Stuck In Development

Carl & Eitan give their off-the-cuff reactions to the news that Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two firms. They also review Apple's (fairly disastrous) WWDC keynote.

Board boards boards. We haven't really covered boards at SID. But this episode's main topics revolve around them. First, Carl and Eitan discuss the rumors surrounding an Amazon/MGM film about the OpenAI Board vs. Sam Altman controversy and its potential casting (do you like Prada suits?) and director.Later, they cover the Warner shareholder vote about Zazlav's pay package, using it as a way to dive a bit deeper into the role of boards.Other topics include the latest Mission: Impossible and a WWDC preview. Join us!Note: We recorded this episode before WWDC and the news dropped around Warner's split. Emergency pod on those coming soon!

Carl & Eitan re-litigate Disney live-action remakes as they review the Memorial Day box office. Eitan also has a novel pitch for the Savannah Bananas.

Carl is back from paternity leave, and yes, we made him talk about Sinners! On this Carl-centered episode, we were joined again by Kevin and explored what we've been watching, and even share a review of Goodnight Moon.And yes, we surprisingly didn't talk about Disney announcing a new resort!Join us!

Even more Sinners talk!? Yes please! But also other things? Yes as well!Eitan and Kevin start this episode finally doing their spoiler-heavy review of Sinners after having watched it twice. (They still love it).They also talk about MoviePass new daily fantasy product (which they are unfortunetely excited about), praise Andor's S2 first-half, and give a quick rundown on the Tony nominations.Join us.Note: Sorry for the slight audio issues in the first half with Kevin audio a bit low!

(Yes, we are keeping the official 200 episode for when Carl comes back for paternity leave!)Sinners can do no wrong. In this episode, Eitan and Kev dive deep into Ryan Coogler's masterpiece (yes, I said it. This is Eitan btw). The discussion begins with Eitan sharing his reactions in a spoiler-free review. They then explore the surprising reception and media coverage the film received during its initial release.Lastly, they introduce a new segment to SID: Stucking in Development!

Is Warner Bros. Discovery having a....great month? Do Coachella and The Masters represent the two ends of the spectrum of where in-person events are heading? Is DoorDash's addition of pay-in-installments options a recessionary indicator? Is Warfare even a war movie?In the first episode of Carl's paternity leave, Eitan is joined by Kevin Sachs to explore these and many more questions.Join us!

Carl's last episode before his paternity leave is about things he and Eitan care too much about.First, Carl guides Eitan through the latest casting announcements for the upcoming Hunger Games movie, Sunrise of the Reaping, and gasp at the Minecraft movie overperformance at the box office.Then, Eitan walks Carl through the details and first reactions to Universal's new theme park in Orlando: Epic Universe.Join us!

After a brief Soderbergh Second™, the Carl & Eitan check in on a strange assemblage of Cinemacon announcements. Discussion includes Now You See Me, the fast-tracked Hunger Games prequel Sunrise on the Reaping, and Sam Mendes' impending onslaught of Beatles biopics.

Venting can be cathartic from time to time. And there is no better way to vent than by picking bones. And boy, do Eitan and Carl have bones to pick in this episode. From Rachel Ziegler being thrown under the bus for Snow White's underperformance, the latest Avengers stunt around the cast release for their next movie, and Utah losing Sundance to Boulder.Plus: find out where the saying comes from!

Apple's famous cult of secrecy typically prevents the company from announcing vaporware. Carl & Eitan dig into what the significant delay of core Apple Intelligence features says about the current state of the company's culture & product development cycle. In other news, Eitan spent a weekend deep in the New York (live) theater scene, and Soderbergh is back in Carl's good graces after Black Bag.

Spring is almost upon us! And this episode is full of can't-wait-for-the-cold-to-end energy.First, our local SXSW reporter Carl shares his thoughts on the Austin "festival" evolution over the last couple of years. Then, they review Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17 (spoiler: Pattinson is great), before jumping into Apple TV+ land and talking about Severance and Disclaimer, and the role they might have played in the future of the Cupertino company streaming plans.Join us!

After a long & chaotic awards season, the boys sit down with Alex and Kevin to discuss a long & mostly un-chaotic Oscars.

Join Carl & Eitan in this menagerie-of-topics episode recorded before the Oscars.The main topic is the announcement of Amazon Studios taking creative over the 007 Bond franchise from the Broccoli family. Other topics include casting news in the new Harry Potter series, The Office Universe, The Curse Child for some reason, and Dana Walden making moves for the CEO position!See you in a couple of days for the Oscars recap!

As is traditional, Kevin Sachs joins Carl and Eitan for some pre-Oscars gossip.

In this week's episode, Carl & Eitan talk about the beauty of over-the-air TV, explore the latest Programmer vs. distributor fight between YouTube TV and Paramount, break down the WSJ "Going to Disney World is Expensive" article (which riles up Eitan), and quickly review Nickel Boys.Join us!PS - Eitan apologizes for saying the Super Bowl was broadcasted by CBS, when it was hosted by Fox.

Carl & Eitan track the implosion of Emilia Perez's Oscar campaign, review the new MCU Fantastic 4 trailer, and chat about the fate of Disney's Galactic Starcruiser hotel.

It's that time of the year! Eitan and Carl throw down their high-stakes predictions for media and entertainment in 2025. The duo also owns up to their 2024 hits and misses, breaking down what they got right and (hilariously) wrong about streaming, tech, and Hollywood's wild ride. Plus: rapid-fire hot takes on this year's Oscar nominations.

This week, the boys try to become Better Men by reflecting on what it means to be “bearish on Netflix” in light of the company's Q4 over performance. They also dissect the (mostly nothingburger) AI controversies surrounding The Brutalist and catch up on the status of TikTok's ban in the US.

Lawsuits dropped, mergers announced, Globes awarded, new streaming services getting Stuck in Development and not launching...now that's a way to start 2025. After their (ehm, quite lengthy) holiday break, Carl and Eitan are back and jump right into analyzing the latest in the world of entertainment business. They start by going through the announced Fubo + Hulu Live TV Merger, and the official doom of Venu. Then they use the great Will Tavlin essay on N+1 Magazine, "Casual Viewing", as a guide to check in on Netflix and how their views have evolved. (https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-49/essays/casual-viewing/) Lastly, they review the Golden Globe results and surprises. Here is to a great 2025!

Come through the wardrobe with us! Eitan and Carl start on Netflixland, where they explore the latest challenges of the streaming giant in managing their relationship with talent. They talk Greta Gerwig's push to have her Narnia adaptation not only be shot in Imax, but also have a *real* theatrical release, as well as Daniel Craig's rant around Knives Out 3. In Movieville Carl shares his thoughts on Wicked, and Eitan talks about Moana 2 and Flow. They even introduce an extension to The Encanto Parados: The Moana Corollary. Finally, they have a stopover in Corporate City where they breakdown the latest developments in the Venu front—the Disney+Fox+WBD sports streaming package that seems doomed—as well as WBD's organizational restructure.

As promised, Carl & Eitan avoid reviewing movies this week! Instead, they discuss the conclusion of Warner's NBA rights saga with a detour into the HBO Harry Potter show. They also recap the Golden Globes nominations.

It's Glicked time! Carl and Eitan are back from the Thanksgiving holiday and break down the biggest weekend in theaters since Barbenheimer. They start by talking Wicked, the reception, and how it seems to really strike a mainstream cord (movie musical geeks be damned #WestSideStoryForever). Then they touch on Gladiator 2 and how every actor seems to be playing a different movie. They also tangent off to talk about the power of Russel Crowe in Master & Commander. Other topics include Queer, broadway musicals, and a check-in on the award season that got started with the New York Critics Awards last week. Join us!

This week on SID, Carl and Eitan dig into proposals for the future of Chrome at Google and The Muppets at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Carl and Eitan have always been bullish on AVOD and FAST. Amazon's latest move to kill the Freevie brand and move its content to Prime might signal that they are not. The boys start this episode going through what this move could signal for the broader industry, and share how their views have evolved around the ad-supported side of streaming. After that, they dive DEEP into the awards race and share their mostly spoiler-free reviews of Emilia Perez, Conclave, The Brutalist, and Juror #2. Join us!

The boys (and Nick!) share their effusive praise for Denver's updated Casa Bonita.

MEGAlopolis. EPIC Universe. PREMIUM Lighnting Lane. In this week's episode the boys go through all the intensifiers in the english lenguage. Carl starts by sharing his review of Francis Ford Coppola's cinematic opera, and Eitan follows with his thoughts on We Live in Time. Then, they head to Theme Park Land where they talk the latest around Universal's upcoming new 3rd gate, as well as Disney's newest addition to their already uber complex fast pass system. It's SPECTACULAR! Join us!

It's time for the SID Awards Draft! Kevin Sachs returns to the show as the incumbent winner (which Carl & Eitan both swear was entirely due to Oppenheimer). Alex Terrazas rounds out the group, adding more entropy to an already chaotic draft. Listen to hear the 4 prognosticate the awards chances of films they haven't even had the chance to see!

Just like the Joker, Google has been having some rough weeks dealing with the law. In this episode, Carl and Eitan walk through the latest developments and provide "highly tentative perspectives" for both of Google's antitrust cases, including one related to the Play Store and another around Search. Before they end, Carl shares his take on Joker: Folie à deux, which spoiler alert, he likes! (Eitan saw it after recording, and shares a lot of the perspectives of Carl) Join us for SID: Suits edition!

Carl & Eitan check out Dreamworks Animation's The Wild Robot and share their follow up thoughts on Meta's Orion program.

Last week Meta introduced a new lineup of VR and AR lenses. The highlight of the event, by far, was the tease into Orion, Meta's prototype for the vision of AR. In this week's episode, Carl and Eitan share their thoughts about what seems to be a promising direction. After that they touch on the news of James Cameron joining the board of Stability AI, and what it might (or not!) mean for the future of filmmaking. Join us!

Not going to sugar coat this: Carl & Eitan are just really, really excited about going to Casa Bonita. Also, Carl loved The Substance.

Apple, macroeconomics, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, boat rides. This episode has it all. Eitan and Carl start by reacting to Apple's hardware announcements, including new Airpods, iPhones, and deafening silence around the Vision Pro. Later, the boys talk about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice being reasonably reasonably fun fun. They share their favorite parts, their favorite pun, and the things they wish were a bit different. Tangents this week include headphones, macroeconomics, and a game on the best type of ride vehicles. Join us on this ride!

It's a grab-bag episode this week on Stuck in Development as Carl & Eitan catch up on the box office, get hyped about the possibility of going to Denver's Casa Bonita and check in on Edward Berger.

Carl and Eitan start the episode by congratulating Paramount for getting unstock with the conglomerate's shopping window closing, making Skydance the super official winner (vF vThisOne vToPrint). Stop us if you've heard that before. Then, they welcome Venu as the latest to get Stuck in Development. The boys explore Fubo's injunction and share their predictions of what will ultimately happen with the Disney+WBD+Fox sports venture. Spoiler, it's no bueno. Finally, they close by trying to find a reason why anyone would be excited about having Anthropic LLM models available in Alexa. Join us, it's a fun one!

It's a pretty dire news week on Stuck in Development! Carl & Eitan discuss the AI-ensh**ified Megalopolis trailer, Disney's TOC-based judicial cowardice & a Google antitrust ruling that hurts Apple more than anyone.

A week with two Olympics!? In this episode the boys go through the media business of the actual Olympic games, and Eitan shares his main takeaways from attending Paris 2024 (including, of course, comparing them to a theme park). They then review the Disney Theme Park Olympics, also known as D23, which includes major (and minor) announcements of upcoming projects across the Mouse live entertainment portfolio. Join us!

After tripping over themselves to discuss a number of streaming topics – including the new Disney + Max bundle – the boys look into Amazon's rumored premium Alexa subscription and chat about Carl's experience with Vera Drew's The People's Joker. Also, Eitan shows off The Gadget (??).

It happened! Finally! The 2024 Stuck In Development Topic finally got unstock. Eitan and Carl dive into the 'merger' of Skydance and Paramount, making a stop in Financials Town before ending on is-this-a-good-idea-ville. Before climbing into Paramount Mountain, the boys also partake in a fire round to catch up on everything they missed on their hiatus. We are back! Join us!

Movies! (Inside Out 2, The Bikeriders) Business! FastPass & Theme Parks! We'll be off next week for July 4th.

This was a week of highs, lows, and questions marks. First, Carl and Eitan marvel at the enormous power of Inside Out and its incredible box office run (which doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon), and what it could mean for their prediction of Disney making exactly $3.75B at the box office this year. They later try to come up with some crazy accounting that could help explain a report about MoviePass having a profitable year last year. Towards the end of the episode they close by breaking down the latest Netflix marketing stunts: "Houses" and popcorn.

Any SID fan knows the Alamo Drafthouse is Carl's cinema chain of choice. What they may not know is what he (and Eitan) thinks of Sony's planned acquisition of the chain. They also talk through a bizarre Inside Out 2 x Fandango deal and WWDC announcements.

This week's episode is a short one but a good one. We start this week with Eitan's take on The Young Women and the Sea and his disappointment at Disney not following the Encanto Paradox by only giving it a small, 2-week release before it heads to Disney+. They then spend some time breaking down the bankruptcy of a Texas-based franchisee of Alamo Drafthouse, and wondering what the outcome of the Paramount acquisition talks will be. Join us!

Carl and Eitan dissect the latest round of doom-and-gloom around the future of theaters from the perspective of new release Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Carl's also mad about new tiling at EPCOT.

The Cannes Film Festival was last week, and Carl and Eitan HAD to ask Kevin to join them and share some wisdom about this historic festival. The Three Caballeros first go through the history of the festival, before jumping to this year's iteration highlights. Lastly, after Eitan had to run out, Kevin and Carl go through their movie aficionado WAAAAW.

It's Friday afternoon and cable is BACK! Carl and Eitan attempt to parse a pair of "bundles" announced by the major streamers. Only one bundle is, in fact, a bundle. Later in the episode, the boys chat through Carl's recent trip to Disney World.

This week, Eitan & Carl look at the NBA's options for the next decade of basketball streaming rights. No episode next week – the boys will be too busy playing LinkedIn games!

Buying Paramount's a lot trickier than you'd expect. Carl & Eitan detail the potential paths for Skydance, Apollo and/or Sony to acquire the Redstone's National Amusements holding company and/or Paramount outright. The boys also discuss Netflix's latest investor obfuscation tactic and Alex Garland's brilliant Civil War.

We start the episode with Eitan recounting an unconventional book presentation experience, and then launching into a conversation on some of the nuances in book distribution and overall business tactics in the current literary world. The boys then dive into spoiler-free analyses of their recent silver screen experiences. Hear Eitan's thoughts on 'Monkey Man', Dev Patel's intriguing directorial debut, alongside Carl's perspectives on 'Civil War', the gripping new picture by SID-darling Alex Garland.

On the boys' first-ever Friday episode, Carl & Eitan loopily discuss Cinemacon announcements & early reviews of the Humane Ai Pin.

A 20-rundown of the latest big media and entertainment business news? You got it! Carl and Eitan start by exploring the news and impact of Endeavour, Ari Emmanuel's modern media conglomerate, being taken private by Silver Lake for $13B. After that, they check in on the latest of Disney's corporate drama and their proxy fight with activist investors. Finally, they close out with more thoughts on Netflix's 3 Body Problem!