Netflix has acquired the multimillion-dollar worldwide rights to “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” the latest film from writer and director Aaron Sorkin (SHS1979) based on the true story of a protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Paramount was previously the distributor on the film and was meant to release it theatrically in September before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Netflix now plans to release the film globally later this year after acquiring it for about $56 million, according to Deadline.

Yes, of course, Americans’ health is priceless, and reining in a deadly virus that has trashed the economy would be invaluable.

But a Covid-19 vaccine will have an actual price tag. And given the prevailing business-centric model of American drug pricing, it could well be budget breaking, perhaps making it unavailable to many.

The last vaccine to quell a global viral scourge was the polio inoculation, which ended outbreaks that killed thousands and paralyzed tens of thousands each year in the United States. The March of Dimes Foundation covered the drug cost for a free national vaccination program.

Sister is adding another top executive/producer to the fold in Carolyn Strauss (SHS 1981)who is joining the content venture co-founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, Stacey Snider and Jane Featherstone.

Strauss, who is moving her producing deal to Sister, is coming off a 34-year tenure at HBO where she has spent her entire career to date, from a temp through a slew of executive jobs, including entertainment president, to an Emmy-winning producer.

What would have become of Anne Frank had she survived the Holocaust? That intriguing hypothetical is the premise of “The Book of Ruth,” a short film premiering online at the DeadCenter Film Festival on June 11. The debut film from Israeli American actress-writer-producer Chen Drachman stars Tovah Feldshuh (SHS 1966) as a Jewish grandmother whose secret identity we discover via a conversation with her granddaughter (Drachman) after a Passover seder. 

In the digital age, when we are bombarded by media and competing narratives from all directions, awareness is key. Are we passive or active in what stories we consume? How well-versed are we in the digital lexicon, and what does this mean for our position in society? How does today’s media foster relationships, and between whom?

On 5 June at 16:00 CEST / 10:00 EDT, this GLF Live will see Douglas Rushkoff (SHS 1979), a leading thinker and explorer of the media ecosystem, give insights on what our media consumption means, and how this can shape our own narratives, even without our knowing. This forms part of the Storytelling Track of the GLF Bonn 2020 digital conference.

Over the past decade, no one has added more to my understanding of how we think about, discuss, and debate politics and religion than Jonathan Haidt (SHS 1981).

I first connected with Haidt in 2012, after I wrote a blog post for Commentary based on an interview in which Haidt discussed his book The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. “It’s extremely easy to spot the weak arguments, hypocrisy, and double standards of those with whom I disagree,” I wrote. “It’s much harder to see them in myself.”

American indie distributor Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American distribution rights to two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple‘s (SHS 1964) Desert One.

Under terms of the deal, Greenwich will license the North American theatrical and select home entertainment rights for Desert One, which recounts the attempted rescue mission of 52 American citizens on April 1980 who were taken hostage in Tehran during the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Chegg CHGG shares have skyrocketed since its first-quarter results wowed Wall Street on May 4. The company, which began as an online textbook hub, has expanded into a diverse digital educational platform that had already proved it’s poised to grow in a quickly changing learning environment, and then the coronavirus forced everyone to stay at home.

The expert Tucker chose was Aaron Sorkin (SHS 1979), the famed writer, director and producer who adapted Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird into a Tony Award-winning Broadway play. Tucker had met Sorkin more than two decades ago when she performed in a Syracuse University production of Sorkin’s A Few Good Men. The two renewed their acquaintance last year on Broadway when Tucker was a member of the “Mockingbird” ensemble cast and an understudy for the part of Calpurnia, the Finch family housekeeper.