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Netflix's streaming service exploded when it figured out a big weak spot in the TV business (NFLX)

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orange is the new blackNetflix pioneered binge-watching, and it did so by identifying an “inefficiency” in the TV market, according to CEO Reed Hastings.

When Netflix first entered into the streaming market in 2007, the company was focused on movies. But it found the system of movie distribution to be ill suited for its needs, according to The New York Times.

Netflix wouldn’t get its hands on a movie until about a year after it was in theaters, and then it only snagged the rights for a measly 12 to 18 months. After that, it went to “free TV” for a whopping 7-8 years. Customers hated the fact that the catalog seems to be constantly shifting.

That’s why Netflix decided to pivot more toward TV, according to the Times. TV reruns of “self-contained” shows, especially half-hour sitcoms like “Friends” or “Seinfeld,” were historically popular because they could be watched out of order — whenever you happened to tune in. Prestige narrative dramas like “Mad Men” are much harder to consume that way, and so were largely ignored by companies in the rerun market.

Netflix saw this as an “inefficiency” in the market, Hastings told the Times. No one was wringing rerun value out of those shows, and Netflix’s format was perfect for it. With Netflix, you could watch two or three episodes at once, on-demand, and then pick up where you left off in the narrative the next time. People loved watching shows that way, and it lead to the cultural force we now call “binge-watching.”

At the time, networks saw this as a win-win, since the binge-watching also boosted interest for the current season of the show, sometimes even catapulting it into the national pop culture conversation. Michael Nathanson, an analyst at MoffettNathanson, told the Times that “‘Breaking Bad’ was 10 times more popular once it started streaming on Netflix.”

But though Netflix had pioneered the binge, the company knew its relationship with networks wouldn’t stay the same forever.

“We could see that eventually AMC was going to be able to do its own on-demand streaming,” Hastings told the Times. “Or FX. We knew there was no long-term business in being a rerun company, just as we knew there was no long-term business in being a DVD-rental company.”

That’s why Netflix has pivoted yet again, making the aggressive move into producing its own original content starting in 2013. Netflix executives routinely characterize originals as the future of the company, and as Netflix’s best investment moving forward.

SEE ALSO: Why Netflix CEO Reed Hastings doesn't have an office

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NOW WATCH: How to find Netflix’s secret categories


Steven Spielberg reveals the one movie that nearly ended his career

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Steven Spielberg

Director Steven Spielberg says that he contemplated retirement after completing his 1993 Holocaust film "Schindler's List," in a new profile by The Hollywood Reporter.

Though the film won seven Oscars in 1994 — including Best Picture and Best Director — and cemented his legendary status, Spielberg reportedly lost interest in filmmaking because of the emotionally draining nature of the film. He had no desire to get back in the game.

"I just didn't," Spielberg said, explaining his four-year hiatus after the release of the film. "I could not."

In response to a question about whether working on "Schindler's List" sent him into a depression, Spielberg initially said yes and then backtracked. 

"I've never been depressed," he said. "I was sad and isolated, and as well-received and successful as that movie was, I think it was the trauma of telling the story and forming the Shoah Foundation." 

In the years following the film's release, according to THR, Spielberg spent his time "sending videographers to interview Holocaust survivors," but he began to lose interest in feature films.

"I started to wonder, was 'Schindler's List' going to be the last film I would direct?" Spielberg recalled.

In 1997, however, Spielberg said the prospect of directing a sequel to one of his most commercially successful films "seized [him] one day like a thunderbolt," and he returned to the movie industry with the release of "The Lost World: Jurassic Park."

"I just needed time," Spielberg said. 

SEE ALSO: 'The world is full of monsters': Steven Spielberg tells Harvard grads to fight injustice and 'create a world that lasts forever'

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NOW WATCH: Steven Spielberg's 'Jaws' just turned 40 — watch the original 1975 trailer

Lin-Manuel Miranda and The Rock team up in the trailer for Disney's 'Moana'

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Disney released a trailer for its upcoming animated movie "Moana," which stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a Hawaiian demigod named Maui. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, the same duo responsible for Disney classics "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin," the movie promises to continue the success of Disney's animation division after blockbusters like "Frozen" and "Zootopia."

The secret weapon that may push the movie into the box office stratosphere is "Hamilton" creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is contributing original music for "Moana." Fresh off of his multiple wins at the Tony Awards, Miranda is undoubtedly one of the hottest commodities in the entertainment world. Disney also tapped him to co-star in the studio's upcoming reboot of "Mary Poppins" with Emily Blount.

"Moana" is scheduled to arrive in theaters this August.

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Pixar's most and least successful movies at the box office, ranked

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pixar logo

With the release of its 17th film, "Finding Dory," on June 17, Pixar will likely continue the box-office domination that began with the release of its first film, "Toy Story," in 1995.

Though each Pixar film released has made the studio a substantial net profit, not every movie has lived up to the immense success of some of the company's true blockbuster hits.

Using Box Office Mojo's and The Numbers' sales and production statistics for each film, Business Insider has ranked all 16 Pixar movies so far by their inflation-adjusted net profit, to keep things on an even playing field (so, subtracting budget from box-office gross) to determine which film was the most financially successful of its time. (The formula doesn't take into account marketing and other costs, however, so net profits are actually likely smaller.)

Accordingly, we adjusted all global box-office receipts and budgets for inflation through 2016 using the US inflation calculator.

Read on to see which Pixar film came out on top, and which landed at the bottom of the heap:

SEE ALSO: Every Pixar movie, ranked — here's how 'Finding Dory' stacks up

16. "The Good Dinosaur" (2015) - Adjusted net profit: $158.3 million

Adjusted gross: 335 million

Unadjusted gross: 331.9 million

Adjusted budget: 176.7 million

Unadjusted budget: 175 million*

*Note: Pixar never officially disclosed budget information for "The Good Dinosaur," but the LA Times reported that the budget was estimated between $175 million and $200 million. Given the lowest possible budget, this film was still the least financially successful.



15. "A Bug's Life" (1998) - Adjusted net profit: $357.3 million

Adjusted gross: 533.4 million

Unadjusted gross: 363.4 million

Adjusted budget: 176.1 million

Unadjusted budget: 120 million



14. "Brave" (2012) - Adjusted net profit: $368.9 million

Adjusted gross: 533.4 million

Unadjusted gross: 363.4 million

Adjusted budget: 176.1 million

Unadjusted budget: 120 million



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Why people don't like to watch news videos

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Online news organizations, including Business Insider, are racing to create videos, driven in large part by Facebook's push to show more video in people's news feeds. One Facebook exec even recently said that she thought Facebook would be "all video" in the next decade.

But the rush to declare online text dead is premature. A recent poll of 50,000 online users conducted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that only 24% of people had watched any news videos online in the last week. This chart from Statista shows the reasons why people say they don't watch news videos online. The number one reason: reading is faster and more convenient.

20160616_News_Videos

SEE ALSO: Why Amazon should give more free perks to Prime users

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NOW WATCH: Bumble founder: Here's what's seriously wrong with the growing trend in Silicon Valley called 'brogramming'

ESPN is showing horrific never-before-seen crime-scene photos in its new O.J. Simpson documentary

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O.J. Simpson Nicole Brown 1980 AP

One of the most chilling moments in the ESPN documentary series "O.J.: Made in America" comes in part four (airing on ESPN on Friday and available now on the Watch ESPN app), when Bill Hodgman, one of the prosecutors in the Simpson murder trial, presents his theory of how Simpson's wife, Nicole, and her friend Ron Goldman were killed.

The sequence cuts between shots of Hodgman explaining how the killings possibly happened — with evening shots of the front steps of Nicole's home, where she and Goldman were killed — and shots of crime-scene photos.

Photos of the murder have been shown everywhere over the decades, including in the National Enquirer (warning: photos are graphic) and on news-magazine shows dedicated to the case.

OJBut the ESPN documentary shows two shots in particular that the public has never seen: the large knife wounds on the necks of Nicole Simpson and Goldman, both seen in close-up.

Business Insider talked to "Made in America" director Ezra Edelman about obtaining the never-before-seen crime-scene photos.

"We had to convince him to sit down and talk," Edelman told Business Insider of Hodgman. "When he realized that we were serious and not sensationalists, he came and gave this presentation about how he believes the murders happened and went through the photos. They had never been shown to the public, and I asked if he would trust us enough to let us show them."

The extremely graphic photos show enormous cuts on the necks of Nicole and Goldman. In the case of Nicole, the gash is so large and wide that it almost decapitated her.

OJ Made In America ESPNWhen the documentary had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, there were large gasps from the audience when the photos appeared on the screen.

But would ESPN air the two graphic images? Back at Sundance, Edelman and ESPN told Business Insider they didn't know whether it was possible because of the network's standards and practices.

But on Tuesday, ESPN confirmed to Business Insider that the two photos would be included when part four aired on the network on Friday. They will also be shown when watching the documentary on the Watch ESPN app. The photos will be blurred, however, when the documentary is shown on re-air dates on the channel.

"Made in America" is an exhaustive look at the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson that has been universally (and deservedly) acclaimed. Edelman examines everything when it comes to archival material. That includes gory photos of the deceased that drive home the disregard for life in the horrific crime.

SEE ALSO: We watched the entire new ESPN documentary on O.J. Simpson and there are some explosive revelations

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NOW WATCH: 4 things you might have missed on this week’s ‘Game of Thrones’

Disney wants to blend fantasy into your everyday life, and it’s partnering with Magic Leap to develop the technology

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Rony Abovitz, CEO of augmented reality startup Magic Leap, waves during the first day of the annual Allen and Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho July 8, 2015.  REUTERS/Mike Blake

On Thursday, the Google-backed startup Magic Leap and Disney's Lucasfilm announced a partnership.

The two companies revealed they are building a collaborative lab where they will be able to work together to "co-invent" the future, especially of entertainment.

The partnership has been more than a year in development.

"This is probably a dream come true” Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz said on stage at Wired's Business Conference, noting that the partnership felt like it was “fated."

John Gaeta of ILMxLab said that collaboration was part of Lucasfilm's push to integrate "fantasy into your everyday life."

Abovitz also showed off a new video of Magic Leap's technology in action, where virtual versions of Star Wars' C3PO and R2D2 existing within a real-world apartment bring the user up to speed on a mission involving Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt. The video, filmed entirely through the Magic Leap device, was created in collaboration with Lucasfilm.

Magic Leap, which has raised $1.39 billion from investors including Google, has been quietly working on an augmented reality device that claims to be able to show virtual, lifelike objects within a real-world environment. The company, which has shifted from describing its technology as "augmented reality" to "cinematic reality" and now to "mixed reality," has yet to publicly show off its hardware.

Lucasfilm's Rob Bredow said he is particularly excited about "MR" (mixed reality) because he believes that combining the "best of the practical world and the best of the digital world makes the most compelling and believable expression." And Lucasfilm has as much experience as any company with blending natural and digital special effects.

“Lucasfilm has created some of the most iconic characters of our time. Ones that dare us to dream, unlock our imagination and excite us to go on a journey with them,” Abovitz said in a press release. “Magic Leap is creating a whole new medium: Mixed Reality Lightfields, designed to harness the power of your imagination and take you to places you never thought possible. Collaboration between our two companies is a perfect fit, and I can't wait to share the results with the world.”

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NOW WATCH: How to find Netflix’s secret categories

Seth Meyers banned Donald Trump from his show, and then Trump mocked Meyers

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seth meyers donald trump

Could Donald Trump be the only one that isn't in on Seth Meyers' late-night ban joke?

The host of NBC's "Late Night" barred the presumptive GOP candidate from the talk show on Tuesday night in response to Trump revoking the Washington Post's press credentials to his campaign events.

On Wednesday night, Meyers stood behind the ban with some major underlying sarcasm.

“We instituted this ban despite the fact that he’s never been here, or asked to be here, or would ever be caught dead here. I just think that takes an amazing amount of courage on our part,” the host said.

He then threw down the gauntlet again.

“So, ball is in your court, Donald,” Meyers added. “Either rescind your Washington Post ban or you’re not allowed to appear on a show you have no interest in appearing on. Although maybe now that you can’t have it, you’re changing your mind.”

Of course, Meyers (and his viewers) knew it was a rather empty threat, but did Trump?

The real-estate mogul responded on Wednesday to the original ban with the following statement:

“[Meyers] has begged me to do the show for the last two years. I have told him emphatically ‘no,' I only like doing shows with good ratings, which as everybody knows, I only make better (by a lot).”

But Trump may have been overly harsh on Meyers' show. According to TheWrap, Meyers' "Late Night" ratings are up 5% in total viewers (1.58 million from 1.51 million), year-over-year, and he's still beating his time-slot competition, "The Late Late Show with James Corden."

Watch Meyers reaffirm his Trump ban below:

SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert used a Nazi symbol to slam Donald Trump's 'new low' in the election

DON'T MISS: Louis C.K. sums up this year's 'insane' election in one analogy

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NOW WATCH: FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: If Trump gave this order, the military wouldn't listen


'Hamilton' creator Lin-Manuel Miranda is leaving the show soon — and prices will go up a lot

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lin manuel miranda hamilton getty images

The face of Broadway's hit hip-hop historical musical "Hamilton" is about to change, literally.

It's been confirmed that creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda's last day in the show will be July 9, USA Today reports.

And there could be some other changes in the musical's original Broadway cast, according to several reports.

Miranda — who wrote the book, script, and song lyrics for "Hamilton" — is set to leave the role when his one-year contract is up.

He will be moving on to work on other opportunities. Miranda appears in the movie "Speech & Debate" out later this year; he wrote the music for Disney's "Moana," which hits theaters on November 13; he's set to star in "Mary Poppins Returns" opposite Emily Blunt; and The Weinstein Co. bought the movie rights to his first musical, "In the Heights."

Miranda's departure is a sure thing, but other original cast members are also coming up on the end of their one-year contracts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

They're all expected to be in negotiations to renew their contracts. THR's sources say they want big raises and to share in the profit from the show's $1.6 million ticket sales each week. And they're prepared to walk if they don't get what they want.

A ticket for the show can go as high as $3,000 from a reseller on Ticketmaster. Prices on the resell market have consistently gone up.

With Miranda definitely leaving and other cast members up in the air, you can expect demand and prices for tickets to shows with the original cast to go way up.

And for everyone else seeing it beyond July 9, it will surely be different. The real question is how different?

SEE ALSO: Tech billionaire Chris Sacca denies report that he threw a tantrum when he couldn't get into 'Hamilton'

DON'T MISS: John Oliver and the 'Hamilton' creator address Puerto Rico's desperate financial crisis

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NOW WATCH: 'Hamilton' just won a Pulitzer Prize — watch Obama's private performance from the show 6 years before it hit Broadway

The first trailer for the long-awaited Tupac biopic is out, and the resemblance is striking

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Tupac Shakur 2pac Rapper

The first trailer for the long-awaited biopic of Tupac Shakur "All Eyez on Me" came out today, on what would have been Shakur's 45th birthday.

The film stars Demetrius Shipp as Shakur and finds Jamal Woolard reprising the role of rapper Biggie Smalls from the 2009 biopic "Notorious." Benny Boom, a notable name in rap music videos, will direct the film. 

In the trailer, Shipp appears as late-career, bald-headed Tupac, and his voice and looks seem to make for a spot-on portrayal of the rapper. 

The teaser trailer, released through the Instagram of Los Angeles radio station Big Boy's Neigborhood, is our first glimpse at "All Eyez on Me" since footage of Shipp portraying Shakur in a reenactment of the rapper's 1994 courthouse interview leaked back in April. 

The film is set for a November 11 release date.

Watch the trailer below.

Checkout the teaser trailer for All Eyez On Me! June 16th is Tupac's birthday. What's your favorite Tupac song?

A video posted by Big Boy's Neighborhood (@bigboysneighborhood) on Jun 15, 2016 at 10:58pm PDT on

 

 

 

SEE ALSO: Tupac's custom Hummer just sold for $337,000

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NOW WATCH: Disney just released the trailer for its 'Pete's Dragon' remake

Stephen Colbert tries time travel to stop Donald Trump from his 2016 election campaign

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stephen colbert scott bakula quantum leap late show cbs trump

Stephen Colbert may be getting a bit desperate to unseat Donald Trump from his perch as the presumptive Republican presidential candidate.

On Wednesday's "The Late Show," he said that he got an idea from watching a rerun of the '90s cult TV show "Quantum Leap."

He notes that at one point in the story of the show, the main character Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) influences a young Donald Trump to get into New York real estate. Colbert even plays the clip. That would project Trump into making millions, which would later be used to fund his successful campaign for the GOP nomination.

"Donald Trump's rise was the fault of Scott Bakula," Colbert says with a sneer. "He should have never revealed the secret that New York real estate is valuable."

That leads Colbert to suggest that he might be able to reverse the tragedy. Using his own time-traveling tool, the host goes back in time to "young Donald Trump," meets up with Bakula, and the two try to change Trump's fate.

Bakula tries a couple times, but Colbert realizes that everything Bakula says only makes Trump's life even greater and the outcome even worse for society.

Having gotten really desperate to steer Trump from the election after Bakula's attempts, Colbert suggests, "It's the middle of the night, no one's around, you probably have a crowbar in the trunk, and the East River is right over there."

"What are you saying Stephen?" a worried Bakula responds.

See how the guys put Trump back on track (and hilariously break character) in the video below:

SEE ALSO: Seth Meyers banned Donald Trump from his show, and then Trump mocked Meyers

DON'T MISS: Louis C.K. sums up this year's 'insane' election in one analogy

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: If Trump gave this order, the military wouldn't listen

The Grammys made one big change to their rules — and now this rapper has a chance at winning

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chance the rapper grammys

Streaming-only music will now be eligible for the Grammy Awards for the first time in the awards' history, according to a press release from the Recording Academy on rule amendments for next year's 59th Grammy Awards.

The new guidelines open up the nominating field to "streaming-only" music that exists only on services with "paid subscription, full catalogue, [and] on-demand/limited download platforms."

This means that free mixtapes, Soundcloud albums, and similarly unpaid music will remain ineligible for nomination at this time.

The normal eligibility restrictions for music released between October 5, 2015, and September 30, 2016, will still apply. 

The rule change comes about a month after Chance the Rapper, a champion of free and streaming-only music, threw his support behind a petition to allow streaming-only music to be considered for Grammy nomination. 

Fittingly, Chance's critically acclaimed new album, "Coloring Book," which premiered on Apple Music in May and is now available on Spotify and Tidal as well, will now be eligible for nomination.

Given the universal praise around "Coloring Book" and its surprising power on the Billboard album chart (despite being streaming-only), Chance has a very good chance of nabbing a nod in one of the rap categories.

Chance even made a sly nod to the Grammy rules before releasing the album, when he rapped on Kanye West's "Ultralight Beam": "I met Kanye West, I'm never going to fail / He said let's do a good-ass job with Chance three / I hear you gotta sell it to snatch the Grammy."

Chance responded to the news of his eligibility by retweeting the Grammys on the rule change and posting an exulted tweet of his own:

SEE ALSO: A streaming exclusive just broke into the Billboard 200 for the first time in history

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NOW WATCH: Adele had the perfect response after a sound glitch at the Grammys

A new 'Game of Thrones' theory suggests that an unlikely character could be the show's real hero

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Jaime Lannister

One of the biggest mysteries on "Game of Thrones" is who, exactly, the Prince That Was Promised is. Melissandre thought that Stannis Baratheon was the prophesied hero, but it turned out she was wrong, and Stannis died. So who is it really?

The Prince might — according to a few fan theories — be Jaime Lannister, of all people. It's a stretch, but here it goes.

The Prince That Was Promised is a mystical figure in the religion who worships the Lord of Light, Azor Ahai reborn, destined to save the world from darkness. The most popular candidates are widely considered to be Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow, but Jamie could be a dark horse.

According to various, cobbled-together prophecy fragments taken from the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books, the main qualifications for the prophecy are:

  • They have the blood of the dragon (Targaryen)
  • They were born amid smoke and salt
  • Born beneath a bleeding star

The original Azor Ahai wielded the legendary flaming sword Lightbringer, and had to sacrifice the life of the love of his life to obtain the power needed to save the world. The Prince Who Was Promised might follow in his footsteps.

So how does Jamie stack up? Well, according to the Redditor rightslip, among others, pretty well.

Sure, Jaime isn't a Targaryen, but he did spill the last Targaryen king's blood when he killed him. The bleeding star could refer to the seven-pointed star in the Sept of Balor — perhaps where Jaime will be when something transformative happens —and the smoke and salt could be fire and tears. (Whose tears they are might be a spoiler, so consider yourself warned.)

Game_of_Thrones cersei jaime HBOCersei knows that the Mad King had stockpiles of wildfire — and the big theory is that she's planning to use it to burn down part of King's Landing to eliminate the High Sparrow and his crew. Jaime's already killed once to stop someone from burning down King's Landing. Could he do it again, underneath a bleeding star, amid smoke, flames, salty tears, and kill the love of his life with a flaming sword?

Probably.

Would it make him the Prince That Was Promised? Eh, our money's still on Jon or Danny.

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NOW WATCH: 'Game of Thrones' may have squashed a popular fan theory

Tony Robbins is a self-help rock star in the revealing trailer for this Netflix movie

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Tony Robbins I am not your guru netflix trailer

Top life and business strategist Tony Robbins is part rock star, part religious leader, part therapist in the trailer for Netflix's upcoming documentary, "Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru."

For the first time, Robbins allows cameras into his annual super-seminar, "Date with Destiny." It's six days long, with 2,500 participants who are hungry for Robbins' wisdom and attention.

"'Date with Destiny' is my favorite event, because it covers the controlling force that controls everything," Robbins says in voiceover.

The rock star part is Robbins, but may partially come from the documentary's director. Joe Berlinger also directed the Metallica doc "Some Kind of Monster." His other films include the "Paradise Lost" trilogy and "Brother's Keeper."

Netflix promises an inside look at the event's theatrics and attendees, but also says that the film will unveil the inner workings of Robbins himself.

With a reported $480 million net worth, Robbins has been a fixture in the self-help coaching world since the '80s.

The documentary premieres globally on Friday, July 15.

Watch the emotional trailer below:

SEE ALSO: Netflix pays people to watch its shows, and now they're suing the streaming company

DON'T MISS: Netflix just released the first trailer for its creepy new show starring Winona Ryder

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NOW WATCH: How to find Netflix’s secret categories

The trailer for the highly-anticipated Tupac Shakur biopic just arrived

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The first trailer for the long-awaited Tupac Shakur biopic "All Eyez on Me" just hit the internet. Directed by veteran music video director Benny Boom, the movie is scheduled to be released in November.

Actor Demetrius Shipp plays the late rapper, who died in 1996 after being fatally shot in a case that remains unsolved. 

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The 11 'Game of Thrones' characters most likely to die next, ranked

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jon snow game of thrones

"Game of Thrones" has a reputation for startling penultimate episodes. With season six's ninth episode, "Battle of the Bastards," approaching this weekend, all signs point toward a few bloody goodbyes.

Who will fall in the war for the North between Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon)? With trial by combat banned, will Cersei (Lena Headey) be sentenced to death by the Faith Militant or does she have something else in mind? And who will be lost in the siege on Meereen?

Betting site BoyleSports has assigned the odds of dying for several fan-favorite "Thrones" characters.

Here are the 11 characters BoyleSports ranked most likely to kick the bucket on this weekend's episode:

SEE ALSO: The 5 most talked-about moments from this week's 'Game of Thrones'

DON'T MISS: The most shocking deaths in all of 'Game of Thrones'

11. Theon Greyjoy (16/1)

Reunited with his sister, odds are looking good for Theon.



10. Tyrion Lannister (16/1)

With Dany's last-minute arrival to Meereen, Tyrion looks safe for now.



9. Jaime Lannister (10/1)

The odds are in Jaime Lannister's favor after seizing Riverrun.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Here's the actor who's playing Superman on the next season of 'Supergirl'

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Getty Images Tyler Hochuli superman supergirl

There will be a new man donning the Superman cape in the fall TV season.

After much anticipation, The CW's "Supergirl" has chosen "Teen Wolf" star Tyler Hoechlin to play its Man of Steel and cousin to the show's titular character, aka Kara Danvers.

Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg made the announcement on Thursday, TheWrap reported:

“[Executive producer Greg Berlanti] and I have wanted to work with Tyler for ages, so this worked out perfectly because Tyler is Superman. We are so thrilled and humbled to add another amazing actor to the legacy of this iconic character.”

Up until now, the series has only showed Superman in shadow.

Hoechlin is very well known to MTV's "Teen Wolf" fans. He was a regular on the show for four seasons from 2011 to 2014. He played Derek, an older wolf to Tyler Posey's titular character. For the most part, he was a confidante and mentor to the younger characters on the show. He also starred on "7th Heaven" as Martin Brewer for five seasons. 

He was also in the film "Road to Perdition" and will be in the two upcoming "Fifty Shades of Grey" sequels.

“Supergirl” will return in the fall to The CW.

SEE ALSO: 'Supergirl' is moving to another network — here's why

DON'T MISS: 10 ways 'Supergirl' is just like 'Superman'

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NOW WATCH: Goodbye Jeb: Warm kisses, chest bumps, 'Supergirl,' and other awkward Bush moments

Kendall Jenner fires back at the supermodels who blasted her

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Kendall Jenner

Kendall Jenner has some words for the people who have slammed her recently.

Multiple iconic models have slammed both her and her model pal Gigi Hadid, both of whom are known for their social-media presence just as much — if not more — than for their veritable runway and modeling work.

Rebecca Romijn said the girls were "not true supermodels" in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, and, more recently, former Victoria's Secret icon Stephanie Seymour blasted them, calling them "b------ of the moment" in an interview with Vanity Fair.

But Jenner — according to a recent post on her (paywalled!) website — has "seen the debate." And, as the Victoria's Secret runway model puts it, she "definitely [has] an opinion about it."

"Being a "supermodel" is a relative term," she wrote. "If people want to call Gigi and I supermodels now, it doesn't take anything away from supermodels of the past. Obviously, I have so much respect for those women, but right now, we're the models of this time. Significant? Maybe. Hardworking? For sure."

Refusing to surrender to cattiness, she wrote that when she's older, she's going to be "so nice to anyone who's trying to do the same thing" as she does.

new @kendallandkylie SWIM @ Top Shop out NOW!

A photo posted by Kendall Jenner (@kendalljenner) on Jun 8, 2016 at 9:30am PDT on

For the full Gen-Z friendly response, see below:

I've seen the debate over Gigi and I not being "real supermodels"—and I definitely have an opinion. Gigi sent me the most recent rant and I'm disappointed. If you're going to tell us not to be in "your moment," then don't be in mine! This moment is all about being supportive—NOT cyberbullying. But, if you choose to be a cyberbully, I'm going to stick up for myself.
No one is trying to steal Stephanie Seymour's thing, or trying to be her. I actually looked up to her. She has a daughter! I guarantee you that she didn't imagine someone so publicly shaming her daughter when she made those comments about us being "b------ of the moment."
Being a "supermodel" is a relative term. If people want to call Gigi and I supermodels now, it doesn't take anything away from supermodels of the past. Obviously, I have so much respect for those women, but right now, we're the models of this time. Significant? Maybe. Hardworking? For sure.
When I'm older, I'm going to be so nice to anyone who's trying to do the same thing as me. There are other supermodels who give me tips and build up my confidence, sending me notes after a spread comes out, saying, "You're killing it." That's the classy way to behave and I fully intend on being a positive influence on anyone younger than me, my entire life.

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Taylor Swift wants Kanye West to 'leave her alone' over the infamous song that 'humiliated' her

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kanye taylor

The controversy over Kanye West's song "Famous," which features an explicit reference to Taylor Swift, has heightened once again after Kim Kardashian countered Swift over her protest of the song in a revealing new profile by GQ.

In the article, Kardashian claims that West and his team have video evidence of the alleged phone call that took place between West and Swift, wherein, according to Kardashian, Swift "totally approved" the now infamous lyric ("I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b---- famous"). That line caused an internet uproar as soon as Kanye premiered his album "The Life of Pablo" live earlier this year.

Swift's team has repeatedly denied the claim, which West previously made, that she knew about the lyric during the phone call. A representative for Swift issued the following statement upon the release of West's album back in February:

Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single "Famous" on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, "I made that b---- famous."

Still, Kardashian insists that Swift not only approved of the song, but that Swift's lawyer also had knowledge of the taped phone call and subsequently requested that the footage be wiped.

"They sent an attorney's letter like, ‘Don't you dare do anything with that footage,’ and asking us to destroy [the tape]," Kardashian said.

Though West's team maintains that they do have the aforementioned video evidence and that they did receive a letter from Swift's attorney, they nonetheless "declined to provide further proof" to GQ.

Swift's spokesperson responded to Kardashian's allegations by issuing the following statement, describing Swift as "humiliated" by the song and asking for West and Kardashian to "leave her alone":

Taylor does not hold anything against Kim Kardashian as she recognizes the pressure Kim must be under and that she is only repeating what she has been told by Kanye West. However, that does not change the fact that much of what Kim is saying is incorrect.

Kanye West and Taylor only spoke once on the phone while she was on vacation with her family in January of 2016 and they have never spoken since. Taylor has never denied that conversation took place. It was on that phone call that Kanye West also asked her to release the song on her Twitter account, which she declined to do. Kanye West never told Taylor he was going to use the term ‘that bitch’ in referencing her. A song cannot be approved if it was never heard. Kanye West never played the song for Taylor Swift.

Taylor heard it for the first time when everyone else did and was humiliated. Kim Kardashian's claim that Taylor and her team were aware of being recorded is not true, and Taylor cannot understand why Kanye West, and now Kim Kardashian, will not just leave her alone.

Despite the request, we have a feeling this isn't the end of the conversation about that lyric.

SEE ALSO: Kanye West added a new song to his album 'Life of Pablo' 4 months after it was released

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The story behind Pixar's great new short movie, according to the director

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Piper Disney Pixar

Less than a mile from Pixar Studios in Emeryville, California, there's a calming stretch of beach that animator Alan Barillaro visits often. Three years ago, while walking along that Pacific shore, Barillaro came on an idea that has become the latest great Pixar work.

It's "Piper," the short film showing before "Finding Dory," which is out Friday.

At the time Barillaro, 41, was heavily involved in what Pixar calls a “Tools” session. It’s when animators basically spend time messing around with the company’s proprietary software to see the ways they can implement new tools for their projects.

Barillaro didn’t get into specifics of the session when he talked to Business Insider recently, but Pixar CCO John Lassetter wasn’t that into it anyway. But the character Barillaro created for the test had promise.

Starting out with the crow from “Brave,” Barillaro transformed that into one of the tiny sandpiper birds he saw constantly on his trips to the beach running back and forth from the tide.

With the encouragement of Lasseter and “Finding Dory” director Andrew Stanton, Barillaro found himself working on storyboards about the sandpiper.

“I got to be totally honest,” Barillaro told Business Insider, “it was outside all of the normal development structure of the studio.”

Barillaro, who has been at Pixar since he was 18, has worked on almost every level at the studio — animator on "Monsters, Inc.," supervising animator on "The Incredibles" and "Brave" — but having never directed before, he was searching for advice.

“I assumed with directing, I would get the secrets of how to do it from Andrew and John, the tools they use to guide themselves,” but then he realized something else about those filmmakers' talent.

“What I found I was lacking was how personal they take their work and being honest in what you’re trying to say,” Barillaro said.

He spent a year with storyboard artists trying to formulate his sandpiper, which he named Piper. What he came up with was a baby sandpiper who is no longer being fed by his mother, so he has to overcome his fear of the water to get his own meals.

Piper Disney Pixar finalLasseter was impressed by the progress and greenlit the project to be Pixar’s latest short for "Dory."

Barillaro said it was working with Stanton as animation supervisor on “WALL-E” that made him understand how to make a compelling and personal six-minute short about a sandpiper and his mother with absolutely zero dialogue.

“People have to remember, when we start these things, we have no idea how we’ll pull it off,” Barillaro said. “I remember reading the script for ‘WALL-E’ and going to Andrew’s office and reading act one and couldn’t believe we were going to tell a love story between two robots with no dialogue. I felt I was taking lessons learned from that film and applying them to mine.”

It took just over a year and a half to do the animation for “Piper,” which included close to 7 million feathers created for the sandpipers and billions of sand pebbles to make up the beach.

“At some point you just realize numbers haven’t been created to count how many we did,” Barillaro said of the sand pebbles.

But seeing as “Piper” was born from a Tools session, Barillaro wanted to push the animation technology at Pixar as far as he could. The short uses the new render software that Stanton also used in “Finding Dory,” and to get the sandpiper feathers and the rushing tide to look right, animators who totaled up to 40 did almost everything by hand, as opposed to having the software create simulations.

Alan Barillaro Deborah Coleman Pixar.JPG“We pushed the rendering power to its limit in this film,” Barillaro said.

But with all Pixar projects, short or long, focus on the story is paramount. And Barillaro’s biggest challenge was finding a way to have Piper and his mother carry a conversation without it looking too human.

Dialogue that was written by Barillaro guided the team initially, but by year three of production, they had to figure out how to make Piper and his mom communicate on their own.

“I was very passionate about not humanizing the story and not going to gestures that are very human, like using hands,” Barillaro said. “One time I asked the animator to do a head shake for the bird, like a human saying ‘no.’ And what I appreciated was a note that John gave me saying, ‘I know it’s hard, but look for another gesture.’ His encouragement to keep looking and not going for the easy one, that meant a lot.”

Barillaro finally handed off “Piper” a few weeks ago — literally hours before the deadline to have the short attached to “Finding Dory” when it plays in theaters. He admits it’s a bittersweet feeling.

“It’s the moment you feel you know how to do it,” he said.

But he also knows that at Pixar, there’s always something else to tackle.

“You come back to the office the next day and after all those years being a bird, now you have to be a monster or a fish,” he said.

Watch a clip from “Piper” below:

SEE ALSO: RANKED: Every Pixar movie from worst to best

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