Disney CEO Bob Chapek today said the entertainment company is undergoing "a bit of a reset" when it comes to its deals with Hollywood's top talent. "The talent deals going forward will have to reflect the fact that the world's changing," he said. The changes come after "Black Widow" star Scarlett Johansson sued Disney in July for simultaneously releasing the film directly to Disney Plus and to theaters. She argued that was a breach of her contract.
⚠️ Activision Blizzard's legal woes take a new turn as its chief legal officer revealed she, too, left the company.
💲 Boulevard, a salon business management platform, today debuted its new point of sale payment system for businesses.
⬆️ Santa Monica-based fintech company, Grow Credit, has hired Zach Cooper as its new vice president of finance, and Craig Stanton as its vice president of business development.
☀️ GSK, the healthcare giant, is building a 42,000-panel solar farm in Irvine.
🎵 Songtradr, a Los Angeles-based B2B music licensing company, is partnering with Myndstream to add a 1,400 catalog of mindfulness music.
🚗 Canadian EV maker ElectraMeccanica is delivering its first fleet of three-wheeled electric vehicles to customers in Los Angeles.
🎞 Netflix is said to be close to acquiring The Roald Dahl Story Company, which owns rights to works like Willy Wonka, the BFG and Matilda.
'Trying to Do Right By Talent'
Disney CEO Bob Chapek said that many of the deals brokered with stars were done so before the pandemic altered the theatrical window. "So we're sort of putting a square peg in a round hole right now, where we've got a deal that's conceived under a certain set of conditions," he said.
"We'll think about that as we do our future talent deals and plan for that, and make sure that that's incorporated. But right now we've got sort of this middle position where we're trying to do right by talent," Chapek added.
CreatorIQ Buys Tribe Dynamics
One of the largest influencer marketing companies, a Culver City-based startup that's helping Disney, AirBnB and Amazon build social media campaigns, is getting larger as demand for data on social media stars grows. CreatorIQ, a marketing analytics company, is acquiring Tribe Dynamics for roughly $70 million.
Work-From-Home Market Fuels Cybersecurity Growth
Cybersecurity threats have only gotten worse during the pandemic, with so many people working from home and using their personal computers to access corporate networks. El Segundo-based Saviynt is poised to take on that growing market with the new funds it secured recently.
Nominate Innovators for dot.LA's Startup Awards
Nominate Innovators for dot.LA's 2021 Startup Awards
We are thrilled to announce the dot.LA Startup Awards 2021, a celebration of the most innovative people and companies in the L.A. startup and tech community. The event will be hosted live on Friday, October 29th, during the dot.LA Summit.
Nominations are open for company submissions in six categories. Get involved and nominate a startup or an individual to win an award by clicking here.
Nominations Are Open for Our Summit LA Pitch Showcase
We're looking for Southern California startups that have a product on the market and have raised less than $1 million in funding to pitch at dot.LA's Summit on Thursday, October 28th at 6:00pm PT on the main stage at Fairmont Miramar.