Hollywood Buzz: February & March 2025

By Natalie Lifson, Agent Trainee and Executive Assistant at Buchwald and your co-Editor-in-Chief at THA

Everything you may have missed in the trades this month...  

DEI Rollbacks

• “Hollywood Ditches DEI to Avoid Donald Trump’s Wrath” -Variety, 3/4

• DEI Is Disappearing in Hollywood. Was It Ever Really Here? -THR, 3/6

Last month, we reported DEI rollbacks and what they mean for the future of Hollywood - particularly, for entry-level entertainment professionals who will now face new barriers in breaking into the entertainment industry.

Entertainment companies have continued to roll back DEI initiatives. Some have reiterated their commitment to inclusive values while doing so, and some are fighting back. Here is how some of those companies have responded so far.

Important Updates

• Warner Bros. Shutters Three Studios -THR, 2/25

• Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max Scraps Plan to Launch Separate Sports Tier -Variety, 2/26

• YouTube Podcasts Now Pull In 1 Billion Monthly Active Viewers -Deadline, 2/26

• Hollywood Unions (including IATSE, the Directors Guild of America, the Teamsters and the Writers Guild of America) Lobby for California’s Film and TV Tax Credit Expansion -THR, 2/27

• A+E Networks has a new name: A+E Global Media. -Cynopsis, 3/6

• Netflix is the biggest spender – by far – in the streaming universe. -Cynopsis, 3/11

Industry Trends

• Pilot Season 2025 Forecast: Drought With A Chance Of Few Orders In Broadcast TV’s New Normal -Deadline, 3/4

• The number of active FAST channels in key markets including the U.S., U.K., Germany and Canada have nearly doubled since mid-2023 to more than 1,610 today. -Cynopsis, 3/13

New Initiatives

• A+E has launched an A+E Digital division. -Cynopsis, 2/21

• A group of foreign correspondents are launching Noosphere, a mobile-first platform for news content produced by independent journalists. -Cynopsis, 2/25

• NBC News Developing Subscription Video Service -THR, 2/27

• Netflix Unveils $1 Billion Mexican Investment Over the Next 4 Years -Variety, 2/20

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships

• Disney-Fubo Deal Raises Antitrust Concerns -Variety, 2/20

• Judge Declines to Block Paramount-Skydance Merger, but Accelerates Investor Suit -Variety, 3/6

Wildfires

• L.A. Wildfires: How The International Industry Responded & What Happened Next -Deadline, 2/18

• Hollywood Workers, Still Reeling From Five Years Of Economic Turmoil, Turn To Collective Action In Wake Of L.A. Wildfires -Deadline, 3/1

Interesting Articles

• James Bond and the Mad Dash for Franchise IP -THR, 2/26

• How FilmNation Became the Indie Powerhouse Behind This Year’s Top Oscar Contenders -Variety, 2/27

• Tentpoles Are Just the Beginning: Inside Disney’s Plan for Multi-Platform Advertising Dominance -THR, 3/10

• How COVID Changed TV Production Forever -Variety, 3/12

Award Winners: The Oscars, SAG Awards, American Society of Cinematographers, NAACP Image Awards, Spirit Awards, Razzie Awards

Layoffs: Lionsgate, Audacy, Disney