Emmy Nominations, Cable-Style Viewing, Moana Flops & Toy Story 5

The Backlot Brief Team brings you the film and industry news of the week. This week we cover the recent Emmy nominations, Netflix's transition back to one episode a week, Disney's live-action Moana remake, and Toy Story 5's success.

Transcript

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Welcome to the Backlot Brief, the No Nonsense Film and Television Industry News Podcast. I'm your host, Cody McLeod Rogers. This week we are getting into Emmy nominations, the return of cable-style viewing, and a wild couple of weeks at the box office. This episode is brought to you by Foreground Productions. Foreground Productions. Stories that matter. Hello everyone, I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. Two industry stars sadly passed away this last week. Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh rock artist behind global hits like Total Eclipse of the Heart, Holding Out for a Hero, and It's a Heartache, passed away at the age of 75. Hollywood awoke this morning to the tragic news that Sam Neil has died at the age of 78. His career spanned five decades starring in blockbusters and independent films alike. He was most famous for his portrayal of Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and two of its sequels. Our hearts go out to their friends and family and to all those who are impacted by their work. In some other news, it's already that time of year again, Emmy nominations have been announced. This year's ceremony will take place on Monday, September 14th at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and will be hosted by Law and Order SVU star and New York icon Marishka Hargate. The pit led once again in total nominations with a staggering 25. Hacks is runner-up with 24, Widows Bay has 19, Pluribus has 18, and Beef is up for 16. HBO Max totaled 122 nominations, Netflix garnered 111 nominations, and Apple TV got the go-ahead with 87 nominations. The next closest is ABC with 38, so a massive difference there. It's also important to note that YouTube has five nominations this year, another chapter in the digital distribution revolution. Nominees for Outstanding Drama Series include Netflix's The Diplomat, HBO's The Gilded Age, HBO's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Hulu 20th Century's Paradise, HBO's The Pit, Apple TV's Pleribus, Apple TV's Slow Horses, and Apple TV's Your Friends and Neighbors. Outstanding lead actress in a drama series nominees include Carrie Kuhn as Bertha Russell in The Gilded Age, Chase Infinity as Agnes in The Testaments, Carrie Russell as Kate Weiler in The Diplomat, Rhea Seahorn as Carol Sturka in Pleribus, and Zendaya as Rue in Euphoria. Outstanding lead actor in a drama series, and nominees include Sterling K. Brown as Xavier Collins in Paradise, Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses, Mark Rufflow as Tom Brandis in Task, Rufus Sewell as Hal Weiler in The Diplomat, and Noah Wiley as Dr. Michael Robbie Robinovich in The Pit. The category of outstanding comedy series was notably stacked this year with nominees including ABC's Abbott Elementary, FX Hulu's The Bear, HBO's Hacks, Apple TV's Margot's Got Money Troubles, Netflix's Nobody Wants This, Hulu 20th Century's Only Murders in the Building, Apple TV's Shrinking, and Apple TV's Widow's Bay. Outstanding lead actress and comedy series nominees include Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues in Abbott Elementary, Ayo Debris as Sidney Adamou in The Bear, Elle Fanning as Margot Millet in Margot's Got Money Troubles, Lisa Coudreau as Valerie Cherish in The Comeback, and Gene Smart as Deborah Vance in Hacks. Nominees for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series include Yahya Abdul Mateen II as Simon Williams in Wonderman, Steve Carell as Greg Russo in Rooster, Matthew Reese as Mayor Tom Loftus in Widow's Bay, Jason Siegel as Jimmy in Shrinking, and Martin Short as Oliver Putnam in Only Murders in the Building. Of course, there are many more incredibly talented artists and shows nominated for a variety of awards, but Matthew Reese has made television history this year, becoming the first man in 31 years to be double nominated for a lead role. As previously mentioned, he's nominated for his role as Mayor Tom Loftus in Widow's Bay. But he is also nominated for his role as Niles Jarvis in Netflix's The Beast in Me for outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series. This will be a close race for many categories as this has been a big year for television in general. That's all we've got on the Emmys for now. I've joked for the last number of years, well really since the streaming boom in 2016, that we have become so subscription-based we have basically come full circle back to traditional broadcast television. Just with a facelift and some Botox. Instead of scrolling the guide on DirecTV with channels and going to the video store to get a movie, we scroll our 12 different streaming services. Well, how and why this is the case is heading straight back to 2009. Cable Television made most of its money from curated advertisements. Those were the days of timing the entire family's bathroom breaks during commercials so you didn't miss the show, which was airing live at that specific time. One episode would be released a week, and you had to be sitting in your lazy boy on time to watch your show, or you'd have to wait for a rerun, or maybe you DVR'd it. Recently, insiders have leaked a changing model for Netflix, one that resembles the good old cable days. Its transition to ad-tiered subscription plans is one major move. Disney and its companies like Hulu have already done this. Paramount and NBC Universal have as well. For Netflix, this is new and this is a huge deal because they're number one. The same insiders who have leaked this transition say it's because Netflix has been greatly struggling gaining new audiences, having new shows find their audiences, and accomplishing the massive word of mouth that, for example, Apple TV's shows are able to build on. By introducing actual commercials into their streaming platform, the company will be able to better direct audiences to specific shows, thus boosting numbers and hopefully having a more satisfied viewer in terms of show selection. The other traditional broadcast move Netflix has been catapulting is live events. Major football games, the MLB home run dirty, huge fight nights. This new sector of Netflix is only growing and growing quickly. So what does this mean? The largest streamer and content company on the planet incorporating what was once called an archaic broadcast strategy. Well, it can mean a million things, but hopefully it means more stabilization from the industry. It's been 10 years since the streaming boom, and we're still trying to figure it out. And in there we had major strikes in the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of the day, the better business models that exist for major streamers and studios hopefully means a more consistent industry. I'm not saying to crush on independent projects at all. What I'm saying is when the industry leaders have a more sustainable financial model, that is better for the industry. Only time will tell to see if this works, but trends are leaning that it will. Netflix is also reverting back to the model of one episode a week. Bulk dropping episodes of shows and news shows is starting to go away. Now let's take a look at what has been a very interesting couple of weeks at the box office. Moana ran ashore this weekend in a very disappointing release. It opened to $43 million domestically and $95 million globally against its $250 million production budget. And again, that $250 million does not include the marketing spend. There's a million reasons as to why this happened, but one of the major reasons is this is ultimately a movie that nobody asked for. It seems like audiences were not consulted at all, and the live-action remakes have been disliked from the beginning. Although some do, financially alright, Disney keeps going back to the same well. Even most of the quote, original films and shows live in an already existing universe. Further, the first Moana came out in 2016. To hit the nostalgia play for a kid's movie, a 10-year gap just doesn't work. When making a children's movie, you ultimately have to get the adults to go. Five-year-old kids aren't going and buying their own movie tickets, and if the adults have no desire to go, the kids won't go. It's important to break down what happens when there are major flops and why they happen. Especially for all those independent filmmakers out there. These are incredibly valuable lessons to show you what audiences will and will not go see. And it turns out, a live-action Moana remake, audiences are not willing to go see. Moving on, Minions and Monsters is doing the fine. It's at $245 million globally. It will make its money back, which is a win, but a little disappointing for the Illumination pick. Toy Story 5 has been doing well and sitting at $875 million globally against its $215 million budget. Woody and Buzz continue to be a cash cow for Disney and expanding the franchise to new generations. Comparing Toy Story 5's success to Moana's lack of success is an interesting conversation to have. But to put it simply, Toy Story originally came out 30 years ago. A sense of nostalgia has been built over the last 30 years of movies, and each movie is not a remake of anything in the franchise, but its own original story. Moana is just a live-action remake of a movie that came out 10 years ago. The two are very, very different. This week will be one of the biggest weeks for movies this year, with Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated The Odyssey releasing this Friday, July 17th. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, good luck. Here in New York, tickets are sold out in most theaters for weeks to come. So you might have to use a six-day and catch an 8 a.m. Tuesday show, but you gotta do what you gotta do. It feels like yesterday Oppenheimer dropped alongside Barbie, catapulting Nolan's already highly acclaimed career to new heights. Well, across the industry, this is said to be one of, if not the biggest film of all time. Not in terms of budget or acclaim, but with scale. This is a Hollywood movie of Hollywood movies. And I've been told it's very loud, so bring your earplugs if you need to. As for myself, I will risk the chance of hearing damage to watch Nolan's interpretation of the 3,000-year-old story. And with that, our box office comes to a close and we move on to the marquee. These are not promotions of any kind, but simply some pieces of art that carry importance and are widely discussed in the industry and cultural zeitgeist. So, some new things to give a watch to. Widow's Bay. A feeble and desperate mayor sets out to turn his struggling, remote New England island into a tourist destination. However, his modernization efforts quickly unravel as he discovers that the superstitious locals were right all along. The island is deeply cursed. This show is equally hilarious as it is scary. It has some truly terrifying moments and a great LPC, my shorthand for Laughs Per Capita. Of all the new shows I've watched over the last several years, this is my favorite, and folks are talking about it. Its staggering 19 nominations grab the industry's attention real quick. And for my throwback pick, my throwback pick for this week is the Blacklist. A high-profile, brilliant criminal surrenders to the FBI and offers to help track them down untouchable terrorists and mobsters. His one condition, he will only work with a rookie profiler who is having her first day on the job. The Blacklist is one of the most successful television thrillers of all time, lasting 10 seasons without seeing any major ratings dips the entire time. It's a masterclass in writing and story development. The show also stars one of the most iconic and well-developed television characters of all time, Raymond Reddington, portrayed by James Spader. Well, that's all I've got for you folks. Thank you for listening to The Backlot Brief. I'm your host, Cody McLeod Rogers. This episode is produced by Kristen Fosdick and brought to you by Foreground Productions. Foreground Productions. Stories that matter. Have a great day, everyone, and never forget to keep those dreams alive, whatever they may be. We'll see you next week on The Backlot Brief.