Latest news with #McGurk
West Australian
26-05-2025
- General
- West Australian
Two South West organisations receive State Government funding to tackle elder abuse
Two South West community organisations, which aim to tackle elder abuse have been awarded State Government funding to host educational workshops on the issue. The Eaton Community Hive and the Boyup Brook Community Resource Centre will both receive up to $5000 to hold initiatives which raise awareness about elder abuse. Regional local governments and not-for-profit organisations across WA were invited to apply for grants to host events and activities in June in recognition of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15. West Australians are being urged to 'wise up, rise up against elder abuse' by participating in information workshops, education seminars, morning teas and art projects, which give people the tools to support older people in their communities. Aged Care and Seniors Minister Simone McGurk said, 'every older Western Australian has a right to feel and be safe'. 'It is vital that as many people as possible are aware of elder abuse and the mistreatment of older people and how and where to access support and information,' Ms McGurk said. 'This grants program is designed to highlight World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in regional areas and builds on the State Government commitment to raise awareness of elder abuse and the mistreatment of older people in Western Australia.' Collie-Preston MLA Jodie Hanns congratulated the Eaton Community Centre on receiving the grant. 'It is critically important that we continue to raise awareness of keeping our elders safe and supported and I thank the Eaton Community Hive for their continued advocacy in this area,' she said. The Eaton Community Hive will host the 'WEAAD and Life's Last Choices Forum' on June 20 at the Bunbury Geographe Seniors and Community Centre. The Boyup Brook Community Resource Centre will host the 'Knowledge is Power — World Elder Abuse Awareness Day' event at the Boyup Brook Town Hall, either on June 10 or June 24 (TBC).
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cineverse announces formation of Cineverse Motion Pictures Group
Cineverse (CNVS) has created Cineverse Motion Pictures Group to optimize new business opportunities for the Company's feature film business initiatives. To lead this group, effective immediately, Yolanda Macias has been named Chief Motion Pictures Officer, a new position that reflects the enormous importance and growth potential in this area. Based in Los Angeles, she reports to the Office of the CEO, which includes Chairman and CEO Chris McGurk and President and Chief Strategy Officer Erick Opeka. Additionally, it was announced that McGurk, Opeka, Chief People Officer Mark Torres and Chief Legal Officer Gary Loffredo have renewed and extended their executive agreements. In addition to renewing his contract with the Company, Torres will continue to report to McGurk, while also adding oversight of Cineverse Services India to his role. Mark Lindsey, who was named CFO in 2023, continues to serve in that capacity. Lindsey and Loffredo will report to the office of the CEO. Discover companies with rock-solid fundamentals in TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter. Receive undervalued stocks, resilient to market uncertainty, delivered straight to your inbox. Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>> See today's best-performing stocks on TipRanks >> Read More on CNVS: Disclaimer & DisclosureReport an Issue Cineverse acquires U.S. rights for Return to Silent Hill Cineverse Updates Executive Employment Agreements Cineverse announces partnership with Trade Desk Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cineverse Launches Dedicated Motion Pictures Group to Take Advantage of High-Growth Feature Film Business Opportunity
Yolanda Macias Named Chief Motion Pictures Officer as Key Executive Leadership Extends Employment Agreements to Guide Next Growth Phase of Company LOS ANGELES, May 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Cineverse (Nasdaq: CNVS), a next-generation entertainment studio, today announced that it has created Cineverse Motion Pictures Group to optimize new business opportunities for the Company's feature film business initiatives. To lead this group, effective immediately, Yolanda Macias has been named Chief Motion Pictures Officer, a new position that reflects the enormous importance and growth potential in this area. Based in Los Angeles, she reports to the Office of the CEO, which includes Chairman and CEO Chris McGurk and President and Chief Strategy Officer Erick Opeka. Additionally, it was announced today that McGurk, Opeka, Chief People Officer Mark Torres and Chief Legal Officer Gary Loffredo have renewed and extended their executive agreements. In addition to renewing his contract with the Company, Torres will continue to report to McGurk, while also adding oversight of Cineverse Services India to his role. Mark Lindsey, who was named CFO in 2023, continues to serve in that capacity. Lindsey and Loffredo will report to the office of the CEO. Remarked McGurk: "Coming off the unprecedented success of Terrifier 3, the top performing unrated theatrical release of all time, Cineverse is embarking upon our most ambitious theatrical release slate ever, including The Toxic Avenger, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Return to Silent Hill, Wolf Creek: Legacy, The Things You Kill and more high potential releases to be announced soon. Extremely well respected in the industry, Yolanda has been a major part of our success, and is the perfect leader for this new operating division. I also continue to believe our entire C-suite is one of the most talented and forward-looking in the business. Together with the rest of the innovative and creative Cineverse team in the U.S. and India, our people remain our strongest asset and represent a true competitive advantage for the Company as we drive the business to the next level." Cineverse Motion Picture Group super-serves passionate audiences by distributing content across all windows and platforms, from theatrical to digital to physical. Following the breakout box office success of Terrifier 3 – now the top-grossing unrated film of all time – Macias and her team at the indie studio are doubling down on their investment in theatrical motion picture releases. These include the franchise expansions of The Toxic Avenger (August 29), Silent Night, Deadly Night (December 12), Wolf Creek: Legacy (2026), Return to Silent Hill (TBA) as well as Lesbian Space Princess (2025), Escape from the 21st Century (2025), The Things You Kill (2025), and more announcements coming this year. About Cineverse Cineverse (Nasdaq: CNVS) is a next-generation entertainment studio that empowers creators and entertains fans with a wide breadth of content through the power of technology. It has developed a new blueprint for delivering entertainment experiences to passionate audiences and results for its partners with unprecedented efficiency, and distributes more than 71,000 premium films, series, and podcasts. Cineverse connects fans with bold, authentic, independent stories. Properties include the highest-grossing non-rated film in U.S. history; dozens of streaming fandom channels; a premier podcast network; top horror destination Bloody Disgusting; and more. Powering visionary storytelling with cutting-edge innovation, Cineverse's proprietary streaming tools and AI technology drive revenue and reach to redefine the next era of entertainment. For more information, visit CONTACTS For Media, The Lippin Group for Cineversecineverse@ For Investors, Julie Milsteadinvestorrelations@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Cineverse Corp. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Los Angeles Times
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The traditional indie film system is hurting. This executive says he's built a winning formula
Chris McGurk saw the writing on the wall for the independent film business more than a decade ago. His distribution company Cinedigm released 'Short Term 12,' starring Brie Larson, to rave reviews in 2013. Hardly anyone showed up to see it in theaters. 'We probably lost $4 million on it,' McGurk told the Times. 'At that point, I said, we gotta stop doing this. Let's see if we can build a new machine.' So the firm pivoted its focus, spending years assembling and growing its collection of 'new media' assets — streaming channels, a podcast network and its own ad technology. It used those online channels, social media and its horror fan site Bloody Disgusting to wage a microbudget campaign for Damien Leone's gory underground killer-clown horror sequel 'Terrifier 2' in 2022, grossing nearly $11 million at the domestic box office. Last year's follow-up, 'Terrifier 3,' did even better for the Los Angeles-based company, now called Cineverse: $54 million in North American ticket sales and $90 million worldwide. Now the company is trying to fill its release slate with similar intellectual-property-driven movies that can leverage that same system, including a Legendary-produced revival of the Troma cult classic 'The Toxic Avenger,' starring Peter Dinklage (set for Aug. 29). Cineverse's success comes at a time when many people believe the traditional way of releasing movies — with broad-based, expensive national ad campaigns — is broken for some types of movies. Certain films still do good business, including big action spectacles, low-cost horror pictures and animated movies. But indie releases and mid-budget films are increasingly risky. Those themes will surely be much discussed this week at CinemaCon, the movie theater industry's annual trade show in Las Vegas. With that in mind, I spoke to McGurk, who joined the company in 2011 after stints at Overture Films and MGM, about why his model is well suited to the digital age and what Hollywood might be able to learn from it. How does your business model allow you to lean further into theatrical releases at this perilous time? The all-in investment for 'Terrifier 3' was less than $5 million in acquisition costs and marketing spend. If you take the theatrical marketing costs out of the mix, it fundamentally changes the economics, not just for us but for producers and filmmakers. This is something that non-Hollywood people don't understand. Often, for smaller movies, the marketing spend is a much bigger cost than making the film. If you read a recent interview with Tom Quinn, CEO of Neon, that's exactly what he said. They spent $18 million on 'Anora,' and it was a $6 million movie. In our case, the producers were sitting behind a less-than-$5-million investment on our part, and they're pretty happy right now. We've already added three movies to our release schedule. One is 'The Toxic Avenger,' which Legendary produced and we picked up. Our all-in investment in that will be less than $5 million. And $5 million is low for a Legendary Pictures movie. It was originally rated R, but we put some stuff back in it, and now we're going to take it out unrated, just like we did with 'Terrifier,' because we think there's a fan base out there that basically is saying 'screw it' to all the rules and regulations and the MPA [Motion Picture Assn.]. They want to see a raw, uncut movie. The movie was in the can in 2023 and it went to Fantastic Fest and got great reviews, but the studios couldn't figure out how to release it. So part of our campaign is, 'We're giving you the movie that the big studios didn't want released or couldn't release.' And we'll go right after the 'Terrifier' audience, even though this isn't exactly a straight horror movie. It's a Troma movie. That's really the only way to describe it. We also have 'Silent Night, Deadly Night,' which is a remake of the movie in the '80s that they banned from theaters. And then we also announced 'Wolf Creek: Legacy,' the third in that series. The goal is to maybe get up to as many as eight wide releases a year. I know it's kind of counter to what everybody else is doing, but we're going to keep applying our formula until it doesn't work. And that formula is what? It's really saying, we've got this collection of new-media assets that we own and control, so how can we leverage that in order to drive media value and awareness? We think on 'Terrifier 3' we probably created $5 million to $7 million in media value without spending a dime beyond the cost of producing the ads, which isn't that much. You're able to do this because you are small by design, compared to the studio players. And I think we're willing to throw out all the rules and leverage these assets. We're not going through a middleman. If you're the head of marketing at a studio, your new spending plan is to do everything you did before, but do a little less of it. Studios often won't do mid-budget movies because they're so challenging financially. Are there ways to be smarter about marketing those films? I think we're onto something. I hate to make the comparison, but it's analogous to how Trump won. He went with the podcasts and very targeted spending, TikTok and digital spending and things like that. Whereas Kamala Harris followed more of a national media buying approach but lost. The problem is, every executive in that business is trying not to screw up. So it really does stifle innovation and risk-taking. How do you target the marketing for 'The Toxic Avenger?' We're going to use our own ad technology to identify where the fan base is for this type of movie — the Troma fans. And we're going to place ads to target that audience and market it on our podcast network as well. The other thing that we've had real success in doing is creating stunts and promos that have attracted a lot of attention. For 'Terrifier 3,' we had a guy dressed up as Art the Clown walking through Times Square the week before our movie opening, and looking up at a billboard of the Joker. For 'Toxic Avenger,' we did a stunt where they dyed the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day and we had Toxie on a boat with his mop going around to clean it up. You've got the Troma geeks, but you've also got Macon Blair directing, who has a following. With 'Terrifier 3,' our whole thing was, how do we expand the audience beyond the people who went to see 'Terrifier 2'? So we spent a lot of time really focusing on the Hispanic audience and the African American audience, and almost half the viewers on opening weekend were Hispanic. Then it was trying to figure out how we could have group attendance and increase our female attendance. And we did that in two ways. One was, we tried to make Art the Clown this must-see character and not focus on the gore. Sort of what we did with 'Hannibal' back at MGM, where we sold Hannibal Lecter as the James Bond of serial killers. And then toward the end, we really did the whole 'You've got to see this movie, because everybody's going to be talking about it.' So we need to do that here. We need to make sure that Troma fans go to see the movie. But we need to expand out of that and focus on the comedy and the actors to try to get more of a female audience and more group attendance. That's key to the decision to go unrated, right? You're going for a 'You really shouldn't be seeing this' kind of appeal. The studios can't really release an unrated movie, because they're signatories to MPA. It gives us a real advantage, because we really don't care. There's a space for filmmakers to do things outside the traditional system. The thing is, we didn't have final cut on the 'Terrifier' films, and we were fine with that. Let him make his movie. That's our approach. When I was at MGM, I was trying to get Christopher Nolan to do [James] Bond, and the Bond producers would not give him final cut. Now he's Christopher Nolan times five. Well, now they'll have another chance with producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman in charge of 007 for Amazon. He'll get final cut now, but it's 20 years too late, in my view. Anything to add? Just one important point. I hated how everybody on Wall Street and in the entertainment press set up this big thing of 'streaming versus theatrical,' with streaming being the villain, because it was helping to destroy this great institution in America. What we tried to do with the 'Terrifier' movies is show that there could be a symbiotic relationship between the two. We use streaming and the podcasts to basically help make a theatrical success in a unique and different way, and hopefully everybody can do more of that. FCC chair opens investigation into Disney and ABC for DEI practices. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has opened an inquiry into Disney and ABC's DEI programs, marking the second investigation of a major media company. Jen Salke is out at Amazon MGM Studios. Salke said she would start her own production company after leaving her perch at the company. She had some major hits like 'Reacher' but was criticized for her spending on shows including 'Citadel' and for mishandling the Bond franchise. How California legislators aim to sweeten film tax credits for Hollywood. The proposed legislation would increase to 35% the amount of qualified production the credit would cover. Los Angeles has been losing productions to other states and countries with generous programs. Republicans grill PBS, NPR chiefs as Democrats mock proceedings. The two public media entities have become frequent targets in the GOP's efforts to reduce government spending. There was grandstanding about drag queens and jokes about Elmo. Inside Paramount's bumpy sale: the president, a scion and a possible sheikh. 'They have to get [the deal] approved,' said Mario Gabelli, a longtime Paramount shareholder. Gabelli and others are eager for a new chapter, but the Skydance deal has turned into a fitful slog. ICYMI: In a surprise, Jason Statham's mid-budget action movie 'A Working Man' was No. 1 at the U.S. box office last weekend with $15.2 million, topping Disney's troubled 'Snow White.' That live-action remake grossed $14.2 million, a 66% drop from a disappointing debut that generated poor word-of-mouth. 'A Working Man' comes at an interesting time for Amazon MGM Studios, which last week announced the departure of leader Jennifer Salke after seven years. Film head Courtenay Valenti, the former Warner Bros. film executive who joined Amazon in 2023, now will report directly to Salke's old boss, Mike Hopkins. Local shoot days were up 5% last week compared with a year ago, according to FilmLA data. Listen: Alison Krauss and Union Station released their first album in 14 years. No surprise, it's excellent.
Times of Oman
30-03-2025
- Sport
- Times of Oman
IPL 2025: Faf's fifty and Starc's five-fer sets up 7-wicket win for DC against SRH
Visakhapatnam: Faf du Plessis's fiery fifty and Mitchell Starc's scorching five-wicket haul assisted Delhi Capitals in silencing Sunrisers Hyderabad with a seven-wicket victory on Sunday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. In pursuit of 164, Faf du Plessis and Jake Fraser McGurk adopted a cautious approach in the first over, negating the threat posed by Mohammed Shami. McGurk broke the shackles and dispatched the ball with a slog sweep over long-on for a maximum of Abhishek Sharma in the second over. DC had sniffed blood, and the explosive duo set out on a hunt of the Sunrisers' bowling unit to make the most out of the powerplay. Faf took the brunt of clobbering Shami for runs and thrived with his textbook perfect stroke play. The seasoned South African clubbed the first ball of the third over for a six. He topped it up with two boundaries on the trot to take 15 runs from the over. The onslaught continued to come in patches as DC garnered 52 runs from the powerplay. Faf didn't drop the tempo and hammered Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins for a six and a four right after the powerplay. Faf (50) sprinted for a single and celebrated his fifty, only to lose his wicket moments later in the next over to Zeeshan Ansari. Despite losing a wicket against the run of play, McGurk hammered a barrage of boundaries to end the over on a high note. After misreading Ansari's googly, he found his first boundary with an inside edge, a delivery after Faf's dismissal. On the next ball, he carved it through the backward point to find the boundary rope. He followed it up by smoking the ball past the boundary rope over long-off. However, on the final delivery of the over, Ansari had the last laugh by tricking the Australian to chip the ball back into his hands. McGurk's rusty cameo concluded on 38(32). KL Rahul (15) came in, flaunted his boundary-hitting muscle, and returned to the dressing room after missing his sweep, allowing the ball to kiss the bails off the stumps and handing Ansari his second scalp of the day. Despite finding the breakthroughs in quick succession, Hyderabad was still at its wits' end as Tristan Stubbs and Abhishek Porel pummelled the Hyderabad bowlers. With a full swing of the bat, Porel muscled the ball away for a maximum to finish things in style and lift the Capitals to a 7-wicket win. Earlier in the match, after losing the toss, the Sunrisers found themselves in trouble early after being reduced to 37/4 before Aniket Verma (74 off 41 balls) and Heinrich Klaasen (32 off 19 balls) put up a crucial 77-run stand to steady their sinking ship. However, Kuldeep (3/22) delivered key blows, while Starc (5/35) completed his five-wicket haul to wrap up SRH's innings in just 18.4 overs. After SRH won the toss and opted to bat first, they suffered an early setback when Abhishek Sharma was run out for just one in the first over by Vipraj Nigam. Starc then struck twice in the third over, dismissing Ishan Kishan (2) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (0), leaving SRH reeling at 25/3 in 2.3 overs. Mitchell Starc continued his fine run against SRH, removing two of its explosive young guns, Ishan Kishan (2) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (0) in the third over. SRH sunk to 25/3 in 2.3 overs. Travis Head, looking to counterattack, was bowled by Starc for 22 off 12 balls, marking the seventh time the pacer has dismissed him. With his departure, SRH was down to 37/4 in 4.1 overs. Klaasen and Aniket took charge, with Klaasen hitting Starc for a six and a four to take SRH past the 50-run mark in 4.5 overs. By the end of the powerplay, SRH had reached 58/4, with Klaasen (11 *) and Aniket (6 *) at the crease. The duo accelerated, bringing up their 50-run partnership in just 22 balls, with Aniket smashing two sixes off Axar Patel. SRH crossed the 100-run mark in 9.1 overs, maintaining an aggressive run rate. At the halfway mark, they stood at 105/4, with Aniket (40 *) and Klaasen (31 *) unbeaten. The 77-run stand between the two was over as Mohit Sharma removed Klaasen for a well-made 32 in 19 balls, with Vipraj Nigam taking a fine running catch. SRH was 114/5 in 10.5 overs. Abhinav Manohar also made a fine impact as Kuldeep Yadav removed him for four runs. SRH was 119/6 in 12 overs. Aniket reached his maiden IPL fifty in 34 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes. Kuldeep got his second wicket in the match as skipper Pat Cummins (2) was removed for a duck as he took the aerial route. DC was 123/7 in 14 overs. Aniket brought down some pressure for SRH, making a meal out of Axar's deliveries and hitting him for a four and two sixes in the 15th over. Kuldeep picked up his third scalp as Aniket's audacious knock was ended due to a catch by Jake Fraser McGurk near the boundary for 74 in 41 balls, with five fours and six sixes. SRH was 148/8 in 15.5 overs. Starc got his five-wicket haul as he removed Harshal Patel (5) and Wiaan Mulder in quick succession. SRH was 163/10 in 18.4 overs. Starc (5/35) delivered the best bowling figures of the innings. Kuldeep picked 3/22 in four overs, while Mohit got 1/25 in three overs.
