🎬 Netflix Adopts Big Bird

👋 Good morning! Talk about taking "die for your art" to a whole new level... The directors of ‘Final Destination Bloodlines’ literally faked their own deaths to land the gig. During their 2022 Zoom pitch, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s fireplace ‘accidentally’ burst into flames (which they frantically extinguished) before—WHAM—a ceiling fan crashed down and "decapitated" one director. The whole stunt used pre-recorded footage and VFX that transitioned seamlessly into their live pitch. New Line execs went from horrified to hysterical at the perfect proof-of-concept. With ‘Final Destination Bloodlines’ now reaching $110M globally, their demo clearly paid off.

Welcome aboard The Dailies. Grab your coffee and we’ll get you caught up with the fast-paced world of Hollywood. Here’s what’s on the reel today:

• LA’s Plan to Keep Crews Working

• SAG vs. AI

• Netflix Adopts Big Bird and Friends

• Cannes Update

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

• Video Village: The latest trailers

• Martini Shot 🍸

CLOSEUP
🎬 Exclusive: Inside LA’s plan to keep crews working…

In 1990, almost every major blockbuster was filmed in Los Angeles. By 2003, only two-thirds. By 2014, the top summer blockbusters vanished from LA altogether. Today, a measly 20% of North American film and TV productions choose California at all.

Hollywood is leaving Hollywood. And the economic bleeding is severe: when productions flee, they take with them $670,000 in daily spending, gradually eroding local small businesses and hollowing out neighborhoods built on the entertainment industry.

Now LA is launching a counter-offensive…

Yesterday, Mayor Karen Bass signed an executive directive aimed at cutting the red tape driving productions away:

• Making iconic locations like Griffith Observatory easier to film at

• Requiring only ONE city staff member on set instead of multiple officials

• Fighting "price gouging" from parking lot owners near film sets

• Streamlining permitting across city departments

This effort builds on Councilmember Adrin Nazarian's unanimous "Keep Hollywood Home" motion, which requires city departments to report back by May 29th with ways to make LA more film-friendly. At the same time, LA’s supporting state bills to increase California's film tax credit to $750M despite the state's $38B deficit.

The Dailies caught up with Councilmember Nazarian in an exclusive interview about LA's fight to win back its signature industry and the one asset California has that money can't buy.

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WIDESHOT
🎬 SAG vs. AI, ‘Sesame Street,’ and Cannes…

🤖 Replacing actors with AI? Prepare your wallet. SAG-AFTRA is toughening its approach to artificial intelligence in its latest contract covering TV commercials and advertisements. Unlike the 2023 film/TV agreement that left many performers disappointed with weak AI protections, this pending deal would create financial disincentives for advertisers who replace humans with digital "synthetic performers" as a cost-saving mechanism. Companies also would need explicit permission to use actors' performances to train AI systems and must delete those digital replicas after a set time. Members finish voting on the deal today, but the implications reach beyond commercials—this could foreshadow tougher demands when the union renegotiates with Hollywood studios in 2026.

📺 Netflix just adopted Big Bird and friends. Netflix swooped in to save ‘Sesame Street’ after HBO declined to renew its deal with the beloved children’s program. The deal gives Sesame Workshop much-needed financial stability while breaking Netflix’s typical exclusivity approach—episodes will drop simultaneously on both Netflix and PBS. The streamer gets 90 hours of classic content plus a revamped S56 featuring snappier 11-minute episodes. This follows a growing trend of Netflix licensing non-exclusive kids content (like YouTube educator Ms. Rachel's videos, which still appear on YouTube). With an estimated 85M+ US subscribers, Netflix seems less obsessed with being an “exclusive content vault” and more focused on being everyone's go-to entertainment home base—the streaming equivalent of old-school cable TV. Meanwhile, competitors like HBO Max retreat to adult-focused prestige programming.

🌴 Cannes day 7 and 8 brought more major premieres and thunderous standing ovations. But the deals? More of a slow clap. With asking prices sky-high, buyers are still playing it cool—but there’s plenty of festival left. Here’s a few highlights:

• Julia Ducournau's ‘Alpha’ (her follow-up to her 2021 Palm d’Or winner) premiered to an 11.5-minute standing ovation.

• Spike Lee's ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ (out of competition) made a splash Monday night with Denzel Washington receiving a surprise Honorary Palme d'Or before the screening.

• Dakota Johnson's ‘Splitsville’ received an 8-minute standing ovation at its Premiere section debut. Neon will release the film Aug. 22.

• Scarlett Johansson's directorial debut ‘Eleanor the Great’ premiered in Un Certain Regard to mixed reviews and a 6-minute standing ovation.

• Jafar Panahi made his emotional Cannes return with ‘Un Simple Accident’ after his prison release. Neon and A24 are rumored to be interested given its enthusiastic reception (no deal confirmed yet, but a bidding war is anticipated).

LAST LOOKS
Film Development 🗒️

• Dakota Johnson will make her feature directorial debut with a film written by ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ actress Vanessa Burghardt. (more)

• Mattel and TriStar are developing a live-action/animated hybrid film based on ‘Whac-a-Mole.’ (more)

• Independent Film Company and Shudder have acquired U.S. rights to ‘Whistle,’ a new horror film from ‘The Nun’ director Corin Hardy. (more)

• Carey Mulligan is joining Greta Gerwig’s Netflix adaptation of ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ as part of the upcoming ‘Narnia’ film. (more)

• Elle Fanning will play a young Effie Trinket in ‘Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,’ taking over the role originally portrayed by Elizabeth Banks. (more)

• Cillian Murphy and Daniel Craig are in talks to star in Damien Chazelle’s next film, a possible prison drama for Paramount. (more)

• Conan O’Brien will voice a new character named Smarty Pants in ‘Toy Story 5,’ hitting theaters in June 2026. (more)

• Chad Stahelski’s 87Eleven and Capstone Studios are launching ‘Sentinel,’ a new action thriller franchise, with sales kicking off at Cannes. (more)

• Eva Longoria will direct Netflix’s ‘The Fifth Wheel,’ a Kim Kardashian and Paula Pell comedy produced by Gloria Sanchez and Hyphenate Media. (more)

• Mark Ruffalo, Meg Ryan, and Rashida Jones will star alongside Natalie Portman in Lena Dunham’s new Netflix rom-com ‘Good Sex.’ (more)

TV Development 📺

• Netflix is developing an animated series based on the hit mobile game ‘Clash of Clans.’ (more)

• Peacock is developing thriller series ‘Strangers,’ with Leslie Mann and Gabrielle Union eyed to star. (more)

• Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ has added seven new cast members, including Dichen Lachman and Dolly de Leon, for S2 and S3 (more)

• Ryan Murphy and Kaia Gerber are teaming up for FX’s series adaptation of ‘The Shards,’ a prep school thriller based on Bret Easton Ellis’ novel. (more)

• Sony is producing a Mexican adaptation of medical drama ‘Doc’ starring Juan Pablo Medina, following the show’s global success. (more)

Renewed & Canceled ✅ ❌

• ‘Yellowjackets’ is renewed for S4 following a record-setting S3. (more)

• The CW has renewed ‘Scrabble’ and ‘Trivial Pursuit’ for second seasons, with Craig Ferguson set to host ‘Scrabble’starting in 2026. (more)

Business 🤝

• BBC Studios has restructured its production arm, creating new Unscripted and Global to unify its unscripted content under one division. (more)

• AI studio Promise has added Google and Michael Ovitz’s VC firm as investors, with plans for its first feature film blending AI and traditional filmmaking. (more)

Other News 🚨

• Comscore is being sued by Atlas for allegedly monopolizing box office data and forcing the shutdown of its CinemaCloudWorks app. (more)

• Quentin Tarantino is teaming with author Jay Glennie and Insight Editions to release behind-the-scenes books on all ten of his films. (more)

• Darren Aronofsky is partnering with Google DeepMind on ‘Primordial Soup,’ a generative AI short film initiative debuting with ‘Ancestra’ at Tribeca. (more)

VIDEO VILLAGE
📺 Latest trailers

MARTINI SHOT
🍸 Latest trends & viral moments