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| Thanks once again for opening today's Inside Streaming brief. A little Australian film from last year called "The Royal Hotel" has popped up on Hulu and I highly recommend it. It's a very slow-burn thriller about two American backpackers who take a temp job as bartenders in a small Outback mining town, and find their relationship with the locals growing slowly more intense and unsettling over time. It really keeps you guessing, and features great lead turns from Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick. Flew totally under the radar when it was released stateside but it's worth catching up with. Enjoy today's edition! Lon
p/lon-harris | |
| 1 | | According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Netflix may amend its famed "freedom and responsibility" policy for employees. The company has long allowed staffers to make crucial decisions on their own, such as which internal documents to share or when they can take vacation time, but this language in their corporate culture memo may be about to change. More: - WSJ suggests the language in the culture doc will shift, from providing employees with "freedom" to encouraging them to "take ownership for their actions."
- The change is apparently part of an overall effort to simplify and shorten the culture memo, on behalf of new hires.
- The changes were discussed at the company's annual business review session in Los Angeles; some executives apparently expressed concerns about the modifications.
- Netflix declined to comment specifically on the report.
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| 2 | | YouTube sensation Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson will produce his first original series for Amazon Prime Video, described as "the biggest reality competition series in television history." The show, titled "Beast Games," takes inspiration from Donaldson's YouTube channel, and will feature 1,000 contestants squaring off for a $5 million prize. More: - Amazon outbid at least one other streamer for the rights to produce the series.
- According to The Hollywood Reporter, Donaldson retains complete creative control over the production, and will serve as both host and executive producer.
- Donaldson will continue working on videos for his YouTube channel while developing the series.
- $5 million is the largest cash prize in the history of both streaming and conventional TV; the previous record holder was Netflix's "Squid Game: The Challenge," which offered a $4.56 million grand prize.
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| 3 | | DAILY CALENDAR MONDAY, MARCH 18 STORMY: Documentary feature from filmmaker Sarah Gibson, profiling mother, advocate, and adult film star Stormy Daniels, who famously received payment from Donald Trump's presidential campaign to keep their relationship a secret. Erin Lee Carr, who previously collaborated with Gibson on "At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal," executive produced. [Peacock] THE ROYAL HOTEL: 2023 psychological thriller from Australian co-writer/director Kitty Green ("The Assistant"), inspired by the 2018 documentary "Hotel Coolgardie." Julia Garner and Jessica Henwick co-star as Canadian backpackers in Australia who take a temp job tending bar in a remote Outback mining town, where they have increasingly tense interactions with the locals. Hugo Weaving, Toby Wallace, and Daniel Henshall co-star. [Hulu] | | | |
| 4 | | Former CNN anchor Don Lemon released his interview with Elon Musk on Monday morning on both YouTube and X. The chat was originally planned as the launch of a collaborative series produced by Lemon for Musk's X platform, but Musk apparently called off the deal after the recording was completed. More: - During the interview, Musk describes a meeting earlier this month with former President Donald Trump, hosted at the home of a mutual friend; he said that Trump did most of the talking, and did not ask him for any donations.
- Musk also said he had not yet decided whether or not to endorse a candidate for president in 2024, though he's "made no secret" of his dislike for President Biden.
- Musk took offense at questions about his allegedly antisemitic views, and told Lemon "the only reason I'm doing this interview is because you're on the X platform and you asked for it."
- After recording the interview, Musk posted that Lemon's approach was just "CNN, but on social media," which he felt was outdated.
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| 5 | | Hulu greenlit a reality series set at a Los Angeles cannabis dispensary from executive producer Jimmy Kimmel. "High Hopes" -- a co-production with ITV America -- debuts on April 20. More: - The six episode series centers on Slava and Mishka, brothers from Belarus who operate the MMD dispensary in Hollywood, California and are attempting to launch their own cannabis brand.
- "Winnebago Man" vet Ben Steinbauer executive produces the series with Kimmel and serves as showrunner.
- ITV America also produces Netflix's "Queer Eye," Peacock's "Love Island," Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" and other reality hits.
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| 6 | | Netflix released a trailer for the scripted drama feature "Scoop." The film dramatizes a 2019 TV interview in which Prince Andrew discussed his relationship with late human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. More: - Rufus Sewell stars as Prince Andrew alongside Gillian Anderson as "Newsnight" interviewer Emily Maitlis.
- Billie Piper co-stars as Sam McAlister, the producer who set up the episode; McAlister also wrote the book, "Scoops," on which the film is based.
- In the infamous sitdown, Prince Andrew defended his friendship with Epstein, and deneid allegations that he sexually assaulted Virginia Guiffre; after it aired, he stepped back from his royal duties, and was ultimately stripped of his military titles and patronages by Queen Elizabeth II.
- Maitlis is developing a separate project about her experiences for Amazon, to star Ruth Wilson and Michael Sheen.
- "Scoop" hits Netflix on April 5.
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| 7 | | A new YouTube policy requires creators to disclose when any realistic content on their channel was produced with AI apps. The policy, announced in a blog post on Monday, is intended to prevent confusion among viewers about whether or not videos are authentic, and slow the spread of misinformation. More: - Many pundits and experts have expressed concern about the potential impact of generative AI and "deepfakes" on the upcoming US presidential election.
- Late last year, YouTube indicated that it had planned some new updates and policy changes regarding the use of AI on the platform.
- Content that is clearly animated or unrealistic does not require a disclosure, nor is the use of generative AI to assist in behind-the-scenes production or development processes.
- For most videos, the disclosure will appear in the expanded description, but for particularly sensitive categories like health or political news, they will be displayed more prominently.
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- Netflix released a trailer for the second half of director Zack Snyder's epic sci-fi adventure "Rebel Moon"; "Part 2: The Scargiver" arrives on April 19.
- The trailer for Amazon MGM Studios' rom-com "The Idea of You" -- starring Anne Hathaway and Nciholas Galitzine -- has been viewed over 125 million times across all social media platforms, making it the most watched trailer in history for a streaming original film; the movie debuted at SXSW and his Prime Video internationally on May 2.
- The animated musical comedy feature "Wish" -- starring Ariana DeBose as a young woman from an enchanted kingdom whose powerful wish comes to life -- hits Disney+ on April 3.
- Netflix announced a new slate of Nordic films and TV series, including a mystery series based author Joe Nesbø's fictional detective Harry Hole.
- A real Los Angeles billboard promoting Season 12 of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and Susie Greene's fictional caftan business, was defaced with graffiti in the same style as the billboard featured on the series.
- Mubi grabbed the global rights to the docuseries "Self-Portrait As a Coffee Pot," in which South African artist William Kentridge explores "how art is made in the digital age."
- Robert Schildhouse has been promoted to President of BritBox North America and General Manager of BritBox International; BBC Studios recently took over full control of the streamer after buying out ITV's stake.
- Visa and Mastercard have reached a groundbreaking $5 billion settlement, reshaping the landscape of financial transactions as we know it.*
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 | Writer | | Lon Harris is the writer and editor of Inside Streaming and was the very first person to ever write an Inside newsletter. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and also writes about TV and film for Fandom, Screen Junkies, Rotten Tomatoes, Gamma Ray and others. Plus he has a Game of Thrones podcast called "Casterly Talk" and competes on The Movie Trivia Schmoedown as "The Professor." | | This newsletter was edited by Lon Harris | |
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