Tuesday, October 7, 2014

10.7.14

Entertainment:
·         Hasbro has moved its new ‘Transformers’ series to Cartoon Network
·         ‘Expendables 3’ co-financier, Le Vision Pictures, is set to be the latest Chinese film company to set up shop in the US with a $200MM film fund
·         Resolution Talent Agency is planning to lay off workers because its Chinese financier, Bison Capital, dropped out
·         Jeff Robinov's new Studio 8 has finalized its funding, closing a debt facility with JPMorgan Chase, Union Bank, CIT, OneWest Bank and Bank of America
·         Dynamite Entertainment has announced a partnership with the estate of Ian Fleming that grants the publisher worldwide rights to publish comic books, graphic novels and digital comics starring James Bond
·         Spotify has announced today that it acquired John Lennon's solo catalog of music to stream
·         Live Nation is in negotiations to purchase 51% of C3 Presents, the concerts and indie festival business promoter, for about $125 million
·         JK Rowling has hinted at Harry Potter’s return on Twitter
·         Jennifer Lawrence speaks out about the celeb photo hack in the latest Vanity Fair
Tech:
·         Please see below for 6 design ideas that ‘defined’ 2014
·         Google is now selling a video conferencing device called Chromebox for Meetings
·         Facebook officially launched “Audience Network” and started letting any advertiser buy and any third-party app host ads powered by its targeting data
·         Square has rolled out Square Cash that lets users send money to nearby friends via Bluetooth to better compete against Venmo
·         Google Voice supports MMS on AT&T, Sprint, and nearly 100 other carriers
·         Users can now stream live video from a GoPro with Livestream’s latest app
·         Please see below for an article on why spinning off businesses is the latest trend in Silicon Valley
·         Please see the below for an article on Marc Andreessen wanting to upend financing
Deals:
·         Docker acquire-hired the Koality team for an undisclosed amount
·         Vistaprint has acquired a $25 million minority stake in Brazilian web-printing startup Printi
·         Rio Tinto rejected the $150B merger with Glencore to create the world’s largest mining company
Business:
·         Yahoo! laid off 400 employees in India
·         Turner Broadcasting System plans to cut 1,475 jobs, close to 10% of its workforce, as part of a broad restructuring
·         Walmart will cut health insurance coverage for employees who work fewer than 30 hours a week
·         EU regulators opened a formal probe into Amazon’s tax arrangements in Luxembourg, snaring another major U.S. company in a high-profile investigation that has already targeted Apple and Starbucks
Exec Moves:
·         Deborah Kaufman is now VP of Literary at Legendary
·         Ran Harnevo, the Head of AOL Video, is leaving the company
·         Instagram hired its first COO, Facebook VP Marne Levine
Retail:
Startups:
·         Shiphawk raised $5MM to make it easier for large-item shipping
·         StoryBy, a digital magazine that launched today, is hoping to generate interest among contributors by sharing revenue
·         Blockchain, the most visited Bitcoin platform, raised $30.5MM in its Series A
Government:
Other:
·         Please see below for a video of Alfonso Ribeiro bringing Carlton Banks to the ballroom floor during Monday night's episode of ‘Dancing With the Stars’


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