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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • Some interesting stuff in this article.

    It looks like Skydance thought that getting the non-voting class B Paramount shareholders on board would put pressure on the voting ones.

    But it seems like Redstone was sensitive to the minority group of voting shareholders and that they were not on side. That is, it wasn’t enough to have the Redstones as the majority holders of class A NAI shares, and the majority of non-voting class B Paramount shareholders, Shari Redstone felt she had to have sufficient support from the minority of voting NAI shareholders to avoid problems such as accusations of imposing losses on a group.

    “According to a source familiar with the talks, Redstone’s request for a “majority of the minority” vote, in which other Class A shareholders could vote to approve or nix the deal, was a nonstarter for Skydance, and the studio was anticipating a regulatory review of more than a year, which gave Redstone pause given the constraints it would have required of the business in the meantime.”








  • Contract length is a fair point. But so is the over reliance on US SGA talent in a show that’s trying to reach a global audience and represent a future that’s diverse.

    Discovery had only five seasons but in calendar years, in which contracts are written, it was seven years from production of the pilot. So, regardless of the impact of the strikes, further seasons would have required higher salaries for Martin-Green, Rapp, Cruz and Wiseman.

    One has to wonder if that was a consideration in the decision on Lower Decks as well.

    Also, while federal and provincial governments give significant tax credits for the ACTRA-contract labour costs of Canadian and Ontario resident actors (50%), up until Rennie joined this season the Discovery main cast were all full SGA scale, although the seasonal ‘big bass’ have all been Canadian or resident since season 2. That can make a huge difference to the overall cost.

    All to say, if talent salaries were the key driver of decisions, CBS Studios should put more casting in the hands of their Canadian casting director.

    One has to then of Canadian/resident main cast will also put a cap on the potential number of seasons for SNW.

    It will be interesting to see whether CBS Studios will go for the tax credit when they cast the cadet roles for Starfleet Academy.