Jonathan Handel
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Entertainment/tech attorney; freelance journalist; writer; commentator.
Articles by Jonathan Handel
AI and Beyond, New Jam-Packed SAG-AFTRA Deal Delivers Dozens of Improvements
Journalist and Lawyer Jonathan Handel has done an excellent review of SAG-AFTRA's 18-page summary of its new deal. Here's his summary of SAG-AFTRA's summary: SAG-AFTRA released a detailed, 18-page summary of its new deal last night, accompanied by the news that the union board had approved the tentative agreement overwhelmingly (by 89%, I’ve learned).
AI and Beyond, New Jam-Packed SAG-AFTRA Deal Delivers Dozens of Improvements
SAG-AFTRA released a detailed, 18-page summary of its new deal last night, accompanied by the news that the union board had approved the tentative agreement overwhelmingly (by 89%, I’ve learned). With enhancements in AI, pension, residuals, covered work and more, the contract goes to the members for expected ratification, with ballots due back June 4.
DC (and Sacto) Come to LA in 'Future of Hollywood' Conference
TBH, I hadn’t heard of the Capitol Forum when they invited me to participate in their upcoming March 12 Future of Hollywood conference, to be held here in LA. But I soon realized they’re a real-deal, DC policy news shop. Check out the keynote speakers lined up for the conference: California attorney general Rob Bonta, writer-director Nick Stoller, former FTC Commissioner and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, CCA deputy general counsel Tammy Brandt, among others.
A Personal Note
jhandel.news Staying in touch with friends, colleagues, clients, connections and readers. Topics range across residuals, entertainment law and labor, reviews, news, poetry&politics, gadgets and idiosyncratic content. About 1x/month or less. From Jonathan Handel. Maybe later
The Fire This Time
jhandel.news Staying in touch with friends, colleagues, clients, connections and readers. Topics range across residuals, entertainment law and labor, reviews, news, poetry&politics, gadgets and idiosyncratic content. About 1x/month or less. From Jonathan Handel. Maybe later
Chinatown-and Our Town - jhandel.news
jhandel.news Staying in touch with friends, colleagues, clients, connections and readers. Topics range across residuals, entertainment law and labor, reviews, news, poetry&politics, gadgets and idiosyncratic content. About 1x/month or less. From Jonathan Handel. Maybe later
Sleepwalking to Disaster
jhandel.news Staying in touch with friends, colleagues, clients, connections and readers. Topics range across residuals, entertainment law and labor, reviews, news, poetry&politics, gadgets and idiosyncratic content. About 1x/month or less. From Jonathan Handel. Maybe later
A Hollywood Strike Epilogue
To no one’s surprise, the crew union IATSE reached a deal last week without a strike—something that neither labor nor management could have stomached after last year’s dual writers’ and actors’ walkouts. The union, led by international president Matthew D.
Media Monday: Shari’s Holiday Fantasy & Zaslav Exit Theories
It’s an extra merry Media Monday as Dylan Byers joins Jon Kelly to kibitz about who will buy Paramount, WBD vs Comcast, and whether streaming as we know it is doomed. Then they turn to new Washington Post leader Will Lewis: the editorial opportunity and his Murdoch problem.
More Zazmount, WaPo Worries & CNN Inside Voices
Welcome back to In The Room. I’m Dylan Byers. In tonight’s email, a veritable advent calendar of news and notes on some of the biggest media storylines heading into 2024: Shari’s Paramount sweepstakes and Mark Thompson and Will Lewis’s CNN and WaPo resuscitations.
Can Zaz & Shari Go the Distance?
One intriguing quirk of the media industry—from a narrative perspective, at least—is the way that small overtures can catalyze transformative deals.
Puck-and What's Next?
Happy holidays! As I highlight in my latest article last night for Puck—a recap called 2023: A Labor Odyssey—next year will bring a host of entertainment labor negotiations: SAG-AFTRA’s TV animation, interactive media (video games) and Netcode (hosts of reality, late night and game shows) agreements and the high-stakes agreements with IATSE (most crew) and Teamsters Local 399 (notably, the drivers who haul necessary production equipment).
Warners, Paramount, and the Allure of Mutual Desperation
My report two weeks ago on Shari Redstone’s talks with David Ellison’s Skydance and RedBird Capital seems to have sparked a feeding frenzy on Paramount Global and its parent, National Amusements, Inc. One or both of these companies almost certainly will be sold/merged in 2024, but it’s probably not worth getting especially worked up (yet!) about the Warner Bros. Discovery talks, first reported yesterday by Axios.
What I’m Hearing: Shari & Bob’s Feeding Frenzy, Majors’ Career & A Final Strike Assessment
Welcome back to What I’m Hearing and greetings from New York, where I’m exposing my L.A. kid to the joys of Broadway theater and frigid temperatures. Reminder: I’ll be making my Tom Cruise cake all weekend, so I’m off Christmas Eve and back next Thursday. And, no, thanks for asking, it’s not too late to gift that special someone a Puck membership.
2023: A Hollywood Labor Odyssey
By late 2022, the Writers Guild strike of 2007-08 and the SAG stalemate of 2008-09 were but fading memories for those who remembered them at all—and the dual writers-actors strikes of 1959-60 were sepia-toned history, known to only a few. Then came last December, when the Directors Guild failed to reach a deal on its usual early schedule, and the industry awakened to what became its most turbulent year in a generation.
Warner Bros. and Paramount Are Talking. Should They Merge?
Matt is joined by LightShed Partners media analyst Rich Greenfield to break down the latest reports of a meeting between Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish in New York City to discuss a possible merger. Matt and Rich discuss what a deal would look like between these two legacy companies, how this would affect the streaming and cable networks for both of these companies, and whether or not major mergers in modern Hollywood ever work.
Johnson’s Haul & The Johns’ Competition
The House and Senate campaign committees are turning in their monthly F.E.C. reports today, giving the political class a chance to see how their fundraising is stacking up. On the House side, this is a highly competitive monthly exercise between the D.C.C.C. and N.R.C.C. On the Senate side, however, the competition is not what it used to be, given that in-cycle senators basically run mini presidential campaigns with monster fundraising.
The Christmas Streaming Miracle
It won’t shock anyone to learn that Americans watch a lot of TV between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Streaming, in particular, gets a massive holiday jolt: Last year, during the week of Christmas, U.S. households watched more than 183 billion minutes across major streaming platforms, an all-time high, according to Nielsen. To put things in perspective, that’s about 15 percent more streaming hours than in March 2020, when most of the country was locked down watching Tiger King.
The Sam Altman Soap Opera
Teddy Schleifer joins Peter to dig into the complexities of the OpenAI mess—the crazy governance, the nutty structure, the Microsoft of it all, the agonies of the investors, and what happens next.
Breaking Through the Biden Bunker
Breaking Through the Biden Bunker Tara is joined by political strategist and advisor Michael LaRosa to reflect on his time within the White House ecosphere and discuss what the Biden campaign team should do to update their messaging to a public that seems to be ignoring his presidential successes.
Haley Mary
A new CNN poll of New Hampshire Republicans dropped last week, and it was the first one to come along in a very, very long time that made me stop and wonder: Could Donald Trump actually lose this thing? The poll showed Nikki Haley—the buzzy G.O.P. candidate du jour in media and donor circles—climbing into a sturdy second place in New Hampshire following her punchy debate performances and the ongoing Ron DeSantis purgatory.
Shari’s Tax Bill, Elon’s Threat & Boies’s Adieu
Welcome back to The Rainmaker, a little shorter this week as I travel for Thanksgiving. Still, I’ve got a couple items in this edition that should make for some very interesting dinner table conversations about free speech. Plus news on the legal misadventures of Elon Musk, Shari Redstone, the state of Israel, Pras Michel, A.I., and David Boies.
Bezos-Sánchez Aftershocks & The $100M Club
How did Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos end up in Vogue? Everyone is still talking about the recent magazine feature on America’s horniest-for-each-other couple with equal parts glee and disgust.
Media Monday: Zaz the World Turns
You are logged into a free account as unknown@example.com Already a member? Sign in with your paid account A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business. Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow. Stay in the Know Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.
Unexpected Winners and Losers of the Hollywood Labor Strikes
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss some of the unexpected winners and losers in the wake of the strikes, highlighting those who suffered from collateral damage or perhaps benefited from fortuitous timing during Hollywood's extended shutdown. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing …,’ click here.
A Quick Fix for (Some of) the Actors’ A.I. Contract Fears
I spent the weekend Zooming with 200 stunt people and 30 voice actors. Many, if not most, expressed deep frustration about the A.I. provisions of the SAG-AFTRA deal that members are currently voting on. A key concern, as I wrote on Thursday, surrounds the effectively involuntary nature of the “consent” that the studios and streamers are likely to request regarding the use of A.I.-based digital replicas of actors’ likenesses and voices.
What I’m Hearing: Scorsese Flop Math, Globes’ Savior; and an A.I. Fix
Welcome back to What I’m Hearing, hopefully you’ve already left town for Thanksgiving week. A few readers crowned a clear winner in my search last Sunday for the thirstiest awards season campaigner. Bradley Cooper raced to participate in a CBS Sunday Morning interview with Leonard Bernstein’s family to plug Maestro seemingly seconds after SAG-AFTRA called an end to the strike, thus making him first with a major campaign piece aimed at the older demo he needs to shore up. Great work, Bradley.
My Chat With Obama
Barack Obama was always a generationally gifted storyteller, as I was reminded earlier this month when I sat down to interview him in Chicago—one of the perks of emceeing this year’s Democracy Forum, the annual gathering of the Obama Foundation. The one-day event, timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of Obama’s 2008 election, was nostalgic at times, recalling a political era of hope and change.
A Zaz Wellness Check & The Crocodile’s Iger Fib
My Puck partner Dylan Byers and I were chatting the other day, trying to gauge the fallout from yet another tough week for David Zaslav and his WBD creation. As I noted last week, WBD stock cratered 19 percent after Zaz and his C.F.O. Gunnar Wiedenfels announced third-quarter earnings that disappointed the market. Zaz, after all, once promised $14 billion in EBITDA for 2023, and then revised that expectation down considerably, to somewhere in the $10.5 billion to $11 billion range.
A Zaz Wellness Check & The Crocodile’s Iger Fib
The Smiling Crocodile, Nelson Peltz, wants you to think he owns 30 million Disney shares, now worth $2.8 billion. That’s what he leaked to The Wall Street Journal on October 8—the day after Hamas attacked Israel. Then, on October 14, the Journal reported that Peltz, who controls the activist hedge fund Trian Fund Management, had upped his shares in Disney to 32.9 million shares, worth nearly $3.1 billion.
Zazonomics, Capitol Hill Wars, LVMH Rumors
On Wednesday evening, I headed up to midtown for a party in celebration of former CNN host Brian Stelter’s new book, Network of Lies, a dissertation on the unraveling of Fox News in all its truth-sculpting gore.
The G.O.P. Fatigue Paradox
Tuesday marked yet another astonishing day on the Hill, with tempers flaring and schoolyard fights breaking out at both ends of the Capitol as Republicans embraced cartoonish name-calling and physical violence in their ranks. The spirit of Zell Miller lives on: House Oversight Chairman James Comer called Jared Moscowitz a smurf. Bernie Sanders broke up what was almost a fist fight between Markwayne Mullin and a testifying teamster during a Senate HELP hearing.
Potential Backfires in the Actors AI Deal
Matt is joined by Justine Bateman—writer, director, producer, former actress, and SAG-AFTRA negotiation committee consultant on the use of AI—to discuss the protections established against the use of AI in the new SAG-AFTRA deal. She voices criticisms of the AI portion of the contract, and highlights potential loopholes that could significantly affect working actors and permanently alter the future of filmmaking.
What I’m Hearing: The A.I. Fight, Zaz Blowback, & Awards Shows Blues
Welcome back to What I’m Hearing. Thanks to everyone who came to Puck’s The Powers That Be: Live event in Beverly Hills on Monday, and especially to Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria for a lively (and very off-the-record!) conversation—and for gifting me a Jellycat gourmet cheeseburger plushy, which I will treasure. Thanks also to our sponsors, Mayer Brown and Diageo. We’ll do more of these events in the new year.
Are Actors Overthinking the A.I. Threat?
The A.I. panic is setting in, and opposition to the tentative SAG-AFTRA agreement is growing. The deal is still expected to be ratified by the union’s 160,000 members when voting closes Dec. 5, and I stand by my conclusion on Sunday that president Fran Drescher, national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland,and the negotiating committee and staff achieved the best deal possible.
Capitol Hill’s G.O.P. Fight Club
Baratunde Thurston joins Peter to share his conversation with the former president about A.I., climate, and how technology is destabilizing democracy. Then they turn to the hardening political divide between the Obama era and Gen Z.
A Spy in Silicon Valley
Has the Central Intelligence Agency infiltrated corporate America, and even enlisted executives for espionage? It would appear so, at least judging by the Justice Department’s unusual intervention in a civil case brought by a pair of married journalists who were harassed by eBay executives including Jim Baugh, a former C.I.A. operative whose security firm once contracted with the likes of Apple, Amazon, and even the Oscars (he provided a protection detail for Joe Biden at the 2016 show).
The Sarah Burton Existential Questions
Fashion is a business built on lies—or dreams, if you want to put it nicely. So it’s no wonder the rumor mill never stops: This designer is going to that house, this executive had an affair with that subordinate, this star takes a separate elevator and uses a different door to get into his studio so he doesn’t have to interact with the plebes, or the multibillion-dollar brand’s other creative directors, etcetera. Most of it isn’t true, or has been heavily embellished, and that’s often the point.
Marvel Enters Its Age of Reduced Expectations
Back in the fall of 2019, right after Avengers: Endgame grossed $2.8 billion worldwide, I had this exchange with Alan Horn, who was running Disney’s film unit: Me: Alan, I remember when American Idol was No. 1 for many years in a row and its audience was 30 million viewers a night. The president of NBC at the time, I believe it was Jeff Zucker, said, “Someday it will not be cool to watch American Idol.” Do you think about when that day comes for the Marvel movies? Horn: The answer is no.
Exclusive SAG-AFTRA AI Details-on Puck
I’ve got exclusive details on the new SAG-AFTRA deal’s AI provisions—I’ve read the previouslyunreleased summary (it’s just released now) and the AI portions of the unreleased Memorandum of Agreement (the actual contract language). The summary alone is 18 pages and the MOA is about 128 pp., of which 16 pp. address AI (the DGA deal had only one page on AI and the WGA 2-½).
Warners Reverses Course in ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Fight
I’m told Warner Bros. will now let the filmmakers of Coyote vs. Acme shop the movie to other potential distributors. That’s a big about-face from earlier this week, when Warners said that the long-finished $70 million Looney Tunes film, directed by Dave Green and starring John Cena, Will Forte and a C.G.I. Wile E. Coyote, would be shelved indefinitely without any ability to place it elsewhere, à la the infamous Batgirl and Scoob! sequel.
What I’m Hearing: Marvel’s Misfires; Warners’ ‘Acme’ Reversal, & SAG’s Holy Grail
Welcome back to What I’m Hearing, where the stars have been unleashed and we’re prepping for a week of real Oscar campaigning. Congrats to the Holdovers team for sending what appeared to be the first post-strike press release on Thursday, touting a chance to “mix and mingle” with stars Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Leo and Lily Gladstone are rumored to be surprise guests at Scorsese’s Q&A with Spielberg at the DGA on Monday night.
What the Actors Really Won on A.I.
The summary alone of the tentative deal between SAG-AFTRA and the studios runs to 18 pages of detail, and the Memorandum of Agreement is about 128 pages. I’ve now read the previously unreleased summary and the A.I. provisions of the M.O.A. (the M.O.A. release is as yet unscheduled). On Tuesday, eligible members will receive ratification ballot materials, with votes due back by Dec. 5.
The Art World’s Russian Prisoner Dilemma
Hidden away in the cool, dim chambers of the Art Institute of Chicago resides a piece of art history—a 1916 watercolor and pencil drawing titled Russian War Prisoner, crafted by Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele. While it may not rank among the world’s most renowned or valuable artworks, it is certainly one of the most legally enthralling. As they say, possession is nine-tenths of the law.
Tory, Birkenstock, Skims, and the Great Fashion I.P.O. Debate
On Friday, I had lunch in L.A. with Paula Sutter, best known for turning around Diane von Furstenberg in the early 2000s. These days, Paula mostly works behind the scenes, sometimes advising, sometimes investing, other times as a board member. She sees a lot. We got to talking generally about the M&A scene, and why so many of the fashion businesses that went public a few years ago are now penny stocks, and what it takes to meet investor (and consumer) expectations in this era.
Media Monday: Conde Nast Questions & Hulu Deal Points
On September 3, 2018, a rancher in Laredo, Texas, discovered a woman’s body shot execution-style on the side of the road. When investigators identified her as a local sex worker, their search for the killer took them into the darkest corners of the city. Then, after days of false starts and dead-ends, another body turned […]
Maybe Don’t Sell Everything to Netflix
I joked a while back that Warner Bros. Discovery C.E.O. David Zaslav would auction Jack Warner’s antique desk if it helped pay down even a tiny sliver of the company’s crippling debt. A few months later, that humor now seems quaint. Zaslav actually is selling off the crown jewels—or at least renting his biggest I.P.-driven movies—to generate that needed cash, yes, but also while helping the industry’s 800 lb gorilla pull away from the rest of Hollywood.
What’s Holding Up an Actors’ Strike Deal?
Maybe one day robots will do deals, but tonight they’re the main reason there is no deal to end the almost-four month SAG-AFTRA strike. A.I. and streaming residuals remain the roadblocks to an agreement between the union and the studios and streamers—despite the recent participation of eight company C.E.O.s and top execs, and a supposed “last, best, and final” offer delivered yesterday.
Dalio Dish, Shari’s Bounce & Mungerology
Happy Sunday, and welcome back to Dry Powder. On Tuesday, Rob Copeland’s blistering new book on Bridgewater, The Fund, will finally hit the shelves.
Roger Dodger
Roger Lynch, the global C.E.O. of Condé Nast, likes to go to fashion shows. He doesn’t mind taking pictures with celebrities, either. Of course, this shouldn’t be uncommon for someone running a multi-billion dollar international fashion-publishing conglomerate. But his notability at the shows speaks to the uncommon nature of his role. Condé Nast, of course, is owned and controlled by Advance, the Newhouses’ family office.
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