by Troy Pittman

During the three-day Labor Day weekend, Marvel film 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' broke the record for Labor Day theater debut with an estimated $71.4 million in ticket sales. Marvel's first film with an Asian superhero lead ranks among the best debut's since the pandemic. After suffering from COVID-19 financial setbacks, box offices are seeing a bright future for the movie theater industry this fall. Disney Studios are projecting 'Shang Chi' to gross about $150 million, aside from the estimated $12.1 million projection for Monday's ticket sales.

According to the Walt Disney Co., ‘Shang Chi’ will have a 45-day run in theaters before its release on the streaming platform Disney+. The theatrical movie industry couldn’t be more proud of ‘Shang Chi’s due to its theatrical strategy, similar to Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ film. With the film’s earnings being $20 million over its initial projection, Hollywood is relieved. Several upcoming Paramount Picture films: “Top Gun: Maverick”, “Jackass Forever”, and live-action “Clifford The Big Red Dog”, have been postponed.

“We are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will preserve after an embattled year”.

Actor Simu Liu

Simu Liu https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/shang-chi-blasts-labor-day-records-with-71-4m-debut/ar-AAO7PBb?ocid=msedgntp

I saw this article pop up on The Guardian and thought it was interesting. Many non-essential workers being laid off for an extended period of time, but have we considered the fashion industry when we’re thinking of who is affected by the pandemic? 

In this article, it talks about how the fashion industry in the UK has taken a toll on designers and models. They express the struggles they’re facing such as not being able to do photoshoots thus  “they can’t go live because the clothes can’t be photographed”.  Many designers are finding themselves with unsold stock or excess material, as well as overheads such as studio rent which can’t be paid. “The supply chain has stopped, so everything’s stopped,”. 

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/apr/08/economic-crisis-pandemic-could-spell-end-british-fashion

Wired.com  have done something pretty cool and very informative. They’re opting to tell a story without words. Everyday a publisher creates a cartoon that shines the light on the role of science and technology during this pandemic. Leaving reasoning/ facts under each image. This is a great tool for someone that understands through imagery and also just a engaging way to get informed about the pandemic and the efforts going into resolving some pieces of the crisis.

https://www.wired.com/story/wired-cartoons-week-35/

Many companies are struggling with how to change their planned advertising in light of the pandemic. With McDonalds vs Burger king for their recent takes on how to market within the pandemic (BK doing a much better job than the former), some companies like United Airlines have actually donated their ad space for orgs that are operating to help with relief efforts. 

https://www.adweek.com/creativity/with-travel-on-hold-united-airlines-donates-media-space-to-unicef/

This article talks about how Rihanna has been donating money during the pandemic. She has donated 2.1 million dollars to Los Angeles to those affected by domestic violence during lockdown, 2 million dollars to undocumented workers, prisoners, homeless people, the elderly and children of frontline health workers in Los Angeles and New York, and has donated $5m to global organizations to protect healthcare workers and marginalized communities. This is certainly some good news to see that a celebrity with wealth and influence is donating money that she has herself, rather than asking her fans to donate on her behalf.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/10/rihanna-1-point-coronavirus-lockdown-donation-los-angeles-domestic-violence

This article details the decisions behind pay cuts for media outlets across the world. Some companies like Vice ordering some employees to take 10-20% cuts in salary if their income is over $100,000 in a 90 day period, as well as Nancy Dubuc, the chief executive, reducing her salary by 50 percent. 

What might these changes in media companies do for us graduates trying to enter into the industry?

The article added this statement from Jed Kolko, the chief economist at Indeed.com “…New listings for jobs in the media and communications sector had fallen 35 percent in the 60 days before April 3, compared with the same period last year. The decline in postings for all jobs was less drastic, at 24 percent, suggesting that the pandemic has had a greater effect on the news media industry than on other businesses, Mr. Kolko added.”

According to investment banking firm Cown & Co, Facebook and Google are widely expected to lose more than $44 billion in ad revenue due to the virus outbreak. Facebook is expected to see their ad spending drop $15.7 billion and Google a decrease of $28.6 billion. Snapchat will see losses of $977 million while Twitter may lose almost $700 million. The widespread panic seems to be controlling the masses and eventually their superiors in the wide financial world. It seems that this may happen in the future more frequently and rapidly as investors are eager to stack their investments or use flight or fight responses to react to the sporadically moving financial sector.

.https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/04/09/social-media-companies-face-ad-spending-reckoning.aspx

The NFL’s remotely broadcasted, socially-distanced Draft is its most watched draft ever. It had 15.6 million viewers, which is a 37% increase from last year, and a 26% increase from the last record. This is partially due to people being home, of course, but also due to the fact that usually the NFL draft has to compete for viewers against other sports drafts. This is also extremely impressive because they had no major technological glitches during the event.

https://adage.com/article/media/nfls-social-distancing-draft-far-its-most-watched-ever/2252271

Facebook Messenger Rooms, the newest installment of video conferencing services, looks a lot like Zoom, but apparently lacks its flaws. Some articles report how it seems to be a complete ripoff of Zoom in order to get in on this new need. This is not new for Facebook to recreate their own version of apps and services that already exist, in prior months they began pushing their own dating site. Rooms allow up to 50 people to video chat, which is less than Zooms 100, but unlike the free zoom sessions  that cap at 40 minutes, Room has no time limit. I will be curious to see if anyone switches to the alternative of Zoom during this time and if it is truly any better than what is being offered already.

5.https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/4/24/21234958/facebook-messenger-rooms-zoom-video-chat-houseparty