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    Amazon’s Withoutabox founders form Critical Mass Studios

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1335 Views
    LOS ANGELES --

    Entertainment entrepreneurs David Straus, Joe Neulight and Fred Kramer, co-founders of indie film community Withoutabox, have formed L.A.-based Critical Mass Studios (CMS), billed as being the first vertically integrated, next-gen studio.

    CMS, which transforms global, multi-platform distribution, rights management and monetization for the entertainment and publishing industries with critical mass tracking technology, marks their first venture since selling their company to Amazon.com in 2008.  

    “Critical Mass Studios is building a new ecosystem around the frictionless management of rights,” said CEO Straus. “Content is being distributed globally on every imaginable platform.  Owners must not only have visibility throughout their entire library, but also be able to track and deliver instantly on all kinds of new deals. Those who don’t institute a forward-looking system to monetize and track effectively in the new world of distribution will leave tremendous amounts of money on the table.”

    In their first major acquisition, the trio behind the new company has teamed with entrepreneur Rob Delf and purchased RightslineSoftware Inc., which has been under Delf’s control since 2007. RightsLine currently tracks more than 65,000 contracts and is widely considered to be the entertainment industry’s most powerful rights and contract management platform for major studios, television companies and publishers, including NBCUniversal, MGM, Fremantle and Samuel French.

    RightsLine provides unique intelligence on complex rights availabilities and expiries in all media and territories throughout the world. By offering the only real time availabilities calculations deployed in the entertainment industry, it is intended to streamline workflows in the exploitation of highly active global catalogs.

    “RightsLine software sits at the core of the Critical Mass Studios mission.  We’re going to be announcing some very exciting deals this year,” commented Delf, president of CMS and CEO of RightsLine. “We intend to be among the few enterprises that will emerge at the center of the value chain for rights, serving as the nexus whereby rights holders, licensors, distributors, promoters and brands will communicate and transact.“

    Straus, Neulight and Kramer most recently operated Withoutabox for Amazon.com and oversaw the Los Angeles expansion of Amazon-owned IMDb, the world’s largest collection of movie, TV and celebrity information. Delf sold his software engineering company, Tryarc, to the Japanese conglomerate NTT Data in 2007.

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    Actor Anthony Head, known for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Ted Lasso,” dies at 72

    Friday, June 5, 2026
    Anthony Head arrives for the European premiere of 'The Iron Lady' on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/Jonathan Short, File)

    Anthony Head, the suave, smooth-voiced British actor known for roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Ted Lasso," has died, his family said Friday. He was 72.

    Head's daughters, actors Emily and Daisy Head, told the Press Association news agency that the actor passed away due to complications from pneumonia.

    The stage and TV performer became well known to British audiences in the 1980s as one half of a will-they, won't-they romantic couple in a series of ads for Nescafe Gold Blend instant coffee. The ads were later re-shot for a U.S. audience for Taster's Choice.

    Head achieved wider fame as librarian Rupert Giles, mentor to the title character in the cult-favorite supernatural series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which ran from 1997 to 2003.

    He most recently played Rupert Mannion, the villainous ex-husband of Hannah Waddingham's character Rebecca, in "Ted Lasso."

    "Our grief is far greater than the hole he has left behind, but we know his legacy will live on, in the shows he was a part of, and in the audiences that love them," his daughters said. "How lucky we are to know we are able to watch him doing what he loved, even when he is no longer with us."

    Head was born in London on Feb. 20, 1954 to Seafield Head, a documentary filmmaker, and Helen Shingler, an actor. His older brother, Murray, is also an actor.

    Other notable roles included playing Geoffrey Howe, the deputy to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, played by Meryl Streep, in the Oscar-winning "The Iron Lady."

    Head portrayed a prime minister himself in the sketch comedy show "Little Britain," as well as King Uther Pendragon, the father of Prince Arthur, in the "Merlin" TV series. He also appeared in "Motherland," Manchild," and "Silent Witness," along... Read More

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