Scouting Hollywood: Sept. 21-27

A roundup of news, gossip and history of the entertainment business brought to you from Hollywood, Calif.

Photo by Ajeet Mestry on Unsplash

According to Hudson Pacific Partners, a large owner of production stages and office space in Los Angles and New York City, TV production is down by nearly 70 percent in the second quarter when compared to last year. Features, documentaries, reality and commercial production have slipped by 25 percent in the same period. 

For the first time in 10 years, the top grossing summer hits were not sequels but original stories. In fact, the sequels this summer have underperformed with audiences. Barbie and Oppenheimer easily broke out of the pack and helped rejuvenate the theater going experience for many film fans. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the total North American box office gross was 19 percent higher than the same period in 2022. One outstanding independent film (not produced by a major studio) of the summer has been Angel Studios’ Sound of Freedom which garnered over $180 million in the summer and out passed most studio releases including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Fast X and Mission Impossible- Dead Reckoning, Part One. 

Warner Brothers Discovery has quietly stopped paying for its major show runner’s overhead deals as the writers’ strike continues. Major producers including Greg Berlanti, J. J. Abrams and Mindy Kailing were notified that funding for their studio offices, staff salaries and other expenses were being terminated indefinitely. While their deals are not being canceled, payments are being stopped until writers return to work.