10:14 A.M.
FRIDAY, MARCH 20
Universal Studios
HollywoodTHE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 9 MARCH 26, 2020
Photographed by Austin HargraveThe Re ort
Behind the Headlines
according to Verizon. Internet
demand is already so high in
Europe that government officials
there have asked Netflix, Amazon,
Apple and Disney to reduce the
video quality of their streams to
lessen the burden on the conti-
nent’s networks. “COVID-19 will
expand the gaps between those
lagging and leading in the transi-
tion to digital distributions and
business models,” says venture
capitalist Matthew Ball, former
head of strategy at Amazon
Studios. “OTT video services will
surge, while pay TV loses its most
valuable content — sports — and
sees an accelerated decline in sub-
scriptions and ad revenue. Parks
and movie theaters are ground to
a halt, while gaming companies
hit new highs in usage.”
The virus disaster, which
has shut down production at
virtually every entertainment
company, also has exposed weak-
nesses, especially in those thatLong before a public health
crisis closed exhibitors’ doors,
the audience’s retreat from the
theater to home video had driven
both anxiety and opportunity at
entertainment companies. But
COVID-19 represents a watershed
moment in the business, one that
is accelerating current trends in
media consumption and forc-
ing Hollywood to embrace its
digital future.
Desperation has driven studiosWith an unprecedented shuttering of the industry, major studios break the glass to deliver films on demand
while some executives and artists take up a DIY ethos amid the downturn: ‘You have to adapt’ BY REBECCA KEEGAN
to shrink the once sacrosanct
90-day theatrical window, a move
some have been contemplat-
ing for more than a decade. At
the same time, new streaming
video services are drawing heavy
investment (see page 48), and
though no company wants to be
perceived as profiting from the
disaster, streaming usage will
be up 60 percent overall during
the crisis, according to Nielsen.
Gaming will spike 75 percent,So Now What, Hollywood?
There May Not Be a Return to ‘Normal’
H
uw Samuel had planned to
take his girlfriend to see
Universal’s The Invisible
Man in a theater near his home
south of London. Then the coro-
navirus crisis changed his plans,
as it has for people around the
globe in ways both dramatic and
mundane. Like those in America,
U.K. cinema chains were forced
to close in mid-March, so Samuel,
29, did the next best thing for a
date night — he brewed a pot of
tea, turned off the lights in his
apartment and rented Invisible
Man on Amazon Prime for £16,
or about $18. “I thought it was a
pretty reasonable price — about
what we would have paid for
tickets,” says Samuel, an actor
and director whose work on a
commercial and a feature have
been delayed by the pandemic. “It
was only corona that put me off
going to the cinema ... but this has
opened my eyes to more stream-
ing possibilities.”This issue is the first in THR’s 90-year history to be produced
entirely remotely. Our lives and our industry have been
upended by the coronavirus outbreak, and we know it’s going
to get more challenging before it gets better. During this crisis,
THR will continue to cover the developments and impact of
the pandemic on all our platforms: digital, audio, video and
print magazines like this one. Subscribers can switch delivery
to a home address while you’re working remotely by going to
THR.com/services and clicking on the “change of address”
link. Every subscription includes access to a digital version of
the magazine, too, so keep an eye on your inbox to access the
current issue. You also can receive breaking news, the daily
“Today in Entertainment” newsletter and more from THR.com
delivered to your inbox by going to THR.com/newsletters and
signing up. THR looks forward to servicing this unique and
resilient community at a time when it needs it most.A Note to Readers More Inside
- TV audiences
spike amid stay-at-
home orders p. 14 - Filmmakers
scramble to sell
projects p. 16 - Media giants
grapple with crushing
debt burdens p. 18
10rep_opener-5_L [P]{Print}_53732644.indd 9 3/25/20 4:25 PM