Strictly Business

Blair Breard, a longtime New York City-based producer, details the steps that a coalition of producers are taking to prepare for the resumption of production in New York. Breard, known for her work on auteur-driven comedy series including “Louie,” “Baskets,” “Better Things” and “One Mississippi,” discusses the coalition of New York-area production veterans who came together to develop COVID-19 safety guidelines in order to make sure the industry is shovel-ready to return to work once the greenlight comes from state and local health officials. “We’re problem solvers,” she says. “That’s what we do.”

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With the streaming wars in full swing, Starz finds itself in a crowded market alongside bigger ventures from HBO Max to Netflix. But as Starz CEO Jeff Hirsch explains, his company is content to be a second or third option behind other larger players as the streaming space evolves toward more bundled offerings.

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Bob Greenblatt, chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct to Consumer, gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creative and technical development of the HBO Max streaming service, which debuts May 27. He details the reasoning and rationale behind the service’s curation focus, the depth of its content library and how its user interface was designed to stand out from the rest of the streaming pack. Greenblatt also weighs in on the hard decision to delay the planned “Friends” reunion special that was to have launched the service because of the coronavirus lockdown.

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Tomorrow Studios leaders Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements discuss their efforts to blaze their own path through the global content landscape with backing from ITV Studios. The pair detail the circuitous journey that the new TNT/Netflix drama thriller "Snowpiercer" took the screen and how they got Netflix to agree to break its binge rule for the international release of the series. Adelstein, who was a partner in the early years of the Endeavor talent agency, and Clements, who had a long tenure at Brillstein-Grey Television, weigh on chasing hot IP prospects around the world, what it takes to bring a series to fruition as well as the state of play in the creative community in general and the talent agency business in particular.

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Fresh off a second season renewal for her NBC late-night show, Singh candidly discusses the growing pains of her first season in a new medium while somehow managing to keep her Internet presence going. It wasn't easy but she says she's slowly figuring it all out. 

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Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount Television Studios, discusses the “triage” process of adjusting the division’s operations to the realities of the coronavirus lockdown. The industry veteran who was part of the team at FX Networks and spent 16 years as an agent at ICM reflects on how dealmaking has changed in TV and why studios need to think about a portfolio approach to managing content rosters.

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Britbox super-serves super fans of British TV series in the U.S., UK and Australia via a streaming service that has more than 1 million subscribers. CEO Soumya Sriraman shares her strategy for standing out in the cluttered streaming marketplace and the pandemic's role in changing that marketplace. 

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Three top entertainment industry bankers go deep on the details of the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program loans. Martha Henderson, Stephanie Dalton and Lori Badgett of City National Bank describe two weeks of round-the-clock loan processing on behalf of clients in the pandemic crisis loan program designed to help companies with 500 employees or less keep workers on the payroll for at least two months. The trio describe the footrace to secure as much money for clients before the $349 billion fund ran dry, and they discuss the prospects for Congress approving additional funding for SBA relief programs.

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Rob Mills, ABC's head of alternative series, specials and late-night programming, explains why the network embraced "the show must go on" mantra to salvage "American Idol's" live performance episodes amid the coronavirus shutdown. Mills also discusses the return of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" with Jimmy Kimmel, his desire to get "The Bachelor" back in production as soon as possible and why the economics of game shows make them so attractive to networks.

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The media business is starting to absorb "the new normal" of life amid the coronavirus crisis, as reflected by a panel discussion held Monday in the Variety screening room webinar featuring executives from WarnerMedia, Spotify, NBCUniversal and PwC, who shared their outlook for the industry.

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