Business of Media
Twitter scores early win over Musk with fast-track trial over deal
Twitter won an early victory in its legal battle to force Elon Musk to complete his $US44 billion ($63.8 billion) takeover after a judge sided with the social media company and set a timetable to fast-track a trial, starting in October, reports Nine Publishing’s Hannah Murphy.
In her ruling, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery warned the “cloud of uncertainty” hanging over Twitter’s business would become larger in the event of a long wait for a trial.
“The reality is that the delay threatens irreparable harm to the sellers,” McCormick said, ordering a five-day trial and adding that the court had the ability to handle the expedited process.
During the hearing, Twitter’s lawyers accused the billionaire Tesla chief executive of “attempted sabotage” of the social media company and said a quick, four-day trial was needed to prevent further damage to its business.
Agencies
The Mint Partners grows leadership team with internal promotions
Independent creative communications agency, The Mint Partners, has announced general manager Miranda Bryce will partner with founder Genevieve Taubman in her new role as managing director.
Bryce joined The Mint Partners in 2016 as client services director, following a five-year tenure with creative agency Y&R Brands. In 2018, Bryce was promoted to the position of the communications agency’s head of strategy and operations.
In 2020, she took on the role of general manager, expanding the agency service categories to include brand strategy, digital and paid media and to lead capacity planning, profit and revenue tracking.
Bryce will oversee MINT’s growth and future direction.
News Brands
Chris Licht sets his leadership team at CNN
CNN CEO Chris Licht has set his executive team, firming up the direct reports who will help run the cable news channel’s global operations, reports The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin.
Licht’s appointments are mostly comprised of longtime CNN staffers, reflecting a desire to shift CNN’s focus toward hard news, rather than a desire to make dramatic change.
“With this strong team now in place, the real work begins,” Licht wrote in a memo to staff Wednesday afternoon. “I have no doubt that these leaders will individually and collectively tackle the challenges that lie ahead and create new opportunities for CNN in the ever-evolving media landscape. These key executives will now be developing plans for their leadership teams, and we will share those decisions in the coming months. I am tremendously bullish about the future of CNN and this team – and I’m eager to move forward and roll up our sleeves, together.”
Guardian reports cash surplus for first time in a generation
The Guardian and Observer have reported their first cash surplus in a generation and biggest revenue since 2008, reports Press Gazette’s Charlotte Tobitt.
Parent company Guardian Media Group (GMG) made revenue of £255.8m in the year to 3 April 2022, growth of 13% on the previous year. It is the highest revenue total for GMG since 2010 and the highest for the core national news business since 2008.
The publisher said the increase was primarily down to digital reader revenues, which grew by 10% to £76.1m, and advertising.
Television
Kath & Kim cast reunite to film 20th anniversary special
The foxy ladies of Fountain Lakes are back, with the cast of cult comedy Kath & Kim reuniting this week to film a special to mark the 20th anniversary of the show, reports Nine Publishing’s Karl Quinn.
Gina Riley, Jane Turner, Magda Szubanski, Glenn Robbins, and Peter Rowsthorn have dragged their best shell suits out of storage and headed to the NEP studio complex in South Melbourne to record new material for a program that will air later this year.
The team is understood to be filming all week, recording new sketch material to sit alongside a selection of best-of and rare material in the one-off special.
‘Squelching wetly’: How Stranger Things raised the bar for accessible entertainment
Netflix’s fourth season of Stranger Things has got Twitter raving – not about the plot, but about the visceral descriptiveness of its closed-captions, reports News Corp’s Amaani Siddeek.
Yep, their subtitles have made fans of all or no hearing abilities cringe and squirm, with some saying they might even be too descriptive.
But for the deaf and hard of hearing community, it’s propped up the bar higher than ever before for audio-descriptive story telling.
Guy Pearce steps back in time to reprise Neighbours character Mike
Neighbours royalty Guy Pearce says he had to reteach himself how to play his character Mike Young after returning to Ramsay St more than 30 years later, reports News Corp’s Jackie Epstein.
Sharing more details about Mike’s journey through the years, Pearce said it was the ultimate trip down memory lane reprising the role he picked up in 1986 as an 18-year-old.
“Mike moved to Perth and became a teacher there and you learn through these episodes that Mike has a child, and they have moved back to Erinsborough,’’ Pearce said.
“Who is Mike now, how do I play this guy? I had to trawl through my memory bank to understand how I might actually play him.”
Apartment Rules production “on track”
Not much has been said about plans for Apartment Rules, an apparent reboot of House Rules for Seven, reports TV Tonight.
Seven announced the series in its 2022 Upfronts, to be produced by an unnamed independent production company, given it culled a number staff in its Seven Studios division (now focussed on producing Better Homes & Gardens, Home & Away).
A Seven spokesperson told TV Tonight, “The production of Apartment Rules is on track and we’ll provide more information when we have specific details to announce.”
Boy Swallows Universe Netflix series to be shot in Brisbane
The Netflix adaptation of hit homegrown novel Boy Swallows Universe will be shot in Brisbane, in another production coup for the city, reports News Corp’s Amy Price.
The anticipated eight-part series, from a high-profile team of executive producers including actor and director Joel Edgerton, will be filmed across the city, where the best-selling Trent Dalton story is set, for five months from August.
Supported by the Queensland Government via Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was a “uniquely Brisbane production” that would inject $33 million into the Queensland economy, creating around 185 jobs for cast and crew and 2500 extras.