🎬 Hollywood Rescue Plan Unveiled

👋 Good morning! Forget prayer and fasting—some cardinals are preparing for the papal conclave with popcorn and Fiennes. Several of the 133 red-robed clerics heading into the Sistine Chapel for today's papal election have reportedly turned to the 2024 film ‘Conclave’ (starring Ralph Fiennes) for pointers on the secretive process. Talk about life imitating art—the Hollywood thriller released months ago has become an unexpected crash course in papal politics for Vatican newcomers.

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🎞 Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• Jon Voight’s Hollywood Rescue Plan

• Google Goes Hollywood

• IFC’s Mid-life Crisis

• RIP Screenplay Competitions

• Last Looks: 👀 Bite-sized scoops on developing stories/projects

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

CLOSEUP
🗣️ Jon Voight has presented his Hollywood rescue plan…

While President Trump dropped his 100% foreign film tariff bombshell over the weekend, Oscar-winner Jon Voight was already at Mar-a-Lago pitching his industry revival plan. The presidential "Hollywood ambassador" has been making the rounds with unions, studios, and officials to craft his proposal—and now we've got the details:

• For filmmakers, Voight proposes stackable federal tax credits (10-20%) on top of existing state incentives. His plan would expand Section 181 provisions, allowing producers to write off 100% of costs in the first year. Instead of blanket tariffs, he suggests targeted penalties of 120% on productions that could have filmed in America but chose foreign locations just for tax incentives.

• For infrastructure, the plan includes tax credits for building or renovating theaters, studios, and post-production facilities. It would create job training programs to ensure Americans have skills for high-paying industry positions, with special emphasis on developing production capabilities in heartland states.

• For streaming platforms, Voight wants to revive regulations that once prevented networks from owning the shows they aired. Streamers would need to pay producers premiums (25-40% of production costs) for exclusive licenses, return more ownership rights after license periods end, and share copyrights 50/50 with content creators.

• For international work, the plan proposes co-production treaties with countries like the UK to enable collaboration without triggering tariffs. It includes exemptions from penalties for legitimate international partnerships that truly require foreign locations.

Looking ahead… The White House isn't officially backing Voight's plan just yet. Trump's promised to host more industry sit-downs, telling reporters: "I'm not looking to hurt the industry; I want to help the industry. We're going to meet with the industry. I want to make sure they're happy with it." Meanwhile, California Gov. Newsom has proposed working with the President on a $7.5B federal tax credit proposal. Studio chiefs are expected to weigh in on Trump’s tariffs proposal on Friday.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 Google, IFC rebrand, and screenplay competitions…

📱 Google wants Hollywood to boost its cool factor. The search giant has quietly launched "100 Zeros," a film and TV initiative partnering with talent managers at Range Media Partners. Unlike YouTube Originals—Google's previous attempt to make shows for its own platform—100 Zeros will bankroll projects destined for traditional studios and streamers. The move comes as Google struggles with Gen Z audiences. By getting filmmakers playing with features like Immersive View and AI tools, Google hopes to shape how tech appears in pop culture, particularly crucial when 88% of teens are team iPhone. It's part of a growing trend where brands like Nike (with Waffle Iron Entertainment) are ditching commercials for content that subtly shapes cultural vibes around their products. 100 Zeros already backed Neon's ‘Cuckoo’—nabbing opening credits logo placement on a buzzy horror flick starring ‘Euphoria's’ Hunter Schafer, revealing exactly the cultural cachet Google's chasing.

🎬 New logo, who dis? IFC Films is getting a fresh coat of paint after 25 years in the indie game. The longtime distributor is transforming to "Independent Film Company" to better compete with buzzy newcomers like A24 and Neon—brands that have become selling points in themselves, with fans who follow distributors they trust as curators. The rebrand comes with a new logo and sound signature created by Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz. IFC is also changing its strategy: fewer foreign films and dramas for older audiences, more horror and thrillers for younger viewers. They're also planning on making fewer movies overall but betting bigger on each one, while leaning heavily on their horror streaming service Shudder. With major studios fixated on tentpole and IP projects, the indie space is wide open—but even veterans must evolve into recognizable tastemakers in a landscape where the distributor's brand might matter as much as the film itself.

📝 Pour one out for screenplay competitions. Industry Arts recently announced the shutdown of screenplay platforms Coverfly, ScreenCraft, The Script Lab, WeScreenplay, and The Tracking Board. These sites were digital watering holes where aspiring screenwriters could submit scripts, enter competitions, and potentially catch industry attention. The shutdown comes during brutal times for newbies—TV writing roles plummeted 42% last season, with a third of those cuts hitting entry-level positions. While veterans insist truly great scripts will always find homes, the game is clearly changing. Hollywood increasingly favors writers who arrive with either pre-produced work (think indie shorts) or ready-made audiences (hello, TikTok fame). The bottom line: As traditional gatekeepers disappear and industry paths narrow, tomorrow's successful writers will likely be the entrepreneurial ones who create their own routes in.

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• David O. Russell will direct ‘Shutout,’ a high-stakes pool hustler drama starring Robert De Niro and Jenna Ortega. (more)

• Shia LaBeouf will star in ‘God of the Rodeo,’ a prison-set crime thriller from Rosalind Ross and producer Giannina Scott. (more)

• Miles Teller will star in Greg Kwedar’s fantastical comedy ‘Possum Song,’ with FilmNation producing and sales launching at Cannes. (more)

• Mandy Moore joins Nate Bargatze in ‘The Breadwinner,’ a comedy about a dad upended by his wife’s ‘Shark Tank’ success. (more)

• Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, and John Slattery will star in an R-rated Hollywood comedy from ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ director David Wain. (more)

• Amazon MGM has acquired worldwide rights to ‘The Beekeeper 2’ in a deal worth over $50M, with Jason Statham set to return this fall. (more)

• Rebecca Hall, Gael García Bernal, Noomi Rapace, and Beanie Feldstein will star in ‘The End of It,’ a sci-fi drama launching sales at Cannes. (more)

• Dennis Quaid and Jean Reno have wrapped filming on action-thriller ‘The Florist,’ which has pre-sold in multiple territories ahead of Cannes. (more)

• Margaret Qualley will star in ‘Love of Your Life,’ a new Amazon MGM film directed by Rachel Morrison and produced by Ryan Gosling. (more)

• Susan Sarandon, Aubrey Plaza, and Everly Carganilla star in ‘The Accompanist,’ a drama marking Zach Woods’ feature directing debut (more)

• Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Michel Franco’s ‘Dreams,’ a drama starring Jessica Chastain. (more)

TV Development 📺

• Aaron Waltke has been named showrunner of Amazon’s ‘Wings of Fire’ animated series, based on the book series by Tui T. Sutherland. (more)

• Jimmy Tatro and Dan Lagana are reuniting with A24 for ‘Lifties,’ a snow-set ensemble comedy series in the works at HBO. (more)

Renewed & Canceled ✅ ❌

• ‘The Studio’ is renewed for S2 at Apple. (more)

• ‘Acapulco’ will end with S4 at Apple. (more)

• ‘Trying’ is renewed for S5 at Apple TV+. (more)

Business 🤝

• Lionsgate has finalized its long-planned split from Starz. (more)

• Capstone, Signature, and Ascending Media have launched Aura Entertainment, a new U.S. distribution company. (more)

Other News 🚨

• FCC chair Brendan Carr plans to limit the power of national TV networks and reform ownership rules to give more control to local broadcasters. (more)

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