay cuts. But overseas, a much different approach has taken hold: International governments and media firms are enacting aggressive programs to keep workers on the books.In Germany, they call it Kurzarbeit (short-term work). In France, it’s Chômage partiel (partial unemployment). Italy has Cassa Integrazione Guadagni (an earnings redundancy fund), while Spain offers ERTE, or Expediente de Regulación Temporal de Empleo (temporary employment regulation process). The British have the newly introduced Job Retention Scheme, and Canadians have the recently unveiled Emergency Wage Subsidy.Everywhere the goal is the same: “to…7 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020The Jig(saw) Is Up1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020‘I Just Pull Out the Clippers and Attack’Forget the bare necessities of quarantine — it’s the hair necessities that have some men worrying about how they’ll maintain their look right now.On Instagram, Taika Waititi turned the scissors over to his young daughters, instructing them to trim “just on the ends!” and not get “so close to my eye.” Blake Shelton put his faith in partner Gwen Stefani, announcing on social media that she would take his “quarantine mullet” to the next level with “stripes” above his ears. Chris Evans helped brother Scott with his buzz cut, while Nathan Fillion said he got “rave reviews” from his mom over FaceTime after he gave himself his second “quarantine haircut.”“I have a very short haircut, so I’m a once-a-week kind of a haircut fella,” says Fillion, who’s had practice snipping…1 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020A PRODUCER’S SURVIVALIST SANCTUARY: ‘IT’S KIND OF LIKE GREEN ACRES 2.0’Dana Brunetti remembers exactly what he was thinking the day he sold his four Ferraris and made an offer on a remote 40-acre plot in Northern California’s Sierra foothills — and it had nothing to do with the novel coronavirus. This was December, just before the first reports of a deadly epidemic in China had started trickling into the Western media. “I was over f*cking L.A.,” says the producer, 46. “And I have been for a while.”While the rest of the industry is hunkering down in Southern California, the guy who produced The Social Network and House of Cards — who was just as famous for his Entourage-esque lifestyle as he was for making award-winning movies and TV shows — is sporting a Grizzly Adams beard and sitting out the…5 min
The Hollywood Reporter|Wednesday, April 8, 2020‘HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN THE INSPIRATION?’Friday, March 13, was a surreal day in filmmakers Liz Garbus and Dan Cogan’s Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, townhouse. That was the day President Trump officially declared coronavirus a national emergency, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced restrictions on mass gatherings — and Garbus’ first scripted film, the crime drama Lost Girls, premiered on Netflix and hit the streaming service’s top 10 list in the U.S.Amid the increasingly grave news about the pandemic, there was no time to savor Garbus’ achievement. The married and professional partners and documentary veterans had to focus on a more practical problem: how to manage their burgeoning new production company, Story Syndicate, which at the time had 50 people working on various projects, many of them cycling through the company’s new offices in the Dumbo neighborhood…5 min