The Hollywood Reporter

Tech Musk in Court Investors take on the Tesla mogul p. 16 Film Sundance Is Back Behind the biggest deals in Park City this year p. 18 Alexi Hawley The creator’s spy series The Recruit gets renewed at Netflix as his ABC procedural The Rookie jumps 35 percent in same-day audience after moving to Tuesday nights. Sundar Pichai The Google CEO cuts 12,000 jobs after saying “we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today,” then faces a DOJ antitrust lawsuit over digital ads. David Eilenberg The former ITV America exec, who joined Roku last year, is promoted by president Charlie Collier to oversee content across the company’s media division. Christopher Ruddy Despite rallying conservative lawmakers in protest, the Newsmax chief sees the network dropped from DirecTV over a carriage dispute, reducing its reach. Showbiz Stocks $2.09 (+113.7%) BUZZFEED (BZFD) News that…

On Jan. 23, as Spotify staff learned of plans to lay off 6 percent of the company, or about 600 people, top podcast executives at the audio giant went into damage-control mode. Most notable among the departures was Dawn Ostroff, the chief content and advertising business officer who was hired in 2018 to build out Spotify’s podcasting ambitions and, as one top dealmaker describes it, “represented Hollywood and talent from a creative perspective” for the Sweden-based company. With Ostroff set to exit and hand over leadership of content to Alex Nörstrom, a business executive who oversaw Spotify’s freemium model, the podcast execs quickly scheduled calls with outside partners, agents and managers to reassure them of Spotify’s commitment to existing deals. Ostroff’s departure was a surprise to some observers, given that the…

In what’s beginning to be a trend for a belt-tight-ening era in Hollywood, studios and streamers — from AMC+ to Paramount+ and Disney to HBO Max — have been unloading or writing off completed TV projects rather than releasing them. Now THR has learned of two completed Netflix feature films, The Inheritance and House/Wife, that no longer will be distributed by the streamer, with filmmakers shopping them elsewhere for distribution. The Inheritance, directed by Alejandro Brugués and produced by Paul Schiff, and House/Wife, from director Danis Goulet and producers Tripp Vinson and Daniel Bekerman, are both horror films that were set to be released by Netflix, which will not be moving forward with the movies. In the summer, HBO Max disclosed that the DC feature film Batgirl and the animated movie…

Saudi Arabia and its sovereign wealth fund have quietly — and in some cases not so quietly — built a multi-billiondollar foothold in Hollywood, four years after much of the industry cut ties with the country in response to the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. This time around, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, overseen by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and other Saudi-affiliated firms appear to be betting that live entertainment, rich financial investments and sports can be the gateway to the American market. In January alone, the PIF-backed LIV Golf scored a critical U.S. broadcast TV agreement with The CW, while the government-owned Middle East broadcast giant MBC Group cut a deal with Vice Media to create Arabic-language content. Earlier, Saudi soccer team Al Nassr signed Portuguese…

DEALS Vice Media MBC Group announced a deal Jan. 25 that will see Vice create Arabic-language content. The CW The PIF-backed LIV Golf tour announced a U.S. TV deal with the Nexstar-owned broadcast network, which is set to air 14 LIV tournaments annually. PRIVATE INVESTMENTS LIV Golf The PIF has fully financed the PGA Tour competitor, luring stars like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson to their events with guaranteed paydays. Magic Leap The PIF has acquired a majority stake in the VR/AR startup. WWE (TBD) Speculation has swirled that the PIF could acquire the wrestling company or help finance a deal with another buyer. PUBLIC INVESTMENTS Live Nation The PIF owns 5.5 percent of the concert and events company, worth nearly $1 billion. Microsoft The PIF owns nearly $500 million in Microsoft shares. Alphabet The PIF owns more than $450…

Long before Elon Musk became the self-described “chief twit,” he was a prolific Twitter user. Among his 22,000-and-counting tweets, there’s one thread that has given him financial and legal headaches for years. On Aug. 7, 2018, Musk posted this message on Twitter: “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.” That tweet, and a handful of others, have already cost him $20 million in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission — which found it to be a series of materially false and misleading statements about the company that caused the stock price to jump — and that tab could increase depending on the jury verdict in the ongoing securities class action, not to mention his mounting legal fees. (Tesla had to pay an additional $20 million to investors…