Too Much TV: Your TV Talking Points For Monday, April 3rd, 2023
Speaking of bad press....
Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Monday, April 3rd, 2023.
THE PROBLEMS PLAGUING AMAZON STUDIOS
As I have been talking with people at Amazon over the past week or two, I kept hearing rumors that The Hollywood Reporter's Kim Masters was working on something...I could never figure out what the story might be and to be honest, I didn't need to know. I just knew that given Masters' access and journalism skills, it was going to be something very enlightening.
Her piece dropped today and it's an in-depth, often brutal look at the behind-the-scenes problems plaguing Amazon Studios. There are multiple sources and she also gets on the record comments from Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke and Vernon Sanders, now head of television for the studio.
The expansive story recounts some of the problems at the studio, including complaints from some in the industry that it is impossible to know what type of project Amazon might be looking for:
Many current and former Amazon executives, as well as showrunners who have series at the streamer and agents who make deals there, believe that this is no accident. They describe Amazon Studios as a confusing and frustrating place to do business. When it comes to movies, where Amazon’s footprint is expanding following the $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM a year ago, a veteran producer says that, in recent years, “there has been no sense of what the philosophy is.”
On the series side, numerous sources say they cannot discern what kind of material Salke and head of television Vernon Sanders want to make. A showrunner with ample experience at the studio says, “There’s no vision for what an Amazon Prime show is. You can’t say, ‘They stand for this kind of storytelling.’ It’s completely random what they make and how they make it.” Another showrunner with multiple series at Amazon finds it baffling that the streamer hasn’t had more success: Amazon has “more money than God,” this person says. “If they wanted to produce unbelievable television, they certainly have the resources to do it.”
There are also stories of productions that have costs that seem unreasonable, even based on the sometime skewed economics of the major global streamers:
A far more costly and troubled production was the Russo brothers’ Citadel, which debuts on April 28. Anthony Russo says Salke first approached AGBO, the Russos’ production company, with a general concept of making a U.S. show with international foreign-language versions. AGBO came up with “a global spy show where you would have a mothership U.S. language show” alongside foreign-language versions in other countries, Russo says. The various versions are “related to one another, but they also exist independently and distinct from one another.” Some of the international shows may be set in different time periods, he adds.
Amazon has committed to three seasons of three versions of the show; so far, a local-language production is underway in Italy and in early stages in India. “We love the ability to communicate with people all over the world, and to connect people through stories,” Russo continues. “Amazon and Jen basically brought us a brand-new opportunity to do that at a scale that’s never been attempted before.”
The reporting matches a lot of the complaints I've heard from both inside and outside the company. I would note that the satisfaction level with Amazon seems to be a bit higher when you talk to producers outside the U.S./UK entertainment Nexis. A lot less money is being spent by Amazon in some of the smaller territories, but for a variety of reasons, the creative people seem happier with the process.
SPEAKING OF BAD PRESS
The Daily Beast's Confider has a piece out today about recent layoffs at ABC News and let's just say things could have been handled a bit more delicately:
Within minutes of the last person being notified of their axing, the names of pink-slipped top executives appeared in a Variety story complete with a memo from embattled ABC News boss Kim Godwin that was handed to media via ABC comms boss Van Scott. Some staffers’ families learned their loved ones had lost their jobs by reading it in the press reports, sources told us, while several also had their emails cut off almost immediately.
To be fair, this type of behavior during layoffs might be unusual in the entertainment industry, but I've heard much worse stories in the tech world. Including one where names were called during a company-wide meeting and the people whose names were called were asked to stand. At some point, the company executive in charge of the meeting told everyone standing that they were being laid off and should exit the room so they could speak to HR.
The piece also takes a lot of anonymous shots at Godwin, painting her as out-of-touch and completely incapable of reading the room. A skill which one might assume would be an important quality for someone running a network news division:
Godwin, meanwhile, has continued to ruffle internal feathers, repeatedly jetting across the country while the network makes steep cuts. The news boss flew first class to L.A. for a long Oscars weekend with her executive assistant but then flew to D.C for the Gridiron Club dinner on that Saturday night before flying back to L.A. again all in the same weekend, two people familiar with the matter told Confider. All of this comes at a time when ABC has a ban on non-essential travel. Earlier this year, Godwin also shocked staffers—many of whom came in to work at the last-minute to cover Pope Benedict’s funeral over new years—when she returned from winter break only to complain about renovations at her home in the Poconos, telling them, “I called American Express and told them to get me to the Caribbean.” Elsewhere, sources told us, Godwin has told underlings that Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden “doesn’t know anything about news” and that when the network secures a big booking or exclusive they should tell her so she can personally notify the Disney exec.
The reporting then wraps with the "not-so-veiled" suggestion that Godwin might be on her way out of the building:
Walden may soon be getting her updates from someone else, however, as Confider has learned that Disney has been reaching out to prospective candidates for a top ABC comms job that would report into Burbank, telling them the gig would involve helping manage an “executive transition.”
Hopefully if she does lose her job, she doesn't learn about it by reading a story in Variety.
AN EXPECTED BUT STILL DEPRESSING PIECE OF NEWS
The Writer's Guild of America - West is asking members to support a strike authorization vote, which would be used if negotiations between the WGA and the studios fail to be resolved by a May 1st deadline. It's always possible that a strike might be delayed a bit if negotiations seem fruitful but haven't yet led to a breakthrough. But my hunch is that a strike is extremely likely and if one does take place, it's going to be brutal.
ODDS AND SODS
* While Netflix premiered War Sailor on Sunday as a 3-part "limited series," it's really just the Norwegian film Krigsseileren cut into three pieces. But it is also a stunning piece of filmmaking.
* I recently spoke with Jason Ruiz and Seth Cohen, the creator and co-executive producers of the new animated series Royal Crackers, which premiere Sunday on Adult Swim. The show is also available on HBO Max beginning today.
* The BBC has revealed the existence of a 1963 tape which includes the earliest known complete live recording of the Beatles in the UK. It was recorded by a then-15-year boy, whose school had booked the band. He recorded the concert, then apparently forgot about it for 60 years.
* FOX has given a straight-to-series order to the medical procedural drama Doc which is based on the globally acclaimed Italian series, Doc -- Nelle tue mani. The series will be set in a fictional hospital here in Minneapolis. Which means it will likely be filmed in L.A. and there will be scenes of patients walking in saying things like "man, I can't believe how cold it is!"
WHAT'S NEW FOR MONDAY
Brokenwood Mysteries (Acorn TV)
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear (Crunchyroll)
LA Frontera With Pati Jinich (PBS)
Martha Cooks Season Premiere (Roku Channel)
Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (Hulu) - [first look video]
Quantum Leap Season Finale (NBC)
Race To Survive Alaska Series Premiere (USA)
Stone Cold Takes On America Series Premiere (A&E)
The Adventures Of Paddington Season Premiere (Nick Jr.)
WWE's Most Wanted Treasures Season Premiere (A&E)
Click Here to see the list of all of the upcoming premiere dates for the next few months.
SEE YOU TUESDAY!
If you have any feedback, send it along to Rick@AllYourScreens.com and follow me on Twitter @aysrick.