Company: Last News

CW chief Mark Pedowitz tried to put some context around an upcoming ownership shift of the network. It’s not a typical corporate deal, he said, because the CW is an important brand, and a well entrenched one.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThe venue was the same, but Paramount Global’s inaugural upfront presentation at Carnegie Hall took a very different approach compared to the CBS presentations of old.Jo Ann Ross, longtime CBS ad sales chief, still opened the show without pomp and circumstance, introducing an event that was designed to run an hour playing off the them of CBS’ signature newsmagazine “60 Minutes.” In reality, it ran about an hour and 20 minutes.In what has become a theme of the upfronts this year, media buyers spent much of the hour watching pre-taped pieces, sprinkled with in-person pitches from talent and executives. Rather than focusing on new series clips, it was “60 Minutes” anchors producing and hosting what were in essence branded custom content videos for their corporate parent.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorBob Iger, Disney’s former CEO and chairman, is now a part-owner of Gopuff, a company that provides quick-delivery services in 1,200 cities worldwide that counts Selena Gomez among its investors.The amount of Iger’s investment in Gopuff wasn’t disclosed. He will become an adviser to the company’s co-founders and co-CEOs Yakir Gola and Rafael Ilishayev and the rest of the executive team to “help deepen Gopuff’s consumer engagement and growth globally,” according to a statement.Gopuff, founded in 2013, says it has raised $4 billion to date — and has a $15 billion valuation.

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros Discovery, proclaimed the merged company as essentially the fifth broadcast network, and repeated his vow that the company would overcome any skepticism about its prospects.

Spring fling! Charlize Theron has a new man in her life, an insider exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeAttendees at the Disney upfront could have played a drinking game by taking a sip everytime someone referred to the company as “unrivaled.” The message to advertisers: You’ve heard from other congloms this week, but no company offers such a wide range of storytelling options than the Walt Disney Co.’s suite of offerings.After an embattled several months atop the helm, Disney CEO Bob Chapek didn’t address any of the recent arrows pointed at him and the company, instead opening the presentation by calling the Walt Disney Company “the most powerful force in the industry” and noting how he started his career in advertising.“Now, as many of you know, Disney will be celebrating our 100th anniversary later this year and that is an incredible milestone,” he said. “I can’t help but think about this moment in the context of what this company has always been, what it is today, and what it will be.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek opened Disney’s upfront in New York by telling the crowd of advertisers in attendance that the company “the most powerful force in the industry” and “the most enduring and beloved name in entertainment.”

Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Candle Media have struck again, announcing the purchase ATTN, a social media storytelling company for Gen Z and Millennials. Candle said today it will help provide scale, capital and expertise to accelerate ATTN’s growth as it continues “to create original content for Gen Z and Millennials across social media, network television and streaming services, in addition to growing their publishing, brand studio, creative strategy and agency services. That includes a TikTok Studio that supports brands and influencers.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorIn the latest turn of Elon Musk’s will-he-or-won’t-he Twitter buyout saga, the billionaire is demanding hard proof of the social network’s assertion that less than 5% of its users are fake accounts or spam bots — and he said the deal cannot “move forward” until Twitter does so.Without citing any evidence for his claim, Musk tweeted that Twitter’s base could represent “20% fake/spam accounts,” four times what the company claims, and it “could be *much* higher.” He cited Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal’s reply Monday to Musk’s assertion about the fake/spam accounts, in which Agrawal said in part that “Unfortunately, we don’t believe that this specific estimation can be performed externally, given the critical need to use both public and private information (which we can’t share).” “My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate. Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%.

Elon Musk said overnight that his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter can’t move ahead unless the company backs up statements about the number of fake accounts on the platform, which the company has put at under 5%.

EXCLUSIVE: As international delegates touch down on the Croisette for what feels like the first “real” Cannes market since the pandemic struck, Olivier Albou is getting ready to hit the ground running. The veteran exec, who heads up sales and production house Other Angle with his wife Laurence Schonberg, has four new films on his slate this year that he’s offering up to international buyers.

EXCLUSIVE: LeBron James may have lost an attorney, but gained a law firm in the end.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentJapan’s Tokyo Broadcasting System network is partnering with Naver Webtoon, South Korea’s leading digital comics platform, and Tokyo-based manga production house Shine Partners to launch a new webtoon company. Called Studio TooN and based in South Korea, the joint venture will plan and make webtoons with Japanese and Korean creators for the global market. One of TBS’s aim in launching the company, its first such venture in Korea, is to produce TV dramas, anime and other content from the webtoons.  Studio TooN will begin operations in June of this year with Shine Partners president Keita Iwamoto serving as CEO.     “When webtoon works are visualized, there is a synergy effect as the number of readers increases,” said Naver Webtoon CEO Kim Junkoo.

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy-nominated filmmakers Alex Fumero and Kareem Tabsch are partnering to form the production company Trojan Horse. The company will be based in Los Angeles and Miami.

EXCLUSIVE: Longtime Independent Film Company MD Andrew Orr has joined Comcast-owned Sky as Head Of Original Film.

TV star Lorraine Kelly ’s company was worth £3.7million last year – only dropping £65,000 in value despite the pandemic.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorHow did the simple act of counting TV viewers become so controversial? David Kenny thinks he knows.The CEO of Nielsen has been under fire for months, ever since some of his company’s biggest customers — the nation’s TV networks — began to complain about how Nielsen tabulated viewers during the coronavirus pandemic. They are still complaining.

A new A-List client? Pete Davidson is not being managed by Kris Jenner, Us Weekly can exclusively confirm.

EXCLUSIVE: Amber Ruffin and her writing/producing partner Jenny Hagel are expanding their relationship with NBCUniversal.

EXCLUSIVE: Erik Oleson, showrunner of the second season of Amazon’s Carnival Row, is launching his own production company.

If you’ve seen that viral video of Patti LuPone this week, you’re going to appreciate these new photos.