Disney Plans $1B Increase in Content Spending

While the cost of producing content, especially for streaming, has been under the Wall Street spotlight for the past few years, there’s a truth to face: to win, you have to spend. With that in mind, the news that Disney, one of the most successful streaming studios to date, is planning to increase what it’s spending on its services will be a welcome one indeed- but not without an attached cautionary tale. Blake & Wang P.A. one of the top entertainment attorney Los Angeles, Brandon Blake, shares the facts and his thoughts.

Brandon Blake

Content Spending Increase Ahead

This past fiscal year, Disney spent $23B, and anticipates that rising to $24 billion for the year ahead. Mostly, this is earmarked to be funneled into live sports spending, an area of streaming that has increasingly become not only a drawcard to streaming platform subscriptions, but also a competitive force. However, it will also be split between new and existing film franchises and their TV content.

Comparing Balance Sheets

It’s worth comparing this to their latest quarterly earnings report, where we saw revenues of $22.5B, with segment operating income at the $3.5B mark. It was a strong quarter for the Mouse House, with Disney+ (their flagship service) increasing subscribers by 3.8M to close at 132M. Combined with Hulu, that was a 12.4M increase, closing at 196M total. The D2C revenue ticked up by 8% (to $6.2B), with operating income seeing a massive 39% increase to $352M.

While the news that most of the increase is earmarked for live sports spending will be disappointing for Hollywood, it’s also worth remembering that Disney has cut back on several lucrative rights deals this year, and given the increasing impact a strong sports lineup can have on streaming subscribers, it’s understandable.

However, with Paramount also announcing that the bulk of its increased content spending (earmarked at $1.5B for them) will go to sports rights as it tries to carve out its own streaming niche, there may be a wake-up call lurking for the entertainment industry at large, and there are definitely lessons to be learned as the new year looms.

Fox launches $100M fund for international unscripted productions

Fox is on the warpath to assemble more international format credentials, it would appear. With the announcement last week of a new fund worth $100M to secure their next generation of unscripted formats for the global market, it’s clear they mean business. We asked entertainment lawyer and well-known entertainment business figure, Brandon Blake, for further details.

Brandon Blake– Managing Partner at Blake & Wang P.A

It will be administered through their unscripted production arm, Fox Alternative Entertainment, with the funds directed to securing new IP for their international assets and co-producing relevant properties. FAE is a relatively new addition to the Fox stable, and was the driver behind The Big Deal. This competition series, co-produced by FAE and made specifically for Ireland’s Virgin Media Television, is Fox’s first international creation and has performed on a level with its peers to date, suggesting there’s fertile ground to bolster their ambitious plans.

The fund will be under the control of Rob Wade, the current President of Alternative Entertainment and Specials at Fox. The idea behind it’s creation is that it’s more-or-less identical budget-wise to fund and own an unscripted format as it is to produce a pilot, and there’s better data to be gleaned (and better control of the property) taking that route.

With these new formats identified and curated, they can access a more diverse content library, as well as creating properties with international appeal as streamers begin to fight over international market saturation. The fund is primarily aimed towards variety series, dating shows, and other non-scripted shows. The eventual idea is to bring some of these internationally-orientated projects home to the U.S, too, with the hopes they will have an Idols- like appeal and success on the home front.

As the streaming arena (and precious market share) becomes more globalized, it’s a strategy that could stand them in good stead. We will be watching with interest.

Oscar Digital Screening Room Now Open

While the Oscar season is once again coming up fast, we’ve yet to slide the delta variant and its many concerns into the rearview mirror. While last year’s need to swiftly adapt the Academy Award season to a world gone abruptly digital may have been slightly rushed, this year the Academy goes into planning a hybrid awards season with a wealth of experience. As the Emmy votes wrap up and Oscar season kicks off, we see the launch of the Academy Screening Room to help voters choose their picks. One of the best entertainment lawyers in Los Angeles and Oscar’s expert, Brandon Blake, lets us in on the details.

To the surprise of no one who weathered the shaky waters of 2020 and 2021 with us, the first 4 films to have their moment in the bright lights of the brand-new screening room are all from streamers. Namely:

Netflix’s The Mitchells Vs The Machines
Amazon’s Anette
The Tomorrow War(also an Amazon title), and
Coming 2 America (Again for Amazon, directly from Paramount)

This makes this year’s Oscar season the first to skip physical screeners altogether. Anyone looking to enjoy the AMPAS contenders for this year will have to head over to the digital screening room to take them in. It’s a feature of last year’s Oscar season that was well-received among Academy voters, and it nets the Academy at least $12500 (as of last season) per title from studios and distributors, too, so it’s easy to see why it looks set to become an integral part of the Oscar hype train going forward.

Where to from here for the digital screening room? Documentary contenders, which will not have entry charges, will be shown in a different section. Likewise, International Feature entries and special sections will be expanded on as the season heats up. We will, as always, be keeping a careful eye on developments as we get nearer to crunch time.

Netflix Dominates Golden Globe Nominations

In one of the strangest years for TV and movies ever seen, it can hardly be surprising that the applecart was completely upset when it came to Golden Globe nominations. In an ironic twist of fate, this year’s entire award season is heavily influenced by what didn’t get made last year, as well as what did.

Specifically, many Big Name studios put Oscar-anticipated projects on the back burner. With the field left wide open, it was inevitable we’d see smaller studios and projects shine. Netflix has been gunning for some recognition from major awards ceremonies for a good few years now, and this year the Golden Globes delivers. BLAKE & WANG P.A Entertainment Lawyer Los Angeles dive deeper into Netflix’s nomination domination.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Mank, following the story of the screenwriter for Citizen Kane, came out swinging. It earned six nominations, closely followed by 5 for The Trial of the Chicago 7, an in-depth look into the trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests.

Having two key films dominate must be exciting for the streamer, but it was far from their only success. In TV, they scored 20 more nominations, 6 going to season 4 of The Crown alone. It’s close to a full sweep for the cast, there. Ozark, a darker drama focusing on money-laundering, also picked up some seriously heavy nominations with 3 actors and Netflix’s first drama series nomination.

Of course, being nominated doesn’t mean you won (yet). All the same, this represents a massive jump up the nomination’s ladder for Netflix, and we’re sure execs are smiling ear-to-ear as they finally get some big-ticket recognition for their content. With the channel focusing on higher and higher budgets and compelling content, these nominations (and some inevitable wins) will seal the deal for moving Netflix productions, especially its feature films, into the big leagues for good.