Hollywood Buzz: September 2025

Natalie Lifson
Sep 22
4 min read

Updated: Sep 29

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...

Big News

On September 17th, 2025, Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended indefinitely by ABC after Jimmy made controversial statements about the assassination of right wing political activist Charlie Kirk. After days of intense backlash from the public - both people on the left, and people on the right who value free speech - ABC reinstated the show.

For a timeline and breakdown of the situation, read our Op-Ed: "Jimmy Kimmel, the FCC, and the Fight for the 1st Amendment."

Industry Trends

YouTube Hits Six Consecutive Months as Top TV Distributor -THR, 8/26
Movie and TV Copyright Lawsuits Are on the Rise. Very Few Prevail In Court -THR, 8/27
“‘Stuff Is Selling’: Your Fall Guide to What Every TV Buyer Wants Now” -The Ankler, 9/2
Film Fests’ New World Order: Why Cannes and Venice Surged as Toronto and Sundance Have Struggled -Variety, 9/3
The AI Movie Factory Is Ramping Up -THR, 9/10
- Having spent the last few years in a testing phase, the AI assembly line is finally allowing machines to create new movies and alter classic ones. But as TIFF showed, many directors are pushing back.
Theaters Have Re-Invested $1.5 Billion in Past Year to Keep Audiences Engaged With Premium Large Formats, Loyalty Rewards and Better Dining Experiences -Variety, 9/16
Expanding The Book Adaptation Pipeline: How Production Companies Like Temple Hill & Alloy Entertainment Are Turning The Page To Develop New IP -Deadline, 9/26

New Initiatives & Major Changes

Netflix Sets Opening Dates for Permanent Entertainment and Shopping Venues in Philadelphia, Dallas -Variety, 8/25
Why HBO Is Rebranding Everything -THR, 9/4
Disney Entertainment TV Launches Video Podcast Slate -Variety, 9/4
NFL Tackles Linear TV With Every Game Available Online This Season For First Time Ever -Deadline, 9/5
Paramount Creates New Sports Entertainment Division -THR, 9/11
Focus Features has unveiled FocusFest, an immersive one-day festival experience on the Universal Studios lot in Los Angeles. -Variety, 9/25

Production

Hot Spots: How New York City Plans To Lure Productions Back With The State’s Sweetened Film & TV Incentives -Deadline, 9/25
Trump Again Promises “100% Tariff” On Movies Made Outside America -Deadline, 9/29
- Legislators to Trump: Consider a Federal Film and TV Tax Credit Instead -THR, 9/29

With Hollywood On Edge About AI, TV Academy Establishes Guidelines For Members -Deadline, 9/11
AI studio and streaming distribution network Fairground Entertainment and digital platform Rogue Matter, home to original comic book franchises, struck a multi-deal partnership that will translate Rogue Matter’s graphic novels and comic book properties to fully AI-based programming for streaming TV. -Cynopsis, 9/29
Eline Van der Velden, Dutch founder of AI outfit Particle 6 Productions, announced at Zurich Film Festival the launch of Xicoia, “the world’s first artificial intelligence talent studio.” -THR, 9/29

Disputes

Disney Sues Sling TV, Saying Its New Mini-Bundles Violate Carriage Deal Terms -Deadline, 8/26
Disney to Pay $10 Million for Collecting Children’s Data on YouTube -Variety, 9/2
Fox News Has Millions More Viewers Than Any Rival. Did It Play Hardball to Get There? -THR, 9/3
- Newsmax filed a lawsuit claiming that the Lachlan Murdoch-run news giant blocks competitors by coercing pay TV operators, threatening steep financial penalties if they add Newsmax.
Warner Bros. Discovery is suing AI image generator Midjourney, claiming the company steals its intellectual property. -Cynopsis, 9/5
AI Giant Anthropic to Pay $1.5 Billion to Authors in Landmark Settlement -THR, 9/5
Trump Hits New York Times With $15B Suit For Allegedly “Lying About Your Favorite President (ME!)” -Deadline, 9/16
FTC Sues Live Nation & Ticketmaster Over Resale Tactics, Deceptive Pricing -Deadline, 9/18

Mergers, Acquisitions, & Splits

Fox, CBS May Want In on Local TV Station Buying Spree -THR, 9/2
Music Booking Agencies Ink Merger Deal In Bid to Rival Major Talent Firms -THR, 9/3
- Arrival Artists and ATC Live are combining to form the newly-titled Roam, which will rep The Lumineers, Big Thief, Fontaines D.C. and many more acts as they tour.
The Warner Bros. Discovery split will be complete by April. -Deadline, 9/10
Paramount Exploring Bid For Warner Bros. Discovery -Deadline, 9/11
The Big MSNBC-NBC News Split Starts Oct. 6 -Variety, 9/17
Fox Corp. In Talks To Join TikTok Investor Group -Deadline, 9/21

Deals

Fox and YouTube TV Reach New Carriage Deal, Averting Blackout -THR, 8/28
Peacock Coming to Prime Video in Wide-Ranging Deal Between Comcast and Amazon -THR, 8/28
Paramount Sets Three-Year Distribution Deal With Legendary -Deadline, 9/4
MSNBC, Sky News Strike Deal to Bring Global Reporting to U.S. Audiences -Variety, 9/24

Unions

“My WGA Expulsion Sends a Chilling Message to Writer-Producers: -Variety, 8/28
Actors Union Equity Blasted by ‘Oldest Ally’ Spotlight After Losing ‘Cynical, Performative and Expensive’ Court Case -Variety, 9/3
Sean Astin Elected SAG-AFTRA President -THR, 9/12
Michele Mulroney Elected President of WGA West, Vowing to Safeguard Health Plan and Push Back on ‘Free Work’ -Variety, 9/23
Disney will soon be parting ways with the union nurses on its Burbank studio lot in favor of subcontracting, less than a year after negotiating a new contract with IATSE. -Deadline, 9/23

Festivals

Venice Film Festival

Paramount Changes, post-merger

CBS News will now air only live or live-to-tape interviews, a policy instituted after backlash over a “Face the Nation” interview with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. -Cynopsis, 9/8
Meet the New Boss: Inside CBS Following the Skydance-Paramount Merger -Variety, 9/11

FCC / Freedom of Speech