Hacked Sony E-mails

Nicky80 wrote:

Donnamarie wrote:CNN is reporting that The Interview will be available starting today via YouTube, Google Play, the Microsoft Xbox video game console and a special website.

The movie will cost $5.99 to rent and $14.99 to buy.  It's available at 1:00pm.

I also heard in the Radio that only around 200 movie theatres in the US were showing this film. Wonder why not all theatres?

Some theatres refused to show the movie.
It was a decision of the theatres, nothing to do with the studio.

Doug Ross only the independent theaters were showing it not the chains.

Pigpen I moved your article to the other Sony thread

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LornaDoone wrote:They went with the smaller independent and for the most part non-multiplex theaters.

Probably to avoid issues with other studios fearing for violence whilst their films were being shown during the run for this film.

One positive is that the smaller theaters often don't get new films until after they first run in larger movie theaters.  This will be good business for those theaters and will probably help their bottom line.

that's cool. At least true winners here

Donnamarie wrote:Doug Ross only the independent theaters were showing it not the chains.

Yes, I know.
The chains were afraid of the threats by North Korea (and of the problems they would have with insurance), so they decided not to to show the movie.
The independent theaters decided, instead, to support the movie.

Oops Doug Ross I think I meant to respond to Nicky. Sorry. LorneDoone made a good point.. This was good business for the smaller theaters and definitely increased their revenues. I think I heard on the news today that the film made about about a million dollars since it has been released. I don't know if that include online viewing too.

Don't worry, Donnamarie.

Well, Amy Pascal is out as co-chair at Sony...

as no more?

As of May, she won't be studio head anymore. But she got a sweet exit deal, which includes a 4-year (I think) development and production deal for her production company, which is housed on the Sony lot.

So, probably a buttload of money and stock, financing for projects, a nice office with the overhead absorbed by Sony, and guaranteed distribution for any projects she gets off the ground. That's a great package for somebody getting an executive position, forget losing one. But that's big business.

The Exit deal sounds great but why? Because of the emails she wrote and some in Hollywood are stilll upset and wanted that or is it just an Image Change for sony now?

Well, I'm certainly in no position to know the "why" of it. But there are people who have been trying to oust her for years, well before any of this recent stuff. More producers and directors than you'd like to think don't like answering to a woman. Some people think that the relationships that she has cultivated over the years have gone stale, and they need someone who can connect with the 'new blood.' The so-called flops (which actually made money, when all was said and done) from a couple of years ago didn't help. And now she's the figurehead for industry folks who think they can't trust Sony.

Of course, there's always the possibility that she just wanted the fuck out of there, and this was an opportune time to leave and take a chunky-ass deal with her. She gets to go out with some dignity, can let others say in her stead that she's the scapegoat, and in the meantime she starts making her own movies with people she actually likes.

So what  about the guy she wrote those mails to, wasn't  he Sony as well? Is he getting sacked too?

If you're referring to Lynton, the co-chair at Sony, nope. He still has his job. So far. But I'm betting he keeps it, for what will be cited as "corporate stability" or some other buzzword-laden bullshit.

Scott Rudin, the asshole who insulted everybody, is a producer who has a deal with Sony, but he's not an executive.

And the guy who called Kevin Hart a "w h o r e" is still there, too.

So the woman is the scapegoat?

This is an interesting take.  Seems Amy was headed toward the chopping block before the email hack, and that just accelerated the process.  I have to be honest, in those emails she didn't come across to me as especially skilled or even competent at her job.

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SONY HACK WASN"T THE ONLY THING TO HURT PASCAL
One of the most contentious chapters in movie-studio history came to an end today as embattled Sony Pictures head Amy Pascal stepped down, transitioning to a new role as a producer at the studio. Pascal had weathered brutally negative press in recent months as the massive Sony hack revealed a corporate culture in crisis: Each day last December seemed to bring a new damaging email exchange to the fore, whether it involved Pascal sparring with superproducer Scott Rudin about Angelina Jolie, blithely speculating about the president's taste in black films, or dithering about the future of the company's fading Spider-Man franchise. Still, there's more to Pascal's stepping down than just the leak.
Simply put, Sony had been in a bad place for a while, and this latest, greatest incident was the final punctuation mark. 


The shit really started hitting the fan for Pascal back in 2013, when the studio suffered through a summer season distinguished by twin bombs After Earth and White House Down. For everyone else, 2013 was a record-breaking year where three blockbusters grossed over $400 million domestically and nearly every studio had multiple franchise-spawning hits that passed the $200 million mark; meanwhile, Sony's biggest success was American Hustle, which made just $150 million — a terrific total for that particular film, but not exactly the sort of thing you want at the top of your earnings report. (The next two highest-grossing Sony movies that year were Grown-Ups 2and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, both of which failed to make as much money as their predecessors.)


Sony's dramatic underperformance that year prompted billionaire Daniel Loeb — who has used his Third Point hedge fund to become a major investor at the studio — to repeatedly take Pascal and her co-chief Michael Lynton to task in the press, blasting the studio heads for their inability to produce new blockbuster franchises in a moviemaking climate that is now dominated by them. And while Sony ally George Clooney hit back at Loeb, calling him a "market manipulator" who would scare the studio into only producing tentpole properties, the investor did have a point: Sony's franchise-making heyday had long passed, and the studio was still yoked to movie stars and properties whose returns had been continuously dwindling, like Will Smith, Adam Sandler, Men in Black, and Spider-Man.


The sputtering of the Spider-Man franchise was a particular problem for Pascal, who couldn't seem to settle on a strong direction for the character. Sony recast the superhero for a 2012 reboot that failed to outgross Sam Raimi's three previous Spider-Man films, while last year's critically derided sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was the franchise's lowest performer yet. That downward trajectory put Pascal into panic mode, prompting the studio to delay The Amazing Spider-Man 3 even as plans continued to expand Spider-Man's shrinking universe with spinoffs like the villain-centered Sinister Six. Even a potential deal that would loan Spider-Man out to the hugely successful Marvel Studios failed to come to fruition, as leaked emails revealed Pascal's continued indecision on all things Spidey.


Sony did have one bright spot last year — the 21 Jump Street franchise boomed with its second installment, which nearly outgrossed the studio's own The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — but Pascal remained on thin ice into the winter, when headlines were dominated by the studio's disastrous attempt to release The Interview and the continued damaging revelations from the email leak. Those would be difficult blows for any studio head to recover from, but they proved impossible to surmount for Pascal, who came into that imbroglio already hobbled. The primary tasks for her successor, then, will be twofold: He or she will have to continue restoring Sony's post-hack reputation while inevitably capitulating to the demand for bigger blockbusters that Pascal wasn't able to meet. At least the slate they'll inherit contains two bright spots: This November, Sony has the James Bond sequel Spectre on tap (which follows up 2012's Skyfall, the studio's biggest worldwide performer ever); and Paul Feig's highly anticipated Ghostbusters reboot will land July 22, 2016, a release date Pascal picked as one of her last orders of business.

Well, this is pretty much what I was saying. And I'm comfortably sure that if we saw the e-mails of some of the execs at other studios, Amy P would come off looking like a socially adept genius.

I'm sure much of what was in those emails is par for the course at every studio, particularly the casual racism and misogyny.  She just didn't come across to me as a very strong or decisive leader, which I would think is a necessary skill when managing a billion dollar company.

What about her co-CEO?

Nothing much has happened with him either and he was part of the racism tinged emails.

Yet no announcement of his ass being canned.

Figures.

She's probably the scapegoat to appease the stockholders and the industry.  Someone had to fall on the sword.

I don't see her departure as gender-based.  She had a sub-par track record before the hack, and she came out of that mess looking like a wishy-washy appeaser who can't settle internal disputes and thinks race-based humor is appropriate for workplace communications. Who besides our loyal-to-a-fault George would want to work for her at this point? I think any male CEO in the same situation would have been asked to leave.  And while her co-CEO is a man, he was not nearly as central in the leaked information, at least that which I saw.  He may be just as big of an idiot, but perhaps is smart enough to keep it to in-person conversations and phone calls.  It's too bad to see one of the only female studio heads leave, but maybe it's deserved based solely on the fact that Sony is the only studio to have been hacked.  All the other CEOs, male and female, have managed to keep their companies secure.

Missa, every one of your points has validity. But here's where I disagree.

Pascal was co-chair, and she was the point person for talent relationships and the public face of the company -- besides, of course, the high-level logistics of running an international corporation. Lynton, the male co-chair, is just as powerful in the industry, only not as well-known. But, as Pascal's behind-the-scenes counterpoint, he was the paint-by-numbers guy to her big picture focus. So, while I don't think any company could have warded off that hack at that time (systems have most certainly been upgraded) and "kept their companies secure," of the two of them (Pascal and Lynton), that domain was more in Lynton's wheelhouse than Pascal's.

It would have been interesting to see how it would have been handled if both positions had been held by men. Lynton did as much gossiping and second-guessing as Pascal, but it's so much easier to permanently paint a woman with those failures than a man (IMO).

Someone in the know will write a book about this some day and all the dirt will come out.

So who is going to play George in the film based on the book?

Vulture.com wrote:And while Sony ally George Clooney hit back at Loeb, calling him a "market manipulator" who would scare the studio into only producing tentpole properties, the investor did have a point: Sony's franchise-making heyday had long passed, and the studio was still yoked to movie stars and properties whose returns had been continuously dwindling

Until George can provide product to make big earnings, he should not talk talk so much.  Even if he ingratiates himself with ppl at the top, as we well see they topple down.  So all for nothing, just talk talk again. George need to be careful ppl stop listening. I know hard to look into future, and see not to say wrong thing. (Amy seems like woman who stab/talk about everyone behind back.  George has no idea what she say about him, but we see she has loose lips and will say much to look clever).

.

There's a really good and insightful article that was on the front page of the NY Times yesterday.  I will give the link.  It's kind of long so I won't post the whole article but it answers some questions.  Sounds like it was a good move for Pascal which was in the works for months.  Pascal Lands in Sony's Outbox

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Amy Pascal Lands in Sony’s Outbox

LOS ANGELES — Amy Pascal, an old-style studio chief who was undercut by new Hollywood economics and bruised by the airing of private emails in a devastating cyberattack, said on Thursday that she would resign her post as the top film executive at Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Ms. Pascal had been in contract renewal talks for months, well before hackers in December made available private correspondence in which she made denigrating remarks about President Obama’s presumed preference for black-themed movies.
She profusely apologized, and top studio executives stood behind her in the aftermath. But the pressures of the hacking crisis, coupled with structural changes at the studio, made alternatives to renewing her contract more attractive.
She will leave her positions as co-chairwoman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and chairwoman of Sony’s motion picture group in May, the studio said, and accept a four-year production deal that will involve her making some of Sony’s biggest planned films.
For the moment, her resignation consolidates power over Sony’s film operation under Michael Lynton, chief executive of Sony Entertainment. He is expected to decide in the next few months whether any successor will precisely match Ms. Pascal’s role, or will function differently at a studio that has been cutting costs and shifting focus toward both television and global crowd pleasers driven by special effects.
She was neither pushed to leave nor begged to stay, and Ms. Pascal’s decision to move on crystallized over the last two weeks, said people briefed on the matter, as Sony offered the producing deal as an option. She also came to a realization, perhaps long overdue, that her romantic notion of the movie industry — built around stars and stories — no longer fit with new realities.
Ms. Pascal also went through a draining month of turmoil within Sony as studio leaders struggled to cope with a hacking that crippled the company’s computers and exposed personal data about its employees. Known to be a fiery counterpart to the more reserved Mr. Lynton, Ms. Pascal was particularly distressed by the assault, exhibiting both anger and tearful regret before Sony employees.

Often identified as the film industry’s top female executive, Ms. Pascal is the only senior Sony manager to leave her position since the hacking attack. Though she received a lucrative and prestigious next job, her departure may invite further scrutiny of an industry often criticized for a dearth of women in leading positions.
Ms. Pascal, 56, has been with Sony continuously since 1996, when she became president of its Columbia Pictures unit after serving as production president of Turner Pictures. Before joining Turner, she had worked at Sony since 1988.
“I have spent almost my entire professional life at Sony Pictures, and I am energized to be starting this new chapter based at the company I call home,” she said in a statement. Mr. Lynton and Ms. Pascal declined to elaborate on the announcement.
 
Stephen G. Ujlaki, dean of the film school at Loyola Marymount University, noted that Ms. Pascal had proved herself a nimble survivor over the years. “She did a great pivot early on,” he said, adding that Ms. Pascal had once focused on women’s films but turned sharply toward popular hits like the “Spider-Man” series as she chased bigger audiences.
While some details are unclear, the broad terms of her new deal are breathtaking. Several people briefed on Ms. Pascal’s exit said it involved a four-year guarantee of $30 million to $40 million. Her package additionally includes a percentage of profits on movies she produces and millions of dollars for annual office costs and discretionary acquisition of scripts.
In a drive to enhance profitability, Mr. Lynton has been cutting staff and shuffling executives, squeezing Ms. Pascal, who for years had governed Sony’s film unit without serious challenge. He recently promoted Doug Belgrad to the presidency of Sony’s film operation — in effect giving Mr. Lynton a lieutenant with film expertise, should he choose to supervise filmmaking without Ms. Pascal.
Ms. Pascal joined Mr. Lynton in mentoring executives who may now stand in line for her duties, including the former DreamWorks executive Michael De Luca; Thomas E. Rothman, the former chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment who is now in charge of Sony’s TriStar division; and the former Warner studio chief Jeff Robinov, who came to Sony as a producer with substantial outside funding.
At the same time, she was pressed by strategic changes that came with the retirement of a strong supporter, Howard Stringer, as the chief executive of Sony Corporation. With Mr. Stringer’s exit, the studio tightened costs and looked to focus even more heavily on the franchise and fantasy films that have sustained competitors like Warner and Disney.
Then in November came the devastating hacking attack that over the course of several weeks made public huge amounts of data and information about Sony and its employees, including personal emails.
Of those, Ms. Pascal’s were the most embarrassing, including a disparaging back-and-forth with the producer Scott Rudin about Angelina Jolie and a Steve Jobs biopic, and another exchange with Mr. Rudin about Mr. Obama’s supposed movie preferences.
Both exchanges became fodder for gossip sites, trade publications and mainstream news organizations, and for a time made Ms. Pascal the public face of a company dealing with a humiliating crisis.
Eventually, North Korea was identified by the United States government as having precipitated the attack, in an attempt to stop the release of Sony’s provocative comedy “The Interview,” which lampooned the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un. Through it all, Ms. Pascal pushed for the movie to be released.
In fact, “The Interview,” which featured one of her favorite stars, Seth Rogen, was of a piece with her penchant for ambitious and inventive movies that traded on relationships with stars and filmmakers like Will Smith, Adam McKay and Adam Sandler. When those stars and moviemakers were hot, so was Ms. Pascal.

In 2006, Sony topped the domestic box office, with hits like Mr. Sandler’s “Click.” In 2012, Sony was on top again, with matching blockbusters from its two principal film franchises: “The Amazing Spider-Man,” and “Skyfall,” from a James Bond series that it shared with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
But Sony faltered when Ms. Pascal’s favorites slipped. In 2013, the studio ranked fourth at the domestic box office, and suffered a particular embarrassment as Mr. Smith, the most reliable star in its stable, took in just $60.5 million in domestic ticket sales with “After Earth,” an expensive science-fiction thriller.
Last year was again wobbly, thanks to the relatively soft performance of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” which underperformed its predecessors.
For more than a year, talk in Hollywood buzzed with speculation about the fate of Ms. Pascal, whose output has included Oscar contenders like “The Social Network” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” and who is popular with writers, directors, stars and their agents.
But she has been under pressure to spend less, make fewer films and deliver more consistently at the box office.
The talk reached fever pitch in 2013, when the investor Daniel S. Loeb took an investment stake in the Sony Corporation, and began pressing, among other positions, for an overhaul of its film operation.

While Mr. Loeb eventually backed off, Mr. Lynton joined Ms. Pascal in a retooling that eventually saw the departure of executives including the studio’s vice chairman Jeff Blake, who had overseen the marketing and distribution of films.

Alisonfan wrote:

Vulture.com wrote:And while Sony ally George Clooney hit back at Loeb, calling him a "market manipulator" who would scare the studio into only producing tentpole properties, the investor did have a point: Sony's franchise-making heyday had long passed, and the studio was still yoked to movie stars and properties whose returns had been continuously dwindling

Until George can provide product to make big earnings, he should not talk talk so much.  Even if he ingratiates himself with ppl at the top, as we well see they topple down.  So all for nothing, just talk talk again. George need to be careful ppl stop listening. I know hard to look into future, and see not to say wrong thing. (Amy seems like woman who stab/talk about everyone behind back.  George has no idea what she say about him, but we see she has loose lips and will say much to look clever).

.

You apparently don't have any idea how much prestige pictures, award winners, and iconic talent mean to financiers and studios. It's a large part of what enables deals to be made for the tentpoles and bigger moneymakers. We should also remember that George's movies -- the ones he has been in control of -- have never lost anyone any money. Not one dime. And all of them continue to contribute to the revenue stream of financial backers and studios year after year in second-market sales and distribution. That can't be discounted. So George can talk all he wants, IMO. I'd listen to a consistent player over a hit-or-miss high flyer any day of the week.

I vote for Tom Rothman to replace her.

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Tom Rothman got the position.



Tom Rothman on New Sony Pictures Job: ‘I Love a Challenge’

Tom Rothman takes over Sony Pictures as the studio is trying to revitalize and relaunch key franchises such as “Ghostbusters” and “Spider-Man.”
It’s an experience that the former Fox Filmed Entertainment chief is familiar with, because when he assumed leadership at that studio in 2000, it had yet to mount many of its biggest series and reboots, such as “X-Men” and “Planet of the Apes.”
His ability to replenish Fox’s blockbuster cupboard, as well as his ties to A-list talent such as Ang Lee, George Clooney and Jodie Foster, is a major reason he was selected to run Sony over such potential candidates as production chief Michael De Luca and motion picture group president Doug Belgrad, according to individuals with knowledge.
“Every studio needs franchises,” Rothman told Variety. “That was the case when we took over at Fox and that took time to build it up and it will take time here. It’s very important but it’s equally important to have a diverse slate of films that perform profitably.”
Rothman, 60, has been on the Sony lot for many months now, having taken over the studio’s TriStar Pictures label in 2013. That exposure allowed him to create a comfort level with executives in Culver City.
“I’ve had the benefit of working here for a year,” Rothman said. “I know the people very well and I like them very much.”
At Fox, Rothman had a reputation for being tough. The movies that he and Jim Gianopulos greenlit may have done $40 billion in box office and scored 150 Academy Award nominations, but Rothman’s emphasis on keeping costs in check and his hands-on approach rubbed some people the wrong way.
In an interview with Variety, Rothman declined to address his reputation for being prickly and controlling, but he did hit back at claims that he is obsessed with cost-cutting. “You need to be financially prudent, but creatively ambitious,” he said.
Rothman’s selection for the post happened quickly and secretly. He spoke to Kazuo “Kaz” Hirai, CEO of parent Sony Corp. before being promoted to the executive suite. But his final selection was left to Sony Pictures Entertainment chief executive Michael Lynton, who made the decision final over the weekend, according to Sony insiders.
Rothman said he came away from his meeting with the Sony brass convinced he would have the support he needed, getting assurances that the studio was committed to the content business for the long term.
Key to Lynton’s decision was Rothman’s prior experience running a studio. Sony is still recovering from a devastating hack attack launched by North Korea in retaliation for the release of “The Interview,” a comedy about an assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un. The cyber attack led to the exposure of many executive emails, among them Amy Pascal, the ousted studio chief that Rothman replaces. In the messages, Pascal wrote disparagingly of movie stars such as Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Rothman’s Rolodex is seen as critical to restoring some of those ties to top talent. His experience as a studio chief was also critical because Lynton is planning to spend more time away from Hollywood in New York, where he oversees Sony’s music businesses.
With Rothman named to the top job in Sony’s film universe, Pascal’s planned May departure from her executive chair will be accelerated. She will begin immediately to help Rothman make his transition before segueing into a lucrative production deal on the Sony lot.
At TriStar, Rothman has been busy lining up films such as “The Walk,” a Robert Zemeckis-directed look at World Trade Center tightrope walker Philippe Petit, and “Money Monster,” a financial thriller starring Julia Roberts and George Clooney. These are modestly-budgeted productions aimed at adults that Rothman insists will still have a place at Sony despite the emphasis on tentpole creation.
Part of the reason for that is that Sony has a divisional structure. Units such as TriStar, Sony Animation, Screen Gems, specialty arm Sony Pictures Classics and Studio 8 — former Warner Bros. film chief Jeff Robinov’s new venture — are tasked with fielding movies from a range of genres and budgets. Maintaining and strengthening that infrastructure will be a priority for Rothman, who oversaw a similar portfolio at Fox.
Taking the job at Sony carries significant risks for Rothman, but the veteran executive claims that’s part of what attracted him to the gig.
“I love a challenge and I think there’s a fabulous base in place here,” he said. “This is a really good company with great potential.”