Brittney Griner, one of the best basketball players on the planet has been detained in Russia for 5 months over a minor infraction. What will the U.S. do to bring her home and why has it taken so long? Plus we remember James Caan and the NFL announces a major potential shift for Sunday Ticket. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Happy 4th week! Hope everyone stayed safe. Paul and Mesh do a light episode around Minion's box office hit, Cameron Diaz's big comeback, Star Wars, and some M&A updates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The PGA Tour is adapting to the emergence of LIV, the new Saudi backed golf tour with a multi-billion-dollar bank account. As several prominent players defect from the PGA Tour for apparently greener pastures, Mesh and Paul explain the PGA Tour’s response thus far, the economics of the modern golf-industry in the U.S., and the legal framework which may be applied to the PGA Tour’s decision to suspend prominent players who join a competitive league. Can the leagues ultimately share resources and ...
Media companies are feeling the market volatility as consumer spending and advertising revenue are going down - where are they tightening their belts to compensate? How is this impacting mega-deal activity? Peter Rice was abruptly fired from Disney amidst a successful tenure. And YouTube is making a play for TikTok’ mantle as the dominant place for short videos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The family of the original writer of Top Gun is suing Paramount for copyright infringement claiming they agreed to a sequel Do they have a case? Johnny Depp’s lawyer Camille Vasquez will appear in a new documentary detailing the actor’s relationship with Amber Heard. And, we’ll also discuss Netflix’s interest in acquiring Roku. What does that mean for the stocks? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Does Amber Heard have legitimate grounds for an appeal after losing the libel case against Johnny Depp? Can Hollywood heavyweights have a fair trial in the age of social media? Hollywood studios are trying to shut down VPNs that make it possible to skirt the copyright restrictions. Also, Chelsea Football Club is acquired after the UK forced its Russian owners to put it up for sale. Find Mesh on Twitter: @meshlakhani Find Us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bettercallpaulthepodcast/ Learn ...
This week on BCP we’ll discuss Ray Liotta’s untimely passing and our favorite films of his from over the years. Also, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested $2.6B in Paramount. Known for buying undervalued and the long-term winners, we’ll go into the details of what he might see here. Lastly, Seth Green’s crypto wallet was compromised and he’s lost ownership of some high-valued NFTs including Bored Ape #8398 which is the bartender on a show he’s been working on called White Horse Tavern. S...
The entertainment industry is covering their bases - Netflix hopes to further dominate things by introducing live streaming. And WarnerBrothers wants to be seen as the "fifth" US broadcast network. Then, we'll discuss the lawsuit being brought against Euphoria's Sydney Sweeny for breaking her agreement with LA Collective. Lastly, Maverick is back and Tom Cruise is not interested in streaming. Instead he wants to support the theater owners with both Top Gun and Mission Impossible. Learn more abou...
Kanye, OJ, Will Smith, Kobe Bryant, Jesse Smollet: What do they have in common? Kendrick Lamar featured them all in his latest music video using deepfake technology. We’ll discuss the legality of that and whether or not he can be sued. Also, Disney takes $1B hit as it ends licensing to redirect to streaming. And lastly, Covid has officially caused more than 1M deaths in the US alone, but it’s also had a major impact in entertainment and their ability to do business. Billions of dollars have been...
The box office is back with Dr. Strange: Multiverse of Madness raking in $190 million. The trickle down effects to the fully Disney Plus library is proving exponential. Also, Dave Chapelle was attacked during a comedy show and Olivia Wilde was served papers during Cinemacon. What is the process for protecting performers while they are on stage and what are the celebrity’s legal rights during performances? Lastly, Justin Lin walks off the set of Fast X due to creative differences and their impact...
The future of Marvel. Our main topic this week is X-Men and Dr. Strange 2 and the immense IP crossover potential that exists between the Marvel Universe and Disney’s vast vault of characters. Paul gives a history lesson on Marvel’s sale of assets over the years and their bids to reacquire their most popular characters and what that means for the fans. Also we discuss the Johnny Depp libel lawsuit and how social media is playing a role. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...
A lot of drama in the streaming wars to discuss as Netflix’s stock plummets and CNN+ dissolves in a month. Also, Johnny Depp is suing Amber Heard, his ex-wife, for defamation after she accused him of domestic abuse. Paul explains the different ways a defamation case can be litigated. How can people (and even podcasters) protect themselves financially and from today’s cancel culture? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
What do Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, and a Russian Oligarch have in common? Château Miraval, the famed vineyard the couple owned together which has produced award-winning wine in recent years. Jolie reportedly claimed she could no longer be in business with her ex and sold her stake to Russian oligarch, Yuri Shefler. Pitt is now suing her citing he was denied approval as well as right of first refusal in hopes of negating the sale. What grounds does he have and with recent Russian sanctions what w...
Kanye West walked away from $8.5M when he pulled out as a headliner at Coachella and has been replaced by Swedish House Mafia and The Weekend. What does this mean for ticket holders who purchased based on his performance? And what recourse, if any, does Coachella have with him backing out? Also, Ketanji Brown Jackson makes history as the first African American woman confirmed to the Supreme Court. We’ll discuss what her influence might be on both the legal system and entertainment industry. Last...
In honor of the conclusion of awards season, we are launching the first annual Paulies! Highlighting the best in box office performance and how that contributes to a studio’s bottom line, best streaming service and what that means for IP, best M&A and what the impact is on taking down Netflix, and best overall legal argument. Also, Marvel took a big risk on Moon Knight launching with Oscar Isaac only having a one season deal. What does that mean for the future of the franchise and the future...
This week on Better Call Paul, we discuss - the NFL signed long term agreements to distribute game coverage on TV, cable and digital platforms. It’s an unprecedented move to share rights across Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, FOX and NBC and rumored to be worth $113B over 10 years. Moon Knight, coming out at the end of March on Disney+, is the first new Marvel character to be launched via streaming and is kicking off a whole new class of Disney IP. And finally, Oscar predictions! This was taped before th...
Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger has joined the board of Genies, a company that creates avatars to move through the metaverse. Celebrities have been promoting NFTs for a while now and are actively taking a bigger stand, but making a personal investment and taking a board seat makes a big statement. M&A is continuing to heat up in the streaming wars with Discovery and Warner Media combining forces. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
There’s been a constant stream of legal cases suing high profile artists: Dua Lipa has been sued TWICE by two separate groups for stealing the same song! Ed Sheeren has been accused for stealing parts of his 2017 hit Shape of You. Katy Perry won her appeal. Why does this keep happening? How difficult is it to win a copyright infringement case against an artist? Is it simply a money grab or is there more at risk for the musician? If songs are by definition collaborative how can anyone prove it? A...
Unions are a hot topic this week. Even though Hollywood is a heavily unionized industry, Netflix canceled Nailed It! Haloween, a popular show in its seventh season, after crew members decided to walk off the set midseason in hopes of unionizing and re-negotiating their contracts. Rick and Morty's animators also protest for fairer pay and more rights in a lawsuit against Adult Swim. MLB is also in the middle of collective bargaining negotiations. Whose bottom line is impacted more? Learn more abo...
The Champions League Final was moved from Russia to Paris as a show of solidarity against the Russian government, but what goes into such a decision? Big sporting events are a well-choreographed set of negotiations involving everyone from the venue, to the international broadcast teams, to the global and local sponsors, to the fans and making last minute changes can throw any or all of those into breach of contract. How are such decisions evaluated and how do the PR implications factor into the ...
P aul and Mesh break down the legal differences between aspiration and fraud. Sure Inventing Anna and the Tinder Swindler are popular today, but they are far from the exception. Paul and Mesh discuss how actor Zachary Horwitz was able to create a Ponzi Scheme that left more than 200 Hollywood investors stunned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this premiere episode of BETTER CALL PAUL, we dive into how things have changed since streaming platforms have entered the space and what this means for production companies, actors/actresses, and their compensation, and why these streaming services are now being sued. We also talk about the Olympics on Peacock and how that deal looks different now that everyone is pushing content to their subscribers. Lastly, we take a look at the Oscars - which pictures we’ve seen, who we like (and who we d...
BETTER CALL PAUL, the new podcast from Lola Media hosted by former Marvel entertainment lawyer Paul Sarker and entertainment enthusiast Mesh Lakhani will delve into the business and legal issues at play behind the glitz and glam. This show takes you beyond the catchy headlines to find out what’s really at play behind the scenes and gives you an introduction to the business side of show business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
