More from Georg Szalai
More Media Megadeals in 2024? Top Accounting Firm Thinks It’s a Good Bet
This year saw a slowdown in terms of media and telecommunications sector dealmaking, but there are signs of a recovery in M&A activity, top accounting and consulting services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a Wednesday report. Deal talk has returned to the sector with a vengeance, driven by recent talk that Paramount Global and its parent […]
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SiriusXM to Combine With Liberty Media Tracking Stock Group
Liberty Media’s Liberty SiriusXM tracking stock group will combine with satellite radio and audio entertainment giant SiriusXM to create a new public company, dubbed “New SiriusXM,” which will continue to operate under the SiriusXM brand, the companies said on Tuesday. Liberty, led by president and CEO Greg Maffei and chairman John Malone, owned an 83 […]
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Paramount Deal Chatter Puts Hollywood M&A Back in Wall Street Spotlight
What a difference a few days can make. Hollywood studios’ push to turn their streaming business profitable, the acceleration of cord-cutting, the writers and actors strikes, as well as a weak advertising market, have been at the forefront of investors’ minds all year. But just before the end of 2023, industry deal chatter has moved […]
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The Red Sea Film Fest Roundtable: “Stories Are the Way to Hopefully Bring People Together”
The third Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia put a spotlight on movies from the Middle East and North Africa region. It also presented an opportunity to bring together six filmmakers with strong cinematic voices for the first-ever Hollywood Reporter roundtable at the fest, in partnership with Neom. Among those participating in […]
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Disney+ and Hulu Combined Own Most Popular Titles in U.S.: Study
With the Walt Disney Co. having struck a deal with Comcast to acquire full control of Hulu, the Hollywood giant is planning to bring the streamer under one umbrella with its Disney+. That is a winning formula, according to a new study by Ampere Analytics, which found that the combined streaming service would own more […]
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“Red Carpet, Not Red Tape”: How Saudi Arabia’s Neom Media Hub Is Pitching Producers
Neom is a burgeoning production and creative hub in northwestern Saudi Arabia featuring the largest soundstages in the country. It is also the biggest purpose-built production facility in the region, with four stages currently operational and six more scheduled to go online by mid-2024, including a volumetric stage that captures three-dimensional space and video that […]
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Red Sea Film Festival: Zarrar Kahn’s ‘In Flames’ Wins Best Movie Award
Zarrar Khan’s In Flames has picked up the Yusr Award for best competition film at the third edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The festival, which attracted such Hollywood stars as Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Chris Hemsworth and Sharon Stone, on Thursday evening unveiled the winners of its Red […]
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ITV Reveals Results of Investigation Over Ex-Morning Show Host’s Affair With Younger Colleague
In June, U.K. TV giant ITV emphasized that a relationship between former top host Phillip Schofield and a much younger colleague was “deeply inappropriate.” CEO Carolyn McCall launched an investigation of the case after Schofield had to resign from his role as co-host of U.K. TV giant ITV’s morning show This Morning after lying about the affair with a production […]
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Will Smith Talks “Mistakes,” Saudi Arabia and ‘I Am Legend 2’ With Michael B. Jordan
Will Smith talked about the sequel to I Am Legend and shared much insight into his state of mind, past and future on Saturday while appearing at the third Red Sea International Film Festival. The actor, who said he used to think he would become a scientist because he always enjoyed figuring things out, used […]
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WME Independent Co-Head Talks “Harder Journey to Theatrical,” “Truffle Hunting” at Saudi Fest
The state of the theatrical film business amid the rise of streaming was among the topics of discussion at the third Red Sea International Film Festival’s market on Saturday. Alex Walton, co-head and partner at WME Independent, which focuses on film packaging and sales across multiple platforms, told a panel entitled “Redefining the Theatrical Experience […]
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End of Peak TV, AI, Stereotypes: Red Sea Fest Market Panel Takes on Hot Topics
The end of peak TV, the contrasting explosion of storytelling opportunities in the Middle East, AI and the portrayal were among the hot topics of debate as Red Sea 360°, the panel program of the market portion of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia kicked off on Saturday. Starting off the […]
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Will Smith, Johnny Depp, Diane Kruger, Sharon Stone Help Open Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival
Will Smith and Johnny Depp brought some A-list firepower to the opening night of the third edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. Smith was mobbed by selfie hunters as he entered the vast and glitzy Ritz Carlton hotel in the city of Jeddah on Thursday night, dutifully posing for as […]
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