The “Wall Street” actor, who is the son of the late Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, opened up on a recent episode of the “SmartLess” podcast and said the title “really pisses” him off.
While discussing his success with hosts Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, Douglas said, “Well, first of all, you know, Hollywood royalty. I mean… this ‘nepo’ thing really pisses me off.” He continued: “I don’t know a career where a father or mother don’t try to help their son or daughter get into their business and this and that, and why they picked on this because of the well-known aspect of it.”
Beyond the discussion of nepotism, Douglas also noted that the best advice he could give to aspiring actors is to recognize “good material.” “The problem we all have is we don’t play an instrument, or we don’t paint, or we don’t write,” he said. “We’re standing there. But a good piece of material, man, a good piece of material helps things along well.”
His father, Kirk, died in 2020 at 103. He starred in films including “Spartacus,” “Seven Days in May,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Champion,” “The Bad and the Beautiful,” “Lust for Life,” “Paths of Glory” and “Lonely Are the Brave.” He earned three Oscar nominations and was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1996.
Douglas is known for his turns in “Fatal Attraction,” “Behind the Candelabra” and more films. Douglas has won one Oscar for acting and one for producing; he took home the trophy for best actor in a leading role in 1988 for “Wall Street” and best picture in 1976 as a co-producer of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
Douglas’ forthcoming memoir, “One Helluva Ride,” comes out Tuesday.
Picked among 50 submissions from Eurimages member states, the 10 selected series will vie for the coveted €50,000 ($56,000) Council of Europe Series Co-Production Development Award.
TV Beats co-heads Roosa Toivonen and Petri Kemppinen
Credit: TV Beats
“Never before have we welcomed that many big names and companies,” said Petri Kemppinen, co-head of TV Beats, alongside Roosa Toivonen.
This year’s crop hails from Belgium, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, and co-production partner Canada. As underscored by Toivonen, the geographical spread mirrors TV Beats’ core which is “to act as a bridge between the Baltics, Central Eastern Europe, and the Nordics. Three territories – Czechia, Finland, and Estonia – topped the list of applications.
“Estonia is very dynamic in TV drama, and we did receive more applications than from Lithuania and Latvia,” said Toivonen who mentioned the catchy story of “Stormbird,” about a young female fugitive, under Soviet-occupied Estonia in 1949. Also from Estonia is the fast-paced YA drama “Breaking the Ice,” produced by Jevgeni Supin, who was distinguished last year with an Honorary TV Beats Producer Award.
TV Beats co-heads also pointed at the larger number of projects in early development compared to previous years, set to make their very first pitch in Tallinn. “Obviously the hefty €50,000 development award from the Council of Europe is a major draw in today’s touch times for indie producers who struggle to gather development money when commissioners and public funders are cutting back. They need co-production partners to lift their projects,” Kemppinen said.
Theme-wise, in an age of distrust and as the Baltics and CEE feel the heat from Russian threats, espionage is the beating heart of three shows (“Tanner,” “Fortel,” “The Woman Who Roared”), while oppressive regimes, systems or leaders -even disguised as devils-feature in the remaining slate, next to the ever-popular crime bets.
Next to the TV Beats Co-Financing Market slate, more than 20 other top-tier series looking for additional financing, distribution and sales, will bow at ‘TV Beats Screenings’ and ‘TV Beats Coming Soon’, to be unveiled at a later date.
The TV Beats Forum is part of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival’s industry platform Industry Tallinn & Baltic Event, running over Nov 9-20.
Full rundown of TV Beats Co-Financing Market lineup:
“Breaking the Ice” (“Päike mis sulatab jääd,” 6X45’, Estonia) Young adult drama from Estonian powerhouse Zolba Productions (“Von Fock”, “My Dear Mother,” “A Girl From Tallinn”), co-penned and co-created by the seasoned Leana Jalukse (“Mother”, “Von Fock”) and German screenwriting expert Joachim Friedmann.
Beneath the polished surface of Estonia’s elite ice rinks, a Russian hockey prodigy ruled by his violent father and an Estonian figure skater groomed by a manipulative coach fall in love across a national divide. “Breaking the Ice” is not another fast-paced feel-good love story on skates,” says producer Jevgeni Supin. “Our series looks beneath the polished surface of youth sport, where abuse by parents and coaches is often disguised as pursuit for excellence. At its heart, it’s is a story about two young people who find the courage, through love, to break this cycle.”
“Fortel” (8X45’, Poland)
Credit: Apple Film Production
Legendary Polish film mogul and director Dariusz Jabłoński (“The Pleasure Principle,” “The Cop-A New Chapter”), serves as creator and showrunner of this spy thriller penned by US screenwriter Marc Grey, episodic writer of Apple TV’s International Emmy-winning show “Tehran.”
Jabłoński’s own pedigreed banner Apple Film Production is producing for commercial giant Polsat. The core of the action is the little-known Polish town of Rzeszów close to the Ukraine border which has turned into a spy nest and arms dealing platform. The story tracks a CIA officer who sets a trap for Russian saboteurs, targeting confidential Western arms shipments while secretly searching for his missing brother, who may hold the key to the leak, says the logline.
“Fortel” is about the history we’re living through right now, in real time, two hours from my home,” Jabłoński tells Variety. “Rzeszów is a city that woke up one morning to find itself at the center of the war, with no instruction manual and no way out. I want to make a thriller that feels the way the war feels – chaotic, morally unresolved and shot through with unexpected moments of humanity, with a cast drawn from several of the countries involved. A Polish-based story that the whole world needs to see right now,” he claims.
“Happy New Year!” (“Laimingų Naujų!” 10X21’, Lithuania)
Credit: Big Drama
Created and helmed by rising talent Montis Norvaisis for his outfit Big Drama, setup with producer Lineta Lasiauskaitė. The drama turns on a young woman, victim of spike drinking at a lavish New Year’s Eve party in a remote manor. When the guests refuse to confront the crime, her best friend seeks justice herself. Norvaisis will draw from his own experience to portray a raw and authentic portrait of New Year’s Eve youth parties.
“Kalmann” (6X45’, Iceland, Finland, Estonia) TV adaptation of Icelandic-Swiss crime author Joachim B. Schmidt’s “Kalmann” book series, penned by María Heba Þorkelsdóttir and Kristófer Dignus who directs.
Produced by Kontent’s Guðný Guðjónsdóttir and Sara Djeddou Baldursdóttir, who have attached Iceland’s main streamer Síminn and co-pro partners Snapper Films from Finland and Cuba Films from Estonia. Headlining the show is the eccentric sheriff Kalmann, who uses unique instincts to solve murders.
“’Kalmann’ sits within the internationally established Nordic crime space, but brings warmth, humor, melancholy and humanity to the genre alongside a compelling murder investigation,” says Baldursdóttir, who plans to use TV Beats to test the show’s concept, tone and international potential. Production is set to start in the fall 2027.
“Intimacy on Prescription” (“Intimita na předpis, 8X60’, Czechia) “Can good sex save every marriage,” says the logline about the tragicomedy set in 1970s Czechoslovakia, and inspired by the real story of Stanislav Kratochvíl, a pioneer of couples sex therapy. The show, helmed by established theater and film director Jiří Havelka (“Owners”), is set in a psychiatric clinic, where couples are invited to say out loud what society, marriage and shame have taught them to hide.
“For us, ‘Intimacy’ is not only about sex, but about the courage to speak honestly about desire, fear, shame, power and the need to be seen by the person closest to you,” says producer Karolina Zalabáková, who looks forward to pitching in Tallinn this story “strongly rooted in Czech and Czechoslovak history” with “emotional themes that are universal and highly exportable.” The screenplay from head-writer Kristina Májová, co-written with Matěj Randár and Jan Smutný, is based on an original idea by Kateřina Kořínková.
“Stormbird” (“Tormilind,” 5X42’, Estonia)
Credit: Meteoriit
Historical thriller from acclaimed filmmaker Kadri Kõusaar, credited for the Cannes Un Certain Regard’s “Magnus” and Estonia’s Oscar pick “Mother.” Set in 1949, under Soviet occupied Estonia. After killing soldiers who attack her family, Lee (18), known as ‘Stormbird’, becomes a fugitive and joins the Forest Brothers band led by “Geronimo” to rescue her imprisoned brother, Uku. Hunted by the Red Army, she fights to survive, while her childhood friend Reinhardt becomes her enemy. producer Aet Laigu says “Stormbird” “is first and foremost a story about people trying to survive and forced to make impossible choices under occupation.” It’s also a unique take of a “rarely seen part of European history”, depicted through a young woman’s eyes, turning on topical themes such as freedom, resistance and identity.
“Tanner” (6X50’, Ireland, Canada) Produced by Fíbín Films’ Bernie Hoban and Darach Ó Tuairisg, co-produced by Fraser Ash and Kevin Krikst for Canadian power-player Rhombus Media, attached to HBO’s Emmy nominated “The Sympathizer.”
The story created and penned by Keith Hodder, with Damian McCann and Sarah Gordon turns on a former Irish intelligence officer who returns home to investigate a missing teenager and uncovers a tech-powered conspiracy reaching from elite schools to the highest levels of government. Hoban says “Tanner” stands out thanks to its unique world “rarely seen before, the Irish intelligence services operating in a country whose prosperity is increasingly intertwined with some of the world’s most powerful multinational corporations, creating fascinating tensions between democracy, sovereignty and corporate influence.”” Through a uniquely Irish lens, “Tanner” tackles themes that resonate across the world while anchoring them in the journey of an unforgettable protagonist – a deeply flawed investigator whose greatest gift may also be his undoing,” she adds.
“The Inheritance” (“De Erfenis,” 6X45’, Belgium) From fast-expanding powerhouse Panenka behind the New8 hit show “This is Not a Murder Mystery” and Series Mania 2025 Special Mention winner “Putain.” Commissioned by leading Flemish broadcaster VTM. Created and penned by Alexandra Jans with Jan Van Dyck for producers Kato Maes, Kristoffel Mertens and Karlijn Van de Cruys. Psychological thriller set against the world of animal welfare and hunting. When Hanne, a staff member of a struggling animal rescue, unexpectedly becomes executor of a wealthy hunting family’s estate, a bitter battle over the inheritance erupts. Van de Cruys says the show will draw from its breathtaking location-Belgium’s largest national park of Limburg’s Hoge Kempen, and the personal take from Jans who has crafted the story out of her own personal experience.
“The Woman Who Roared” (4X45’, Finland)
Credit: Olga Dimenshtein/Sons of Lumière
From box-office hit habitué, actor and filmmaker Pamela Tola (“Ladies of Steel,” “Bad Apples”). Dramedy in which the recently widowed Leena (65) discovers that the Helsinki Zoo is actually an arena where international spies gather. She believes the place is linked to a top-secret nuclear weapon her late husband had hidden.
“The Woman Who Roared” offers a fresh take on the spy genre – thrilling, funny, and full of heart,” says producer Mete Sasioglu of Sons of Lumière, who will be looking for co-producers, especially from France, Eastern Europe and the Nordics in Tallinn.
“When Devils Rule” (“Los demones mandan,” 6X35’, Spain) Darkly humorous political thriller with supernatural elements from the team behind Movistar Plus’ anticipated “Patagonia.” Atlantika Films’ Nano Arrieta-creator and producer with Claudia Ruíz — shares the writing room with Popy Blasco, Ibai Ariztegi and Bárbara Zemelman. In a world fractured by power, fear and political extremism, a group of women uncovers a demonic force operating at the highest level of society-and realizes the chaos around them may be part of a much darker design.
Mike Leigh is bringing love and care to the Golden Globes’ comedy race.
Bleecker Street will submit “Tender Loving Care,” Leigh’s likely final film, in the musical or comedy categories at the upcoming 84th Golden Globes, Variety has learned exclusively.
Marion Bailey will compete for best actress in a musical or comedy, where she is expected to face contenders including Julianne Moore (“The Debut”), Inde Navarrette (“Obsession”) and Olivia Wilde (“The Invite”). Kate O’Flynn, Alice Bailey Johnson and Paul Jesson will compete in the supporting acting races, which the Globes do not divide by genre. The submissions mirror the studio’s overall acting strategy heading into the Oscar campaign.
The news comes a week after Focus Features submitted “Obsession,” Curry Barker’s horror breakout, as a comedy — a classification that prompted plenty of head-scratching among awards pundits and moviegoers on social media. Leigh’s film, however, seems like a more natural fit. It can be argued that Leigh has never really made comedies or dramas; rather, he makes films about life, which tends to be both at once.
“Tender Loving Care” follows Amy (O’Flynn), a London social worker who moves in with her friend and colleague Rosie (Johnson) after a breakup. Meanwhile, Amy’s parents, Birdie (Bailey) and Geoff (Jesson), navigate the indignities of getting older. Drunken singalongs and kitchen dancing sit alongside hospital visits, with the laughs often arriving with a wince attached.
The last time the Golden Globes classified a Mike Leigh film as a comedy, Sally Hawkins walked away with the best actress prize. That was 18 years ago, for “Happy-Go-Lucky,” with a 21-year-old O’Flynn in a small role that marked her first screen job. Coming off her Emmy win for supporting comedy actress in Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay,” O’Flynn’s momentum is building. She won the Silver Shell for best leading performance at the San Sebastian Film Festival in September, where the film also took the Golden Shell and the best screenplay prize.
For Bailey, the Globes push represents long-overdue recognition for the veteran performer. Leigh’s real-life partner and a longtime member of his acting company, she previously played Sophia Booth, J.M.W. Turner’s Margate landlady and companion, in his 2014 film “Mr. Turner.” In “Tender Loving Care,” she acts opposite her real-life daughter, Johnson, who plays Amy’s best friend.
Leigh’s films have earned six Golden Globe nominations across three titles throughout his career, with two of his leading ladies taking home trophies. “Secrets & Lies” scored three nominations, including best motion picture (drama) and supporting actress for Marianne Jean-Baptiste, while Brenda Blethyn won best actress in a drama. Imelda Staunton also earned a nomination in the same category for her critically acclaimed titular role in “Vera Drake.” Then came “Happy-Go-Lucky,” which landed a best motion picture (musical or comedy) nom alongside Hawkins, who won best actress. The film, and Hawkins’ performance, failed to translate into an Oscar nom.
Shockingly, Leigh himself has never been nominated at the Globes for either directing or screenwriting, despite garnering seven Oscar noms throughout his career. “Topsy-Turvy,” “Another Year,” “Mr. Turner” and “Hard Truths” all came up empty.
After a 50-year career, Bleecker Street is hoping to get Leigh the recognition he deserves. The company will release “Tender Loving Care” in theaters Dec. 4. The 84th Golden Globe nominations will be announced Monday, Dec. 7, and the ceremony, hosted by Nikki Glaser, is set for Sunday, Jan. 10.
Best Picture (Drama) “Dune: Part Three” (Warner Bros.) “Fjord” (Neon) “I Play Rocky” (Amazon MGM Studios) “La Bola Negra” (Netflix) “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) “Wildwood” (Laika)
Best Picture (Comedy or Musical) “The Debut” (A24) “The Invite” (A24) “Michael” (Lionsgate) “Project Hail Mary” (Amazon MGM Studios) “Tender Loving Care” (Bleecker Street) “Wild Horse Nine” (Searchlight Pictures)
Actor (Drama) Matt Damon, “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) Pedro Pascal, “Behemoth!” (Searchlight Pictures) Robert Pattinson, “Primetime” (A24) Andrew Scott, “Elsinore” (Focus Features) Sebastian Stan, “Fjord” (Neon) John Turturro, “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Actor (Comedy or Musical) Tom Cruise, “Digger” (Warner Bros.) Ryan Gosling, “Project Hail Mary” (Amazon MGM Studios) Jaafar Jackson, “Michael” (Lionsgate) John Malkovich, “Wild Horse Nine” (Searchlight Pictures) Brad Pitt, “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” (Netflix) Seth Rogen, “The Invite” (A24)
Actress (Comedy or Musical) Marion Bailey, “Tender Loving Care” (Bleecker Street) Julianne Moore, “The Debut” (A24) Inde Navarrette, “Obsession” (Focus Features) Meryl Streep, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” (20th Century Studios) Olivia Wilde, “The Invite” (A24) Zendaya, “The Drama” (A24)
Supporting Actor Colman Domingo, “Michael” (Lionsgate) Andrew Garfield, “Artificial” (Neon) Guitarricadelafuente, “La Bola Negra” (Netflix) Paul Giamatti, “The Debut” (A24) John Leguizamo, “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) Sam Rockwell, “Wild Horse Nine” (Searchlight Pictures)
Supporting Actress Gemma Chan, “Josephine” (Sumerian Pictures) Penélope Cruz, “The Invite” (A24) Anne Hathaway, “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) Scarlett Johansson, “Paper Tiger” (Neon) Samantha Morton, “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) Kate O’Flynn, “Tender Loving Care” (Bleecker Street)
Director Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, “La Bola Negra” (Netflix) Jesse Eisenberg, “The Debut” (A24) Martin McDonagh, “Wild Horse Nine” (Searchlight Pictures) Christopher Nolan, “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) Denis Villeneuve, “Dune: Part Three” (Warner Bros.) Olivia Wilde, “The Invite” (A24)
Screenplay “The Debut” (A24) — Jesse Eisenberg “Dune: Part Three” (Warner Bros.) — Brian K. Vaughan, Denis Villeneuve “The Invite” (A24) — Rashida Jones and Will McCormack “Fjord” (Neon) — Cristian Mungiu “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) — Christopher Nolan “Wild Horse Nine” (Searchlight Pictures) — Martin McDonagh
Original Score “Behemoth!” (Searchlight Pictures) — James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, Brandon Roberts, Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Michael Giacchino, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad “The Debut” (A24) — Emile Mosseri “Dune: Part Three” (Warner Bros.) — Hans Zimmer “La Bola Negra” (Netflix) — Raül Refree “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) — Ludwig Göransson “Project Hail Mary” (Amazon MGM Studios) — Daniel Pemberton
Original Song “The Debut” (A24) — “This City May Have Chewed Me Up (But It Hasn’t Spit Me Out)” (Jesse Eisenberg) “The Devil Wears Prada 2″ (20th Century Studios) — “Shape of a Woman” (Lady Gaga) “La Bola Negra” (Netflix) — “La Nieve” (Guitarricadelafuente and Raül Refree) “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) — “When I’m Home” (James Blake and Travis Scott) “Primetime” (A24) — “On Video” (Phoebe Bridgers) “Toy Story 5” (Pixar) — “I Knew It, I Knew You” (Taylor Swift)
International Feature “Fjord” from Romania (Neon) “Godzilla Minus Zero” from Japan (GKids) “La Bola Negra” from Spain (Netflix) “Minotaur” from France (Mubi) “Possible Love” from South Korea (Netflix) “Woman Unknown” from Denmark (U.S. Distributor TBD)
Box Office and Cinematic Achievement “The Devil Wears Prada 2” (20th Century Studios) “Michael” (Lionsgate) “Mr. Irrelevant” (Paramount Pictures) “Obsession” (Focus Features) “The Odyssey” (Universal Pictures) “Project Hail Mary” (Amazon MGM Studios) “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” (Sony Pictures) “Toy Story 5” (Pixar)
Variety parent company Penske Media Corporation owns Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Prods. in a joint venture with Eldridge.
David Ellison moved mountains and fought off many detractors in his quest to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Now, as the transition is set to formally close on Oct. 6, the high-wire act is about to begin.
The enlarged entity, to be known as Skydance, will carry a nearly unprecedented level of debt for a large media M&A transaction — a nearly $80 billion chunk — and that leverage will weigh on virtually every decision the company makes over the next three years. By comparison, when Discovery bought WarnerMedia from AT&T, it assumed $43 billion of AT&T’s debt, leaving the new WBD with about $53 billion in gross debt as of June 2022.
Skydance has a tight runway through the end of 2029 to significantly pare down the long-term debt on the company’s books. If Skydance doesn’t hit some very specific targets laid out in its agreements with lenders for reducing its overall leverage ratio, Larry Ellison, the software billionaire and the father of the Skydance CEO, will be on the hook to make up the difference out of his personal wealth.
Analysts from three major credit ratings agencies — Moody’s Ratings, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Solutions’ CreditSights — say the company is walking a tightrope of having to manage a difficult post-deal integration process at a time when the entertainment landscape continues to evolve in unpredictable ways. Skydance is counting on a of things to right for its key units — from Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. to HBO Max and Paramount+ to CNN and CBS — while it also faces competitive pressure to invest big in content and improved technology for the aging infrastructure at the legacy Paramount and Warner Bros. in particular.
Barring a box office miracle or windfall of streaming subscribers in the coming months, Skydance is projected to operate for all of 2027 with negative cash flow — which will make it harder to be opportunistic in the marketplace. It’s not an impossible feat. But it will require enormous discipline across the organization to focus on priorities and most important, new pipelines for profit.
“They need to move as quickly as possible to get this leverage down,” says Jawad Hussain, managing director at S&P Global Ratings. “While 2027 is not going to have any cash flow, if [Skydance] does this quickly enough, then by 2028 you’re starting to make money and you can then start paying down your debt. And then in ’29 it can get better. That’s the time frame that they have to do it in.”
The company has committed to achieving $6 billion operational savings over three years. That process will be hard on the organization as much of it will come from staff cuts to address overlapping operations and redeployment of resources.
“Until you own the asset, you can’t necessarily fully know what you need to do,” Hussain says. “We’re hoping to see a nice layout of the strategy and the sequencing and timelines around that. I would say post-Q3 into the end of the year, and then early next year when they report Q4, we’re hoping to see a nice layout of the strategy and the timelines around that.”
Robert Fishman, senior analyst for MoffettNathanson Research, also sees Skydance leaders operating in a tough environment of balancing the need to grow the streaming engines — HBO Max and Paramount+ — without starving the linear channels that still generate the majority of the company’s cash flow.
“The company is going to be forced into choosing where to invest their dollars, led by streaming,” Fishman says. “And they need to make sure that the cash flows they’re shifting toward are not going to be to the detriment of the overall company’s cash flows.”
The transaction that saw the smaller Paramount Skydance take over the larger WBD was enabled through Byzantine financing structures and a consortium of debt partners that include Middle East sovereign wealth funds.
The debt piled on to the new company’s balance sheet has sparked intense scrutiny in business and geopolitical circles, although Skydance has consistently assured leaders and Wall Street that the foreign entities will have no governance role or operational influence on the company.
For media biz analysts, the big question that is unanswerable in the short term is how David Ellison and his newly recruited co-CEO Ynon Kreiz can make the merger math work. In the view of S&P Global’s Hussain and others, the Skydance deal is putting together two media giants that were already struggling to generate consistent profit and cash flows given all the outside pressures in the marketplace.
“Paramount itself was generating a little bit of cash flow. Warner Bros. was generating some cash flow — but they both had their issues,” Hussain observes. “So this has been the big issue for a lot of these legacy media companies. We already saw this with Discovery and Warner Bros. merging [in 2022]. We saw this with Viacom and CBS merging [in 2019] They’ve had a go at it. So the question is: why is this time going to be different?”
Jason Cuomo, senior VP in the corporate finance group for Moody’s Ratings, believes it will take time before investors can really measure the potential of the company. In that sense, the backstop of Larry Ellison’s extraordinary resources is seen by many as the only way that the deal could be completed given how much is at risk. Moody’s has rated Skydance’s debt overall at Ba3, which is one notch below investment grade. That investment rating means the company pays higher interest rates in most cases for the credit facilities and short-term borrowings that are a normal course of business for large enterprises.
“It’s a massive company that is going through a multiyear restructuring. That’s going to mean a lot of disruption and a lot of change at the highest levels,” says Cuomo.
“A key support for the credit profile is the controlling shareholder’s [the Ellison family] commitment to backstop the company’s target leverage at the end of 2028 and 2029. If that commitment wasn’t there, our view of this credit profile and the risk would be greater. It effectively will reconcile the divide between what the company hopes to achieve in two to three years and what the commitment is. They’re committed to close that gap. That is one of the material risks that exist.”
S&P Global and CreditSights give Skydance slightly higher ratings that push them over the edge into investment grade territory that was essential for a company shouldering so much debt. S&P Global and others calculate Skydance in 2026 and 2027 as having a debt-to-earnings ratio of 7. The goal is to chop that down to 3 or less by 2029.
Hunter Martin, senior analyst for telecom, media and cable for CreditSights, says the Street will be watching the company’s financial performance closely. But he echoes Cuomo’s view that it will be impossible to tell after just a few quarters. Martin says he’ll keep a close watch on the near-term fate of the linear channels. As those channels go, so goes the company’s biggest source of cash flow.
“There’s two big things that are important that we can look at right now: what is happening when it comes to traditional TV networks businesses: CNN, TNT, TBS, the Discovery channels, Nickelodeon, CBS. “They’re in secular decline, but they contribute like 70 plus % of the profits and almost all the free cash flow,” Martin says. “They’ve already been cutting costs, so we want to see how that develops because this is the big profit driver and the big cash generator of the combined business.”
Martin adds that despite the turmoil around the deal making process, both Paramount and Warner Bros. come into the deal with operational success stories to tout.
“Both of these businesses have shown pretty good momentum in recent quarters,” Martin says. “So what we want to see there if they can maintain or improve that momentum after combining.”
Hussain says he’ll watch how the company handles its tech-stack needs in merging Paramount, HBO Max and Pluto TV FAST channel service. All of the legacy studios have struggled to deliver great digital user experiences a la Netflix. Skydance has a shot to stand tall if it can catch up with Netflix and Disney+ in algorithm and design. Given the Ellison family’s roots in technology (Larry Ellison is co-founder of Oracle), there may be resources available that will turbocharge the inevitable combination of the company’s streaming platforms into a single vertical powered by the same tech engines.
“The legacy media companies were always at a disadvantage because they didn’t necessarily have the tech backgrounds to figure out the tech part,” Hussain says. “Content is obviously very important. But your ability to distribute and have a good platform is important as well. Netflix has demonstrated that. And you see with YouTube and others how their platforms themselves are also very important in making the customer experience better and all of that stuff. So now you’re bringing in someone who has a far more tech background.”
MoffettNathanson’s Fishman says the company’s content spending priorities in the first year will also be telling. After Skydance bought Paramount in August 2025, it’s first splashy news announcement was a seven-year commitment to UFC rights at an eyepopping $7.7 billion price tag.
“One of the biggest things that we’re watching for is the direction of the combined content spending going forward, and where they’re going to look to take some efficiencies,” Fishman says. “And whether sports is going to take an increasing share of that, given upcoming [NFL rights] negotiations, and where streaming fits into [Skydance’s] overall budget as they reallocate resources away from linear.”
Martin notes that the speed bump Skydance hit in the approval process — the antitrust lawsuit filed by 12 states — cost them probably another $500 million in higher interest fees on short-term debt as rates have inched up.
“They’re not going to have like any extra cash flow to pay down debt [in 2027] because all these synergies will take some time to realize,” Martin says. “A lot of cost to achieve these synergies that are front-weighted. You have to do redundancies, and you have to pay people [severance fees],” he says. “If you have to do the technological investment to move over to a new platform, you might have to get out of old real estate leases to move everyone to one headquarters. Those are headwinds initially.”
Martin and other analysts reinforce that Skydance has a juggle a number of spinning plates in real time — against hard deadlines backed by hard numbers.
“The market knows that basically, they need to deliver on these cost synergies. And they need to grow their profits to reduce debt load and improve their credit metrics,” he says.
A coalition of Hollywood unions issued a report on Monday warning that the U.S. has lost significant market share in film and TV production over the last 25 years.
The report found that studios spent 74% of their film production budgets in the U.S. 25 years ago, but that the figure has since declined to 42%. On the TV side, the figure has fallen from 94% to 64%.
The unions — including IATSE, the Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA — published the report as Congress is considering whether to offer a 20%-30% production incentive to revive the domestic film and TV industry. Supporters have argued that the U.S. needs to counter generous incentives offered by Canada, the U.K., and other countries, and that state-based subsidies are inadequate.
Members of Congress have focused on the sharp downturn in domestic production jobs since the end of Peak TV in 2022. But the union report, prepared by EY, takes a longer-term view, showing that the globalization of production has been underway since the turn of the millennium.
The report acknowledges that production has grown considerably over that period — so the U.S. is taking a smaller piece of a much larger pie.
The study looks only at films with budgets of $5 million or more, in 2025 dollars, and TV episodes costing at least $1 million, for those 40 minutes or shorter, and at least $1.7 million for episodes longer than 40 minutes.
In film, the report found that overall production spending by major studios rose from $3 billion to $7 billion annually in the last 25 years. And in TV, spending exploded from $933 million to $8.4 billion over the same span. The report acknowledges that the TV landscape has changed so dramatically over the past two decades that it is hard to draw clear comparisons.
“The rise of streaming fundamentally altered production scale, budgets, season lengths, and release models, creating discontinuities in what constitutes a comparable television series across periods,” the authors wrote.
The report is also limited in that it does not attempt to explain why production has shifted overseas — only to quantify the shift.
The report finds that big-budget films account for much of the exodus. For the 25 most expensive films, the U.S. market share declined from 74% to 34% over the 25-year span. Those 25 films represented a quarter of all films produced by the major studios, but half of the crew and two-thirds of the budgets.
“This highlights that production budgets are heavily concentrated within a small subset of films,” the report notes. “Patterns observed within this group generally reflect the broader analysis trends, albeit with a somewhat larger decline.”
The report argues that if U.S. market share had held constant over the last 25 years, an additional $4 billion would be spent each year on TV and film production in the U.S.
The Motion Picture Association issued its own report last month, arguing that a federal incentive would generate an additional $22 billion in annual domestic production spending by 2035. The MPA report did not attempt to measure the historical trend in market share, but did warn that market share will decline in the future if Congress does not act.
The unions are set to hold a rally with Sen. Adam Schiff and many Democratic members of the California Congressional delegation on Tuesday in Glendale. Schiff and others last month introduced a federal credit that would combine with state-based subsidies to create the world’s most generous incentive regime.
With support from President Trump, who came out in favor of the idea in August, backers are hoping to pass the incentive into law by the end of the year.
Mark Thompson said Monday that he would remain in charge of CNN following the purchase of the new giant’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery, by Skydance, a move that may serve to reassure many of the outlet’s staffers.
“I have real confidence that they both understand and will fully support the principle and practice of the kind of independent news that CNN has always stood for,” Thompson said of the company’s new owners., in a memo to staffers. “That’s why I will be leading CNN into this new chapter as it becomes one of Skydance’s suite of major media assets and global brands, and leading it as an independent Editor-in-Chief with the same responsibilities and prerogatives that I have now.”
The news could bring some relief to staffers at CNN, who have been worried about the fate of the news division under Paramount. Staffers have wondered about Paramount CEO David Ellison’s commitment to credible newsgathering given recent scrutiny of the executive he installed at CBS News, Bari Weiss. They are also concerned about the direction Paramount may see for CNN’s new streaming service. CNN’s progress with digital audiences has been slowed by a bevy of changes in the company’s corporate direction in recent years.
“I know many of you have had trepidations about this moment. That’s understandable — indeed, as I’ve hinted before, I’ve had the odd moment or two myself!” Thompson said in the memo. “But I want to say that on the eve of the acquisition of CNN by Paramount Skydance, I find myself in a very positive frame of mind. I really do believe we’ll be working alongside a team who don’t just have real vision and real energy, but real values as well.”
During his tenure, Thompson has focused on getting CNN content in front of younger viewers and digital audiences. CNN has been testing new formats with its “CNN All Access” subscription service, and has seen up-and-coming personnel like Abby Phillip and Harry Enten gain some traction. Warner Bros. Discovery projected in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year that CNN will generate $600 million in profit in 2026 on $1.8 billion in revenue.
CNN’s path forward remains foggy. The network remains a solid contributor of the overall profit at Warner, but it’s financial engines are less powerful than they once were. CNN in past years generated $1 billion in profit, and under the aegis of Warner Bros. Discovery, management and personnel moves made have left CNN scrambling to make up a longer-term downturn in ratings. Warner Bros. Discovery also slowed down CNN’s progress in streaming, scuttling a venue called CNN+ while rivals like NBC, CBS, ABC, MS NOW and Fox News plunged ahead with new broadband experiments.
Thompson acknowledged that CNN’s path forward might not be the clearest. “The specifics of how CNN will plug into and operate in the new company have yet to be finalized – hardly surprising given that serious discussions could only begin after Paramount’s anti-trust settlement a few days ago. So I can’t answer every question today.”
The late, legendary musician David Bowie will have his 80th birthday celebrated with a series of events, exhibits, releases, collaborations and experiences beginning in November and spanning 2027, his estate announced on Monday. Details will be announced on the new website bowie80.davidbowie.com; initial projects are listed below.
One of the most influential musicians of the rock era, Bowie was born David Jones in London on Jan. 8, 1947 (sharing a birthday with Elvis Presley, who was born 12 years earlier) and died of cancer on Jan. 10, 2016, just two days after his 69th birthday and the release of his remarkable final album, “Blackstar.” His estate has issued a series of excellent reissues, planned by Bowie himself, in the years since his death.
*The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is planning a Bowie80 celebration anchored by a dedicated retail pop-up running mid-November. The Rock Hall will also host fan activations throughout David’s birthday weekend, including Bowie-themed educational presentations, trivia, music, and photo ops, alongside an exhibition featuring the work of photographers, some of which has never been displayed or published. Exhibit and programming details will be announced in the coming months.
*The estate has struck an exclusive partnership with Nordstrom, celebrating Bowie’s enduring influence on fashion through three immersive shops in their Seattle, New York, and Chicago flagships, featuring exclusive and limited-edition collections created specifically to launch the Bowie campaign. The shops will include clothing and accessories from designers and brands such as Undercover, Marc Jacobs, Paul Smith, AllSaints, and more.
*Morrison Hotel Gallery will mark David Bowie’s 80th year with “Strange Fascination,” a major photography exhibition. The exhibition will open early February 2027 in New York City and West Hollywood, bringing together career-defining and previously unreleased photographs from the celebrated archives of Morrison Hotel Gallery and the David Bowie estate. The exhibition will be presented in six eras, identities and reinventions that helped define his influence on music, fashion, art and culture. Additional details will be announced in January.
*BOWIE (breaking) GLASS is a new live symphonic concert production, developed by Schirmer Theatrical together with Østre Gasværk Teater, bringing David Bowie’s songs and voice into “a new musical and visual dialogue” with Philip Glass. Featuring Bowie’s original recordings alongside live vocalists, musicians and orchestra, this official concert experience will have its world premiere in Copenhagen in Spring 2027.
*Perryscope Productions, longtime merchandising representatives for David Bowie, will be launching exclusive Bowie80 merchandise, effective immediately. Additionally, new and longtime David Bowie apparel and accessories licensees including Phix, Rockoff, Rowdy Sprout, Roots of Fight, Stoned Immaculate, Girl Skateboards and more will be rolling out fresh Bowie & Bowie80 themed products throughout the anniversary year.
*The show “David Bowie: You’re Not Alone,” which opened at London’s Lightroom this year, will reach new audiences in 2027, with runs in Manchester and Brighton, as well as its first European venue, Port des Lumières in Hamburg. The show uses large screens and high-fidelity audio to explore the artist’s life and career.
*The V&A’s “David Bowie: On Tour” will display artefacts from Bowie’s 90,000-item archive touring the U.K., starting in Dundee before moving on to Blackpool in 2027, before visiting further venues in 2028 and 2029.
More projects will be released in the coming months.
Karoline Leavitt, the former Trump administration press secretary who spent much of her time chastising and denigrating the journalists who asked her questions, is joining one of the outlets that made some of the queries.
Other news networks have also sought out former White House officials. MS NOW relies on former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki as its regular 9 a.m. host, and features former Bush official Nicolle Wallace in a prominent late-afternoon showcase. George Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton White House official, is a prominent anchor at ABC News.
“Karoline’s firsthand experience in the White House and on the presidential campaign trail gives her a distinct understanding of today’s political landscape,” said Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, in a statement. “We look forward to her providing our audience with authentic and sharp insight across all Fox News Media platforms.”
Leavitt will start in her new role offering commentary and analysis on November 1.
Like McEnany, Leavitt was a fierce defender and promoter of President Trump’s agenda, and often pushed back on questions from media outlets. She may also have an expert view as the White House tangles with outlets like MS NOW, CNN and Politico, which it has tried to ban from coverage on the grounds of the presidential home and offices. Fox News has supported CNN and the other outlets and called for bans on particular outlets to end.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to continue appearing on Fox News Channel as an official member of the extraordinary team at Fox News Media,” Leavitt said in a statement. “I look forward to bringing my unique perspective from my experience as White House Press Secretary, along with the same energy and candor that defied my tenure, to Fox’s millions of viewers across their many platforms.”
Leavitt served as the 36th press secretary from January 2025 until August 2026, becoming the youngest person in American history to hold the position. Prior to joining the White House, Leavitt served as national press secretary for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. She previously ran as the Republican candidate for congress in her home state of New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District in 2022 and served as communications director for then-House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik. Earlier in her career, Leavitt worked in Trump’s first administration as a presidential writer and assistant press secretary.
Just as hot-button Gaza documentary “NAZA” — which recently won a special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival — gains international visibility and media attention, a counter project has surfaced online titled “NAZA: The Real Story.”
The original 80-minute doc, which was shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv and explores the killings of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, features revelatory interviews with 24 Israeli military intelligence officers and soldiers. “NAZA,” a term that appears throughout the documentary, is an acronym for collateral damage used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians it expects will be killed in an airstrike.
“NAZA,” which was helmed by Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor — two of the four co-directors of 2025’s Oscar-winning doc “No Other Land” — earned a massive 24.5-minute ovation at Venice and was also well received when it recently bowed in North America at the New York Film Festival. It is currently playing in cinemas in Europe and the U.S. before it will be made visible to stream for free on The Guardian website in late November.
It is now being countered by the rapidly made 49-minute rebuttal “NAZA: The Real Story,” shot in a style that mimics the original. According to information on its website, the film has been made by Lt. Col. Roi Danino, who is a political candidate for the right-wing Israel First party led by Sharren Haskel in Israel’s upcoming Oct. 27 elections; Ariel Averbuch, a reserve major in the Israel Defense Forces, who is a patent attorney and ultra-nationalist influencer; and content editor Hagai Gutman.
The documentary was reposted on X by the Israeli Embassy to the U.S. on Saturday, which wrote “a new Israeli documentary is setting the record straight” alongside a link to its website.
According to the “NAZA: The Real Story” website, the rebuttal doc, similarly to the original, describes the war in Gaza as “told through the testimonies of IDF officers who took part.”
“Through firsthand accounts, this documentary examines combat in civilian areas, the challenges of identifying threats, and the decisions made on the battlefield,” says the blurb on the rebuttal piece’s home page. “Their testimonies offer a closer look at the conditions they faced, the dilemmas they encountered, and how they describe the conduct of the war.”
“NAZA: The Real Story” argues that “Hamas fought from inside civilian areas: fighters in civilian clothes, weapons in homes, schools, mosques and a hospital, tunnel shafts inside houses. And that the IDF ran its operations under strict rules for opening fire because of it. Those are the film’s claims, made by the people who were there,” according to the website.
At publishing time, the “NAZA: The Real Story” website asserts that more than 20 million viewers have already seen the doc that was released online this weekend.
Last week, the Israeli Defense Forces slammed “NAZA” in a statement, calling it “manipulative,” “misleading” and “based on substantial factual errors.”
“With the original ‘NAZA’ film gaining heavy distribution and visibility across Europe and the United States, the creators of this rebuttal are utilizing digital influencers and grassroots international networks to push their footage directly to global policymakers and journalists,” wrote the right-wing newspaper Jerusalem Post.
“For the production team, the ongoing clash is no longer just a debate over military strategy but a definitive, high-stakes war over who dictates the historical record to the international community.”
There was no comment about “NAZA: The Real Story” from Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor and from The Guardian, which produced “NAZA” in tandem with James Wilson (JW Films) and executive producer Jonathan Glazer.
Ross White and Tom Berkeley, the filmmaking duo behind the Oscar and BAFTA winning short film “An Irish Goodbye,” have teamed up with Studiocanal, Working Title, Parkville Pictures and Film4 for their feature debut and landed two hugely in-demand stars as their leads.
“The End of the World as We Know It” will see BAFTA winner Jack O’Connell (“Ink”) and BAFTA nominee Odessa A’zion (“Marty Supreme”) play a pair of star-crossed loners who meet on an epic pilgrimage to prove the earth is flat.
Described as an “unlikely adventure in truth and love,” the film is being written and directed by Berkeley and White, with production set to begin Canada in November. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner produce for Working Title Films, while producing for Parkville is Olivier Kaempfer (who previously worked with Studiocanal to produce the recent TIFF-bowing dark comedy “Everybody Wants to F— Me” starring Taron Egerton and with Working Title on the rom-com “Finding Emily,” released earlier this year by Focus).
“The End of the World as We Know It” is fully financed by Studiocanal. Film4 will co-finance and executive produce. Anna Marsh, Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin will executive produce for Studiocanal. Katherine Pomfret and Thea Paulett will executive produce for Working Title. Amanda Drake of Notable Studios is EP. Studiocanal will release the film theatrically in its territories of the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Benelux, Australia and New Zealand, and is also handling worldwide sales.
“’The End of the World as We Know It’ is a story we discovered hiding in the strangest of places, but one that seemed to speak profoundly to our collective search for meaning, belonging and love in an increasingly disparate world,” said Berkeley and White. “We feel intensely lucky to have the inimitable Jack O’Connell and Odessa A’zion bringing these star-crossed loners to life and, with the backing of the wonderful teams at Studiocanal, Working Title, Parkville and Film4, we can’t wait to take audiences on their unique, cinematic journey.”
White and Berkeley’s short black comedy “An Irish Goodbye,” starring Seamus O’Hara, James Martin, Paddy Jenkins and Michelle Fairley, became an awards season smash after playing in more than 60 international film festivals in 2022 and 2023. Following two estranged brothers who reunite in rural Northern Ireland following their mother’s death, the film went on to win the 2023 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short, the BAFTA award for Best British Short Film and the IFTA Award for best short film.
Tom Berkeley and Ross White
Getty Images
“End of the World as We Know It” sees Studiocanal reunite with long time collaborators Working Title following the recent global release of “Pressure.” Working Titles other recent releases including “Sense and Sensibility,” “Finding Emily,” “The Sheep Detectives,” “Crime 101,” “Goodbye June,” “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” “The Substance,” and upcoming title “Werwulf.”
Studiocanal’s upcoming slate includes Danny Boyle’s “Ink,” which opened the Venice Film Festival, “Elsinore,” starring Andrew Scott and already amassing predictions as an award season frontrunner, and “Everybody Wants to F— Me,” due for release in 2027. Alongside “Ink,” which launches in the U.S. on Dec. 11, Studiocanal also released the O’Connell-led “’71” in the U.K. in 2014 and produced “Back to Black,” in which he starred alongside Marisa Abela.
Enjoying something of career highpoint at the moment, O’Connell has several major titles incoming, including John Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place Part III” opposite Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy, and Grant Sputore’s “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova,” the latest chapter in Legendary’s Monsterverse, alongside Dan Stevens, Kaitlyn Dever and the late Sam Neill. He represented by Conway Van Gelder Grant in the U.K. and UTA and Range Media Partners in the US
Since breaking out in “Marty Supreme,” A’zion landed a series regular role on Rachel Sennott’s HBO series “I Love LA” and will next star alongside Naomi Watts, Sarah Paulson, Dianne Wiest and Toby Wallace in Cody Fern’s directorial debut “Mother Courage,” and also in Justine Triet’s upcoming comedy “Fonda” alongside Andrew Scott, Allison Janey, Benedict Wong and Cherry Jones. She is represented by UTA, Luber Roklin, Granderson Des Rochers, and The Lede Company.
Berkeley and White are represented by Francesca Devas at Independent Talent and Craig Kestel and Marco Alvarez at WME.
