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Talent agencies increasingly partner with these kinds of investors to support new business models beyond traditional representation.
What are private equity investors?
In April 2019, how many WGA members fired their agents as part of a union-led protest against packaging fees?
Answer: What is 7K
Answer: What is 118 days?
When was the last time the federal minimum wage was increased AND what is it today?
What is 2009 to $7.25
In media and finance, what is the term for a market structure where a small number of companies dominate the industry and control most of the market share?
What is an oligopoly
What is WME
What payment do writers receive when their work is reused on TV or streaming platforms?
Answer: What are residuals
Actors will get new “success payments” on streaming projects if the projects meet a certain viewership threshold measured over what time period?
What are the first 90 exhibition days?
What two main revenue streams do private equity firms use to earn money from their funds?
What are management fees and carried interest? What is a combination of management fees (usually 2% of assets under management) and carried interest (typically 20% of the profits from successful investments)?
What are the three financial firms that collectively hold a majority stake in about 90% of companies listed on the S&P 500 AND how many assets do they collectively control?
What are BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street? $26 Trillion
This purchase cost this agency $2.4B
What is IMG and Who is WME?
Writers are allowed to use generative AI under what condition, according to the new WGA contract?
What is with studio consent and not as a requirement
What percentage of the streaming bonus money will go to the performer, with a remainder going into a special fund?
Answer: What is 75% to the performer (25% to the streaming payment distribution fund)
What kind of investors make up the majority of limited partners in PE funds?
Who are pension funds, endowments, and institutional investors?
Hollywood studios often report blockbuster films as barely profitable or even operating at a loss in the U.S., despite generating millions globally. What financial strategy involving foreign entities allows them to achieve this, and how does it affect their reported tax obligations?
What is offshore profit shifting using foreign tax shelters and co-production deals—a method where profits are routed through subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions, allowing studios to minimize U.S. taxable income and reduce federal tax payments, despite the film’s true profitability abroad?
In 2022, Creative Artists Agency completed its acquisition of this rival agency for this estimated amount.
Who is ICM and $750 million?
What portion of TV writers were earning only minimum compensation by recent counts, up from one-third in 2013–14?
Answer: What is 50%
What protection does the new SAG‑AFTRA contract offer regarding digital replicas of actors?
Producers must obtain consent and compensate actors at usual rate for days a digital replica would have been used.
What tax loophole allows PE managers to pay lower rates on carried interest than regular income?
What is the carried interest loophole?
In plain terms, how did the South Park creators structure their $900 million deal with Carlyle Group to get paid while keeping control?.
What is they pledged the value of their South Park intellectual property as collateral to secure the investment, allowing them to take a large upfront payout. They maintained creative control but had to guarantee delivery of new content over time to meet performance terms of the deal?
In this year, this agency introduced the packaging deal structure, allowing it to earn long-term profits from projects rather than just standard commissions.
What is CAA and When is 1975
What three key reforms were part of the WGA’s new franchise agreement with talent agencies?
What are banning package fees, limiting agency ownership in production, and access to deal memo data?
Streaming series like Bridgerton average only 8 episodes per season, compared to 22 for traditional network shows like Seinfeld. How does this shift in episode count affect the economics and career development of TV writers?
Answer:What is it that reduces weeks of paid work, limits residual income, shrinks writers’ rooms, and disrupts the traditional career ladder by offering fewer opportunities for advancement and mentorship?
Between 1979 and 2018, by how much did productivity increase and by how much did hourly wages increase for American workers?
OR
What are the approximate productivity and wage growth rates in the U.S. from 1979 to 2025, and what is the percentage point gap between them?
What is productivity increased by 70%, and wages increased by only 12%?
What is 85% productivity growth, 32.7% wage growth, and a 52.3 percentage point gap?
Warner Bros. reportedly spent $70 million on a film it chose not to release ("Coyote vs. Acme"). What legal and financial strategy could a studio use in this scenario to potentially recover some of the production cost—and how does it align with broader industry practices?
What is taking a tax write-off or impairment charge? By declaring the unreleased film as a financial loss, the studio can deduct the $70 million from its taxable income, thereby lowering the amount of income subject to federal tax. This reduces the total taxes owed to the government, effectively turning a sunk cost into a tax savings tool.