Stuff Worth Knowing for the Week of November 28, 2022

Everyone was angry at Disney's Bob Chapek, Mike Flanagan leaves Netflix, and CNN cuts HLN to the bone.

Welcome back to Stuff Worth Knowing! Each week, I'll round up news related to tech, video games, film, television, anime, and more. At the end of each newsletter, there will be a section called On The Calendar, which will include some of those notable dates that are near-term. Oh, and I also launched my Patreon, SavePhile, where my more thoughtful musings on any topic will go.

It's been a quiet week in comparison to some of my previous newsletters.

Film, Television, and Streaming 🎞️

Disney Restructure Proposal From McKinsey Made Everyone Angry at Chapek

Last week, everyone in the entertainment industry was stunned to hear that Bob Chapek was out as CEO at Disney. His replacement is his predecessor, Robert Iger, who is returning for a two-year stint to choose a brand-new successor. It's an abrupt about face for the company, given they had renewed Chapek's contact earlier this year.

This week offered hints as to why Disney changed its mind. A story in the Wall Street Journal pointed to a planned company restructure floated by McKinsey & Company. The latter is a global consulting firm that's worked with terrible entities like Enron, Purdue Pharma, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (If you want to know more, here's a Slate article that offers further details.)

The Disney restructure was meant to lower costs, moving control over production marketing away from creative executives and consolidating power in Chapek and Kareem Daniel, a Chapek lieutenant and the chairman of Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution. Daniel already had the broad power to determine where certain shows and films were released, so losing this as well angered many of the creative folks within Disney. As the WSJ noted, "Some executives told colleagues they felt that the changes would strip them of nearly all of their power."

Why It's Worth Knowing: I've said this before elsewhere, but Disney is a content company. (I know folks hate that word, but no one has the time to type out "movies, television shows, books, merchandise, and etc." each time.) Disney+, Hulu, ABC, Freeform, and the Parks all need those big, bright Disney properties to bring folks in and keep them spending. That means not only propping up the classics, but making new things to entertain people. No one is spending $500+ a night to visit Disneyworld and wait in line for hours to enjoy a ride not tied to their favorite Disney property. 

Chapek was a Parks guy and he was largely hired to keep costs under control. Unfortunately, doing that without a clear plan and pissing off the people making all those TV shows and movies is a poor way to run a company. (See, Warner Bros. Discovery.) In a memo to employees, Iger acknowledged that Disney creatives probably needed to tighten the belt, but without upsetting the creative folks in the company. "It is my intention to restructure things in a way that honors and respects creativity as the heart and soul of who we are," he said in a memo.

Jeff Blackburn Retires As Head of Amazon's Entertainment Group

It looks like Jeff Blackburn is retiring… again. Blackburn is the head of Amazon's Global Entertainment Group, covering Prime Video, Audible, Twitch, Amazon Studios, Amazon Games, and Amazon Music. He was at Amazon for over two decades, initially announcing his departure in February 2021 only to return in May 2021 as the senior vice president of the Global Entertainment Group. Now he's leaving again in 2023.

"I’ve decided to spend 2023 differently, giving more time to family, and feel strongly this is the right decision for me," said Blackburn in his departure message.

In his absence, senior vice president Mike Hopkins will continue to handle Prime Video, Amazon Studios, and MGM, and Amazon Music vice president Steve Boom will add Audible, Twitch, and Amazon Games to his plate. Both will report directly to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. 

Why It's Worth Knowing: Blackburn was the guy tasked with establishing these various divisions at Amazon, expanding the company beyond online retail. As such, the current entertainment side of Amazon was essentially cast in his image. Now Amazon has to chart its future without the former lead architect. It'll probably be fine. Case in point…

Mike Flanagan Signs With Amazon Studios

Since 2018's The Haunting of Hill House, director Mike Flanagan has risen as Netflix' horror maestro. It seems that now he's proven his horror bonafides, he's taking his talents to the competition. According to Deadline, Flanagan and his producer Trevor Macy have signed a multi-year deal with Amazon Studios. The pair's Intrepid Pictures studio will produce projects for Prime Video.

“Amazon is a studio that we have long admired,” said Flanagan and Macy. “Their commitment to engaging in groundbreaking series and content aligns with the ethos of what we have built at Intrepid. We are looking forward to working with the entire Amazon team as we bring our brand of genre productions to the service and audiences around the globe.”

Why It's Worth Knowing: Netflix has been throwing a lot of money to build up a stable of key Netflix brands. To a certain degree, Flanagan was one of those brands. And now he's gone over to Amazon. 

It might not be an entire loss though, as it looks like director Guillermo Del Toro is more than willing to work with Netflix. His stop-motion animated Pinocchio film is coming to the streaming service on December 9, and his anthology series Cabinet of Curiosities debuted with 1.1 billion viewing minutes in its first week. If they can lock him into a deal, perhaps it can be a win for both Netflix and del Toro.

AMC Networks Joins The Season of Layoffs

The season of layoffs continues to harrow the biggest tech and entertainment companies. AMC Networks announced this week that it will eventually lay off a large chunk of the current workforce. According to the Hollywood Reporter, chairman James Dolan sent a memo to staff warning about the upcoming cuts. AMC Networks includes AMC, AMC+, IFC, Shudder, and Sundance TV.

“It was our belief that cord cutting losses would be offset by gains in streaming. This has not been the case. We are primarily a content company and the mechanisms for the monetization of content are in disarray," said Dolan. "We have directed the executive leadership of AMC Networks to undergo significant cutbacks in operations. These will include a large-scale layoff as well as cuts to every operating area of AMC Networks."

The news comes after the departure of CEO Christina Spade, who stepped down after only three months in the role. Spade replaced Matt Blank, who held the interim role from September 2021. Not the best look for a business. According to CNN, the layoffs will affect around 20% of the company. 

CNN Undergoes Layoffs, Cuts HLN To The Bone

As a wonderful transition from our last terrible story, CNN itself is also undergoing layoffs. The news company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros Discovery, so it's a part of the CEO David Zaslav's heavy cost-cutting. The cuts are reportedly a single-digit percentage of CNN's 4,400-strong workforce, with notable layoffs including HLN anchor Robin Meade and reporter Chris Cillizza. 

HLN, once known as CNN Headline News, is ceasing all live programming. As HLN, the channel also ran true crime programming, which apparently is sticking around under the control of chairman and chief content officer Kathleen Finch. Essentially, it'll be a shambling corpse of a news channel. Sad.

Tech ⌨️

Elon's Twitter Speedruns The Reasoning Behind Its Original Policies

The week kicked off with Twitter owner Elon Musk claiming that Apple was threatening to remove the social media service from the App Store. Musk also expressed surprise at Apple's secret tax: the 30% cut it takes of all revenue on the platform. Of course, the potential reasons behind Apple delisting Twitter aren't hard to glean: in a New York Times op-ed, former head of trust and safety Yoel Roth explained that Musk's approach to moderation could cause Apple and Google to remove support for the app.

"Failure to adhere to Apple’s and Google’s guidelines would be catastrophic, risking Twitter’s expulsion from their app stores and making it more difficult for billions of potential users to get Twitter’s services. This gives Apple and Google enormous power to shape the decisions Twitter makes," wrote Roth. 

Musk touted "free speech" and vowed to "go to war" with Apple. Two days later, he tweeted about a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook, stating the latter have never considered removing Twitter from the App Store. War averted, I guess.

Speaking of moderation, that was the focus of much of this week's Twitter news. The New York Times reported on data showing that hate speech was increasing under Musk's ownership. This news came just two days after Twitter decided to stop enforcing its COVID misinformation policies. Combined with Musk's general amnesty plan to bring back all of the banned Twitter accounts, and we have a platform ripe for misinformation and hate. 

Free speech was a key focus this week thanks to Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West. Ye was suspended previously for a series of antisemitic tweets back in October, when the artist also lost his brand deals with Adidas and Balenciaga. He went on shows from right-wing figures like Tim Pool and Alex Jones this week, going absolutely unhinged with his antisemitism. In response to the online backlash, Ye tweeted an image combining a swastika and the Star of David, and then an image of Musk. He was suspended from Twitter a few hours later.

According to Musk, the suspension happened because Ye broke the service's rules against "incitement to violence." The problem is it's hard to determine which part was inciting violence that doesn't also apply to a number of other figures still on Twitter. Musk has portrayed himself as a free speech absolutist, but when push comes to shove, he seems to realize that every platform needs moderation.  

Musk capped off the week with a tease of a hot story about Twitter's handling of the Hunter Biden story. That tease has its payoff in a lengthy tweet thread from Matt Taibbi, which details Twitter's moderation of specific parts of the story. Musk seemed to want to tie these decisions to governmental involvement, but first, it would've been Trump's government and second, even Taibbi notes there's no governmental interference. The smoking gun, showing tweets removed at the request of Biden's campaign, seem to be links to Hunter Biden nude photos, which is a clear violation of Twitter policies regardless. 

All of this came right before another story from the New York Times, stating that Twitter's ad revenue for the week was 80% below internal expectations, despite the ongoing World Cup. In response, Twitter has been offering additional incentives to any who will advertise on the platform. Basically, Musk and the service are scrambling to make money on Twitter, while also trying to navigate the business impact of Musk's own feelings on moderation.

Video Games 🎮

Gran Turismo Team is "Considering" a PC Port

Sony has found success in PC ports of its best-selling PlayStation 4 titles. Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Spider-Man Remastered, and Days Gone all showed there was more revenue to be found in reselling old exclusives on a new platform. Some titles haven't made the jump yet, including Ghost of Tsushima and Gran Turismo. It seems like the latter may make the jump someday though.

In an interview with GTPlanet, Polyphony Digital boss Kazunori Yamauchi said that his team is considering a PC port. 

“Gran Turismo is a very finely tuned title,” said Yamauchi. “There are not many platforms which could run the game in 4K/60p natively, so one way we make that possible is to narrow down the platform. It’s not a very easy subject, but of course, we are looking into it and considering it.”

Why It's Worth Knowing: The state of the gaming industry continues to shift and Sony embracing PC is a part of that shift. Under the leadership of president and CEO Jim Ryan, Sony has found a way to profit on PC after giving its first-party games lengthy exclusive periods on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 first. It's akin to the theatrical-to-home release window of Hollywood, just in the gaming space. It's also the near opposite of Microsoft, who is releasing its games on Xbox Series, PC, and Game Pass; think of it as the Netflix to Sony's Hollywood.  

On My Mind 🧠

This section is where I can highlight statements or moments that aren't entirely newsworthy, but still interesting. 

Florida Decides To Give Disney Back Its Private Government: During the "Don't Say Gay" controversy, now-former Disney CEO Bob Chapek decided to do nothing, thus drawing the ire of the LGBTQ community and conservatives in Florida. State governor Ron DeSantis led the charge, with the Florida legislature dissolving Disney's special district, the Reedy Creek Improvement District. That was bad for Disney, but also bad for nearby cities. With Iger coming back and DeSantis having clenched another term, no one wants to keep this fight up:

"It seems like Disney and the legislature have motivation to make a deal. Nobody wants a train wreck," a source told The Financial Times.

Tony Gilroy Has Things To Say About Andor: Andor, the Star Wars show that no one really wanted, has ended up being one of the best by just telling a damn good story. Most of that comes down to showrunner Tony Gilroy, who is an old school director and screenwriter. And as he told Variety, the fun of working on the Star Wars project is that the property isn't tied to one specific history.

"So revolution, oppression, slavery, imperialism, colonialism — they go back 3,000 years. And a show like this, the great thing is you don’t have to be contemporary. You can drop the needle from any place. You want to do the Haitian revolution for a minute? You want to do the Russian revolution for a minute? I’m cherry picking everything that I know about all those topics, and if anything lands contemporaneously, it’s just like the mirror. It’s not a sneaky answer, either. I’m not trying to make a commentary on contemporary politics. It’s funny watching — because I have seen some of the stuff — people try to twist themselves to get on either side of the conversation. To me, that’s why this turned out to be such a great place for me to be right now, because I can talk about anything and not get in trouble."

Netflix CEO Reed Hasting Is Bad At PR: Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix came out of the gate with two terrible quotes this week, both from the New York Times DealBook conference. The first involves Netflix' ongoing support of comedian Dave Chappelle, despite his ongoing transphobic jokes:

“Our brand is trying to be the most exciting entertainment brand in the world and Chappelle is dead-center for us. He is the best, or one of the best and that special was one of the most entertaining and watched specials we’ve ever had. We would do it again and again.”

The second was about new Twitter owner Elon Musk, with Hastings calling him the "bravest, most creative person on the planet."

"His style is different. I’m trying to be, like, a steady, respectable leader up here and he’s just out there."

Yes. Yes, it is. Unsure if that's a good thing though.