- Since kids aren’t allowed to play video games at night in China, Tencent is using facial recognition software to crack down (Games Industry)
- Mattel is going to take over Hollywood one toy movie at a time (The New York Times)
- Amazon has struck a deal with Universal—after new movies appear on Peacock, they’ll head to Prime Video (Wall Street Journal)
- Prodcos are seeing podcasts as a new revenue stream and a good place to incubate IPs (Playback Daily)
- One of the surprise winners of the streaming wars: Poland (The Hollywood Reporter)
- That Girl Lay Lay has big plans for the future, starting with her Nickelodeon deal (Entertainment Tonight)
- Ben & Jerry’s digs into content with a Food Network competition series (Variety)
- Rather than apply for a job the old-fashioned way, TikTok wants people to send in video resumés to partner companies (Tech Crunch)
- Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine is reportedly looking for a buyer (Variety)
- BBC Studios took a US$41-million hit and blames the pandemic (TBI Vision)
- What’s it really like to be at the Cannes Film Festival right now? (The Hollywood Reporter)
- TikTok can make a product popular incredibly fast, but what’s the life cycle after it goes viral (Vox)
- Will the Cannes Film Festival mark an official return to live events for the industry? (The Hollywood Reporter)
- People are now spending more time on TikTok than YouTube, Facebook and even Netflix, according to a new report (Tubefilter)
- Roblox has inked a deal with Sony to bring more music into its universe (Variety)
- Margot Robbie is aware the new Barbie movie has a lot of baggage…so she and Greta Gerwig thought outside the box (Vogue)
- F9 is revving up the US box office, but Boss Baby 2 isn’t far behind (Variety)
- Despite a year of lockdowns, the UK movie business is booming—and there’s pent-up demand for more (The Hollywood Reporter)
- How does one go about making a kids show about American democracy? (NPR)
- TikTok has begun selling the app’s AI to other clients (The Verge)
- Who covers the extra cost of making movies during the pandemic? Disney’s insurer is suing to find out (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Hasbro and eOne have turned the Baby Alive dolls into a YouTube series (Romper)
- Netflix is betting on bingeable horror with R.L. Stine adaptations (The Verge)
- Fremantle has scooped up NENT’s unscripted business to form a new company (Variety)
- France’s government has decreed that Netflix and Amazon must invest 25% of local revenue into French content (Variety)
- Apple isn’t backing down from a hybrid office approach, despite employee requests to stay remote (The Verge)
- Sesame Street has turned its attention to helping APAC kids cope with bullying (The Guardian)
- Half of Americans have reportedly cut the cord, ditching linear entirely (Digital TV Europe)
- The BFI has opened its short-form animation fund for submissions (BFI)
- YouTube TV adds some new features…for US$20 a month (Digital TV Europe)
- Canadians want more research into how children are affected by long-haul COVID-19 (CTV News)
- Amazon is introducing a kids reading companion for Alexa (Tech Crunch)
- RTL Group is selling its Belgian TV network in a US$300-million deal (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Sydney might be in lockdown, but that’s not slowing down its production scene (Variety)
- So much for no more long lines—Disney is returning to business as usual at its parks (Deadline)
- No download, no problem. Netflix is making it easier for consumers to watch content (The Verge)
- Consumers have never been more confused about where to watch new blockbusters (Variety)
- …But Universal’s F9 is off to a strong start, showing that the box office might be revving up again (Deadline)
- Snap and Universal are bringing music from major artists to Snapchat (The Hollywood Reporter)
- On the travel front, Kayak’s co-founder is launching a podcast discovery app as the industry booms (TechCrunch)
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