The Ankler Hot Seat

Netflix, YouTube, horny hockey hunks — even amid rough economic terrain this year, these industry standouts and more not only survived through '25, but thrived. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey are joined by a cavalcade of Ankler's best — including Katey Rich, Lesley Goldberg, Matthew Frank and Ankler Agenda executive producer Shana Naomi Krochmal — to share their winners of the year, as well as the unfortunate losers. (Sorry, but if you're reading this, Sean has you on the list — and he's brought receipts.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a year when creators surged fully into the mainstream, ICYMI's Lia Haberman joins Like & Subscribe's Natalie Jarvey for a Substack Live recap of the biggest highs and lows of 2025. From MrBeast going Hollywood to Ms. Rachel landing on Netflix, plus podcasts turning into video shows and YouTube cementing itself as television, they break down what changed, and what those shifts mean for the creator economy going into 2026. Natalie and Lia also hand out totally fake (but very fun) awards to the people, trends, and storylines that defined the year. And because looking back means being honest, they also dig into stunts and terms they want to leave behind in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some guys can't take a hint. After half a dozen proposals and a hostile bid, Paramount Skydance got a definitive “no means no” from Warner Bros. Discovery's board this week. Elaine Low and Sean McNulty break down how the tables turned on suitor PSKY, what this means for the timeline of a Netflix-Warner Bros. merger and the wild payouts David Zaslav and the WBD C-suite are getting regardless of what happens. (Contraction, schmontraction.) Then, Erik Barmack unpacks Disney's $1B investment in OpenAI, Bob Iger's claim that the deal poses “no threat to creatives,” and what it really means when 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters can now be remixed into user-generated Sora videos. Plus: Richard Rushfield on the tragic murders of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner. Want to be featured in a future mailbag episode? Send your questions to podcasts@theankler.com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prestige Junkie's Katey Rich and Natalie Jarvey jumped on Substack Live to discuss why the Academy struck a deal with YouTube to air the Oscars, who might win the most in this deal, and what kind of changes we might expect for the Oscars going forward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Rushfield, Katey Rich and Christopher Rosen taped a special Prestige Junkie episode to discuss what Richard rightly hailed as Rob Reiner's “towering career of a towering presence” in the industry. From his early days as a sitcom star on All in the Family to his remarkable 12-year run of feature films, starting with 1984's This Is Spinal Tap and ending with 1996's The American President — with 1986's Stand By Me, 1987's The Princess Bride and 1989's When Harry Met Sally among those in between — Reiner influenced a generation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Creator and actor Noah Beck and Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles join Natalie Jarvey to break down how athletes are building fandom — and entire careers — beyond the field. From NIL to fashion to acting, they share how they navigate social media pressure, pursue new opportunities, and stay competitive while staying themselves. Subscribe to Like and Subscribe for more conversations like these: likeandsubscribenews.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like sand through the hourglass, so are the mergers of our lives. With the Warner Bros. board now in a 10-day window to respond to Paramount's newly hostile counteroffer, Hollywood is nearly guaranteed to be mired in this soap-operatic saga for months to come. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey break down the latest — including the introduction of Jared Kushner and Middle East money as the majority financial backing of the new Paramount bid, how the industry and unions are looking to fight off this merger (and whether public sentiment matters), and the likely chill this is going to have on the day-to-day business of television and film until there's resolution. Plus, Katey Rich offers the lay of the land now that Golden Globes nominations are out: who got snubbed, who got some love and how a combined HBO-Netflix would dominate awards season. And don't forget to take The Ankler's Hollywood in 2026 survey here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

WGA West president Michele Mulroney has a message for Netflix chief Ted Sarandos and Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav: “We want there to be consideration of industry workers in these conversations… We don't believe it was inevitable that Warner Bros. needed to be sold.” The guild leader sat down with Elaine Low on Monday morning as the town was still digesting the news of Netflix's winning $82.7 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming assets, not to mention the fresh shock of Paramount's hostile takeover bid for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery.In looking at the impact of past mergers (Disney-Fox, Warner Bros.-Discovery, etc.) on writers, Mulroney says, “We sadly know how this movie ends,” and that the Disney-Fox merger didn't increase employment or content production among writers. “We are doing a lot of advocacy at the congressional level and with attorneys general to outline what we see as the dangers for our industry, and for the wider, wider economy of the U.S., and they are hearing us.” Guild leaders urge members also to reach out to their elected officials about their concerns — and to lean into their creativity to navigate the current challenges. “This is a time to dig deep and be entrepreneurial where you can try and make things happen for yourself, rather than waiting around,” Mulroney says. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey, Sean McNulty and Lesley Goldberg all gathered Friday morning for a special live episode of Ankler Agenda to break down the repercussions of potentially the most significant piece of show business news this decade: Netflix's acquisition of Warner Bros. Top-line concerns include: The thousands of lost jobs that will worsen unemployment in the industry — already at Depression-era levels Whether movie theaters can survive the “consumer-friendly” windows Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos referenced in a Friday call with investors Netflix's potential new arsenal: all-star showrunners (J.J. Abrams, Greg Berlanti and Chuck Lorre, to name a few) and a gaming vertical at last Downstream effects on linear syndication The future of the peerless brand HBO “Everybody is just shell-shocked,” Elaine said of the calls and texts she fielded all day. “The main reaction that I've been getting is that people are scared. People are nervous.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One studio to rule them all and in the darkness bind them: Netflix, Paramount Skydance and Comcast have submitted new bids to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, part or parcel. One's got cash (Netflix), another's got Saudi money (PSKY), but the question is: Who needs whom more? And which studio exec would be most palatable to the town as the new head of Warner Bros.' TV and film studios — Ted Sarandos, David Ellison or Donna Langley? Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey suss out the latest (binding) bids for WBD and which combos make the most sense for the studios and for the health of Hollywood. Plus, the battle between idealistic Patreon and heavy-hitter Substack for writers and creators, and Richard Rushfield's take on why anyone but a Hollywood studio should buy WBD. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After ignoring weeks of theatrical disappointments, moviegoers fell under the spell of Wicked: For Good last weekend to the tune of almost $150 million in North America. Who does the industry have to thank for that total? Women, who made up 70 percent of the opening audience. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey examine how the fairer sex have been largely underserved at the box office this year, while Vanity Fair's all-bro Hollywood cover boys like Glen Powell (The Running Man) and Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere) struggled to pull their weight as movie stars. Plus, Prestige Junkie's Katey Rich lays out the key storylines as the Oscar race heats up — including what she's hearing from voters (nope, they still haven't seen all the movies) and why Warner Bros. is sitting pretty with best picture frontrunners One Battle After Another and Sinners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How long before Warner Bros. becomes another studio swallowed up by David Ellison? With final bids for WBD due this week, all eyes remain on Paramount Skydance — despite the Comcast and Netflix red herrings. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey break down why a Paramount–Warners mash-up now feels less like speculation and more like destiny. Then Richard Rushfield reveals the whispers starting to circulate within the creative community about Ellison's cozy ties to Donald Trump and how it might push back. Plus: As Disney becomes a luxury brand and even monthly streaming bills seem like an extravagance, has the middle-class been priced out of entertainment? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special bonus Ankler Agenda episode, Richard Rushfield chats with Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy about their journey to Warners, their record-breaking year at the box office and why their strategy paid off on hits from ‘Sinners' to ‘Superman' — all in the face of relentless negative headlines about their bold and risk-taking slate. With a combined 70 years of making movies, these two have seen it all — hits and flops, unexpected wins and surprising losses. But even now, with so many signs pointing to the contrary — and the fate of their studio in doubt, as it's officially up for sale — they both retain a sense of hope and wonder for the best that Hollywood can be. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood had its eyes on Web Summit Lisbon this week — where Tilly Norwood creator Eline van der Velden joined Ankler Media EIC Janice Min to showcase her AI “actress.” But Wild Sheep Content CEO Erik Barmack, our Reel AI columnist, tells Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey that the fixation on Tilly misses the far more consequential story: the unmistakable warning signs of AI's encroachment and the decades of strategic drift that have left Hollywood uniquely exposed to Big Tech's ambitions. Which jobs remain genuinely AI-proof? Which ones are already dissolving beneath us? And what does it mean for a creative economy when the apprenticeship ladder that produces future writers, directors and executives is sawed off at the base? Barmack offers a rigorous, unsentimental map of a crisis now unfolding faster, and more decisively, than the town wants to acknowledge. Plus: David Ellison hosts Paramount Skydance's debut on Wall Street, and Richard Rushfield charts the steady disappearance of dramatic films from America's movie screens. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Election Day had New York City's Gen Z cheering in the streets as proud socialist Zohran Mamdani crushed the Democratic establishment (in the form of disgraced state governor-turned-flop independent candidate Andrew Cuomo) in the mayoral race. But as election results from New York, New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere poured in Tuesday night, who was really watching TV? Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey examine the rising tide of “newsfluencers” trumping old-school cable news as viewers get older (average age: 70-72), MSNBC becomes MS Now, and trust in media plummets. Then, Lachlan Cartwright of buzzy media newsletter Breaker joins with to relay his scoops about new CBS News chief Bari Weiss: her beefy bodyguards, the (surprisingly!) hopping NYC election night party hosted by Bari's The Free Press and what's actually happening inside the halls of CBS News. Plus: Richard Rushfield on the dire state of diversity in Hollywood's film director ranks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thousands of jobs lost at Paramount Skydance and Amazon, quiet panic on the Warner Bros. Discovery lot, shoot days in L.A. on a continued decline — all while streaming churn, anecdotally, is becoming worse than ever as subscription prices skyrocket. As Hollywood embraced the most terrifying part of the industry during Halloween week — mass layoffs — Ankler Agenda host Elaine Low, along with Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey, take a look at the local economic indicators and how many are pointing south as we barrel toward next year. Then, to celebrate our big flagship podcast rebrand as Ankler Agenda, Richard Rushfield debuts his new weekly segment, Rushfield's Rant, and rings the alarm about the grim reality facing female directors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Thursday, "The Ankler Podcast" relaunches as "Ankler Agenda," hosted by Elaine Low. Elaine, author of Ankler Media's popular “Series Business” newsletter, will be joined weekly by her Ankler colleagues Sean McNulty, Natalie Jarvey and Richard Rushfield, in addition to a variety of expert guests, to break down the headlines, trends and creativity shaping the evolution of Hollywood, the creator economy and entertainment. Episodes will also be available every Thursday on YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another week, another industry-warping Hollywood shake-up. As Warner Bros. Discovery plants a “For Sale” sign in its yard, a Streaming Wars endgame is being unleashed. Is the billionaire class going to snap its fingers, Thanos-style, and squeeze the number of major studios through another round of M&A? Or is salvation coming instead for a storied studio? Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey break down which suitors make sense, why a Paramount-Warner Bros. mashup would become the rival Netflix has never had, and which assets are most enticing, fantasy-draft style. Plus: Richard Rushfield stops by to weigh in on Zazpocalypse Now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A show filmed in real time, airing almost daily, and pulling in billions of viewing minutes a week? Prestige TV could never. But Love Island USA and other reality juggernauts are proving America is enamored again with the once declining genre. Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean McNulty break down the market forces leading to this TV plot twist worthy of The Traitors: the genres working, what Netflix has to do with it and why it's thriving when scripted isn't. Plus: Ankler writer Matthew Frank joins to preview Crowd Pleaser, our upcoming Letterboxd collaboration, and his ambitious plan to visit more than 50 movie theaters across the country in just two weeks. And Elaine and Natalie unpack what SAG-AFTRA's new microdrama contract could mean for the booming world of vertical video. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The strangest thing about the new iteration of ChatGPT? The sudden and full-throated embrace by once-squeamish execs and writers, says Reel AI columnist Erik Barmick (just ask around about the “GPT-5 pass”). Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey dig into how writers and producers are using GPT-5, which jobs likely will vanish, and how guilds are gearing up for the next AI fight (after missing on the last agreement). Then, Lesley Goldberg joins to reveal the 10 most influential showrunners right now, according to top execs and agents, and the surprising names who didn't make the cut. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Forget the government shutdown — President Trump is back to targeting entertainment, from YouTube's $24.5 million settlement with him to a floated “100 percent tariff” on foreign-made films. Host Elaine Low, Sean McNulty, and Natalie Jarvey parse what a “Made in America” movie even is anymore, while Gen Z correspondent Matthew Frank (writer of our coming Crowd Pleaser newsletter about audience), unpacks how under-25s are actually discovering shows in the fast-twitch age of clips and feeds. And finally: Taylor Swift takes on Leonardo DiCaprio and Dwayne Johnson at the box office, exposing the industry's Gen Z blind spot in real time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six days. That's all it took for Jimmy Kimmel to be yanked off the air by Disney under FCC pressure — and then rushed back after Hollywood revolted. Now Trump is circling, affiliates are defying ABC in a game of chicken, and Disney's succession drama involving negotiators Dana Walden and Bob Iger is suddenly back in the spotlight. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty, Natalie Jarvey, and Richard Rushfield unpack the week that shook late night — and what it means for free speech, politics and the future of Hollywood. And no, this is nowhere close to being over. For more entertainment news, subscribe to The Ankler or apply to The Ladder, a members-only hub for early career entertainment professionals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Late on Sept. 17, the news broke: Disney's Bob Iger made the decision to “indefinitely” suspend one of its marquee stars, Jimmy Kimmel of Jimmy Kimmel Live! from ABC. The news followed FCC chair Brendan Carr's suggestion that the federal agency would move against the company if its leadership didn't take action against the host's remarks about Charlie Kirk. In this emergency pod, host Elaine Low is is joined by a rotation of our best and brightest to break down the shocking news and its chilling aftermath: Sean McNulty on Nexstar and Sinclair's decision to not air Jimmy Kimmel Live on affiliate stations; Lesley Goldberg with a play-by-play on Disney's decision to pull Kimmel off ABC; Katey Rich on the historical precedent and impact to the creative community; and Natalie Jarvey on how political creators on YouTube and elsewhere might react. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a multibillion-dollar business growing right under Hollywood's nose: microdramas, those soapy, 60-second episodes Gen Z binges on their phones with storylines that can sound like bad 'Twilight' fan-fiction. Vertical dramas are a booming market in China, and now entertainment vets stateside like Lloyd Braun and Susan Rovner are getting in on the action. Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean McNulty tackle the big questions for the micro-curious: How seriously should Netflix view microdramas as a rival? Can anyone actually make a profit? And will it take household names to make them succeed — or is this another Quibi-in-waiting? Plus, Richard Rushfield makes his glorious return to the podcast with tales of TIFF: the best films, the Criterion Closet and his all-important Sydney Sweeney selfie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Telluride mountaintops to Toronto's Tim Hortons, awards season is officially here. Before jetting to TIFF, Prestige Junkie's Katey Rich joined Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey to dissect the quirks of each fest and how they influence not just Oscar voters but box office, too. Plus: the crew autopsies a limp summer box office that fell behind last year, and looks ahead to whether Nolan, Spider-Man, Baby Yoda and even the Minions can save summer 2026 — or if movies are still stuck in a death spiral. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And here you thought Hollywood might coast into Labor Day. Instead, summer's final days delivered both the inevitable — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's engagement — and the unexpected: Netflix OG veteran Peter Friedlander's exit after 14 years. Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean McNulty break down the business stakes of both before running through the five biggest stories of the summer you need to know into the fall, from the ongoing rise of microdramas to Paramount's high-stakes reboot with Cindy Holland, to Gen X as Hollywood's Rodney Dangerfield generation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comedies, dramas, animation and reality may be Hollywood's bread and butter, but when it comes to what Americans actually watch the most, it's live sports — and now, an avalanche of shoulder programming to support it. As ESPN, NBCU and Amazon spend $76 billion on NBA games alone over the next 11 years, Manningcast spawns imitators and sports docs and series eat up space once reserved for scripted, Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey reveal the aftershocks to traditional TV (hint: grab the hot dogs and peanuts). Then Dealmakers' Ashley Cullins dives into the wild state of entertainment M&A right now, including why insiders are hyped about Hailey Bieber's $1 billion Rhode sale, and what they're saying about investors' sudden interest in management companies, who'll win the old media Hunger Games, and what in the world happens with Lionsgate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the end of an era — again — as the surprise finale of And Just Like That has fans bidding farewell (once more) to Carrie Bradshaw & Co. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey share their takes on the messy send-off (spoiler warnings!), and why Hollywood romance isn't going away like Aidan just yet. In fact, the once-dormant rom-com is in the midst of a 2025 shopping spree, with Netflix, Amazon and others stocking up on meet-cutes to satisfy comfort-craving audiences. The team unpacks what the divisive Sex and the City spinoff says about the market, the genre's economic appeal, and the next gen of rom-coms headed for your queue. Plus: They go inside Hollywood's big four agencies' war to rep digital creators like MrBeast, Alix Earle and Addison Rae, and the brutally honest scoop on whom digital stars choose (and don't) when internet fame tips into “call my agent” territory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brad Pitt, fast cars and Expensify receipt management software logos: Three things that go great together… when you're shoring up millions to fund your F1 movie. On this week's episode, Dealmakers' Ashley Cullins breaks down how ad viewing is down but brand spending is up in hits from F1 to Superman to Jurassic World Rebirth in ways that go far beyond the usual logo slap: They're narrative tie-ins where the ad is part of the story (host Elaine Low likens it to “hiding the pill in the peanut butter” for dogs, though, yes, Superman's mutt, Krypto, hawks Milk-Bones). Plus: Elaine, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey unravel Disney's latest moves — including a farewell to the Hulu app, a hello to ESPN's standalone streamer and other shakeups from the company's mic drop earnings call. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After just three years, the newlyweds known as Warner Bros. Discovery are headed for splitsville. Who gets the house? The dog? Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey break down the Hollywood divorce — including the surprising answer to which new company (Warner Bros. or Discovery Global) is making more money, why the film studio is laying off staff after a blockbuster summer, and what happens next. Then, the gang bops to the soundtrack from KPop Demon Hunters and dives into how this unexpected Netflix hit rewrote the rules for animation, fandom, and original IP — and why its lack of A-list stars should send a shudder down Hollywood's spine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do Stephen Colbert and an entire generation of Hollywood veterans have in common? They're both facing abrupt career disruption. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey explore the existential crisis facing Gen X, as careers stall out amid consolidation, AI and a Boomer blockade — and reveal what's coming next for millennials. Then, Lesley Goldberg breaks down the shocking cancellation of The Late Show, revealed days after a $16 million Paramount settlement with President Trump. Was the ouster of late night's highest-rated star really just a matter of money? And why didn't his manager tell him about it for weeks? Plus: Sean checks in on summer box office, where The Fantastic Four is about to face the audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elaine Low and Lesley Goldberg dive into the world's biggest media swap meet about to start: the great cable TV sell-off. They reveal who's selling the declining assets, who's actually buying them and why. Elaine is also joined by Natalie Jarvey, Sean McNulty and Katey Rich, who keep score of the recent Emmy noms including the triumphs, snubs and why, despite heavy campaigning, YouTube couldn't get voters to “like” them. Also, the team breaks down Superman's opening weekend and its impact on the summer box office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Paramount–Skydance merger lurches toward an Oct. 4 deadline, Elaine Low, Sean McNulty, Lesley Goldberg and Ashley Cullins break down the latest on who's in, who's out, what Cindy Holland will do when she takes creative control of Paramount+ as expected, and Hollywood buzz about “New Paramount”: Who's actually buying shows and who's riding out the clock, and what the new org chart and spin-offs will look like. Plus: is a Peacock–Paramount+ hookup still on the table, is Skydance really calling the shots, and can any streamer survive without merging? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We kick off this holiday weekend on The Ankler Podcast with Matthew Frank exposing a rebellion brewing in film schools, where young cinephiles are shunning AI, while their mentors encourage them to embrace the new technology. Later, Sean McNulty breaks down the box office battles this July 4th, with Jurassic World Rebirth trying to take pole position away from Brad Pitt's F1. But the real bombshell? Lesley Goldberg's exclusive scoop: Neil Druckmann, the co-creator of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us games and the Emmy Award-winning HBO series, is abandoning the TV adaptation ahead of season three. Lesley, Elaine Low and Natalie Jarvey dissect how Druckmann helped shape The Last of Us, why he's leaving now, and where that leaves the show and co-creator Craig Mazin ahead of its next chapter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week: Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey unpack a wave of moves shaking up Hollywood. First, the team dissect Spotify's latest push into video, including a leaked pitch deck showing the platform's aggressive play to lure creators from YouTube — and what it means for the future of podcasts, revenue models, and digital windowing. Then, six months after the L.A. fires. Elaine talks to Nicole LaPorte about her wrenching interviews with the displaced from Hollywood, now struggling, surviving and rebuilding. Then: the California legislature signed off on a $750 million tax incentive expansion for film and TV production. What's in the deal, who benefits, and will it really bring jobs back to the state? Plus: a look at the summer box office's first big flop: Pixar's Elio, and if Brad Pitt's F1 can defy the haters. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from Cannes Lions, Like & Subscribe editor Natalie Jarvey interviews creator Josh Richards and CrossCheck Studios CEO Chris Sawtelle about building a Gen Z media empire on the back of TikTok stardom. “I don't mean to be dramatic here, but broadcast television is dead,” Sawtelle, a former ICM agent, said to a packed crowd at ADWEEK House at Le Majestic Hotel. These days, reaching young audiences means partnering with creators like Richards, who talked about how he helped Amazon drum up excitement for Thursday Night Football and is developing series aimed at Gen Z. Other highlights: Richards' plan for outlasting his 15 minutes of social media fame ("You'll get lightning in a bottle, but you don't know how long you're gonna be able to hold that there"), how he's building his own IP and the investment advice Ashton Kutcher gave him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the ground at Cannes Lions, Janice Min and Natalie Jarvey join Elaine Low to break down the big Rumble(s) on the Riviera. First up: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan fired back at Netflix's Ted Sarandos in Janice's newsmaking interview (come for the fight, stay for the sports, pod and AI talk); then it was all those creators stealing the thunder (and money) from traditional celebrities as they sped-dated with brands amid a historical shift in ad spend. Plus: Is “authenticity” the most overused word of the era?; a spicy moment onstage with Alex Cooper; and Amazon and Netflix go back to TV basics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final edition of this season's Hollywood Stories, Richard Rushfield got to talk about "The Traitors" — a show of which he is an unapologetic superfan — with executive producer Mike Cotton, the man who brought it to both the U.K. and U.S. Originally a Dutch format, Traitors landed in Cotton's hands when he snapped up the rights and then “took that idea and helped supersize it for a U.K. and U.S. audience,” as he puts it. Cotton shares how the show's contestants get sucked into the game, why his team takes a “hands-off approach” to let the drama develop — and what might lie ahead for Peacock's breakout hit. “What I love about this show is it's a really rich world,” Cotton says. “We can take inspiration from murder mysteries, from thrillers, from horror movies, and we're constantly thinking of what we can do different.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from Cannes Lions, Ankler Media CEO Janice Min hosts a rollicking, wide-ranging conversation with YouTube CEO Neal Mohan about the platform's growing dominance — both on TV screens and across culture — as ad dollars and audience swing decisively toward creators and away from traditional entertainment. Now that YouTube claims a larger share of TV viewership than Netflix, Mohan responds to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos' swipe that YouTube is for “killing time” while Netflix is for “spending time.” “Who am I to say what's spending time, engaging time, quality time, killing time?” Mohan told a packed audience at ADWEEK House. “It's all of us as consumers — the 2 billion people that come to YouTube every single day — we get to decide how to spend our time.” (YouTube Originals shut down in 2022 before Mohan took the CEO seat.) Other highlights: Mohan answers whether YouTube's reported $2 billion per year NFL Sunday Ticket deal is paying off; teases plans for global sports rights expansion; and breaks down how the company has quietly captured massive podcast market share from Apple and Spotify. And stick around until the end — for his final swipe back at Netflix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Green shoots are rare in Hollywood these days, but some writers and actors are cashing six-figure checks in a format as questionable as its new Luigi Mangione series. Welcome to the world of microdramas: 60-second, phone-first serialized soap operas. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey unpack the sudden rise of white-hot vertical series. How is it not a punchline like Quibi? And what does it say about the other dreaded Q-word holding back Hollywood: quality? Plus, Dealmakers' Ashley Cullins joins with a scoop on Apple's new competitive performance-based pay model — and why Jon Hamm is competing with... Jon Hamm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's Hollywood Stories, Richard Rushfield sits down with TV comedy legend Nell Scovell — creator of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and writer for everything from The Simpsons to Late Night with David Letterman.Before breaking into TV, Scovell sharpened her voice at Spy and Vanity Fair, where editors Kurt Andersen and Graydon Carter taught her to “be funnier, go harder, be meaner.” She shares how she defied her agent to leave Vanity Fair and dive into the boys' club of TV writers rooms, a dynamic she was still battling decades later — even on The Muppets in the 2010s.She also opens up about her sharp, hilarious memoir Just the Funny Parts, which she jokes she really wanted to title, “Penis, Penis, Penis, Penis, Me, Penis.” (Scovell: "It would have sold more.") Richard calls it “one of the best memoirs of working in television I've ever read.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus episode of The Ankler podcast, the second of two recorded live on May 18 at L.A.'s DGA Theater, The Ankler and the Directors Guild of America bring you a series of insightful and memorable conversations — presented by Threads — about the art of directing for television. You'll hear Lesley Goldberg's interview with Liz Garbus, who directed the pilot and the pivotal fifth episode of Hulu's limited series “Good American Family,” and Elaine Low's conversation with Jessica Lee Gagné, who made her directing debut on the second season of Apple TV+'s “Severance.” Katey Rich leads two Q&As — one with DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter, who helmed all six episodes of Netflix's political thriller “Zero Day,” and a second with Damian Marcano and Amanda Marsalis, who each directed four episodes of HBO Max's medical drama “The Pitt.” In addition to unpacking their process and craft, these five pros also share advice with the live audience about how to build a career as a director. “Be very drunk in yourself,” Marcano tells the crowd. “Don't rob us of what you have to offer.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this bonus episode of The Ankler podcast, recorded live on May 18 at L.A.'s DGA Theater, The Ankler and the Directors Guild of America bring you a series of funny and memorable conversations — presented by Threads — about the art of directing for television. Lesley Goldberg interviewed Alethea Jones, who helmed the pilot for ABC freshman hit “High Potential”; Elaine Low spoke with Yana Gorskaya of FX's “What We Do in the Shadows”; and Katey Rich sat with Lucia Aniello of “Hacks” (who's also co-showrunner of the HBO Max comedy). Despite the often loose tones of their shows, each of the directors emphasized the extensive prep on their end that's required to make the storytelling work. “I write a novel on every episode of television I have ever done,” Gorskaya admits, “that tracks every character's wants, needs, desires, where we've been — and where we're going.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

L.A. may have lost its crown as the world's production capital, but it's still sitting on 8 million square feet of sound stages. So what to do with all that excess space? Think bar mitzvahs, weddings, YouTubers and cover shoots. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey explore how L.A.'s sound stages are the new dead malls and what that means for the future of production in LA., and who's still filming locally (shoutout to Abbott Elementary and Grey's Anatomy). Plus: What new layoffs at Disney and WBD mean. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Hollywood Stories: Tales From Television, Richard Rushfield takes us back to the heyday of the original “American Idol” in the aughts and early 2010s, when the Fox juggernaut dominated conversation everywhere from “Howard Stern” to the “Today” show and produced megastars like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. But there was one powerful figure behind the scenes whose quiet devotion touched future superstars from Katherine McPhee to Jordin Sparks: Pastor Leesa Bellesi. Through her American Idol Ministry, Bellesi not only prayed for the success of these contestants, but she also helped them and their families navigate the harsh spotlight of sudden fame that glared upon even the ones who didn't make it far. Richard chronicled Bellisi's incredible journey in his 2011 book, “American Idol: The Untold Story,” and now, more than two decades later, they revisit it together as she recalls her spiritual connection with the show and its stars — from the Bible passage that bonded her with McPhee to a fateful prayer circle with judge Paula Abdul. "It was such a God thing," she tells Richard. "The prayers that I prayed in that room are living themselves out still to this day." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Big-name agents haven't been this bullish on indie film in years, while Marvel can barely crack $450 million per movie. So what's changed? Dealmakers' Ashley Cullins joins Elaine Low and Sean McNulty to dissect why optimism surged out of Cannes, and how Mubi, fresh off a splashy $24 million acquisition for Jennifer Lawrence's latest, is viewed as a market signal. Meanwhile, Sean weighs the quality issues and audience shifts plaguing Marvel and its budget catch 22. Plus: Why directors are the new IP, and whether Fantastic Four reboot can turn the Marvel tide. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the second episode of Hollywood Stories' sophomore season, Richard Rushfield talks to the brilliant and bawdy Bruce Vilanch, known as the longtime joke purveyor extraordinaire for the Oscars (plus the Emmys, Tonys and more). But before he became the go-to for Hollywood galas, Vilanch got his start in writing for the big variety shows and specials that peppered the network schedules of the 1960s and '70s and represent the height of television's most flamboyant and unhinged period. Expanding on some of the wildest misadventures chronicled in  his new book, “It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time,” Vilanch takes Richard through three of those song-and-dance spectaculars — the “Star Wars Holiday Special” that George Lucas famously disowned, the “Paul Lynde Halloween Special” and the short-lived series “The Brady Bunch Hour.” From writing material for graceless Wookiees to putting Robert Reed's Mike Brady in Carmen Miranda drag, Vilanch revels in how right it felt when everything went fantastically wrong. “It was ridiculous, but I had fun,” he recalls. “A lot of these things were conceived in clouds of smoke.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Netflix just picked up Sesame Street, but this isn't just about Elmo. It's a calculated move in the high-stakes fight for kids' attention — and future subscribers. Elaine Low, Natalie Jarvey and Sean McNulty dig into why streamers like Netflix and Disney+ are doubling down on branded kids content while others quietly exit, and why Paramount+ has untapped potential. From Miss Rachel to Bluey to Gabby's Dollhouse, Paw Patrol to PBS, this episode unpacks how the battle for the youngest viewers is reshaping strategy — and why it matters more than you think. Also: final thoughts on Final Destination, and a few bold and likely-to-be-regretted weekend movie plans, including Lilo and Stitch side-eye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood Stories is back! The Ankler pod series returns, this time focusing on untold tales from the world of TV as shared by the people who work in its trenches. In this debut episode of season two, Richard Rushfield hosts a revealing, in-depth interview with four creative minds behind Netflix's hilarious, animated (but decidedly not-for-little-kids) hit, ‘Big Mouth,' whose eighth and final season drops on May 23. Comedians and co-creators Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg swing by to discuss their silly, simpatico partnership that dates back to first grade, their own anxieties from puberty, and how they used their celebrity pull to get Hugh Jackman, Jordan Peele, Paul Giamatti and others to sign on for appearances. Richard also sits down with veteran writers and fellow co-creators Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, who explain why you can never go too far in pushing the risqué envelope and why ‘Big Mouth' could never in a million years have happened at a network. Says Flackett, "It would have been a different show." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ad fab? Not quite. Still, even as the Upfronts lose glitz, stakes remain sky high. Ad buying happens year-round now, sure — but with Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube crashing the party and sports commanding ever-higher premiums, TV's annual dog-and-pony is still a spectacle, drawing Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey to the scene in New York. In this episode: their first-ever “Uppie Awards”; best (and worst) celebrity cameos (hello Lady Gaga and Snoop Dogg); who liked Netflix's big pitch; HBO Max name-change whiplash; and whose afterparty delivered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Really believe Trump wants to bring production back stateside? Or that California Gov. Gavin Newsom can work with him to do it? Think again, says Richard Rushfield, who joins Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Natalie Jarvey to break down the fantasy of a tariff or federal incentive, the impact already from the trade war, Newsom's failings that precipitated all of this — and why Richard thinks any action to bring production back is 25 years too late. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices