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The Wide Shot: Will Biden be good for Hollywood? (latimes.com)

The most anticipated show of the week airs from Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, when Joe Biden becomes the 46th president of the United States.

Though the ceremony will be scaled back due to COVID-19, the star power will be hard to miss on Inauguration Day, with Lady Gaga set to sing the national anthem and Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks also on deck to perform. For the virtual “Parade Across America,” the ‘90s band New Radicals will perform for the first time in over two decades (their 1998 song “You Get What You Give” served as incoming Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff’s campaign walk-on music, and also held special significance for Biden’s son Beau during his battle with cancer).

The networks will later air a prime-time “Celebrating America” special, hosted by Tom Hanks and featuring performances by Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Lovato, Ant Clemons and Justin Timberlake. The “Can’t Stop the Feeling” singer plans to perform his and Clemons’ song “Better Days” to, as he put it on Twitter, “encourage everyone to stay hopeful.”

By: Ryan Faughnder

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Filming grant may put Miami on Love Map (miamitodaynews.com)

A romantic comedy movie expected to air on the Lifetime Network about a relationship guru finding love in unlikely places is seeking a $50,000 county grant to shoot here this month.

County commissioners were to have considered the grant application from Holiday Films LLC Wednesday. The authorizing resolution, sponsored by Sally Heyman, did not receive committee approval beforehand and was expedited to a final vote by Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz.

In its application, Holiday Films said it plans to shoot 12 of 15 days in Miami-Dade, where it will spend $530,000 on production, employ at least 20 county residents and hire “above 70%” of the vendors it uses locally.

By: Jesse Scheckner

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Indiana needs film and media incentives (thetimes24-7.com)

When thinking about Indiana’s key industries, advanced manufacturing, agriculture and pharmaceuticals may come to mind. Many of these sectors have flourished in the Hoosier state because of our business friendly climate, which makes it possible for these job creators to expand their operations. We’re at a time, when once again, Indiana can position itself as a place for economic development with the creation of a film and media tax credit, and I authored legislation to do just that.
Recently, several film companies chose to work elsewhere, even though the film’s storyline takes place in Indiana. For example, Indiana was considered to be a main character in the Parks and Rec TV series, but the show was filmed in southern California. “The Fault in Our Stars” is a movie based on a novel authored by Indiana native John Green, which takes place in Indiana, but was shot in Pittsburgh and made to look like it was Indianapolis. These are just a couple of times our state missed out on millions of dollars in revenue and opportunities to showcase some of Indiana’s best features from this $300 billion industry.

By: Tony Cook

Continue Reading at thetimes24-7.com

Netflix Will No Longer Borrow, Ending Its Run of Debt (nytimes.com)

Netflix has reached a financial milestone: It no longer needs to borrow money.

Netflix announced Tuesday in its fourth-quarter earnings report that it would not “need to raise external financing for our day-to-day operations,” a significant move for the heavily indebted company.

In less than a decade, the streaming giant borrowed over $16 billion to feed its titanic appetite for content. The reason: It didn’t make enough money to cover both its entertainment productions and its business costs, like payroll and rent and marketing.

That fact has caused a longstanding gripe over Netflix’s business model, and it’s why some observers have long argued that Netflix is a debt-ridden house of cards that would eventually come tumbling down.

By: Edmund Lee

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NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Sets Tax Credits For Covid-Hit Arts & Entertainment In 2021 Budget (deadline.com)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state’s budget for 2021 includes $130 million for what he calls a Pandemic Recovery and Restoration Program to support arts and entertainment, hotels and restaurants hit by Covid-19.

He presented two versions of the budget document, the working one assumes the federal government gives the state $15 billion that it is asking for to plug its massive virus-related deficit — which Cuomo believes is fully the fault of the feds under outgoing President Donald Trump.

The program calls for three new tax credits and expands another for smaller businesses in the accommodation, arts and entertainment, restaurant and musical and theatrical production industries to help them “recover from the pandemic and bring back jobs to New York.”

By: Jill Goldsmith

Continue Reading at deadline.com