NETFLIX SAYS CONTENT GOING STRONG MID-COVID: Netflix has added 10.09 million subscribers during its second quarter, a rare spot of hope in Hollywood during the pandemic. Tendo Nagenda, vp of original films, tells The Hollywood Reporter that COVID has changed how people want to consume culture, and the changes may be permanent. He said: “There are still going to be plenty of movies that people will want to see in the theater. I just think that there is also going to be an awareness that there is a super-high-quality film available that might or might not be in theaters. The choice is not going to be, ‘Do I go to the theater or do I watch something in the comfort of my own home?’ It's going to be, ‘What do I want to watch and where can I find it?’ If that answer is on Netflix, and not in a theater, then people will be a lot more used to, and happy about, watching it at home.” Nagenda also added that while the streamer wants to return to production, they have content to keep them through part of 2021.
HBO‘S IN TREATMENT AND TBS‘ MIRACLE WORKERS BACK ON: HBO‘s In Treatment and TBS‘ Miracle Workers are returning to California thanks to the state’s tax credit program. No word yet on whether Gabriel Byrne will return as psychotherapist Paul Weston. Daniel Radcliffe is top-lining Miracle Workers. “We are very grateful for the relocation incentive and the opportunity to base more production in California,” said HBO‘s Janet Graham Borba of the move of the once NYC-based In Treatment out West in its latest incarnation. “The state’s ongoing efforts to promote film and TV production have a very significant impact.”
VENICE ADDS THE HUMAN VOICE, ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI: The Venice Film Festival has added Pedro Almodovar‘s The Human Voice and Regina King‘s One Night in Miami for the Lido event, set for September 2-12th. Tilda Swinton stars in Almodovar’s adaptation of the original stage play by Jean Cocteau. Almodóvar comments, “I am very excited about coming back to Venice in such a special year, with COVID-19 as involuntary guest. Everything will be different, and I am looking forward to discovering it in person. It is an honor to accompany Tilda in a year in which she is receiving a very much deserved award. As a matter of fact, The Human Voice is a festival of Tilda, a display of her infinite and assorted registers as an actress. It’s been a spectacle to direct her.” One Night is King‘s feature debut, and follows a young Cassius Clay (before he became Muhammad Ali); Amazon Studio has the global rights.
GOTHAM AWARDS PUSHED TO 2021: Following the lead of the Oscars, Golden Globes and multiple other ceremonies, the Gotham Awards has pushed back the date of its annual ceremony due to COVID. The show will go on Monday, January 11th. “The IFP Gotham Awards have continued to be a staple in independent film and television, and we look forward to celebrating the 30th anniversary and helping to kick off this year's unconventional awards season,” IFP executive director Jeffrey Sharp said in a statement. The Gotham Awards is also shifting its eligibility window, with films released between Jan. 1, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021, under consideration. Gotham Award submissions must be made by Thursday, Oct. 1, and nominations will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 12.
