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MoviePass CEO announces in all-hands meeting that tickets to big upcoming movies will not be available on the app

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the meg movie

  • In an all-hands meeting on Monday, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe announced that the upcoming big releases "Christopher Robin" and "The Meg" would not be available to subscribers, a source familiar with the matter told Business Insider.
  • The implication was that the practice of not offering tickets to major releases would continue for the foreseeable future. 

MoviePass subscribers were frustrated to find over the weekend that they couldn't order tickets through the app for the weekend's biggest release, "Mission: Impossible — Fallout," and it looks as if going forward they will continue to be shut out of major titles.

A source familiar with the matter told Business Insider that during an all-hands meeting on Monday, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe said the app would not make "Christopher Robin" and "The Meg" — the two major releases hitting theaters in the next two weeks — available to its subscribers, and he implied that the practice of not offering tickets to major movies would continue for the foreseeable future.

The company has fallen on incredibly hard times as it tries to find a financially feasible business model.

Last week, MoviePass' parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics, did a reverse stock split that boosted shares to about $14 on Wednesday from $0.09 on Tuesday. The service temporarily shut down on Thursday night because it ran out of money, and HMNY said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday that it had to borrow $5 million in cash to get it back online. Its stock closed at $2 on Friday.

Things didn't get any better going into the weekend as complaints on social media were rampant. "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" was blocked for subscribers, and the app had more technical issues again on Sunday.

Lowe's announcement at the all-hands meeting came on the heels of an open letter on Friday in which he said, "As we continue to evolve the service, certain movies may not always be available in every theater on our platform."

When reached for comment for this article, a MoviePass representative referred Business Insider to the CEO's statement in the Friday letter.

Because MoviePass has to pay the full ticket price for all the movies its subscribers go see, eliminating major releases going forward means the cash-strapped company would pay millions less. (As of mid-July, MoviePass paid more than 1.15 million tickets for just "Avengers: Infinity War.")

HMNY's stock closed below $1 on Monday.

SEE ALSO: The strange story of how MoviePass' owner was created by an Indian company accused of massive fraud

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8 excellent movies not on Netflix that you can rent for under $3

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frozen

If you're like us, it can be frustrating when the movie you want to see isn't available on Netflix or another streaming service you subscribe to.

Then you have to wade into the world of rentals and decide whether it's worth the extra money to watch.

Many of us just default to whatever our go-to rental service is, be it iTunes or Amazon or something else.

But there can actually be some variation in the price of rentals.

One service in particular you might not know about is FandangoNOW, the streaming service from movie ticketing site Fandango, which owns Rotten Tomatoes. The company has begun a monthly highlight of titles in its library that only cost $2.99 to rent ($2.49 if you don't care to watch it in HD) and are rated fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

The site passed its August list to Business Insider early.

Here are 8 titles that we think are worth your time, including greats like "Frozen" and "The Hunger Games," that are cheaper on FandangoNOW than on iTunes or Amazon.    

SEE ALSO: All the TV shows that have been canceled recently

“Avatar” (2009)

If you are really starving for those countless "Avatar" sequels, bide your time by going back and watching James Cameron's original.



“Bridesmaids” (2011)

This comedy from Paul Feig never gets old. The whole cast is incredible, but it's Melissa McCarthy who is the standout and really makes the movie into an instant classic.



“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014)

Here we learn what has happened to Cap's best friend Bucky Barnes, which is just one of the many things Steve Rogers has to wrap his head around as he tries to cope with living in the future.



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Stephen Colbert discusses the sexual-misconduct allegations against his boss, CBS CEO Les Moonves

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colbert moonves

  • Stephen Colbert discussed the allegations of sexual misconduct against Les Moonves, the CEO and chairman of CBS, in his monologue on Monday.
  • Six women accused Moonves, Colbert's boss, of sexual misconduct in a New Yorker report published Friday.
  • The "Late Show" host did a comic spit-take upon learning that Ronan Farrow, who previously wrote a bombshell report on allegations of sexual misconduct against Harvey Weinstein, also wrote the Moonves report.
  • "That's not good," Colbert said. "Ronan isn't exactly known for his puff pieces about glamping."

Stephen Colbert addressed the recent allegations of sexual misconduct against his boss, Les Moonves, the CEO and chairman of CBS, in his "Late Show" monologue on Monday.

Six women accused Moonves of sexual misconduct in a New Yorker report by Ronan Farrow published Friday.

Colbert opened his monologue by joking that he had been in South Carolina without internet ("They don't have it there yet," he said) when he "heard that there was an article about CBS Chairman — and man I hope isn't watching tonight's monologue — Les Moonves."

The "Late Show" host then did a spit-take upon learning that Farrow, who previously wrote a bombshell New Yorker report on allegations of sexual misconduct against Harvey Weinstein, also wrote the Moonves report.

"That's not good," Colbert said. "Ronan isn't exactly known for his puff pieces about glamping."

Colbert threw to a news clip detailing the allegations against Moonves. The New Yorker reported that four women described "a practiced routine" of forcible kissing and touching.

"Well, you know the old saying: 'How do you get in a Ronan Farrow article? Practice, practice, practice,'" Colbert said.

The host then addressed CBS's announcement on Monday that the company would not suspend Moonves amid an outside investigation into the allegations against him.

"I don't know why they're outsourcing this," Colbert said of the investigation. "They could just use the cast of the new CBS procedural 'CSI: CEO.'"

Watch the clip below:

SEE ALSO: The CBS board won't suspend CEO Les Moonves during the investigation into sexual misconduct claims made against him by 6 women

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10 reasons you should buy a Nintendo Switch instead of the PlayStation 4 (NTDOY, SNE)

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nintendo switch vs playstation 4

You want to buy a modern video game console, and you have $300 to play with. What do you buy?

For $300, you can buy a Nintendo Switch or a PlayStation 4— both retail for exactly $300 before taxes, and offer their own unique video game experiences.

If you're on the fence, though, here are 10 reasons you should buy a Nintendo Switch instead of the PlayStation 4:

1. The Nintendo Switch can be played on your TV like a traditional game console, but it can also be taken anywhere. The PlayStation 4 must be connected to a power source and a TV to play games.



2. The Nintendo Switch boots up and powers down much faster than the PlayStation 4.

This might seem like a small detail, but when you're turning a game console on hundreds of times throughout the course of its life, every second counts. And the Nintendo Switch can boot up much faster than the PlayStation 4.

The Nintendo Switch takes just under 4 seconds to fully boot up, from completely powered off to on and playing from where you left off.

The PlayStation 4, on the other hand, takes about 35 seconds to fully boot up from Rest Mode so you can jump back into that game you were playing. If you have it fully turned off, and not just asleep, the PlayStation 4 takes even longer to get going.

The startup difference is significant, and it makes the Nintendo Switch act and feel more like a modern gaming console.



3. There are more ways to play the Nintendo Switch than the PlayStation 4.

With the Nintendo Switch, you have at least seven different ways to play:

— Holding two Joy-Con controllers, one in each hand

— Using one Joy-Con as a controller

— Playing with the two Joy-Cons in the Grip handheld accessory

— Purchasing and using the Pro controller

— Putting the Joy-Con on the Switch console and playing it as a handheld

— Playing the Nintendo Switch on your TV

— Playing the Nintendo Switch on your tabletop, thanks to its kickstand

The PlayStation 4, on the other hand, can only be played on a TV, and has just a handful of input options, including the default DualShock 4 controller, the PlayStation Move hand controllers, and the PlayStation VR headset. And suffice it to say, those PlayStation 4 accessories are pricey and not at all portable. 



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MoviePass will raise its monthly price to $14.95 and limit users' ability to see big movies

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MoviePass card

  • MoviePass on Tuesday said it would raise its monthly subscription price to $14.95 within 30 days.
  • The service will also begin to limit users' ability to see movies released on more than 1,000 screens.
  • The changes are intended to cut the company's monthly burn rate by 60%, according to a press release.

In a press release sent Tuesday, MoviePass announced that the subscription price for the movie-ticketing service would rise to $14.95 a month within 30 days.

The company also announced that movies released on more than 1,000 screens would be "limited in their availability during the first two weeks, unless made available on a promotional basis."

These steps have been taken in the hope of cutting the company's monthly cash burn by 60%, according to the release.

On Monday, Business Insider reported that MoviePass had held an all-hands meeting in which CEO Mitch Lowe announced the app would no longer make available major Hollywood releases like this weekend's new release, Disney's "Christopher Robin," and the following week's shark thriller, "The Meg."

"While no one likes change, these are essential steps to continue providing the most attractive subscription service in the industry," Lowe said in Tuesday's release. "Our community has shown an immense amount of enthusiasm over the past year, and we trust that they will continue to share our vision to reinvigorate the movie industry."

The news comes close to the first anniversary of MoviePass' drastically changing its business model by offering the service for just $9.95 a month (for one movie a day in theaters). The low price point made the service a hot-button topic in the movie industry, with AMC Theatres, the largest movie-theater chain in the world, vocally expressing a lack of confidence in MoviePass' business model; it has since started its own monthly subscription service.

Helios and Matheson Analytics, MoviePass' parent company, had an average monthly cash deficit of $23 million in the first quarter of 2018, which rose to $40 million in May and an estimated $45 million for both June and July. In the past few weeks, Helios and Matheson has struggled to keep its stock above $1 and suffered multiple service interruptions.

"Over the past year, we challenged an entrenched industry while maintaining the financially transparent records of a publicly traded company," Helios and Matheson Analytics' CEO, Ted Farnsworth, said in the release. "We believe that the measures we began rolling out last week will immediately reduce cash burn by 60% and will continue to generate lower funding needs in the future."

SEE ALSO: MoviePass CEO announces in all-hands meeting that tickets to big upcoming movies will not be available on the app

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How Columbia House sold 12 CDS for $1

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Does 12 CDs for a penny sound too good to be true? Well, in the mid-90s that offer represented more than $1.5 billion of the music industry. NYU music business professor, Larry Miller, helps break down how music clubs like Columbia House and BMG Music Service didn't just make money, but were very profitable as well. Following is a transcript of the video. 

Matt Stuart: Ever get a whole bunch of CDs for a penny, or even free?

Commercial: Columbia House, big enough to bring you all the best in entertainment

Matt: Columbia House and the BMG Music Service both offered amazing deals. About eight CDs at almost no cost to you, then just buy one more at full retail price and you get three more for free. Sounds too good to be true, right? How could something like this make money?

Commercial: Remember, it's our secret, so watch your mail for this package from Columbia.

Larry Miller: You could join these things for a penny, get a bunch of music for almost free as long as you promised to buy a certain amount of music over the next year or so at regular club prices.

Matt: That's Larry Miller. He's an NYU professor and music industry vet with a podcast about the industry, Musonomics.

Larry: The regular price of the CDs that you would buy was the suggested retail price, which was 17.98, 18.98, 19.98 plus shipping and handling for those CDs.

Matt: Those prices and the shipping costs were key to the club's success. Columbia House, BMG Music, and other clubs utilized a practice called negative option billing.

Larry: The way that the clubs offered music to consumers was through a catalog roughly every month. Actually it was a little bit more often and in some cases they were shipping 21 different catalogs every month. And that for every catalog, you would need to send back a postcard within ten days of your receipt of that catalog indicating that you didn't want the selection of the month. If you didn't do that in time, or if you just forgot, you would be shipped that record and of course you would be billed for it.

Matt: Forget to send the card back and you'd owe the club about $22 for a CD you may not even want. But you still only paid a few bucks shipping on 11 other albums. This still doesn't seem sustainable, especially when retail shops were selling CDs for $14 and up.

Larry: They would license the actual master tapes and the production files for the physical media from the major music companies. And they would be able to manufacture these records at a cost of about $1.50 or so each. In many cases, inferior pressings on vinyl and CD and you wouldn't get maybe the full lyrics and you wouldn't get the nice inserts and stuff and even the little booklets that were included in the CD were not quite as nice as the ones that you would get in the store very often.

Matt: By pressing their own albums, the clubs were able to make about $5 to $6 on each unit they actually sold. Even accounting for all the free albums they sent out.

Larry: As it turns out, that was plenty of margin to operate these businesses which together were generating about a billion and a half dollars of revenue, or about 15% of U.S. record industry volume at the peak, which was around 1996 or so for the record clubs.

Matt: However, that 1.5 billion wasn't really going to everybody.

Larry: The records that you would get for a penny counted as free goods and that there were no royalties on free goods. It's still unclear today exactly how many of those royalties were paid through to recording artists. They were only paid on the purchased goods, and even so it was at three-quarters of the regular rate that they would have been paid had you bought it in a regular record store.

Matt: Most of the artists and writers didn't get paid anything on any of the free albums.

Larry: However, the sale of the records did count in the calculation of gold and platinum and chart position.

Matt: So no money, but you might wind up with a pretty big trophy. Now the clubs are long gone and services like Spotify and Apple Music have taken their place with access to almost any song you could want for $10 a month. Are those bum deals for the artists, too?

Larry: I believe that as streaming takes hold and as smartphone penetration continues to grow the way that it has and as smart speakers and voice interactivity begins to take hold that music consumption is going to grow to a level that we just haven't experienced before. Even if the amount of money per listen is less than what we were used to getting back in the days of the CD or vinyl record.

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AMC's movie-theater subscription service racked up over 175,000 subscribers in its first 5 weeks, as problems continue for MoviePass

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mama mia

  • AMC Theatres' subscription service, AMC Stubs A-List, has 175,000 subscribers after five weeks.
  • That's ahead of expectations, as AMC projected the service to hit 500,000 subscribers in its first year, the company said.
  • The announcement comes on the heels of MoviePass' continued cash-flow problems.
  • MoviePass is raising its monthly price and restricting big movies for the foreseeable future.

 

As one movie-theater subscription service suffers, another is growing rapidly.

AMC Theatres announced Tuesday that its new subscription service, AMC Stubs A-List, had garnered over 175,000 subscribers since its launch five weeks ago.

The announcement comes on the heels of competitor MoviePass' continued woes. MoviePass rose to prominence last year when it lowered its monthly subscription fee to $9.95 for a movie a day in theaters. Many consumers were ecstatic and felt the deal was too good to be true. But times have changed. 

Business Insider first reported on Monday that MoviePass would no longer buy tickets for the rest of the summer's big releases, and might continue to restrict big movies for the foreseeable future. And on Tuesday, MoviePass confirmed that it would raise its monthly price to $14.95 while restricting first-run movies with wide releases for at least their first two weeks in theaters, in an attempt to set the company up for "future sustainable growth."

AMC said the surge in membership was above its expectations, as it projected the service to hit 500,000 subscribers in its first year and 1 million by June 2020.

“We are nothing less than ecstatic about the early consumer response to AMC Stubs A-List, which encourages
moviegoers to come to the theatre more often, bringing their family and friends with them," AMC CEO Adam Aron said in a statement. "With more than 175,000 members enrolled in just five weeks, the growth of AMC Stubs A-List has far exceeded our projections. We also find it reassuring that we consciously designed AMC Stubs A-List to be a profitable program with a price point that is loaded with consumer value while also being sustainable for us and for our guests.”

AMC Stubs A-List is a new tier to its AMC Stubs program. The A-List plan costs $19.95 a month, and includes many features that MoviePass does not, such as being able to buy a ticket in advance; premium tickets (IMAX, 3D); being able to see the same movie more than once; and concession perks like free refills on popcorn.

Of course, you do have to go to an AMC.

SEE ALSO: 4 alternatives to MoviePass to consider if you're looking for a new movie-theater subscription service

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A £5 million company with a female CEO hosts underground, masked sex parties in cities around the world — and it just raised nearly £600,000 to launch an app

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Killing Kittens

  • Emma Sayle is the CEO and founder of Killing Kittens, a "female empowerment brand" valued at £5 million which hosts high-end sex parties for its members around the world.
  • The concept? To provide a safe space for women to explore their sexuality.
  • The parties have anywhere between 60 and 200 guests and are held in apartments, mansions, or country homes in the likes of London, New York, Paris, Venice, and Sydney.
  • She told Business Insider what goes on behind the scenes — and what people get wrong about it.
  • The company recently crowdfunded nearly £600,000 to take the brand digital with a new platform and app.
  • Sayle also just launched SafeDate, an app which encourages users to check in before a date, and have a notification sent to someone they trust if they don't check back in by an agreed upon time.


In capital cities around the world, luxurious sex parties are being held in mansions and clubs right under our noses — but they're nothing like you'd expect.

40-year-old Emma Sayle founded "female empowerment brand" Killing Kittens in 2005 after she realised there was nowhere for women to explore their sexuality in a safe environment without being judged.

Previously working in financial PR, the CEO told Business Insider: "It was all about the time that 'Sex and the City' was out, and there was all of this talk about the female sexual revolution, and women being able to talk about their sex lives."

However, she added that while it was being written and talked about, it wasn't happening in society.

"Women were still being judged for one night stands, but when men had a one night stand they were a legend," she said. "There was a real imbalance, and I wanted to do something about it."

Building the 'KK Army'

Emma Sayle HR - Killing Kittens

The name of the company, known to its members simply as "KK," has an interesting back story.

It comes from the expression: "Every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten," according to Sayle, who said she heard the phrase while partying in Ibiza.

"I liked the name, I liked the two K's. In my 'I haven't slept for three days' state, I said 'That's what I'm calling it.'"

The events started on a small scale — about 30 to 50 people once per month — but they started to grow organically and through word of mouth.

"It became a sort of movement," she said, adding that she now calls members the "KK Army."

"We have events all over the world now, and the digital world has exploded as well."

Becoming a Kitten

008.KK - Killing Kittens

Along with the parties, Killing Kittens is an online community featuring chatrooms and a blog.

"It doesn't matter where you are in the world, you can communicate and chat to other people and not be judged," Sayle said.

To become a member, you must register on the site and go through the vetting process, which involves submitting photos, "verifying you're a real person," and explaining why you're on the site and what you're looking for, according to Sayle. It also involves a one-off £20 fee.

"Our members want [someone] of a certain age, or more girls, or girls only," she said.

While you can be a free member and just pay for the event tickets, should you be accepted, you can also opt to pay £10 a month to use the digital platform, where there's a blog and chat rooms where you can arrange meet-ups.

However, the brand is best known for its Killing Kittens parties, which Sayle calls "more full on masked parties in mansions, private houses, and clubs [where] if you wander into certain areas you will see people shagging."

'What goes on in there stays in there'

012.KK Killing Kittens

The locations range from penthouse apartments filled with 60 people to mansions and country houses with 150-200 guests, according to Sayle.

"We've been in New York, in Dublin, in a castle in Scotland, in villas in Sydney, in Venice, in Paris," Sayle said, adding that the parties all have a similar format.

"They're all masked, cocktail dress, with a Champagne/cocktail oyster reception."

There are also DJs and burlesque dancers with the bigger venues.

She described the demographic as "AB," adding that the company doesn't like single men coming on their own.

"It keeps the testosterone factor down," she said. "We have groups of girls come and dance around in their underwear and don't do anything else, because they know they're not going to get hit on, so they can just relax."

At each party, there are "playooms" and candlelit bedrooms with music.

"If you want to get naked, you go there," she said. "What goes on in there stays in there."

And there are a few other strict rules, like the fact that all members must wear masks — but the main one is that men can't approach women.

003.KK - Killing Kittens

There are also "Kurious" events, which Sayle launched three years ago, where you can explore the KK world without being a member or being vetted — you can simply buy a ticket.

"A big part wasn't just coming to events and getting naked, [but] finding out about yourself and your sexuality," she said. The Kurious events involve talks, workshops, and weekend retreats that aim to inspire confidence.

'I watched Batman carry a guy wrapped up in a sheet'

Ultimately, we were most interested in the sex parties, though — and Sayle says the company has organised the "occasional fantasy experience" even outside of these, "with everyone's permission" of course.

In one, "we'd kidnap the partner and they'd follow clues and have to rescue the girl who they'd find tied up in some hotel," she said. 

"One guy wanted to be kidnapped in Kensington Gardens by Batman and rescued by Supergirl, who had been tied up in a hotel.

"I watched Batman carry a guy wrapped up in a sheet."

She added that police often turn up at the events, even though they're not doing anything illegal.

"Every event there's something funny that happens," she laughed — and she describes in her book "Behind the Mask," which she wrote in 2012.

Crowdfunding to go digital

Of the more than 100,000 members worldwide, more than 70% are in the UK, with the rest are across the US, Australia, and Europe, according to Sayle, who added the membership is also an even 50/50 male/female split.

Killing Kittens

And recently, they had the chance to become investors in the business.

The company started a Seedrs crowdfunding campaign to raise £500,000 for digital expansion earlier this month — and it surpassed its target before the end of July, reaching £598,100.

"To go into the tech world and digital world, we need to go big or go home," Sayle said.

"We need a site and an app to go with it, and that's not cheap.

"Getting individuals to put large amounts in didn't feel comfortable — it's always been about the community."

While the crowdfunding platform started out private for members only, it was opened up to the public earlier in July.

The company was already valued at £5 million pre-funding, and plans to use the funds to introduce a new digital platform including a Killing Kittens app (to be released in December), as well as to promote Sayle's other new app, SafeDate, which was released earlier this month.

Funding a 'safety app'

safedate tech

The idea for the app came about from a Killing Kittens chat room, where monitors — or "Community Kittens" — could see girls telling others in the group where and when they were going for a hookup, since they didn't want to tell their real friends, but wanted to make sure someone know their whereabouts.

"They liked the anonymous side of it," Sayle said.

With SafeDate, which is free to download and use, you can check in when you go on a date with information on where you're going, and select the person or people who will receive a message if you don't check back onto the platform when you say you will.

And it's not just for dating.

"I have friends who have teenage daughters, [and] it's something good for a parent to know their daugher has it on their phone," she said. "If they're on a cinema date, they can put in a time they have to check back in, and if they don't, their "safe people" will get a message with the details of where they've been."

She added it can also be great for people working in bars to let someone know once they leave work that they've checked in at home safely.

This isn't the first time Sayle has pushed for female empowerment outside of the sex space.

Middleton & Sayle Row

She started The Sisterhood, an organisation which empowers girls and women to believe in themselves and "have each others' backs," 12 years ago — and even got some attention from a then-single Kate Middleton.

"It came from a drunk bet with some guys about racing eachother across the English Channel in dragon boats and grew from there," she said. "It became a big community. It's got sport at its core and crazy challenges."

Members have rafted down the Amazon, climbed Kilimanjario, and they paricipate in a big charity ball every year. Next April, they'll be competing in a relay race from LA to Vegas.

Sayle said Middleton, a "lovely human being" who she has "lots of mutual friends" with, came to The Sisterhood right at its start to do the Channel crossing. "It was when she'd split with William, then she got back together with him and pulled out and the rest is in the history books," she said. 

She added that now, at the helm of Killing Kittens, she and Middleton are in "very different worlds."

Proving people wrong

There are certainly a lot of people who doubt her — and a number of misconceptions about what goes on within her company.

For starters, she said there's a perception that you have to get naked and have sex to come along to a Killing Kittens party.

"There is sex that happens at some of the events, but it's not the reason why people go," she said. "It's a by-product of being there."

She added that a lot of people also assume it's a big swingers party.

"It's not at all," she said, adding that only 19% of members are couples. "The rest are singles, and the couples don't consider themselves swingers.

"The perception is that it's some big seedy shagging setup, without getting the whole female side of it."

However, the numbers are starting to speak for themselves, and Sayle said friends are "starting to get" the business side of things.

According to Sayle, Killing Kittens' turnover has increased by 30-50% every year for the last five years, and last year turned over £1 million.

She told Business Insider she has also had interest from dating apps who want to build the SafeDate tech into their platforms.

"Friends spent a decade asking when I'd get a proper job, now I say: 'Now do you get it?'

"The list of people I've proved wrong gets longer and longer."

SEE ALSO: This 26-year-old left his job at PwC because he wanted to change work culture — now he runs a company getting bankers into meditation

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The 4 movies that have made $1 billion at the global box office in 2018 so far

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jurassic world fallen kingdom universal

2018 has been a solid year for movies, both in terms of quality and commercial success.

Domestically, ticket sales are up 8% from last year, and the summer movie season is up 15%. Globally, four movies have already hit the coveted $1 billion mark (and then some) after breaking records in the US.

Disney has been king this year, but Universal isn't lying down quietly with a big sequel this summer. 

We've rounded up the four movies that have crossed a billion this year, and included their domestic, foreign, and global takes so far based on numbers from Box Office Mojo (number 4 is based on Variety).

Below are the four movies that have hit $1 billion at the worldwide box office this year, ranked by how much they've made total:

SEE ALSO: 14 major movie franchises that Disney will own after buying Fox, from 'Alien' to 'X-Men'

4. "Incredibles 2"

Domestic total: $574 million

Foreign total:$430 million

Worldwide total: $1.005 billion



3. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom"

Domestic total: $397,508,235

Foreign total: $840,200,000

Worldwide total: $1,237,708,235



2. "Black Panther"

Domestic total: $699,954,935

Foreign total:$646,674,251

Worldwide total: $1,346,629,186



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

MoviePass' owner surges after announcing plan to raise prices — but it's fallen back below $1 (HMNY)

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MoviePass card


After a string of service interruptions and a near-constantly falling stock price, MoviePass' parent company finally found some good news for investors— but it only briefly helped the struggling stock. 

Helios & Matheson — the company that has become synonymous with MoviePass since its purchase of the subscription service last year — announced Tuesday that it would raise its monthly fee to $14.95 "within the next 30 days" while also limiting availability of high-demand movies.

"Over the past year, we challenged an entrenched industry while maintaining the financially transparent records of a publicly traded company," CEO Ted Farnsworth, said in a press release. "We believe that the measures we began rolling out last week will immediately reduce cash burn by 60% and will continue to generate lower funding needs in the future."

The announcement came one day after executives told staff of the new measures in an all-hands meeting on Tuesday.

Because MoviePass has to pay the full ticket price for all the movies its subscribers go see, eliminating major releases going forward means the cash-strapped company would pay millions less. (As of mid-July, MoviePass paid more than 1.15 million tickets for just "Avengers: Infinity War.")

Shares of HMNY skyrocketed as high as $2 from their opening price of $0.73 following the announcement — triggering at least two trading halts in the process — before sliding back below the $1 mark that it has struggled to maintain in the past week, bottoming out at $0.54.

After receiving a warning from Nasdaq that it could be delisted, HMNY last week announced a reverse stock split, giving shareholders 1 share for every 250 they previously owned. This week's slide, however, has taken the stock price back below $1. The company must maintain a trading price above $1 for 10 consecutive business days, the stock exchange's requirements say.

"These changes are meant to protect the longevity of our company and prevent abuse of the service," MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe said in the press release. "While no one likes change, these are essential steps to continue providing the most attractive subscription service in the industry. Our community has shown an immense amount of enthusiasm over the past year, and we trust that they will continue to share our vision to reinvigorate the movie industry."

HMNY was trading at $0.54 as of 1 pm Tuesday. 

Jason Guerrasio contributed to this report.

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SEE ALSO: The strange story of how MoviePass' owner was created by an Indian company accused of massive fraud

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MoviePass had a year of meteoric subscriber growth and that's a problem

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MoviePass' subscriber count hit a whopping 3 million in June, a staggering rise from its initial tally of 20,000 last August.

As this chart from Statista shows, the subscriber base has grown exponentially in the past year, creating higher costs for the company as it continues to grapple with an unsustainable business model. The user count is perhaps also partly to blame for the service's temporary shutdown just last week when its parent company ran out of money.

But the difficulty didn't start there. Earlier this month, the company revealed a new peak pricing surcharge that will charge app users extra for movies tickets that are in high demand. And most recently MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe announced in an open letter that the company will altogether stop providing subscribers with tickets to big upcoming movies, like "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" and "The Meg," and will raise its monthly fees to $14.95.

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Larry Page and Sergey Brin's Google Camp is as star studded as ever and most definitely not an 'actual summer camp' (GOOG, GOOGL)

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  • Celebrities from entertainment and sports are guests of Google Camp 2018
  • The annual event, organized by Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, is taking place in Sicily.
  • Basketball legend Michael Jordan is rumored to be attending this year. 


The “conference” known as Google Camp is not your typical sleep away.
This is not the Catskills.

Few campers are likely to careen down any ziplines or go tubing.

This is an ultra-exclusive, super-secret, three-day gathering in Sicily of elite actors, fashion designers, media tycoons, models, pop stars and athletes hosted by Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Certainly, the name can be misleading.

“My dumbass thought it was an actual summer camp sponsored by Google for really, really smart kids,” one person posted to Twitter on Tuesday.

Larry PageWhat actually is accomplished at these annual events, typically held in sunny and sandy locals, is not altogether clear. In past years, attendees have toured local ruins, enjoyed sumptuous meals and attended discussions on various topics. 

It’s fun to imagine attendees laughing derisively at the plebeians who frequent other conferences, like the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Financial Times identified the guests at Google's event as the ".0001 percent."

This year's event is being held at the Verdura Resort in Sicily. According to some tabloids and British newspapers, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Matthew McConaughey Bradley Cooper, and Leo DiCaprio are all in attendance this year. Former Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan is rumored to be on his way.

Last year, campers included Snapchat cofounder Evan Spiegel, Pharrell Williams and Prince Harry.

SEE ALSO: Forget the sex, the hot new book about Google is an important reminder of what Sergey and Larry are really after

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MoviePass adds a new restriction: 'Every showtime may not be available' on the app, and it will 'vary from day to day' (HMNY)

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  • MoviePass is no longer guaranteeing that every movie showtime will be available on the app, CEO Mitch Lowe told customers on Tuesday. 
  • The news comes less than a day after MoviePass announced plans to hike prices up to $15/month, and make big-ticket movies like "The Meg" and "Christopher Robin" unavailable for at least the first few weeks after release. 
  • Lowe also says that MoviePass customer support may be limited in the near future, as it prioritizes customers who are already at the theater.

MoviePass is adding a new limitation: Not every showtime for every single movie is guaranteed to be supported by the app.

"Showtimes that are offered through our service will vary from day to day, and every showtime may not be available," MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe wrote in an email to customers on Tuesday afternoon. Previously, the service would support every 2D movie showing at all compatible theaters.

This news comes less than a day after MoviePass announced that it would hike the monthly price of its unlimited movie service to $14.99, and that it wouldn't support big-ticket movies like "The Meg" or Disney's "Christopher Robin" in at least the weeks immediately following their release. The company said this would reduce its cash burn by 60%.

Beyond the changes to showtimes, Lowe also tells customers that it's changing its approach to customer support, and "access to immediate support may become limited." He says that its customer support will prioritize those who are already at the theater, with more self-service tools for other customers in the works. 

Lowe further writes that "Mission: Impossible — Fallout" will continue to be unavailable via MoviePass as the company works to reconfigure its business model.

MoviePass and its business model have come under renewed scrutiny in the last week or so, after a service outage on Thursday was revealed to have been caused by its parent company, Helios & Matheson Analytics, running out of money to pay its fulfillment processors.

It took a $5 million short-term loan to get things going, but the app has been plagued by problems and intermittent outages ever since, causing fans and pundits to speculate that this is the end for the service.

Stock in H&M is currently hovering around $0.50 per share; well below the $1 per share threshold the company needs to maintain to stay listed on the public stock markets.

SEE ALSO: MoviePass CEO announces in all-hands meeting that tickets to big upcoming movies will not be available on the app

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CBS chief Les Moonves, who faces sexual misconduct allegations, is expected to answer questions during corporate earnings call this week

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  • Les Moonves, the CEO and chairman of CBS Corporation, is reportedly planning to take questions from analysts during his company's second-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
  • The CBS chief faces sexual misconduct allegations from at least six women, as reported by The New Yorker last week.
  • According to The New Yorker, Moonves is accused of unwanted sexual advances and intimidation dating back to the 1980s and 1990s.

Les Moonves, the CEO and chairman of CBS Corporation, is reportedly planning on speaking during his company's second-quarter earnings call on Thursday, after a bombshell New Yorker report chronicled several sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Moonves reportedly plans on making himself available to analysts, but the company still has the option to prevent him from speaking, people familiar with situation told Fox Business Network in a report published on Tuesday.

The CEO is also being prepared for questions about the sexual misconduct allegations against him, which were brought to light when The New Yorker published its story last week. CBS's board has since launched an internal investigation into the allegations and allowed him to continue running the company.

According to the story, six women have accused Moonves of unwanted sexual advances and intimidation dating back to the 1980s and 1990s. Four of the women interviewed by investigative journalist Ronan Farrow alleged that Moonves forcibly touched or kissed them in what were supposed to have been business meetings. Two other women say they believe he was influential in thwarting their careers after they rejected his advances.

Moonves has since said in a statement through CBS that although he tried to kiss one of the victims, he "denies any characterization of 'sexual assault,' intimidation, or retaliatory action," according to The New Yorker.

"I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances," Moonves said in a statement to The New Yorker. "Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely."

"But I always understood and respected — and abided by the principle — that 'no' means 'no,' and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone's career," Moonves added. "This is a time when we all are appropriately focused on how we help improve our society, and we at CBS are committed to being part of the solution."

CBS shares closed 2.71% higher at $52.67 in the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Shares moved up nearly 1.5% in after hours trading.

SEE ALSO: 6 women have accused CBS Corp. chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves of sexual misconduct

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106 skydives with a broken ankle: Inside how Tom Cruise pulled off the thrilling HALO jump in 'Mission: Impossible — Fallout'

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Tom Cruise does a lot of amazing stunts in "Mission: Impossible — Fallout," but the one that took the most work to pull off was the HALO jump over Paris at the beginning of the movie.

To get into Paris undetected, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and CIA tagalong August Walker (Henry Cavill) decide to do a HALO jump — a high-altitude, low-open skydive, in which you open your parachute at a low altitude after free-falling for a period of time — at dusk out of a giant C-17 plane.

But things get dangerous when Walker insists on jumping out of the plane even though there's a lightning storm brewing below them. Walker is so determined to do so that he disconnects Hunt's oxygen line to his mask and jumps. Hunt scrambles to reattach his line and jumps after Walker.

Before the audience knows it, they're free-falling with Hunt. The camera follows as Hunt catches up to Walker just before lightning strikes them both.

If you have seen any movie in the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, this next fact won't surprise you: Cruise did the entire HALO sequence without a stuntman. But pulling off the sequence — which included 106 total jumps to get three scenes and was all done after Cruise broke his ankle earlier in production — was as epic as what is on the screen.

Business Insider spoke to the key members of the HALO-jump sequence, including the director Christopher McQuarrie, to break down its yearlong planning and execution.

SEE ALSO: All 42 Tom Cruise movies, ranked from worst to best

Finding a unique way to get into Paris

Generally, a movie is born from a screenwriter's pen, but it turns out the recent "Mission: Impossible" movies are done a little differently.

McQuarrie said the script is actually the last thing to be developed in the making of the movies. The movie is first fueled by the stunts that Cruise, McQuarrie, and others close to the franchise come up with.

"The script is more or less the instruction manual for this thing we all discussed at length," McQuarrie said.

In the case of the HALO jump, they had developed a lot of action to take place in Paris, but the question remained: How does Hunt get to the City of Lights?

"A HALO jump came up, and we started talking about what that would take — this many jumps, learning this and that," said Wade Eastwood, the "Fallout" stunt coordinator. "Everyone thought that kind of time didn't fit in the film schedule, but we made it fit, even though on paper it didn't."

With the stunt decided, the hard part started: how to fit Cruise's HALO training in a schedule already filled with training for driving motorcycles, fighting, and flying helicopters. (Yes, he flew that helicopter himself in the movie.)

More on that later.



Creating a helmet so we could see Cruise's face

If you were to do a HALO jump in real life, you wouldn't need a clear helmet showing your whole face. But this is Tom Cruise we're talking about.

When Cruise and the "Fallout" team learned that the proper gear for a HALO jump is an oxygen mask covering most of the face and a helmet leaving just the eyes to be seen, there was a rush to come up with something better for Cruise to wear.

"We created a helmet that had a good look and the oxygen sustained," Eastwood said.

But the mask also had to have lights in it so that we, the audience, could see that it is in fact Cruise doing the jump. That brought another set of concerns.

"It took extensive pressure testing and altitude testing to get the lighting system consistently safe," Eastwood said. "We didn't want them to explode. A fiery Tom Cruise head, that's very bad."



Building the largest wind tunnel in the world

Before getting in a plane and jumping enough times to get a certified skydiver license, Cruise started his HALO training in a wind tunnel at Leavesden Studios in the UK. And as you can probably guess, a normal wind tunnel just wouldn't do.

"I suggested we get a vertical wind tunnel; they said that was a good idea," said Neil Corbould, the "Fallout" special-effects supervisor. "We found a portable wind tunnel and brought it to England but found out very quickly that it was too small."

The wind tunnel would be used to learn the choreography for the HALO-jump sequence devised by Eastwood, but to train properly there would need to be six people in the wind tunnel at the same time (including actors, stunt specialists, and camera operators). The wind tunnel Corbould provided could have only two people in it.

"Tom said, 'Can we make a bigger one?' and I asked, 'How big?' And he said, 'As big as you can make it,'" Corbould said.

So Corbould found a company to build in 12 weeks what would turn out to be one of the biggest wind tunnels ever created.

Housed in an empty exterior water tank at Leavesden, the wind tunnel was 20 feet wide by 10 feet high. Powered by four 1-megawatt generators — enough to power a small town, Corbould noted — it would have blades that could spin at 150 mph and raise the people in the tunnel 7 feet.

The size of the wind tunnel also helped Cruise, who wanted to keep from bumping into the sides, as he was still trying to heal his broken ankle while training.

"He had to be rolled into the wind tunnel and then would lay there flat until the power went on, and then he would take off," said Allan Hewitt, the "Fallout" skydiving coordinator. "We put some orange tape around his foot so we knew which was the bad foot. We didn't want to touch the wrong one."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Linda Hamilton is back as Sarah Connor in the first official look at the next 'Terminator' movie, from the director of 'Deadpool'

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  • Paramount released the first official image from next year's "Terminator" movie on Wednesday, with Linda Hamilton back as Sarah Connor.
  • Natalia Reyes and Mackenzie Davis are also in the photo.
  • The "Terminator" Twitter describes the movie as a "sequel to James Cameron’s original Terminator films."

 

She'll be back.

Paramount Pictures released the first official photo (seen above) from the next, untitled "Terminator" movie on Wednesday, featuring actress Linda Hamilton, who's reprising her famous role of Sarah Connor from James Cameron's original "Terminator" movies.

Along with Hamilton, the photo features actresses Natalia Reyes and Mackenzie Davis looking tough as nails. The Terminator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger is also returning, and the movie is directed by "Deadpool" director Tim Miller.

This is Hamilton's first time back in the "Terminator" universe as Connor (she had an uncredited voice role in 2009's "Terminator: Salvation") since 1991 in "Terminator 2."

The "Terminator" Twitter page's bio describes the upcoming movie as a "sequel to James Cameron’s original Terminator films."

It comes to theaters November 22, 2019.

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CNN is releasing a final season of Anthony Bourdain's 'Parts Unknown'

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  • CNN is releasing a final season of Anthony Bourdain's docuseries "Parts Unknown" this fall, The Los Angeles Times reports.
  • Bourdain committed suicide in June while filming an episode of the series in France.
  • The five-episode final season, the 12th in the series, will only feature one episode with Bourdain's voiceover narration, while the other four episodes will piece together footage of Bourdain with follow-up guest interviews that are yet to be filmed. 

CNN will release a final season of Anthony Bourdain's travel docuseries "Parts Unknown" this fall, The Los Angeles Times reports

Bourdain committed suicide in June while filming an episode of the hit series in France.

Amy Entelis, the executive vice president of talent and content at CNN, told the Times that only one episode of the show's final season was completed before Bourdain's death.

That episode, filmed in Kenya with W. Kamau Bell, host of CNN's "United Shades of America," will be the only episode of the five-episode season to feature Bourdain's written voiceover narration, Entelis said. The other four episodes will piece together footage of Bourdain with follow-up interviews that are yet to be filmed, featuring guests of the show remembering its late host.

"Each one will feel slightly different depending on what’s gathered in the field," Entelis told the Times. "They will have the full presence of Tony because you’ll see him, you’ll hear him, you’ll watch him. That layer of his narration will be missing, but it will be replaced by other voices of people who are in the episodes."

Entelis said that the last episode of the series will be devoted to "how Tony affected the world." It will feature fan reactions to his program and interviews with guests who appeared on the series.

The Times notes that in the first half of 2018, commercials on new episodes of "Parts Unknown" earned an average of $8,601, the most of any CNN program, according to Standard Media Index. CNN ran the show in re-runs 166 times from October 1, 2017, to June 14 of this year, according to the Times.

The series has also had a second life on Netflix. In June, following Bourdain's death, Netflix extended a deal to keep "Parts Unknown" on its service for the foreseeable future, after fans petitioned the company to renew its license for the series, which was set to expire in June.

Read the Times feature here.

SEE ALSO: Anthony Bourdain has died in an apparent suicide at 61

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The owner of MoviePass is crashing after announcing a new restriction on its service

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  • Shares of MoviePass owner Helios & Matheson are down nearly 50% Wednesday.
  • The selling comes after the company announced a new restriction on its service. 
  • Helios & Matheson shares have plunged more than 99% this year.

Shares of MoviePass owner Helios & Matheson are crashing Wednesday — down almost 50% at $0.25 apiece —  less than 24 hours after announcing a new restriction on its service.

Late Tuesday, the movie-subscription service said it would no longer guarantee that every movie showtime will be available on its app. That announcement came less than a day after MoviePass said it would raise prices from $10 a month up to $14.99 and that it wouldn't support big-ticket movies like  "The Meg" or Disney's "Christopher Robin" until weeks after their releases. The company says these changes could help reduce its cash burn by 60%. 

Shares of Helios & Matheson have been in a downward spiral this year, plunging by more than 99%. Last week, the company announced a 1-for-250 reverse stock split in an attempt to lift its share price above the Nasdaq's $1 minimum.

The reverse split temporary propped up the value of Helios & Matheson shares to $22.50, but that same day they began plunging again. A few days later, the MoviePass app began to experience a "service interruption" because its owner was unable to make certain required payments. HMNY had to borrow $5 million to get the app up and running again. 

Helios & Matheson is expected to report its second-quarter results on August 14. 

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LA prosecutors say they will not pursue sex abuse charges against CBS CEO Les Moonves because the statute of limitations has expired

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  • LA County prosecutors announced Tuesday that they are declining to pursue sexual abuse charged against CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves.
  • Last year, a woman went to authorities in LA, accusing the 68-year-old television executive of assaulting her on three separate incidents in the late 1980s, when they worked together.
  • Authorities are not pursuing the case because the statute of limitations has expired.

LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors in Southern California declined to pursue sexual abuse claims against CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves because the statute of limitations has expired, according to documents.

The unidentified woman, who worked in the television industry, went to Los Angeles police last year to report three alleged incidents, one on July 1, 1986 and two others on January 1, 1988. 

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office was considering three possible criminal charges including two misdemeanors, battery and indecent exposure, and a felony, forced oral copulation, according to a charge evaluation worksheet.

The document stated the woman disclosed at least one of the alleged incidents to a friend a year before filing the police report.

The DA's Office said  Tuesday that they declined to press charges in February because the statute of limitations had expired for all three incidents.

Last year, California voters voted to overturn the statue of limitations for all rape and sexual assault cases — cases which previously expired after 10 years. But that didn't grandfather in old cases like the one allegedly involving Moonves. The new law only applies to cases after January 1, 2017. 

CBS declined to comment Tuesday.

Sources familiar with the investigation told the LA Times that the alleged victim worked with Moonves in the late 1980s, when he was an executive at TV production company Lorimar.  

According to the sources, the woman said that Moonves forced oral sex in an office in 1986 and then assaulted and exposed himself to her two years later. 

In an article last week in The New Yorker, six women — four of whom spoke on the record — alleged sexual harassment or misconduct by Moonves between the 1980s and late 2000s.

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Four of the women described forcible touching or kissing during business meetings, it says, while two said that Moonves physically intimidated them or threatened to derail their careers.

In a statement following the article, Moonves acknowledged making advances that may have made women uncomfortable but said he never misused his position to harm or hinder anyone’s career.

"Throughout my time at CBS, we have promoted a culture of respect and opportunity for all employees, and have consistently found success elevating women to top executive positions across our company. I recognize that there were times decades ago when I may have made some women uncomfortable by making advances. Those were mistakes, and I regret them immensely.

"But I always understood and respected—and abided by the principle—that 'no' means 'no,' and I have never misused my position to harm or hinder anyone's career. This is a time when we all are appropriately focused on how we help improve our society, and we at CBS are committed to being part of the solution," Moonves said. 

The incident reviewed by prosecutors was not mentioned in The New Yorker piece written by Ronan Farrow, who tweeted Tuesday that the incidents reviewed by prosecutors were not included in his piece.

les moonves julie chenThe CBS Board of Directors said Monday that it was hiring outside counsel to investigate claims made in the article by Farrow, who wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning story last year for the same magazine uncovering many of the allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. However, they decided not to suspend Moonves while the investigation is under way. 

Moonves has been a towering figure in television for decades, credited with turning around a network that had been mired for years at the bottom ratings.

The CBS chief is the latest media giant to become embroiled in sexual misconduct allegations since the downfall of Weinstein in October triggered the #MeToo social media movement.

Moonves was the No. 2 highest paid CEO of a major public company in 2017, according to an analysis by The Associated Press and Equilar, an executive data firm. He made $68.4 million last year, behind only chip maker Broadcom’s CEO.

Before joining CBS, he was president of Warner Bros. Television, where he oversaw the development of hit TV shows “Friends” and “ER.”

Moonves, who is married to TV personality and CBS producer Julie Chen, was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2013.

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'Crazy Rich Asians' turned down a 'gigantic payday' from Netflix so the movie would be seen in theaters

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  • Netflix made a huge offer to distribute the "Crazy Rich Asians" movie, but the author of the book it's based on, and the film's director, said "no" in favor of a theatrical release.
  • "Crazy Rich Asians" is the first studio film to tell an Asian-American story in 25 years.
  • Because of the film's significance, author Kevin Kwan and director Jon M. Chu decided that a major theatrical release was more important than the money and creative freedom Netflix offered. 

"Crazy Rich Asians" could potentially have made a lot more money as a Netflix original movie, but despite a huge offer, Netflix got a "no" in favor of a major theatrical release. 

The movie, based on Kevin Kwan's 2013 novel of the same name, doesn't come out for over a week, but it's already made history as the first studio film starring an Asian-American cast (Constance Wu of "Fresh Off the Boat" stars as Rachel Chu) in over 25 years. The last film to do so was 1993's "The Joy Luck Club."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix swooped in with an offer to buy "Crazy Rich Asians" that was bigger than the Warner Bros. offer.

"I could have moved to an island and never worked another day," Kwan told THR.

But while Netflix offered more money and more artistic freedom, it couldn't offer the one thing that was important to Kwan and director Jon M. Chu: getting Asians on the big screen. 

Kwan and Chu both considered the huge payday, but ultimately went the traditional route, despite what advisors suggested. "Here, we have a chance for this gigantic payday instantaneously," Kwan said. "But Jon [Chu] and I both felt this sense of purpose. We needed this to be an old-fashioned cinematic experience, not for fans to sit in front of a TV and just press a button."

Kwan and Chu agreed that they wanted this historic film to prove that these stories sell tickets, instead of never knowing how many people watched the movie on Netflix, which doesn't release its numbers or even tell its creators.

The August 15 release of "Crazy Rich Asians" could continue the movement of diverse hit movies like February's "Black Panther," and will hopefully ensure it won't be another 25 years until the next Asian-American story is told on the big screen. 

SEE ALSO: 8 excellent movies not on Netflix that you can rent for under $3

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