ScreenJunkies Roth Cornet On How "Black Panther" Will Encourage Diversity
“Black Panther” is set to open this weekend with Disney anticipating an opening weekend of $150 million at the box office. Alyssa Julya Smith sits down with Screen Junkies Editor-in-chief Roth Cornet to discuss how the film is helping with diversity in Hollywood as well as what to expect this year at the Oscar's with the Time's Up and #metoo movement.
Roth argues that films like "Black Panther" and "A Wrinkle in Time" could signal a shift in the industry that could lead to more and more lead roles for underrepresented groups in big budget blockbusters. She also discusses women as another underrepresented group in Hollywood, as only four women have directed a live-action film with a budget over $100 million, and how the studios that are making efforts to invest in more female filmmakers.
The Time’s Up and Me Too movements have been a huge topic of conversation when it comes to women in film, and Cornet discusses the impact the movement is making in Hollywood, as well as what we can expect at the Oscars this year in support of the movement.
Finally, she discusses the effect Moviepass has had on the streaming and theater industry and the constant changes the company is making as more and more people opt to purchase the monthly subscription, including the fact that the company seems to be changing their offerings on a daily basis.
The gaming industry has seen multiple large scales deals this month alone, including Microsoft's megadeal for Activision Blizzard. And, seemingly in response, rival Sony, picked up Bungie for $3.6 billion, a studio once owned by both Microsoft and Activision. The sector is reportedly on track to spend $150 billion on mergers and acquisitions just this year alone, a record-breaking total, according to investment firm Drake Star Partners. Michael Metzger, a partner at the firm specializing in technology, media, and communications, joined Cheddar to discuss the flurry of deals in the gaming space and what might be behind the hot M&A activity.
Ari Redbord, head of legal and government affairs and TRM Labs, joins Cheddar News to discuss why Facebook is ditching its crypto project and what that means for the space.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
A virtual gathering in the online space, Decentraland, of Elvis Presley impersonators is looking to grab the Guinness World Record for most Elvis impersonators in one place after the record-keeping org recently approved the use of avatars as stand-ins for people.
A powerful winter storm hit the Northeast over the weekend leaving 100,000 New Yorkers in the dark as well as snowfall up to 30.9 inches in parts of Massachusetts. The nor'easter hit with blizzard conditions of wind speed and poor visibility.
After classic rocker Neil Young demanded removal of his music from Spotify over vaccine misinformation coming from The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the platform made the decision to take down Young's songs and continue supporting Rogan with whom they have an exclusive contract. The move touched off a firestorm of controversy, leading to responses from both the streaming service and the podcasting host. Evan Nierman, CEO of Red Banyan Crisis PR, joined Cheddar to break down the latest on the fracas. "I think when [Spotify] initially said, we're not going to be commenting on that, that was a silly move because guess what? They did end up commenting about it, and nine times out of 10, when an organization says they're not going to be issuing a comment, they ultimately do," Nierman noted.
The 1999 cult classic "Fight Club" has been given a very different ending in China — and this time, the authorities win. Cheddar News speaks with Joan Solsman, senior media reporter at CNET who breaks down how China is using films for political messaging.
NFT art platform TRLab recently raised $4.2 million in funding. TRLab launched just last year but says its platform focused on NFT curation and distribution is growing quickly. The company hopes to bridge traditional and digital art worlds and help artists explore NFTs as an emerging medium. TRLab co-founder and chairwoman Xin Li-Cohen and co-founder and CEO Audrey Ou joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
