Directors Guild of America to Honor Francis Ford Coppola in October 

Director Francis Ford Coppola appears at the photo call for the film "Megalopolis" at the 77th international film festival in Cannes, southern France on May 17, 2024. (AP)
Director Francis Ford Coppola appears at the photo call for the film "Megalopolis" at the 77th international film festival in Cannes, southern France on May 17, 2024. (AP)
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Directors Guild of America to Honor Francis Ford Coppola in October 

Director Francis Ford Coppola appears at the photo call for the film "Megalopolis" at the 77th international film festival in Cannes, southern France on May 17, 2024. (AP)
Director Francis Ford Coppola appears at the photo call for the film "Megalopolis" at the 77th international film festival in Cannes, southern France on May 17, 2024. (AP)

The Directors Guild of America will pay tribute to Francis Ford Coppola at its 25th DGA Honors in October.

Coppola will be honored Oct. 17 at a ceremony at the DGA Theater in New York, the guild was set to announce Monday. It will be the first such ceremony for the DGA since 2018.

Coppola, 85, has been nominated by the DGA five times before and won its award for outstanding directorial achievement twice, for 1972’s “The Godfather” and for its 1974 sequel. His latest film and first feature in 13 years, “Megalopolis,” opens in theaters Sept. 27.

“Megalopolis,” which Coppola financed himself, premiered in May at the Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews. It will make its North American debut at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Directors Guild will also honor the former CBS News executive Susan Zirinsky, and brother-and-sister team of Tony and Gina Argento of Broadway Stages, and the arthouse film company Criterion.

“We are incredibly proud to celebrate the 25th anniversary of DGA Honors, and to recognize the accomplishments of visionary storytellers who have greatly influenced American culture through their tremendous contributions to film and television,” said Lesli Linka Glatter, DGA president, in a statement.



Netflix Upfront Ad Commitments Surge as NFL Games, Squid Game Boost Appeal

 Lily Collins attends the Premiere for Netflix's "Emily In Paris" Season 4 at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, US, August 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Lily Collins attends the Premiere for Netflix's "Emily In Paris" Season 4 at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, US, August 14, 2024. (Reuters)
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Netflix Upfront Ad Commitments Surge as NFL Games, Squid Game Boost Appeal

 Lily Collins attends the Premiere for Netflix's "Emily In Paris" Season 4 at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, US, August 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Lily Collins attends the Premiere for Netflix's "Emily In Paris" Season 4 at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, US, August 14, 2024. (Reuters)

Netflix saw a more than 150% surge in upfront ad commitments for this year, the streaming giant said on Tuesday, thanks in part to the National Football League (NFL) games coming to the platform on Christmas Day.

In its second year of upfront negotiations — where networks and media companies aim to secure ad commitments for upcoming shows — Netflix successfully closed advertising deals with all major holding companies and independent agencies.

The California-based company secured partnerships for several high-profile properties, including the popular series "Squid Game" and "Wednesday," as well as the upcoming movie "Happy Gilmore 2."

It also closed deals for live events, including WWE Raw and the Christmas Day NFL games.

As competition intensifies in the streaming space, major players like Warner Bros Discovery's Max and Walt Disney's Disney+ have also turned to ad-supported plans and streaming bundles to boost growth.

Streaming services are also increasingly investing in sports content to attract a larger, younger audience and more advertisers willing to pay for premium live sports content.

Facing saturation in subscriber growth in the United States, Netflix has been beefing up its advertising business, although the business is not expected to become a primary driver of revenue growth until at least 2026.

The company last month reported its ad tier membership grew 34% sequentially in the second quarter.

Netflix introduced an ad-supported tier of the service in November 2022 as it tried to offset escalating costs of creating original content and licensing deals to keep viewers on the platform.

The cheaper, ad-supported plan hit 40 million global monthly active users in May.