Issue September 27, 2017 Double Issue (2024)

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THE REPORT‘Who Wouldn’t Want to Be the House of Cards on Apple?’It’s not hard to imagine the scene: A tribe of Apple executives takes the stage before a rapt audience of bloggers and engineers. But rather than the next iteration of the iPhone or the Apple watch, the famous “one more thing” reveal is a high-end TV series.Whether or not that’s the venue the tech giant ultimately uses to announce its TV offerings, Apple’s Los Angeles-based execs are busy lining up the first batch of potential shows. In recent weeks, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, poached from Sony Television in June to spearhead Apple’s content acquisitions and video strategy, have been spotted all over town making their pitch to agents and studio executives. Though Apple isn’t looking to replicate the pace or scale of rival Netflix’s $6 billion annual spend,…5 min

THE REPORTAlcon Bets Its Future on Blade RunnerProducers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove — who met at Princeton University before convincing FedEx founder Fred Smith to help them launch the film company Alcon Entertainment 20 years ago — are candid. They admit that Alcon’s future depends on Blade Runner 2049, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic that hits theaters Oct. 6. “This is a chips-inthe- center-of-the-table exercise,” says Kosove.After a string of box-office wins — most notably, The Blind Side in 2009 — Kosove, 47, and Johnson, 50, arrived at a moment of reckoning. Alcon, with a staff of 45, no longer wanted to subsist solely on smaller, one-off movies, however successful (Alcon’s past slate includes Insomnia, P.S. I Love You, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsand Prisoners). The company, which has a longterm distribution deal with…2 min

THE REPORTThe Risks of TV in Dangerous PlacesThe tragic death of a Mexican location scout on the hit Netflix show Narcos has led to soul-searching in the scout community, even as questions remain about the circ*mstances of the shooting.Carlos Munoz Portal, 37, likely was a victim of a random act of violence, according to a production source on Narcos apprised of the ongoing local investigation. “The show has never received a threat from any narco-traffickers in four years, and that includes currently,” says the insider.The scout was found in his car Sept. 11 on a remote stretch of road near Temascalapa, about 40 miles northeast of Mexico City. According to local reports, his body and car were riddled with bullets. The area is one of Mexico’s most dangerous, with cartels and criminal gangs vying for turf and…3 min

THE REPORTIt’s Secret to Success: Teens Defying R RatingWant teenagers to put down their gadgets? Give them R-rated horror. Teens are a big part of why New Line and Warner Bros.’ $30 million film adaptation of Stephen King’s It has become a box-office smash despite the restrictive rating (no one under the age of 17 can watch in theaters unless they are with a parent or guardian).In three weeks, It has amassed $477 million worldwide, including $266 million domestically. During It’s opening weekend, 15 percent of ticket buyers were between the ages of 13 and 17, according to comScore. The second weekend, that stat jumped to 21 percent, by far the biggest growth spurt of any demo and an almost unheard-of share for any new movie.All told, a stunning 77 percent of It’s initial audience was under age…1 min

THE REPORTWhen a ‘12-Hour Workday’ Means More Like 14 or 15Guest ColumnWhile Peak TV has been great for fans, it has been a double-edged sword for the people who create it. More shows mean more work. But as we’ve seen too often in recent months, physically producing television (and film) can be a dangerous job.On Sept. 21, after reportedly working a 16-hour day, K.J. Apa, a young actor on The CW’s Riverdale, fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his car. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt. But his near-death experience shines a light on the long hours of production. Sadly, this has been a serious issue for decades with little done to address it.Nothing is more important than the safety of the actors and crew. And yet the pressures on production can put that safety in jeopardy. This isn’t a piece…4 min

Issue September 27, 2017 Double Issue (2024)

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