StillPaisleyCat

Kudos to you for going for TAS right after TOS.

Some interesting stuff in this article.

It looks like Skydance thought that getting the non-voting class B Paramount shareholders on board would put pressure on the voting ones.

But it seems like Redstone was sensitive to the minority group of voting shareholders and that they were not on side. That is, it wasn’t enough to have the Redstones as the majority holders of class A NAI shares, and the majority of non-voting class B Paramount shareholders, Shari Redstone felt she had to have sufficient support from the minority of voting NAI shareholders to avoid problems such as accusations of imposing losses on a group.

“According to a source familiar with the talks, Redstone’s request for a “majority of the minority” vote, in which other Class A shareholders could vote to approve or nix the deal, was a nonstarter for Skydance, and the studio was anticipating a regulatory review of more than a year, which gave Redstone pause given the constraints it would have required of the business in the meantime.”

I believe their licence for Star Trek has expired so what’s already ordered is it.

Mine hasn’t arrived yet but it’s on the way.

I have no idea what the second is, but if Marvel has hired her, they are very smart.

I was surprised that Gersha Phillips wasn’t the head costume designer for season 5.

Do we know if she was tapped for that for the S31 movie instead?

Some context on the Saskatchewan aspect that puts helps to understand the concerns being raised:

“Weekes also said Harrison once sought permission to bring a gun into the legislature. Harrison initially denied the allegation but resigned last week after admitting he had forgotten about the incident, which happened more than a decade ago.”

The CP photo caption says the incident happened in 2016.

While I’m still burning that SNW introduced the first main cast person with disability and killed them off just to lean on the crutch of development-by-death-of-mentor for Uhura, I’m super happy that Bruce Horak is now being regularly cast in guest star and recurring television roles in Canada.

It’s a long way from a Star Trek stint being a career-limiting choice as it was viewed in the past.

Great to see Discovery cast getting picked up for principal/star roles in new projects.

If the actors’ contracts are for 7 calendar years but production is stretched out as is has been due to the pandemic and the strike, it’s hard to see how more than 5 seasons are possible without severe escalation in labour costs for US talent.

Contract length is a fair point. But so is the over reliance on US SGA talent in a show that’s trying to reach a global audience and represent a future that’s diverse.

Discovery had only five seasons but in calendar years, in which contracts are written, it was seven years from production of the pilot. So, regardless of the impact of the strikes, further seasons would have required higher salaries for Martin-Green, Rapp, Cruz and Wiseman.

One has to wonder if that was a consideration in the decision on Lower Decks as well.

Also, while federal and provincial governments give significant tax credits for the ACTRA-contract labour costs of Canadian and Ontario resident actors (50%), up until Rennie joined this season the Discovery main cast were all full SGA scale, although the seasonal ‘big bass’ have all been Canadian or resident since season 2. That can make a huge difference to the overall cost.

All to say, if talent salaries were the key driver of decisions, CBS Studios should put more casting in the hands of their Canadian casting director.

One has to then of Canadian/resident main cast will also put a cap on the potential number of seasons for SNW.

It will be interesting to see whether CBS Studios will go for the tax credit when they cast the cadet roles for Starfleet Academy.

One gets the feeling that Paramount senior management have been paying more attention to review-bombed scores on Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb etc. and YouTubers than to actual viewing minutes and audience size.

While Nielsen stats are only for the United States, it’s clear that Paramount has been doing vastly better by Discovery than any of the naysayers have claimed.

It’s disappointing in its limitations, yes, but another step in bringing warp-driven travel into a more mainstream conversation and line of theoretical research in physics.

As with Albucierre’s proof, theoretical research always starts with the corner solutions and odd cases to reduce the variables.