DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Learn moreMax, formerly known as HBO Max, is one of the best streaming services out there. We consistently rank it as the top option for critically acclaimed content — and it also has one of the best Cyber Monday deals. This Max Cyber Monday deal ends tomorrow, November 27, and has been available for the past few days in the lead-up to Black Friday. With Max recently raising prices, this is going to be the best Max deal you can expect to see for a while, so make sure to jump on it. To see how these competitors stack up to Max, check out our guide to the best streaming services.

Persons: HBO Max, Max, Zack Organizations: HBO, Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, Ghibli, Zack Snyder's Justice League, TNT, Hulu, Disney Plus, Paramount

Learn moreMax, the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max, is offering a special Black Friday deal for new and returning subscribers. Through November 27, viewers can get their first six months of Max for $2.99 a month, but the deal only applies to the ad-supported version of Max. Max plans normally start at $9.99 monthly for the ad-supported version, so the deal offers a 70% savings. Max recently raised its prices, so this is the best introductory deal you can expect, as long as you don't mind watching a few commercials. We're following multiple Black Friday streaming deals, including discounts on Hulu, Peacock, and Paramount Plus.

Persons: HBO Max, Max, Peacock Organizations: HBO, Black, Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, Ghibli, TNT, Hulu, Paramount

☆ Mattel, hot off 'Barbie' success, hires ex-Fox, Sony exec to run TV studio
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Drew Richardson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Mattel hopes a new hire will help it expand its content slate, following the blowout box office success of "Barbie." The toy maker, home to Hot Wheels and American Girl, announced Thursday that it has hired former Fox and Sony exec Michelle Mendelovitz as head of Mattel Television Studios. "I look forward to the impact Michelle and Mattel Television Studios will have on expanding the content slate to the delight of our fans around the globe." Mendelovitz previously held senior roles at Disney 20th Television Studios, Apple TV+, Sony Pictures Television and CBS Television Network. "Hot Wheels Let's Race" and "Masters of the Universe: Revolution" are a few of the new releases planned for the upcoming year.

Persons: Mattel, Barbie, Michelle Mendelovitz, Josh Silverman, Michelle, Mendelovitz, Thomas, It's, Ynon Kreiz, Barney, Max Organizations: Girl, Fox, Sony, Mattel Television Studios, Mattel, Disney 20th Television Studios, Apple, Sony Pictures Television, CBS Television Network, Thomas &, CNBC, Cartoon Network

[1/2] JioCinema and Pokemon logos are pictured in this illustration taken November 15, 2023. Pokemon has spawned a global multi-billion dollar media franchise spanning trading cards, games, TV shows and movies. In total, JioCinema will add around 3,000 hours of children's content, including movies and shows from Entertainment One, Animaccord, Cartoon Network Studios and DreamWorks, the sources said. Some Pokemon content was earlier on Voot, but the new JioCinema deal is a "much larger partnership", one of the sources said. NBCUniversal told Reuters that "kids and family programming", including DreamWorks content, was part of a multi-year partnership with JioCinema announced in May.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Mukesh Ambani, Mukesh Ambani's, Ambani, Viacom18, NBCUniversal, JioCinema, Aditya Kalra, Munsif, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, Disney, Netflix, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks, Pokemon Company, Walt Disney Co, Nintendo, Media Partners, Entertainment, Cartoon Network Studios, Reuters, Warner Bros Discovery Inc, Hollywood, Thomson Locations: DELHI, India, New Delhi, Bengaluru

☆ ‘Rick and Morty’ reveals its new voice actors
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

It was more of the same, save for two major changes: the voices of Rick and Morty themselves. Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden provide the new voices of Rick and Morty, respectively. They replace Justin Roiland, series co-creator and voice of both Rick and Morty (as well as several supporting characters), who departed the show in January following since-dropped charges of domestic violence. Adult Swim didn’t reveal the new actors’ identities until minutes into Sunday’s episode. “Rick and Morty” has been a mega-hit for Adult Swim over its acclaimed run, which began in 2013.

Persons: “ Rick, Morty, who’ve, Rick, Ian Cardoni, Harry Belden, Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon, Scott Marder, Hugh Jackman, Morty ”, McDonald’s Organizations: CNN, Network, Warner Bros, Discovery, Swim Locations: “

☆ They’re Tiny, They’re Toony, They’re Packing Off to Uni
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Laurel Graeber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

First-year college students everywhere are now adjusting to campus life. Few, however, have to choose between classes like Banana Peel Placement and Whoopie Cushion Alternatives. Or suffer the crash of anvils on their heads when they give wrong answers. These experiences belong exclusively to the incoming freshmen of “Tiny Toons Looniversity,” a new animated series that begins streaming on Friday on Max and airing on Saturday on Cartoon Network. With Steven Spielberg as an executive producer, the show revives the characters and setting of the Emmy Award-winning early-’90s series “Tiny Toon Adventures,” whose own comic DNA descended from the “Looney Tunes” short films of the 1930s-60s.

Persons: Steven Spielberg, ”, Bugs, Daffy Duck, Wile E, Babs, Buster Bunny, Plucky, Hamton J, they’ve Organizations: Max, Cartoon Network, Acme, Warner Bros Locations: hilarity

Hulu + Live TV is among the best live TV streaming services you can sign up for. Hulu + Live TV pricing and plansWhat channels come with Hulu + Live TV? Though the service includes most popular cable stations, there is one notable exception: Hulu + Live TV does not support AMC. You can now access Hulu + Live TV through the Hulu app or website with your account. All Hulu + Live TV memberships include Disney Plus and ESPN Plus as part of a subscription.

Persons: Hulu, Nick Español, Ted Soqui, you'll Organizations: Hulu, Disney Plus, ESPN, Service, ESPN Plus, Disney, ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, FX, CNN, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Bravo, Paramount Network, Food Network, AMC, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, Channel BET, Boomerang, MTV2 MTV, Familia ESPN Deportes Fox Deportes, HGTV NBC, Racing, NFL, Outdoor Channel Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Lucasfilm shutters its Singapore studio after nearly 2 decades in the country amid Disney's plan to save $5.5 billion this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Kai Xiang Teo | Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Lucasfilm is shutting down its Singapore operations after nearly 20 years in the country. The shuttering comes amid Disney's push to save $5.5 billion in costs this year. Lucasfilm Singapore was the company's first international studio, located in its Star Wars-inspired "Sandcrawler" office. Lucasfilm is shutting down its Singapore operations after nearly two decades, the city-state's government said Tuesday. "Over the next several months, ILM will be consolidating its global footprint and winding down its Singapore studio due to economic factors affecting the industry," Disney said in a statement to the AFP.

Persons: Disney, Bob Iger, George Lucas Organizations: Lucasfilm, Lucasfilm Singapore, Morning, ILM, Force, AFP, Infocomm Media Development Authority, Disney, Channel News Asia, Cartoon Network, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Blackstone Group Locations: Singapore

☆ Striking Writers Guild of America members say they work second jobs in retail, food service, and more to make ends meet: 'I never know when work is going to dry up'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Writers Guild of America members are currently on strike after their contract expired with no new deal with TV and movie studios. Many have complained of low pay, especially when writing for a show on a streaming service. Several said they applied to or were working retail jobs when they found out they were nominated for awards. Dozens of users responded and quoted the tweet with their support for Carter and other striking writers, saying they assumed writers on successful TV shows made enough to live between writing jobs. "When I got nominated for a Canadian Screen Award (Canada's Emmy) - I was applying for a job at a coffee shop.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery reengineers the traditional TV bundle for the streaming era
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

In effect, WBD announced that it is recreating the bundle, erecting the pillars of a one-stop shop for scripted and unscripted television, movies, news and sports at a flat monthly rate. Insider Intelligence analyst Paul Verna noted to me that the WBD competitor has “resisted the temptation” to combine Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Instead, Verna observed that Disney is “leaning into each brand’s core strength,” though Disney does offer the ability to purchase the individual services in a bundle. But it goes without saying that Max — the product of the merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery — represents the future for WBD, which has been entrenched in the declining traditional TV business. The Max service launches May 23.

☆ Warner Bros. Discovery unveils 'Max' super-streaming service
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The new service, announced by CEO David Zaslav at a press event Wednesday, will launch May 23 and give consumers access to a large library of programming across Warner Bros. Discovery’s sprawling portfolio: Warner Bros., HBO, HGTV, Food Network, Cartoon Network, TLC and others. The ad-free version will cost $15.99, the price of the company’s existing HBO Max service. Warner Bros. Discovery's forthcoming "Max" streaming service Courtesy of Max“We are a global leader in sports and we are a global leader in news,” Zaslav said. Warner Bros.

☆ I got laid off from my Netflix job 2 months after moving to LA. Here's how I networked my way into A24 and got my career back on track.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Eboni Boykin-Patterson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

McKenzie Bugg moved from a small farm town in Maryland to LA after being hired on a Netflix series. The show was canceled and all of the artists were laid off, two months after Bugg's arrival. I was later hired for the same role at Netflix and moved to LA for the job, but things didn't quite go as planned. I got a great job right after graduatingA director at Adult Swim saw my work on social media and offered me my first animation job on 'Tuca and Bertie.' The news that we were being laid off was really suddenI was really enjoying my job and my coworkers too.

☆ I started a social-media-marketing company with $50 after getting laid off. Now I bring in more than $70,000 in monthly revenue.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Manu Muraro started offering freelance marketing services when she was laid off in 2016. She turned those services into Your Social Team, which offers social-media templates and coaching. Muraro started her career as a producer and creative manager at Cartoon Network before landing a job as a marketing director at a local startup. When she was laid off in 2016, Muraro tapped her experience to launch Your Social Team, a company that sells social-media templates and coaches social-media managers. Since then, she's grown her company to more than $70,000 in average monthly revenue, documents seen by Insider showed.

☆ Cartoon Network reportedly investigated 'Ricky and Morty' co-creator over allegations of workplace misconduct in 2020, years before it severed ties with him
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cartoon Network investigated alleged workplace misconduct by Justin Roiland in 2020, per The Hollywood Reporter. Adult Swim recently cut ties with Roiland over domestic abuse charges against him. The network also investigated Roiland years ago over accusations of workplace misconduct, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Tuesday. He will be replaced on "Rick and Morty" and "Solar Opposites," according to THR. Adult Swim ordered 70 more episodes of "Rick and Morty" in 2018 and has aired less than 50% of those.

Adult Swim announced Tuesday that it has cut ties with Justin Roiland, the star and a co-creator of the animated comedy series “Rick and Morty," as he faces felony domestic violence charges. Roiland, who voices title characters Rick and Morty, will be recast, said Marie Moore, the senior vice president of communications at Warner Bros. NBC News broke the news that Roiland had been charged with felony domestic violence in Orange County, California, in connection with a 2020 incident. Squanch Games, the video game company co-founded by Roiland, also announced Tuesday on Twitter that Roiland resigned. Details of the case, including police body camera video, police reports, abuse investigation reports, medical reports and recordings of interviews, are being withheld from the public under a protective order.

☆ 'Rick and Morty' co-creator Justin Roiland out at Adult Swim, Hulu after domestic violence charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Stefan Sykes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Entertainment companies are cutting ties with "Rick and Morty" co-creator and star Justin Roiland following revelations that he faces felony charges of domestic violence. He had an overall deal with the streamer and produced its animated series "Solar Opposites" and "Koala Man." Hulu's announcement came soon after Adult Swim, which is owned by Cartoon Network, also cut ties with Roiland in connection to the charges. Roiland helped create the cable channel's popular animated series "Rick and Morty," which premiered in 2013. Roiland's voice roles will be recast, as well, said Marie Moore, the senior vice president of communications at Warner Bros.

According to Orange County Superior Court records, Roiland pleaded not guilty to both charges in October 2020. Roiland was arrested and released on a $50,000 bond in August 2020 and arraigned in October 2020. Over the past three years, as the domestic violence case has inched along, Roiland’s career has progressed. Roiland also released the video game “High on Life” in 2022, which he developed through his studio Squanch Games. Roiland won an Emmy for “Rick and Morty” in 2020 and a Hollywood Critics Choice Association TV award for the show in 2022.

☆ Google, YouTube content providers must face U.S. children's privacy lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle said Congress did not intend to pre-empt state law-based privacy claims by adopting the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. In July 2021, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Francisco dismissed the lawsuit, saying the federal privacy law pre-empted the plaintiffs' claims under California, Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Tennessee law. The case was returned to Freeman to consider other grounds that Google and the content providers might have to dismiss it. Lawyers for Google and the content providers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Their lawsuit sought damages for YouTube users age 16 and younger from July 2013 to April 2020.

☆ Mindy Kaling's 'Velma' series set to premiere in January
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

HBO Max has set a Jan. 12, 2023, release date for Mindy Kaling’s animated series “Velma,” a spinoff of the beloved, but family-friendly, “Scooby-Doo” series. In this modern, adult-oriented take on the classic “Scooby-Doo” franchise, the series follows the origin story of Velma Dinkley (Kaling), the brainiac of the Mystery Inc. gang. After a corpse is found in her high school, Velma teams up with Daphne (Constance Wu), Shaggy (Sam Richardson) and Fred (Glenn Howerton) to solve the murder. Kaling’s series also reimagines several members of the Mystery Inc. gang, including making Velma of South Asian descent. “We want to honor other interpretations and what we think feels really modern,” Kaling explained at NYCC.

Hulu + Live TV offers over 85 channels, plus Hulu's entire on-demand catalog, for $70 a month. Hulu + Live TV plans start at $70 a month and include over 85 channels, as well as access to Disney Plus and ESPN+. Hulu + Live TV pricing and plansWhat channels come with Hulu + Live TV? Though the service includes most popular cable stations, there is one notable exception: Hulu + Live TV does not support AMC. You can now access Hulu + Live TV through the Hulu app or website with your account.

☆ HBO is No. 1 as 14 TV insiders rank the streamers where they want to sell shows: Apple's a big spender and 'there's a sheen when you're a Hulu show,' but there's 'fear in the air' at Netflix
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Elaine Low | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

"It's definitely been not the most exciting and robust year," said one TV agent at a major agency. Around 70 people at HBO and HBO Max have been let go this year, and their comedy development teams have merged. While WBD doesn't break out streamer-specific figures, it said on Thursday's earnings call that HBO Max, HBO, and Discovery+ have a combined 94.9 million subscribers, ensuring that any show on HBO Max has the chance to get a lot of eyeballs. They'll also take smaller swings in the genre department, do things at a lower budget," said the second TV agent. Echoed the first TV agent: "You pitch and sell to them if no one else wants it."

☆ Meet the 23-year-old Indian American who flipped a Republican Illinois district
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sakshi Venkatraman | Sakshi Venkatraman Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

An Indian Muslim American who wears a hijab, she remembers the former president’s 2016 Election Day with perfect clarity. Her social media accounts are full of these selfies, thanking the voters who spoke to her by name. Social media helped her broadcast her messages louder than she could have hoped, she said. “There are so many other young South Asian folks that are doing incredible things. Whether it’s politics, comedy, social media, medicine, it’s incredible to see how powerful this demographic is.”

☆ 14 TV insiders rank the streamers where they want to sell shows now as Apple TV+ closes in on HBO Max amid turmoil at Warner Bros. Discovery
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Elaine Low | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

☆ Netflix made huge bets on animation, hiring top talent, but insiders say the streamer neglected marketing and didn't deliver what kids want: 'Where are the farts?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Lucia Moses | Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The streamer didn't market its kids content enough and didn't pay attention to what children like, insiders said. Netflix hasn't been alone in dialing back on kids animation. "They had these grand plans to make a ton of animation and were going to throw a lot of money at it," said a former Netflix animation exec. But they didn't understand kids and they didn't understand animation," said a separate high-level animation programming executive. Animated series offshoot "The Boss Baby: Back in Business" is technically a Netflix original as it premiered on the streamer.

☆ Cartoon Network reports it is NOT shutting down amid rumors: 'Y'all we're not dead, we're just turning 30'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cartoon Network said it is not shutting down, despite rumors circulating on social media this week. Concerns arose after parent company Warner Bros. "Y'all we're not dead, we're just turning 30," Cartoon Network wrote in a tweet. The cable television channel took to Twitter on Friday to dispel concerns that it was shutting down, following reports on Tuesday that parent company Warner Bros. "Y'all we're not dead, we're just turning 30," Cartoon Network wrote in a tweet.

Search resuls for: "Cartoon Network"

25 mentions found