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Most of the NBA will soon head to Orlando to form a 22-team bubble league with the aim to crown a 2019-20 champion. However, uncertainty looms on a number of fronts, including some of the logistics of how games will be broadcast across the country. Considering one of the main reasons to convene the bubble at all is to generate the revenue from television and the potential for immense fan interest, it stands to reason that considerable interest will be paid to what the television product looks like. This week, however, word broke from a prominent source that broadcasters may not be dealing with “normal” circumstances, even above and beyond the reality of fan-less games.
In an interview with Tom Byrne and Amin Elhassan on SiriusXM NBA Radio (h/t The Athletic), TNT play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan revealed some details about what the network will be dealing with and it doesn’t necessarily include integration into the bubble from the outset.
“What I’ve heard from the folks at TNT is we will be in the studios in Atlanta and they will set up as close to possible a broadcast table like we would have courtside,” Harlan said. “We will have, I’m assuming, crowd noise pumped into our headsets. I think for the viewer, I don’t think it’s going to seem dramatically different. Now you’re not going to have courts that you recognize from Milwaukee or Los Angeles or Boston, so that’s going to be a little bit weird. But if we’re all just kind of sitting there watching, I don’t know that we’ll really notice a great deal of difference.”
The buzz about crowd noise certainly isn’t new and, even if the NBA tries it and ends up pulling the plug, there won’t be a lot of damage done. With that said, Harlan’s assertion that broadcasters won’t be present is definitely interesting, even when accounting for recent examples (such as ESPN’s broadcasts of KBO games) of announcers operating effectively from studio environments rather than on-site.
It should be noted, though, that Harlan and his colleagues could be heading to Orlando later in the playoffs, even if not until the conference finals.
“The one thing I have heard is that not until the conference finals would there be any consideration for broadcasters being in this setting,” Harlan said. “That might be the first time that an actual broadcaster might be on-site, doing a conference final, and of course, the NBA Finals.”
Very little about the NBA’s bubble setting will be “normal” when compared to life before COVID-19. At the same time, there have been some positive reviews for KBO, Bundesliga, and Turner’s “The Match” in recent days and, considering the effectiveness and professionalism of broadcasters like Harlan, it feels safe to assume that remote broadcasts will be able to capture the moment in an appropriate manner.
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“ Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return,” a spokesperson said.
Like most non-drive-in movie theaters in the Untied States, AMC movie theaters remain closed even as some parts of the country ease restrictions imposed to safeguard from the COVID-19 pandemic. And now we know just how much that has cost the theater chain: billions.
According to AMC’s first quarter filings, the rumors of “substantial doubt” AMC can survive the pandemic appear to be accurate. The company reported first quarter losses of $2.2 billion on Tuesday, according to Variety.
In a statement, the company said it is focused on its liquidity as it looks to fully reopen worldwide in July. Last week, the company said in filings that there were bankruptcy concerns, noting that “substantial doubt exists” about its ability to be “a going concern.”
“These are truly unprecedented times,” CEO Adam Aron said in a statement. “We are confident we are taking the necessary steps on a broad array of fronts to ensure AMC’s future success as we navigate these turbulent and uncertain times.”
Hollywood effectively shut down due to coronavirus, with no new movies in production and most slated for release getting pushed to the fall. As the coronavirus pandemic spread and theaters shut down, the chain’s very profitable Stubs A-List subscription program was paused as well. The company has a fairly new on-demand streaming service of its own, but it clearly can’t make up the losses of hundreds of theaters sitting silent while months of rent and other overhead piles up.
AMC banned Universal Studios films in the middle of its closures after the studio found success outside of the theater model by releasing Trolls World Tour exclusively on-demand. The true fallout from all of that is yet to be determined, as is whether there will be the same number of AMC theaters to release movies in when they can reopen.
In an earnings call with analysts shortly after numbers were disclosed, Aron downplayed suggestions that the company might be forced to contend with a cash crunch.
“In the end, AMC will both succeed and prosper,” he said.
What’s clear right now is that AMC is taking massive losses while they remain dark, and despite hopes they can reopen in July it will be an uncertain recovery once people can go back to the movies. Or even whether they will once it’s safe to do so.
[via Variety]
UFC president Dana White has made it official: UFC 251 will take place live from Fight Island at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi with a monster card featuring three title fights on July 11, he announced on Tuesday.
Due to current COVID-19 related travel restrictions for international fighters coming into the United States, White has secured the location that will host four events starting next month. The UFC 251 card will feature a slew of championship fights headlined by Kamaru Usman defending his welterweight crown against Gilbert Burns, who punished former champion Tyron Woodley for five rounds back on May 30. The announcement rules out Jorge Masvidal’s anticipated title shot against Usman as he continues to hold out for what he deems appropriate pay for a championship bout.
The undercard of the event will be highlighted by Max Holloway making his anticipated return in an attempt to reclaim the featherweight belt from Alex Volkanovski, while Petr Yan gets a chance at the vacant bantamweight belt against Jose Aldo.
“We are a true global business; we’re the only ones that are pulling off live sports right now,” White said. “And if I continue to do fights in the United States, I’m gonna burn out all my American talent. So now we’ve got Yas Island ready to go; it’s set up.”
The UFC will host three other events — all Fight Night events — after UFC 251 on July 15, 18, and 25. The area of Yas Island will include an arena, hotel, training facilities and dining establishments, with only athletes, coaches, UFC staff and limited personnel allowed, according to ESPN.
The UFC last hosted an event in Abu Dhabi when lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in September of 2019.
There is a distinct style of animation in Disney films that has remained somewhat consistent since Walt Disney first created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in 1927.
Human characters have slim necks, turned-up noses and large eyes with big pupils. Female characters have even larger eyes with exaggerated eyelashes.
Disney’s animals often resemble the movement of the creatures in nature with anthropomorphic features to give them human-like qualities. Its animated animals have mouths like people (because they talk) and ears set far back on the head.
The transformation of the traditional human and animal forms into Disney’s signature look is often referred to as “Disneyfication.”
Dutch illustrator Isa Bredt wanted to learn how to Disneyfi pictures of animals so she began asking for submissions of people’s pets on Reddit. “There was a subreddit where you could offer free art to people. I wanted to practice the Disney style, so I offered free drawings for people who would send me pictures of their pets,” she told Bored Panda.
But soon, she got so good at transforming people’s pets into Disney-esque characters, she was able to turn pro by accepting money on Patreon.
“I did this a few times and people really enjoyed it, though I wasn’t very good yet,” she explained. “Then, last summer, I decided to take on commissions as a summer job because I didn’t want to work in the food service industry again, and it went well enough that I decided to create an Instagram and do the commissions as a side job.”
Bredt draws most of her inspiration from the classic Disney films. Her favorite is The Lion King, but she also adores animal flicks like Lady and the Tramp,101 Dalmatians and The Aristocats.
Here is some of Bredt’s best work. You can follow her on Instagram and help fund her efforts on Patreon:
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Pet_disneyfication/Instagram
Pete Davidson’s The King of Staten Island hits, well, your streaming devices later this week. It’s a far cry from the intended release of the SNL regular’s feature-length work with director Judd Apatow, which was supposed to premiere at SXSW and instead opted for an all-digital release in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the major adjustments to its release, the film is still getting a lot of hype. It’s a passion project for Davidson in particular, as it’s loosely based on his life in the New York City borough. It’s also a movie where Davidson was able to bring a member of his own family into the world of Hollywood: his grandfather.
In an interview with the Daily News’ Ed Symkus, Apatow explained why Davidson’s grandfather, Stephen, appeared in the movie to give an impassioned speech. The director said he, not Davidson, wrote what he was going to say, but noted it was by far Davidson’s “happiest” day on set while filming a very personal movie.
Pete spent a lot of time with his grandfather, Stephen. And when Stephen was a kid, his dad ran a movie theater, way back in the day. Stephen loves movies, and he was the one who would watch movies with Pete when Pete was a very little kid. So, a lot of Pete’s love for cinema is from his grandfather. It’s very meaningful to Pete that his grandfather is in the movie. I think that was Pete’s happiest day on the set.
It’s a lovely touch to a film that, while not outright biographical, includes a lot of details from Davidson’s life. In many ways it’s a potential look at an alternate reality of what Davidson’s life could have been, and thankfully both realities include a cinephile grandfather.