Betting the House AT&T TAKES a $4 BILLION GAMBLE on HBO MAX
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Betting the House AT&T TAKES A $4 BILLION GAMBLE ON HBO MAX BY CYNTHIA LITTLETON AND DANIEL HOLLOWAY PLUS Anita Hill Exclusive TLC’s Howard Lee New Jason Isbell Album MAY 13, 2020 US $9.99 JAPAN ¥1280 CANADA $11.99 CHINA ¥80 UK £ 8 HONG KONG $95 EUROPE €9 RUSSIA 400 AUSTRALIA $14 INDIA 800 AFTER SHOW PRESENTED BY Tune-in to Variety After-Show for exclusive live interviews with the stars and creators of your favorite shows. AFTER-SHOW AIRS ON VARIETY’S INSTAGRAM LIVE FOLLOWING NEW EPISODES OF HIT TV SERIES P.2 6 CONTENTS Maximum Overdrive WarnerMedia is charging ahead with its ambitious streaming service HBO Max. By CYNTHIA LITTLETON and DANIEL HOLLOWAY P.3 4 Finding His Rhythm Genre-defying singer-songwriter Jason Isbell, right, hones his message in new album “Reunion.” By CHRIS WILLMAN P.4 0 Calculated Risk Taker Howard Lee keeps TLC on top by embracing over-the-top shows that challenge its viewers. By DANIEL D’ADDARIO (COVER) ILLUSTRATION BY IRENA GAJIC; (THIS PAGE) PHOTOGRAPH BY ALYSSE GAFKJEN ALYSSE BY PHOTOGRAPH (THIS PAGE) IRENA GAJIC; BY ILLUSTRATION (COVER) VARIETY 3 CONTENTS P.4 3 Variety looks at location hot spots anticipating a spike in business as lockdown restrictions TOP BILLING start to ease 11 ROUGH ROAD AHEAD Media giants face tough decisions in the coronavirus- battered economy 17 GAME FOR ANYTHING Some quirky sports are lining up to fill the void left by live televised events 19 IN THE RUNNING There are several excellent reasons why we should still have the Emmys this year 20 THE BIG TICKET How Amit Rahav learned Yiddish in a few weeks for Netflix’s “Unorthodox” EXPOSURE ALSO 21 DEVOUR INSIDE Check out Kristen Stewart’s turn as “Seberg,” which lands on Amazon Prime this week 8 24 DIRT FIELD NOTES Kelly Clarkson puts Encino Musings property on the market on hot topics 9 PLUGGED IN FOCUS What’s trending at Variety.com 48 VARIETY ARCHIVES P.2 3 A look back at World War II via the showbiz bible’s lens Vanna White turns Valley ARTISANS home into upscale rental 53 PUTTING ON THE DOG Animators bring “Scooby-Doo” universe to life in a new way for origin tale “Scoob!” 54 THE ROYAL TREATMENT Design team creates a world fit for an empress for new Hulu series “The Great” P.5 7 55 ‘DANCE’ CARD The post crew shares how it finished the Michael Jordan “Capone” docu-series during lockdown review “One of the bits of misdirection in the REVIEWS show is that it’s a murder mystery: That is the inciting incident, but it ends up being a show that’s a lot 57 FILM more about the politics of scarcity “Capone” and how does this society function with limited resources.” 59 TV Daveed Diggs on his new TNT series “Snowpiercer” “Snowpiercer,” “The Great” P.62 LOCATION: PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX GITMAN; CAPONE: ALAN MARKFIELD/VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT; SNOWPIERCER: JUSTINA MINTZ/TNT JUSTINA SNOWPIERCER: ENTERTAINMENT; ALAN MARKFIELD/VERTICAL ALEX GITMAN; CAPONE: BY PHOTOGRAPH LOCATION: 4 VARIETY An Exclusive Screening of WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 5PM PDT / 8 PM EDT Plus Q+A with series stars, Matthew Macfadyen, Sian Clifford, Michael Sheen and writer & executive producer, James Graham Moderated by MICHAEL SCHNEIDER Senior Editor, TV Awards, Variety REGISTER NOW VARIETY.COM/AMCQUIZ Michelle Sobrino-Stearns GROUP PUBLISHER & CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER SALES MARKETING Donna Pennestri Dea Lawrence ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Claudia Eller MILLIE CHIAVELLI JOHN ROSS SVP, SALES & GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, FEATURES & EVENTS DAWN ALLEN TIM BOYER VP, FILM & TALENT Andrew Wallenstein CREATIVE DIRECTOR MICHELLE FINE-SMITH CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST & PRESIDENT, VARIETY INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM SUSANNE AULT VP, GLOBAL CONSUMER PARTNERSHIPS EDITORIAL FEATURES DIRECTOR, PROGRAMMING JASON GREENBLATT Lesley McKenzie Steven Gaydos VP DIGITAL SALES DAYNA WOLPA DIRECTOR, EVENT MARKETING MANAGING EDITOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL ERIC LEGENDRE CONTENT/EXECUTIVE EDITOR CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR, JAMIE ARONSON Cynthia Littleton ANDREW BARKER INTERNATIONAL SALES DIRECTOR, EVENT MARKETING SENIOR FEATURES WRITER BUSINESS EDITOR LINDSEY ELFENBEIN DAVID S. 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