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30 episodes with tatiana siegel
2 episodes with tatiana siegel
2 episodes with tatiana siegel
2 episodes with tatiana siegel
Tatiana Siegel's DC History Book, Elio Teaser, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Promo, New Comic Book Day Preparation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sandy and Terry delve into the latest plagiarism controversy. The Alexander Payne-directed film The Holdovers didn't win for the Best Original Screenplay at the 96th Oscars, but Da'Vine Joy Randolph did take home the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The film is highly regarded by critics and audiences alike. In early March 2024, reporter Tatiana Siegel at Variety published a report on allegations made by Simon Stephenson, a screenwriter who worked on films such as Luca and Paddington 2. In a 33-page document, Simon claims that The Holdovers, written by David Hemingson, was transposed from his unproduced script, Frisco and that the similarities are “line-by-line” and have been routinely described as “brazen.”
Ein Artikel des Branchenmagazins Variety schlug letzte Woche ein wie eine Bombe: Marvel stecke in der Krise, heißt es da. Aber stimmt das überhaupt? Wir gehen dem auf den Grund. Außerdem reden wir über die Sylvester Stallone-Doku „Sly“, die Serie „Alles Licht, das wir nicht sehen“ und „Quiz Lady“.06:39 Alles Licht, das wir nicht sehen12:47 Quiz Lady15:51 Sly30:52 Die Therapie32:31 Variety Artikel über MarvelJean-Claude Van Damme: Karate-Diva: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lBcskyBLxg&ab_channel=IrgendwasmitARTEundKulturDer Artikel in Variety von Tatiana Siegel: https://variety.com/2023/film/features/marvel-jonathan-majors-problem-the-marvels-reshoots-kang-1235774940/Alle Werbepartner und weiterführende Infos findest du hier: https://linktr.ee/zweiwiepechundschwafel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Halloween Spectacular has concluded, so let's get back to topical, typical nerd business! Last week, Tatiana Siegel of Variety Magazine penned a column outlining some really interesting details after a meeting of the Marvel minds in Palm Springs. A back up plan for Jonathan Major's Kang the Conqueror character. Issues with "The Marvels" (which debutes in theaters this Friday) as well as "Blade" starring Mahershala Ali -- which isn't due for another year (or more depending on if it gets pushed back). Plans about the ressurection of both Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man AND Scarlett Johanssen's Black Widow characters. It's a bad situation and terrible looks all around for Marvel Studios, so suffice it to say, your hosts, Teebs and KidPhoenix ask a very real question that should be asked. Is Marvel Studios cooked? (Read Tatiana Siegel's piece here on Variety.) Like and follow the show on Facebook. Follow the show on Twitter (@TeebsandKidVS). We are on Instagram! If you listen, kindly leave us a review. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/teebsandkidphoenixvs/support
Hello and welcome to Bill vs the MCU! Each month your hosts Pop Break Podcasts Editor Alex Marcus and Pop Break Editor in Chief Bill Bodkin take another step into the wider Marvel Multiverse, with reviews and interviews on the film and television series that may be drawn upon as the MCU dives deeper and deeper into its Multiverse Saga. In this episode, the sky is green, the grass is red, and the world is controlled by Nazis. No, they are not talking about Olivia Rodrigo, they are talking about the Agents of Hydra, the concluding arc of Agents of SHIELD S4, covering S4E16-S4E22, when the team must fight their way out of the simulation and defeat Aida, aka Ophelia aka Madame Hydra! To help cap off their coverage of the first half of Agents of SHIELD's seven season run, they are joined by Marvel News Desk's Caleb Borchers. He will be discussing his seven year long run covering The MCU on his podcast, and giving the inside story as to why it is coming to an end later this year. Alex and Bill also return to Marvel news this month in Miss Minutes Marvel Memo where they breakdown all the details of Borys Kit's October 11th piece for the The Hollywood Reporter titled Daredevil Hits Reset Button as Marvel Overhauls Its TV Business and Tatiana Siegel's November 1st piece for Variety titled Crisis at Marvel: Jonathan Majors Back Up Plans, The Marvels Reshoots, Reviving Original Avengers, and More Issues Revealed. They also briefly discuss the fantastic new book by The Ringer's Joanna Robinson and Dave Gonzalez and cowriter Gavin Edwards MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios. Don't forget to come back next month when they'll be reviewing Secret Invasion, Loki 2, & The Marvels. Secret Invasion & Loki 2 are available to stream on Disney+ and you can check out The Marvels in a theater near you beginning this week! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/popbreaktv/message
Disappointing box office numbers, recasting rumors, and dwindling hype for The Marvels movie is leading to turmoil behind the scenes at the MCU. Can they bounce back and is saturation part of the problem? Jerry will find out with Tatiana Siegel who broke the story for Variety Magazine
In the first half of this week's FilmWeek Feature, Larry sits down with LAist film critic and animation expert Charles Solomon to examine how Japanese animation portrays girls and young women — and how that might differ from Western animation. Afterwards, Larry speaks with Variety's Executive Editor of Film & Media Tatiana Siegel about the ongoing complications both on the screen and behind the scenes for Marvel Studios.
My brutally honest reaction and a full breakdown of Tatiana Siegel's “grain of salt” Variety piece on Marvel Studios' struggles. Contact Ray at: EMAIL: ray@theflitecast.com THREADS: @theflitecast FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TheFliteCast/ Subscribe to The FliteCast: Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Stitcher / RSS Become a member of The FliteCast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheFliteCast
EPISODE 255: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN A-Block (1:43) SPECIAL COMMENT: What if that had been Joe Biden and not Mitch McConnell? What if that had been JOE BIDEN stopping mid-sentence, going glassy eyed and catatonic for 30 seconds, having to be led away by his colleagues, returning only to mumble his insistence he was fine - and a bad joke? What kind of Hell would the Republicans have unleashed on us? "Resignation! 25th Amendment! Cover-up! Seizure! Aneurysm! History! Diagnosis! Prognosis! Body Double! And - I get it - 100 Minority Leaders aren't worth ONE President. But what would Republicans have DONE with this? And what DID Republicans do with Trump's Covid hospitalization and Trump's 2019 mystery trip to Walter Reed? What if it was Joe Biden making a bad joke about Mitch McConnell's health instead of Mitch McConnell making a bad joke about Joe Biden's? And the reporter replies "Oh nice." The Republicans, and the news media - partisan and otherwise - would've gone insane over this story. Or if it had happened to an elderly Democratic Senate leader. Plus the Hunter Biden plea deal collapse really hurts Jim Jordan and Jamie Comer - and Jordan admits it. And I swear something is going on at the Trump Grand Jury. Trump is freaking out again. But I'll be damned if I know what it is. And Marjorie Taylor Greene exceeds her usual boundaries of stupidity. After two dozen listens I still don't know what she said, and I don't know what she MEANT to say. B-Block (16:11) POSTSCRIPTS TO THE NEWS: Underwater temperatures in the Atlantic off Florida are as hot as a Jacuzzi and the highest on record. Asphalt temperatures in Arizona are 180 and have sent people to the burn ward who merely fell to the ground. We have skipped "Climate Crisis" and gone right to "Climate Catastrophe." And he may be finished but Chris Licht ain't finished. First he destroyed CNN. Now his hope for revenge is destroying Variety. (26:00) THE WORST PERSONS IN THE WORLD: Somebody took a Community Note over his vaxxer conspiracy tweet; he just threatened advertisers; he just purloined the handle @X - yes, Elon Musk takes Win, Place and Show. C-Block (31:05) THINGS I PROMISED NOT TO TELL: Saturday would've been my Dad's 94th Birthday. I don't know which seems weirder to write here: "94th" or "would've."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Megyn Kelly is joined by Melissa Francis, former Fox News anchor, to talk about Fox News teaming up with the New York Times to try to take down Tucker Carlson, the truth about why Tucker was fired, reading between the lines in the media leaks, Fox News' plummeting ratings since Tucker is gone, the toxic media business, and more. Then Allie Beth Stuckey, host of BlazeTV's "Relatable," joins to discuss Lia Thomas slamming women as "transphobic" if they don't support trans athletes in women sports, Bud Light sales plummeting, Dylan Mulvaney's quest for fame, disturbing trans TikTok influencer calling for violence, the truth about the trans Montana lawmaker getting attention in the media, and more. Then Tatiana Siegel, executive editor at Variety, joins to discuss Don Lemon speaking out now after his firing and the revelations about his history of misogyny, NBCU CEO Jeff Shell's firing over sexual harassment in the workplace and an inappropriate relationship, and more.Stuckey: https://alliebethstuckey.comSiegel: https://variety.com/author/tatiana-siegel/ Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKellyTwitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShowInstagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShowFacebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow Find out more information at: https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow
Trump is ARRESTED?! Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Former President Trump with over 30 counts of falsifying business records. Do you think this is right? Crime is surging in New York City and residents both democrat and republican are confused as to why the DA won't target rampant crime in their own city.Don Lemon is Canceled? CNN anchor Don Lemon is under scrutiny over alleged sexual harassment, fat shaming and racism. Variety Magazine author Tatiana Siegel wrote a scathing article bringing to light these allegations. Don Lemon has also been under fire for claiming Presidential candidate Nikki Haley wasn't viable because she wasn't in her prime, which doesn't seem very feminist to those who endorse women empowerment. Hasbullah is recorded allegedly abusing his cat! InsideHistory posted a video of Hasbullah allegedly harming his own pet cat, which many believe is animal abuse.Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is the number 1 movie in America right now. This popular film is based on the long popular board game of the same name. This fictional action adventure film is sure to please many! Chris Pine knocks it out of the park with an all star cast and extremely high ratings on the famous film critic site Rotten Tomatoes. Will this topple World of Warcraft in the box office? How much money will this film make? Follow me on social media!Instagram @ - EveryoneisCanceledTik-Tok @ - Every1isCanceledTwitter @ - EveryoneiscanceledThe Late Night Talk Show you didn't ask for.This channel is a fictional sketch book of thought and is an oral artistic dance. Obey the laws in your country and listen to your doctor.
The Rich Zeoli Show- Hour 3: 5:05pm- During a recent debate, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-Virginia) claimed that high gas prices emphasize the need to transition to Green Energy. 5:10pm- According to a Rolling Stone Magazine report from Tatiana Siegel, Emmy award-winning producer James Gordon Meek—who was in the process of investigating the Biden Administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan—had his home raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and has remained out of the public spotlight since. 5:30pm- Dr. Mehmet Oz—Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate representing Pennsylvania—joins the show to talk about the biggest issues being debated in the 2022 midterm elections: the economy, high crime-rates, and education. Biden continues to deplete the nation's petroleum reserves while denying responsibility for increased gas prices. Dr. Oz explains how Pennsylvania fracking can help America become energy independent. 5:55pm- Time to Reduce the Load: U.S. developed “green technology” but gave it away to China, robot cops with shot guns, Jeff Bezos' economic warning, Elon Musk's feud with Ukrainian officials.
3:05pm- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) advisory committee voted to recommend COVID-19 vaccines be added to the childhood immunization schedule—which could potentially result in vaccination being required in order to attend public schools. While appearing on Fox News prior to the recommendation officially being made, Johns Hopkins Professor Dr. Marty Makary explained that the CDC's guidance is being issued despite no clinical data supporting vaccination against COVID-19 for young children being made available to the public. 3:20pm- While visiting Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, President Joe Biden delivered a 20-minute speech touting his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and appeared alongside Senate candidate John Fetterman. 3:40pm- Ben Weingarten—Columnist at RealClearInvestigation—joins the show to talk about his latest project, “Invisible Hand or Iron Fist? RealClearInvestigations' Guide to Politicized Capitalism,” which operates as “a one-stop trove of resources allowing readers, including investors, to survey today's politically charged corporate battlefield and assess how companies are influencing American politics from outside the voting booth, and being influenced themselves.” 4:10pm- MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell is facing criticism following a “softball interview” with Democrat candidate for Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. During the interview, Mitchell did not ask a single question about high-crime-rates in Pennsylvania. Mediaite's Jackson Richman writes: “Both violent and property crime in Pennsylvania have only increased over the past year. As of Oct. 13, there have been 429 homicides in Philadelphia in 2022, just three fewer homicides than the number of them at this point in 2021. The number of armed and non-armed robberies in the City of Brotherly Love has skyrocketed year-over-year.” 4:35pm- The Daily Caller's Jack McEvoy described President Joe Biden's claim that he hasn't done anything to hinder domestic oil production as “disingenuous.” He writes: “the Biden administration has instituted a regulatory crackdown on producers and discouraged investment in the industry while blaming oil and gas companies for the resulting shortages and price hikes.” 4:50pm- During his monologue on Wednesday night, MSNBC host Chris Hayes stated, “keeping gas prices low is key to preserving and strengthening the future of our democracy” because price stability will, theoretically, lead to people voting Democrat over Republican during the 2022 midterms. 5:05pm- During a recent debate, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-Virginia) claimed that high gas prices emphasize the need to transition to Green Energy. 5:10pm- According to a Rolling Stone Magazine report from Tatiana Siegel, Emmy award-winning producer James Gordon Meek—who was in the process of investigating the Biden Administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan—had his home raided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and has remained out of the public spotlight since. 5:30pm- Dr. Mehmet Oz—Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate representing Pennsylvania—joins the show to talk about the biggest issues being debated in the 2022 midterm elections: the economy, high crime-rates, and education. Biden continues to deplete the nation's petroleum reserves while denying responsibility for increased gas prices. Dr. Oz explains how Pennsylvania fracking can help America become energy independent. 5:55pm- Time to Reduce the Load: U.S. developed “green technology” but gave it away to China, robot cops with shotguns, Jeff Bezos' economic warning, Elon Musk's feud with Ukrainian officials. 6:05pm- Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano—Republican Candidate for Pennsylvania Governor—joins the show to talk about the CDC's advisory committee voting to recommend COVID-19 vaccines be added to the childhood immunization schedule. Sen. Mastriano states that he will not compel parents or children to receive the vaccine in order to attend public school, if elected governor. 6:15pm- While speaking via Zoom at Stanford University, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Rachel Levine criticized state laws that prevent children from undergoing “gender affirming” medical procedures. 6:30pm- According to reports, Georgia has broken a state record for most first-day early voting ballots cast in a midterm election—with over 131,000. However, Democrat candidate for Georgia Governor Stacey Abrams continues to insist that voter suppression is rampant in the state. 6:45pm- According to the Heritage Foundation's 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength, the nation's military may not have the capability to successfully wage war in two areas of conflict simultaneously. Alarmingly, the report stated of the U.S. Airforce: “even though the munitions stockpile may have returned to a level that is capable of supporting a surge in expenditures associated with a conflict similar to the global war on terrorism—loosely encompassing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq—it probably would not support a peer-level fight that lasted more than a few weeks.” 6:55pm- Who Won Social Media? + Zeoli's Final Thought
With a potential WGA strike on the horizon, can the chasm between studios and angry writers be bridged? Hosts Sean McNulty, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel are joined by Martini Shot host (and WGA member) Rob Long to unpack the impending doom. “The Writers Guild continually strikes for a time machine and to go back and change the way [deals] were written,” notes Long. “‘If only I could go back and' as we always say, kill Hitler.” The foursome also talk Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's questionable victory lap (38:55), David O. Russell's very odd on-set antics (31:43); and Netflix's never-say-never theatrical release of Glass Onion (5:27)Follow us (and like us!) wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and on Twitter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield, Tatiana Siegel and Sean McNulty take stock of a new phenomenon on the festival circuit fest: the ever-shrinking and choreographed press conference (20:34). High-profile press conferences — from Steven Spielberg's autobiographical The Fabelmans to Harry Styles' period gay drama The Policeman — featured questions vetted in advance (likely a result of Venice's Don't Worry Darling debacle), with Styles answering just one question at the My Policeman post-premiere Q&A. “It's an erosion of the ability to report at a festival,” says Siegel. Also on tap, the hosts tackle the arrival of Thursday Night Football on Amazon (6:19), woeful Emmys ratings (3:52) as well as Bob Chapek and Brian Roberts' “public negotiation” over Hulu (28:41). This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
On day two of the Toronto International Film Festival, one big crowd pleaser emerged from the pack. The world premiere of the Billy Eichner historic gay rom-com Bros was greeted by rapturous applause and enthusiastic reviews. On the scene at TIFF, hosts Tatiana Siegel and Richard Rushfield spoke with Nick Stoller, the director of Bros, whose previous films include Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Neighbors and The Muppets. Stoller gets candid about the experience of his first major festival premiere, the challenged state of comedy amid studio pullbacks and what he thinks of so-called “cancel culture”. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
The town may finally be acknowledging the undeniable pressures unique to this industry. This week, Jonah Hill, Tom Holland and Ezra Miller all said they are modifying their behavior to protect their mental health. Hill is stepping away from promoting his movies and making public appearances due to panic attacks; Holland announced he has abandoned social media to help stay emotionally balanced; and Ezra Miller is seeking treatment for a complex mental health issue. Hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield, Tatiana Siegel and Sean McNulty survey Hollywood's littered emotional landscape and how an industry whose very businesses are in current disarray adds another layer of stress onto its inhabitants. Separately, the hosts dive into new headlines ranging from Netflix's Scott Stuber interviewing at Amazon, and Brian Stelter's firing from CNN. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Why was the DC spin-off movie Batgirl canned, when it was almost finished? Warner Brothers has cancelled Batgirl despite spending $113 million on it. It's understood the film starring In the Heights actor Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser was so badly received by test audiences the studio decided to get rid of it. We're joined by Rolling Stone magazine's Tatiana Siegel to get the full story. Why has Warner Bros decided this wasn't even worth posting on its streaming service, and how often do blunders like this happen anyway? Today's Headlines: - Military drills around Taiwan wind down- Inflation cools in USA- Trump invokes right to silence amid investigation into business practices- Grease wins timeslot as country mourns Olivia Newton-John Follow The Briefing: Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this episode, hosts Janice Min, Tatiana Siegel and The Wakeup's Sean McNulty take quick measure of entertainment's giants after another day of wild Q2 earnings calls all about streaming that included Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and Lionsgate. Some quantified(ish) what success looks like down the road; others stayed vague. WBD CEO David Zaslav said that HBO Max and Discovery+, which boast a total of 92 million combined subscribers worldwide, will break even as a united service when it adds another 40 million, likely in 2024 or 2025, as $3 billion in “efficiencies” (ouch), start to unroll. Paramount CEO Bob Bakish called their losses “a growth phase” (a $445 million loss last quarter against revenues of $672 million). All begged the hard question: when does streaming investment actually begin to pay off? Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and on Twitter. Also please subscribe at TheAnkler.com/subscribe for more podcasts and stories about the entertainment industry.Related links: Top Producer Sees Ruthless Future for Hollywood DEIWhat?! Netflix Just Lost its Biggest TV Show in AmericaWill Peacock Exist in a Year?Which Streamer Has the Most Bombs in 2022?Who Killed the Marvel Juggernaut? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
As his new film Easter Sunday, starring Jo Koy, hits theaters, tentpole producer Dan Lin chats with hosts Janice Min and Tatiana Siegel about his legendary career, coming projects and current passion: Rideback Rise, a non-profit to increase Hollywood inclusion by “taking diverse talent [and] making content for the masses” that is currently fundraising as DEI initiatives fall to Hollywood's new slash-and-burn culture (23:48). During the wide-ranging conversation, Lin also discusses his start at Warner Bros., a wild tale about Jeff Robinov's pivotal impact on his career (38:14), how he laid his career on the line for The Departed (43:05), mentor Alan Horn joining Warner Bros. again (36:32), and, in an alternate universe, that he wishes he ran DC (46:51). Also, how a chance sushi restaurant encounter and Steven Spielberg helped Easter Sunday become the quickest start-to-completion for a film he's ever had (16:03). Plus: Richard Donner's dying wish for Lethal Weapon 5, Mel Gibson and its future (44:52) that he intends to fulfill. Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and on Twitter. Also please subscribe at TheAnkler.com/subscribe for more podcasts and stories about the entertainment industry. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
This week, Kevin Smith was invited to join The Ankler Hot Seat podcast to talk Comic-Con, where he teased his upcoming Clerks III. Instead, in a detour that only briefly returns to the topic, he delves into the amazing origin story of his marriage to Jennifer Schwalbach (it involves Chris Rock and an awkward encounter with Harvey Weinstein), how he had been asked to defend Matt Damon and Ben Affleck around Good Will Hunting, and what happened when “the real Harley Quinn” met Margot Robbie. For hosts Janice Min and Tatiana Siegel, Smith's story was far more entertaining than anything out of Hall H last week. Tune in for more. Explicit content warning: This episode includes profanity and may not be suitable for children. RELATED CONTENT: Who Killed the Marvel JuggernautWe hope you enjoyed listening! Paid subscribers to The Ankler never miss a single podcast or story. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
As recession fears mount, Comcast becomes the latest to deliver a bleak earnings picture, with its streaming service Peacock stuck firm on 13 million subscribers, despite spending over $2 billion a year on content. Hosts Janice Min, Tatiana Siegel and Sean McNulty discuss what that might mean for its future and what to expect next on the earnings front (Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and Lionsgate will report their results in the coming days, and the New York Times and BuzzFeed are on deck amid the ever-shrinking digital ad spend). Also on today's episode, Netflix gives a limp green light to more of The Gray Man, and lands the opening movies for the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival. But are those slots cursed? RELATED: Peacock Adds No New Subscribers or Free Users in Q2Which Streamer Has the Most Bombs in 2022Netflix Saved by ‘Stranger Things'Never miss another podcast or story about the entertainment industry and become a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Comedian and actor Chris Sandiford talks about Season 4 of the hit show What We Do in the Shadows and the joy of improvising on set with his comedy idols in the Netflix series God's Favorite Idiot. Jewelry designer and activist Sewit Sium discusses the intersection between jewelry and political expression. Rolling Stone senior writer Tatiana Siegel talks about her article Fake Accounts Fueled the 'Snyder Cut' Online Army. Actor Tatiana Maslany discusses her Broadway debut in the media satire Network.
Earnings season is underway, and everyone should be taking notice of Snapchat's dismal performance (and Twitter's that followed). The tech company's stock took a 27 percent nosedive immediately after reporting shocking ad sales declines. That portends a bleak near future for every ad-dependent entity — including Netflix and the streaming services increasingly pivoting to advertising to save the day. Is the chill temporary or is a new ice age afoot? Janice Min, Tatiana Siegel and The Wakeup's Sean McNulty break it down. Also: Yellowstone is TV's biggest hit, but Hollywood isn't rushing to replicate its success. And TCA scraps its in-person event and goes virtual. Is it really about Covid — or just a convenient excuse? This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast dissects this week's move by the Disney board to extend CEO Bob Chapek's contract for three more years. Hosts Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel are joined by Ankler contributing editor Peter Kiefer to discuss why the Twitter mob — hailing from both the right and the left of the political divide — tried (and failed) to topple the P.R.-challenged chief from his top perch. The trio also breaks down Disney employees' internal anger over the company's exclusion of Planned Parenthood from its corporate matching gift program (which supports many pro-life crisis pregnancy centers). And it's time to celebrate (or rue) the 15-year anniversary of the iPhone, whereby Hollywood's collective attention span has become so short it can no longer follow an Adam Sandler movie plotline. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and on Twitter. Also please subscribe at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories about the entertainment industry.Hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel are joined by new Ankler contributor Sean McNulty of The Wakeup newsletter to discuss the first likely recession of the streaming era, which, if it were to happen, would further roil companies already getting pounded by Wall Street and, in the case of Netflix, subscriber losses.McNulty references the last recession following the 2008-2009 collapse of the financial markets. It was pre-streaming and HBO was the dominant premium player at the time. “HBO really never saw a big hit in [previous] recessions… but that was in the ecosystem of cable TV, where it was a lot harder to cancel your HBO,” says McNulty, a former executive at HBO and Charter. “Now, you can literally cancel at the click of a button on your [remote]. I think we haven't seen too much [subscription decline] yet. But I think by end of by Q3… this will be very interesting.” Marketing cuts appear already to be underway as the streamers tighten their belts. “You're not gonna cut back necessarily on production, but you cut back on marketing and advertising… [they] take the first hit, which is where Warner Bros. Discovery already has positioned its ax,” adds McNulty. “And layoffs are sweeping the industry.” Additionally, an across-the-board pullback in advertising is expected as well right as streaming services pivot to advertising to goose revenue. Siegel also discusses the role of inflation in the new subscription economy: “Everyone right now is terrified of the economic outlook, because no matter how wealthy somebody is in the industry, even if they're at the highest echelon of the industry, they are seeing that a pint of strawberries is $19. And you have to wonder how long will people be able to have four different streaming subscriptions under those kind of economic [conditions].” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and on Twitter. Also please subscribe at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories about the entertainment industry.Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast takes you to ground zero in Disney CEO Bob Chapek's shocking ouster of a top lieutenant, Peter Rice. Hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel are joined by Ankler contributing editor Peter Kiefer to discuss the fallout and what it means for Chapek, who once again finds himself stepping into a PR minefield. Rushfield brings the juice, talking about the ‘gang fight' within Disney and how Dana Walden's contract renegotiation underway may have played a part in the timing. However, “the town is outraged at the treatment of Peter Rice after 30 years of service to the Disney-Fox companies, that he's told to hit the bricks after a seven-minute conversation, where he is told that after 30 years, he's not a ‘cultural fit,'” he says. “There's no door prize that he gets with this.” Siegel notes that the Rice case breaks with Hollywood's soft-landing tradition for other top executives like Warner Bros.' Toby Emmerich, who was allowed a dignified exit with a production deal. In other topics: Kiefer joins to discuss a new lawsuit rocking L.A.'s elite school community over a “woke” curriculum accused of discriminating against Jews; the team talks Johnny Depp and his post-defamation suit victory lap (he's got 12.1 million TikTok followers after his first two days on the platform); and finally, they applaud the effective and emotional plea for stricter gun laws in Mr. McConaughey Goes to Washington. If you are enjoying our entertainment industry news, please remember to subscribe at TheAnkler.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and on Twitter. Also please subscribe at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories about the entertainment industry.On today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast, hosts Janice Min, Tatiana Siegel and Richard Rushfield welcome Charles Rivkin, chairman of the Motion Picture Association, the film industry's historic trade group whose members include Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, Sony, and now Netflix. Rivkin came to this post through a storied career that led him through the Jim Henson company — whose sale to Disney he engineered in 1988 — to becoming President Obama's ambassador to France and an assistant secretary of state before taking the reins of the MPA in 2018.On today's podcast, the group talks about the many topics shaking the studios right now, and how his “eight years in diplomacy” helped Rivkin work for the larger good among fierce competitors on issues ranging from the windowing future to the path ahead for Netflix (“these guys are incredibly smart. They're gonna figure out a way to win.”)Also on the docket in the wide-ranging conversation:Improving the theatrical experience in the face of decaying theaters.What the MPA is doing to crack down on piracy, leading raids and police actions around the globes.The moral complications of trying to do business with China.Guns onscreen and the film industry's responsibilities.And much more.After that conversation, Richard and Tatiana talk through the very busy news week for Hollywood, in particular what happens to both stars after the stunning Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial verdict, and the meaning of the big shake-up atop Warner Bros. studio.If you are enjoying our entertainment industry news, please remember to subscribe at TheAnkler.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and on Twitter. Also please subscribe at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories like these about the entertainment industry.Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast welcomes guest Tiffany Hsu, a New York Times reporter who covers media for the business desk, focusing on advertising and marketing. On today's episode, Hsu joins hosts Janice Min, Tatiana Siegel and Ankler contributing editor Peter Kiefer to discuss her story about a slew of A-list stars from Matt Damon to Reese Witherspoon to LeBron James who were hyping crypto and now have gone very very silent. In the weeks since crypto has taken a nosedive and laypeople have lost their life savings, Hsu began reaching out to all those influential celebrities who appeared in Super Bowl commercials and took to social media to hawk the risky investment to see if they had any regrets. Hsu was met with a lot of squirmy publicists or deafening silence. Crickets. “I either got no response or I got responses that were along the lines of, ‘Oh, sorry, my client's busy and can't talk about this.' Or I would get a response like, ‘Oh, my client was just in it to make a commercial. My client isn't an expert in this field.”She breaks down why celebrities posing as investment gurus created a dangerous paradigm. “If you're someone sitting at home and you've seen Matt Damon's movies, you're like, ‘Oh my God, it's Jason Bourne! Like this guy is so cool,'” Hsu says. “Ergo, if he's cool, then everything he does must be cool. So if he's, if he's doing the crypto thing, crypto must also be cool. So there's this fallacy that happens with all celebrity marketing, but really, especially with crypto marketing, where people think celebrities have a lot of money, they must know what to do with that money. So if they're giving me financial advice, it must be good financial advice.”Kiefer, who also recently tackled the adjacent subject of NFTs and the race to remake Hollywood, noted that on some of the crypto Reddit chat boards he has perused in the wake of the crash, “there was all sorts of sort of people threatening to commit suicide or harm themselves.”There are real people out there hurting, indeed.Meanwhile, Siegel, who joined the podcast from Cannes, discusses the definitely-not-cheap happenings at the Top Gun: Maverick premiere (think fighter jets whizzing over the Mediterranean to welcome Tom Cruise) as well as the latest video appearance from embattled Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky at an A-list event. “We will win this war,” he told the cinephile crowd.She also reveals why Zelensky didn't give those fighting words at the Oscars, as had been rumored to happen. Siegel learned that Zelensky wanted to appear, but the Academy nixed the idea. “They said, no. They wanted to remain apolitical,” Siegel notes.Listen and subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcasting app, and remember to subscribe to The Ankler.New on The Ankler.Great reads:ESG takes a hard look at what's driving Formula 1 ratings (hint: it's more than just a Netflix series).Nicole LaPorte on Disney's Mysterious Kareem Daniel.Richard Rushfield's ‘What If' moments that could have changed the trajectory of entertainment.The Transom breaks news of a very Ari wedding.Great listens:Martini Shot - ‘You're Fired, No, Wait': host Rob Long on the perils of showrunning.The Moviegoers Never Coming Back: Audience expert Kevin Goetz on summer blockbuster season.Brand New on The OptionistThis week, Crypto Crash, World's Best Athlete + 5 PicksLast week, The Original ‘It' Girl', Texas Mob D.A. + 6 Picks This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and follow us on Twitter. Also please subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories like these about the entertainment industry.Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast welcomes guest Kevin Goetz, a man who has been at the center of Hollywood's so-called “movie research industry” for more than three decades via his firm, Screen Engine/ASI. On today's episode, Goetz, who is also the author of the bestseller Audience-Ology: How Moviegoers Shape the Movies We Love (Simon & Schuster), joins hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel as cautious optimism reigns over this summer's coming blockbuster season. Goetz discusses a looming theatrical reckoning as the most rabid moviegoing demographic is replaced by an apathetic new generation.“Let me give you the sobering truth of what's happening with Gen Zs and millennials,” he says. “Ten years ago, 2 to 11-year-olds saw 4.1 movies [per year in theaters]. Now they're seeing about three movies, and our prediction in 10 years is 2.2 movies.” “12 to 17-year-olds 10 years ago saw 7.9 movies. Now: 5.1. In 10 years, 3.3.” “18 to 24-year-olds were at 8.4 movies. Now: 5.1. In 10 years, 3.3.” And so on… “So [with] the declines of Z and millennials… as the older folks die off, sorry to say, every 10 years, you're going to see a decline in moviegoing,” he says, while adding the slightly bright note that the populations of the younger audiences are far larger than they used to be, which make up for some of the change in habit.Still, it's not all doom and gloom. Goetz notes that studios will succeed if they can better curate their theatrical offerings and push the less-necessary fare to streaming services, like Sony has done during the pandemic. He also gave high marks to Netflix for being “the first to recognize and listen to the consumer” and making decisions based on that input. Adds Goetz. “My whole career has been [about being] the advocate of the moviegoer, the TV viewer, the entertainment consumer. And I have to say that, [Hollywood has often] avoided them. Many people have avoided them too long at their own peril.”Goetz predicts that by Labor Day, Disney and Universal will be most pleased with their summer slates, and several films will help erase the two-year Covid nightmare, namely Tom Cruise's Tom Gun: Maverick, Chris Pratt's Jurassic World Dominion and the Marvel tentpoles Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder.And despite Warner Bros. and Disney's much-maligned stab at day-and-date releases during the pandemic, Goetz says the strategy is likely here to stay.“I don't think we've done enough in the space to rule it dead,” he says. “I think that what you're going to see is custom patterns now. Every movie will be not from a cookie-cutter mold but will have its own criteria. So, some movies will stay in the theaters for 31 days. Some will stay in for 10 days. Some will stay in for two months. Because that's the reality of what has to happen.”Listen and subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcasting app, and remember to subscribe to The Ankler.New on The AnklerGreat reads:Worst-Case Scenario: Amazon. Entertainment Strategy Guy's latest in his series.NFTs and the Race to Save Hollywood: Is Bored Apes the new Disney?! Insiders and the exiled (Roy Price, Ryan Kavanaugh!) on an industry's FOMO catching fire, even as crypto crashes and burns.Richard Rushfield sizes up the cast in the newest season of Survivor: Hollywood Streamers.Transom: J.J. Abrams news, and Mel Brooks' casts Jesus, Abe Lincoln and an all-star cast for Hulu.Great listen:Rob Long's Martini Shot: The perils of perfectionism, whether coffee-stained pants or poor quarterly earnings.Subscribe to The OptionistThis week, A Disco Queen, a TikTok Cult + 5 Other PicksLast week, Heidi Fleiss, the Lindbergh Baby + 7 More Ready for the Screen This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Hollywood stars Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are embroiled in a bitter court battle - and it's all playing out like a pretty disturbing film. Both sides of the dispute argue they're the victims ….with Depp suing Heard for $50m and Heard countersuing for $100m. Depp claims he was defamed in an op-ed article Heard wrote in the Washington Post where she claimed to have been the victim of domestic violence. Rolling Stone magazine's Tatiana Siegel has been reporting on the case since day one. She joins us to provide the history….and predictions on what's likely to happen when the trial resumes next week. In this episode of the Briefing, what's at stake in the Depp v Heard trial....and who is likely to be the winner – or loser. Todays Headlines Anthony Albanese wins the third leaders debate Education Minister Alan Tudge to return to cabinet Craig McLachlan back in the witness box today UK and Sweden sign security pact Calls for WA to reintroduce mask mandate Follow The Briefing DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE BRIEFING NEWSLETTER. LINK IS IN OUR BIO ON INSTAGRAM Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAU Twitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and follow us on Twitter. Also please subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories like these about the entertainment industry.Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast welcomes back guest Howard Bragman, a crisis publicist and contributor to GMA who has handled the likes of Sharon Osbourne and Brett Ratner. On today's episode, Bragman joins hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel to discuss the looming tension Hollywood is facing over the likely dismantling of Roe v. Wade and the prospect of abortion being made illegal, or rights being drastically diminished in almost half of the country's states. In the days since a Supreme Court draft opinion leaked revealing a likely Roe rollback, everyone from Mark Ruffalo to Cher to Phoebe Bridgers has voiced their disgust. But in an age where Disney just went through the ringer over first inaction, then action, over Florida's Don't Say Gay bill, resulting in the swift exit of their top comms exec, a sense of fear among executives about how to approach this new political minefield is looming. Will the opprobrium of a town's talent, producers and executives amount to anything? Even though production and business is vast throughout entertainment in states likely to roll back rights — Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Arizona and more — Bragman predicts that the industry will likely stay quiet rather than boycott. “Hollywood has done a lot of saber-rattling in these states about gay rights issues and abortion issues and women's issues. Hollywood has done a lot of threatening, but very little action, to be honest. There's been very little actual punishment,” he notes. “So the question becomes: What happens when it's thrown back to the states and virtually half the states or half the population in the country decides that they don't want abortion… in all these states where they have huge investments and the people are gonna say, ‘Screw you. We voted. And it's our choice.' And I think the studios are gonna be forced to acquiesce to the power of the voters in those states.”The veteran Hollywood PR fixer also weighs in on the best advice he would give corporate clients on how to address the hot-button issue with staff, many of whom might be vocal and protest inaction by their C-suite. “I would empower them. I would have as much engagement with the women's groups, the LGBTQ groups as possible. Let 'em know what's going on,” he says. “Let 'em know the challenges you have as a corporation, let 'em know the responsibility you have that's financial, but also to your employees. And let 'em know the balancing act you have because I think there's a lot of wisdom in those groups, and there may be ways they can work together and come up with new ideas and new ways that can help both [employee and corporation], frankly.” Still, it's a difficult needle to thread. After all, even California isn't united. While the state is majority pro-choice, the state's populace has become increasingly in favor of greater abortion restrictions, according to a recent survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California. The study found that 52% of Latinos would like to see greater restrictions, for example. And Bragman foresees deeper divisions on the topic, which will make Hollywood's push for transgender bathroom rights in North Carolina and the Don't Say Gay brouhaha in Florida seem like “quaint times compared to the devastation that's coming down the road.”And if the abortion issue wasn't polarizing enough, the hosts also discuss the latest on the scorched-earth defamation trial that pits Johnny Depp against ex-wife Amber Heard. The testimony has been explosive (his and hers physical abuse allegations as well as the actress publicly accusing her ex of sexual assault for the first time). But will either party emerge from the slugfest with their careers intact? Notes Bragman, who calls their fight “mutual destruction”, “Somebody's gonna figure out a way to be in the Johnny Depp business. And as f** up as it sounds, I've seen so many times where crises like this will help a person like this.”Listen and subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcasting app, and remember to subscribe to The Ankler.If you aren't already a paying subscriber, we invite you to join our community of entertainment insiders and never miss another story or podcast.New on The AnklerGreat reads:Entertainment Strategy Guy explains why Hulu has a not-so-funny problem with comedy.The Dumpster Fire of the Vanities: The Met Gala was mere metaphor for all out-of-touch entertainment/media.A Star is Born heads to Broadway and Jurassic to China. Plus much more in this week's issue of The Transom.Nasty, Brutish, Short: The End of a Disney PR Man's TenureGreat listens:Pod: Martini Shot with Rob Long dives into how to handle the badly behaved person in your Hollywood life.Pod: The Case for Broadcast TV. Long joined The Ankler Hot Seat to discuss Hollywood's struggle to find the right business model.Subscribe to The OptionistThis week, Heidi Fleiss, the Lindbergh Baby + 7 More Ready for the ScreenLast week, Korean Cannbials, Lady Assassins + 6 More Great Tales This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and follow us on Twitter. Also please subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories like these about the entertainment industry.Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast is hosted by Tatiana Siegel and welcomes guest Dawn Chmielewski, a Los Angeles-based entertainment business correspondent for Reuters and co-author of Binge Times: Inside Hollywood's Furious Billion-Dollar Battle to Take Down Netflix. Chmielewski, who co-wrote the book with Deadline's Dade Hayes, answers Hollywood's most pressing question du jour: Can Netflix, the industry's original disruptor, be disrupted? Where is streaming's growth now that it's sputtering domestically? And who is doing it right? “We have some early and promising prospects,” Chmielewski tells The Ankler Hot Seat podcast. “The Walt Disney Company has been the most successful of the new entrants here. It decided back in 2019 that it would throw all of its resources behind this successful launch of the Disney+ streaming service. And as you recall, in its first year, it grew well beyond even the company's own forecasts.”Chmielewski points out two new battlefronts in the streaming wars: India and local content. “India is a huge populous market, where [Netflix is], by the way, not the leading streaming service. They have intense competition with Disney, which acquired Fox and along with it, its Hotstar, which has sports [and] is incredibly appealing in that market,” she says. “Netflix is actually playing catch-up but investing in a lot of local-language content.”The bigger challenge for Netflix and others is finding a way to offer a streaming product that is competitive with cable TV, which costs $3 a month in India.While a new gold rush is afoot in India, China, by contrast, appears to be a dead-end for streamers, particularly Netflix.“[Netflix] certainly [has] made it clear that they're not attempting to enter China, which is a billion-person-plus hole in their potential market,” she explains. “[But] opportunity exists outside the U.S. And there are some advantages to companies like Netflix going into Korea and developing a series like Squid Game that not only helps it acquire subscribers throughout Asia, but it has been a global phenomenon. And there's the benefit of leaving the U.S. to do production in a place where the production costs are lower. So there is…reaching new audiences with stories that resonate, but also creating novel content that will travel the world. Netflix has clearly laid out the template, and all the other streamers are quickly following.”Disney, for one, announced that it had appointed a new executive to oversee the development of local content. "That's a big departure for Disney, which, for generations has been exporting its animation [and] live action to the world [and] now it's going to begin to pursue local stories.”Has all the competition for streaming growth come at a cost? Just one example is Disney's alienation of CAA, even if for a brief period. “Having Bryan Lourd, one of the most powerful agents in town, criticizing arguably the most powerful studio in Hollywood was a move we've never seen play out [before],” she adds. “Lourd defended Scarlett Johansson by saying that Disney's strategy to try to grow its subscription service had come at the expense of her paycheck. And the fact that Disney clapped back at her for being insensitive to the pandemic, it was an unprecedented series of events. And I think it furthered the narrative about [Disney CEO] Bob Chapek not being as deft with talent and talent relations as his predecessor, Bob Iger. So I would argue that that was that was a damaging episode…Bob Chapek is still learning on the job.”Also, the Los Angeles Times alum breaks down the $43 billion mashup of WarnerMedia into Discovery, which closed last week, and how it marks the dawn of a streaming era. Warner Bros. Discovery is now one of the largest pure media companies in the world and a worthy rival of Netflix and Disney+. As a result, the wild spending days may be behind Netflix (think, sob, barebones Oscar parties). She notes of the streaming giant's reliance on Wall Street approval, “These are consequences of those promises to the street.” Binge Times hits bookstores tomorrow, April 19. If you aren't already a paying subscriber, we invite you to join the most powerful and influential people in entertainment and join our community who never miss a single story or podcast.New on The Ankler:On The Transom: Momoa + Minecraft and is 'Blair Witch' Back?The Glossy looks at Johnny Depp, Will Smith and Fashion's "Morals Clause" Pause.Pod: Disney, the Heiress and a Hot MessWill NFT's save Hollywood? Entertainment Strategy Guy looks at the industry's next would be savior.An entire industry's love/hate psychosis arout Netflix.Spotify's Top Dealmaker to Depart: news first broken here.Subscribe to The OptionistThis week: Finding T. Rex + 7 Great PicksQ&A: Cons are In, Bleak is Out: With projects all over town, Truly Adventurous is changing the journalism x Hollywood playbook This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and follow us on Twitter. Also please subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories like these about the entertainment industry.For subscribers: read the full transcript here.Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast is hosted by Tatiana Siegel and welcomes guest Abigail Disney, Fork Films CEO, philanthropist, granddaughter of Roy O. Disney and grandniece of Walt Disney. The woman who is perhaps the single biggest thorn in the side of Disney's two Bobs – former CEO Bob Iger and current CEO Bob Chapek – has been at it again, eviscerating the mega-conglomerate and its “botched” response to Florida's so-called “Don't Say Gay” law.Disney, who recently wrote an op-ed on the subject for The Washington Post, weighs in on why she won't sit by idly on the sidelines. “The bear needed poking,” she tells The Ankler Hot Seat. “[Chapek's] response was so flatfooted and ill-considered. The first round of response was, ‘Oops. Well, we're neutral anyway. So don't yell at us.'” First of all, you're not neutral if you're giving money to those particular politicians. I know about their records. Nobody who gives them money should be surprised at all by their stance on this issue. There is no neutral. The right-wing in the case of transgender and LGBTQ people have been coming for their very existence for a long time now.”She says Disney's leadership that well pre-dates Chapek often backs right-wing politicians in its shameless pursuit of profits. “Politicians in general have always benefited by the largesse of Disney in California and Florida and federally as well. But they lean Republican in who they support because Republicans, generally speaking, and politicians on the right are more supportive of what is generally called a pro-business agenda, which means lower taxes, less regulation and more autonomy for companies,” the heiress says. “So, I don't think Disney was necessarily thinking about [Florida State Sen. Dennis Baxley's] record when they gave him money. They were thinking about his record on business.”Disney also talked about the mindset behind directing the Sundance documentary The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales, about “America's dysfunctional and unequal economy” focusing on her family's story as a prism to view systemic problems. The project began in 2018, and it rankled corporate brass. (“I had a film crew with me when I went to testify [before Congress]. I know there was a Disney lobbyist there trying to prevent me from testifying,” she recalls. She recounts how she reached out to then-CEO Iger about her concerns about the company's drift towards inequity only to have her emails go unreturned. “It started before I started the film when I wrote a long email to him about my concerns. And of course, my concerns are not the concerns of a person who went to business school. But I think that's partly why they need to be heard. Right? His response to me was really actually dismissive and tiny bit insulting. I wrote him a second time and then I just never heard from him again.”Finally, in this podcast she challenges Disney to put a rank-and-file worker on the board to represent employee interests. “I don't know why boards are always filled with managers when the lion's share of workers are [low-level] workers. Their interests should be represented at the board level.” Instead, the company's top tier, particularly Iger, accumulated fabulous wealth on the backs of those workers (Iger and Chapek's comp packages were reported at $45.9 million and $32 million respectively in 2021). “Bob Iger never took a risk in his life,” she notes. “He took risks by purchasing other companies, but was he ever in danger of losing his house. Never. So to get rewarded that way [and] having never taken that kind of risk, it feels wrong.”Representatives for the Disney Corporation did not respond to requests for comment.Please just us next week for more episodes of Ankler Hot Seat, and remember to follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.If you're not already a paying subscriber, we invite you to join our community and never miss another podcast or story again, New on The Ankler:Will NFT's save Hollywood? Entertainment Strategy Guy looks at the industry's next would be savior.An entire industry's love/hate psychosis arout Netflix.Spotify's Top Dealmaker to Depart: news first broken here.Inside the State of Zaslav's WB SlatePod: David Zaslav “May Have Hubris but He's Not Stupid”A View to a Kilar: surveying the final gasp of the AT&T era at Warners.Subscribe to The OptionistThis week: Finding T. rex + 7 Great Picks Q&A: Cons are In, Bleak is Out: With projects all over town, Truly Adventurous is changing the journalism x Hollywood playbook This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and follow us on Twitter. Also please subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories like these about the entertainment industry. Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast is hosted by Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel, and welcomes guest Peter Kafka, senior correspondent at Recode. Kafka, who conducted one of the final interviews with outgoing WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, weighs in on what to expect as the new Warner Bros. Discovery regime takes shape (and also speculates as to why Kilar has done so much press around his departure): “[Zaslav] has promised to cut $3 billion out of the budget somehow. So everyone who complained about the last three years of cuts under AT&T and Kilar should be ready for more, and I think they know that's coming,” says Kafka, host of the podcast Recode Media. “He has not been forthright about what he intends to do with programming. You know, if you ask him how are you going to compete with Netflix spending $20 billion, he'll say, ‘We're already spending that,'” adds Kafka. “But that's not a real number because that includes what he's spending on his linear programming.”The veteran chronicler of the high-stakes worlds of media and technology also explains that the vest-wearing mogul has “played it fairly close to the vest up until now,” but now that the deal is closed and Zaslav can explain his plans, Hollywood is hanging with bated breath. “But we don't know [what Zaslav plans to do] is the short answer.”Rushfield juxtaposed the legacy culture of Warner Bros. past and the frugal unscripted-driven Discovery and how the two may mesh (or not): “Private jets for all, unlimited expense accounts, everybody gets six assistants” versus the “company largely populated by [low-cost] reality.”As for what went wrong with AT&T ownership of WarnerMedia, Kafka shares an interesting theory. “There is an anecdote that James Andrew Miller has reported [and] I've heard as well about an AT&T executive being surprised to learn that all of HBO or TNT…that their content didn't come from Warner Bros. (but is instead bought from outside suppliers). And they had to learn that once they bought the company. And that person I've heard that's John Stankey. Again, anyone who listens to this podcast understands that it's really mind-boggling to think that the people being paid tens of millions of dollars to spend $110 billion on this stuff didn't really understand at all what they were getting into.”In other subjects, the hosts discuss looming headaches for Warner Bros. via its profitable but scandal-plagued DC universe. Siegel has been covering the fallout following a series of troubling incidents involving The Flash star Ezra Miller. Also on the docket: ESG appraises Shonda Rhimes vs. Ryan Murphy and their respective nine-figure deals at Netflix and declares a winner. (Hint: If you watch Bridgerton, you probably know the answer.) Please just us next week for more episodes of Ankler Hot Seat, and remember to follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. And please remember to subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com. If you aren't already a paid subscriber to The Ankler, we invite you to join our growing community of entertainment's most powerful and never miss another story or podcast.New on The Ankler:Ryan vs. Shonda: Entertainment Strategy Guy crunches the numbers and declares a winer. A View to a Kilar: surveying the final gasp of the AT&T era at Warners.Is anyone in charge here? Thoughts on the leadership vacuum revealed by the Will Smith fiasco.The Transom's got Jason Momoa going to Apple project, Kerry Washington to Hulu, and the Ted Lasso team's next move.The Glossy says RIP to the male's gaze's reign on the red carpet10 Truths About Will Smith's Resignation: Richard Rushfield spares no words, nor any entity.Pod: Bruce Willis and ‘Years of Concern': One of the reporters of the LAT's recent article on Bruce Willis's struggles with aphasia talks about the actor's troubling path.Subscribe to The OptionistQ&A: Cons are In, Bleak is Out: With projects all over town, Truly Adventurous is changing the journalism x Hollywood playbookThis week's picks: A Jan. 6 Family Tragedy + 7 More Finds This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts, and follow us on Twitter. Become a paying subscriber to The Ankler for more great podcasts and stories like these.Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast is hosted by Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel, and welcomes guest Meg James, a Los Angeles Times reporter. James co-wrote an explosive and heartbreaking story – Bruce Willis' aphasia was suspected by coworkers for years – with colleague Amy Kaufman about how Willis' cognitive function became problematic and noticeable on movie sets over the last 3.5 years, during which time he made a staggering 22 films. James discusses how the actor, worked for only two days on each movie yet made a staggering $2 million on each. However, he carried on this pace while requiring an earpiece for his lines, and was part of a frightening incident involving a gun and a blank. “It just was chilling to hear that there were episodes that with less experienced and less professional people could have really been problematic and potentially dangerous,” says James. “There was a film that was shot two years ago in Cincinnati called Hard Kill. And Bruce was this father figure. And there was a reality television star, Lala Kent, who was cast as his daughter. And she told us in an on-the-record interview that…he had a line that he was supposed to deliver. And when he delivered the line, she was supposed to duck and then he would fire the gun. But his coordination didn't come off right and he didn't deliver the line. Instead, he fired the weapon.” James said the very same mistake happened on the subsequent take. The veteran Hollywood chronicler also explained the conversations inside the Los Angeles Times about tackling the difficult subject of an actor's health and how the story came together.In other subjects, the hosts discuss new details about Slapgate: Rushfield reports that audience members were openly booing Will Smith during his acceptance speech, but that it wasn't audible during the broadcast. He asks, “Did the Academy sweeten the soundtrack to drown it out?” Paging Zapruder: the hosts discuss the missing seven seconds of footage that would show what happened when the cameras were on Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith; Siegel discusses the footage taken by an audience member showing Pinkett Smith's reaction from behind. Rushfield criticizes Vanity Fair, where he had previously served as a contributing editor, for warmly hosting Will Smith at its Oscar afterparty: “You can sort of explain the Academy panic at the moment. They weren't prepared for this. Vanity Fair had [more than] two hours before he got there and they knew he was coming…so there was no last-minute panic there. They had all the time to think this through and they said, ‘Wouldn't that be great if all the eyes are on Will Smith? Wouldn't that be great if he came and danced at our party?'“Rushfield refers to internet chatter that the strange on-screen banner coming on-screen during Smith's acceptance speech was to block a Serena Williams' wardrobe malfunction. And finally, the podcast wraps with a discussion of the curious $108 million options bet on Activision stock made by Barry Diller and David Geffen that has now spawned an investigation by the Justice Department and SEC looking into the possibility of insider trading. Please just us next week for more episodes of Ankler Hot Seat, and remember to follow us (and like us!) at Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.New on The Ankler:ESG on The First Hard Lessons of 2022 so far and the final numbers on Disney+'s Hamilton. The latest on ABC's efforts to get to the bottom of the Grey's Anatomy writer scandal.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Will Smith Did a Bad Bad ThingAs Time Passes, The Slap Still Stings: Richard Rushfield's thoughts as concerns deepen and Hollywood sends all the wrong messages as outlined in.The Show, The Slap and the Big Shrug.It is going to HBO, and someone offered Matt and Ben a nine-figure fund!Pod: Will Smith and the End of Movie StarsDoes Putin have a man in Hollywood? And is Bob the First plotting his restoration?If you aren't already a paying subscriber, we invite you to join the most powerful and influential people in the entertainment community who are part of The Ankler.FOR GROUP SUBSCRIPTIONS: email Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.comFOR ADVERTISING on The Ankler, The Ankler Hot Seat, The Glossy, or The Optionist: please contact Kymber as well. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast welcomes guest Howard Bragman, a crisis publicist who has handled the likes of Sharon Osbourne and Brett Ratner, joining hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel. On today's episode, Bragman discusses Slapgate and the absurdity of Smith's rush to the stage. “One of the great skill sets of being a star in Hollywood is having a thick skin. And $20 million a movie should buy you a lot of armor to have a very thick skin,” said Bragman. The veteran publicist also weighed in on why Rock's joke should have been addressed by Jada Pinkett Smith, the intended target and not her husband. “Jada has her own talk show,” Bragman continued. “She's a very powerful, intelligent, respected woman. Couldn't she have stood up for herself or given him the finger, something? She gave him a bit of a sneer. Could she have not given him the finger and made her point.”The hosts also discuss what the victory of Apple TV+'s CODA over Power of the Dog and Don't Look Up (with Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio) says about stardom in Hollywood today. “Last night also seemed like the death of the movie star,” said Min. “You had Netflix pay…for Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence for Don't Look Up and Power of the Dog certainly had like a top flight cast with Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Jane Campion as the director. And here comes this cast with CODA…not what people equate with A-list Hollywood, right?” Siegel concurred: “Last night seemed to be the death of the movie star, the movie business and maybe comedy as we know it in the future.”Siegel also discussed the Twitter threads speculating about Will Smith and Scientology, citing a thread about “a Scientology course that involves slapping physically humiliating fellow Scientologists in a group setting as a means of exerting superiority.” Speaking of which, Bragman was asked if The Slap is Smith's career equivalent of Tom Cruise's couch-jumping, a moment that will define a career before and after. Said Bragman: “It kind of is. But Tom got his s**t back together because Tom got his s**t back together. We'll see where it will takes this. Now, this could be a wake up call.”The hosts also tackle the controversy around Jay-Z's Oscar afterparty, held at Los Angeles's iconic Chateau Marmont, which carried on as planned despite guests having to cross a picket line of aggrieved former employees, some who say they were subjected to sexual harassment, including from owner Andre Balazs (which he has denied) and racial discrimination.Kurt Pedersen, who is co-president of the Chateau Marmont union, joined the Hot Seat to give his take from the picket line: “There was a lot of embarrassment,” Pedersen said of the celebrities who crossed the line including Kim Kardashian, Zoe Kravitz, Jon Hamm and best supporting actor winner Troy Kotsur. “First we should applaud those who didn't go. I mean, most of the folks who received Oscars were not at that party last night.”New on The Ankler:The Glossy on the end of fun on the red carpet.The death spiral of Bob I and Bob II in What about Bobs?Why did Mark Burnett try to court Putin for a reality show and what does Amazon think?Pre-Oscar Pods: Jay-Z's Afterparty Debacle, and that uncensored Bruce Vilanch conversation everyone is talking about.The question no one wants to ask except ESG: Are Oscar Films Good Business Strategy?The Decline and Fall of Oscar: A timeline of mishaps, mishegas and the bad choices that have become an annual Academy ritual.Never miss another podcast or story like this. We invite you to join the most influential and powerful people in entertainment and become a paid subscriber to The Ankler. FOR GROUP SUBSCRIPTIONS: Please email Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.com for more information,FOR ADVERTISING on The Ankler, The Ankler Hot Seat, The Glossy, or The Optionist, please contact Kymber as well.Can't afford The Ankler right now? If you're an assistant, student or getting your foot in the door of this industry, and want help navigating the craziness of this business but don't have money to spare right now, drop me a line at richard@theankler.com and we'll work it out. No mogul or mogul-to-be left behind at The Ankler.The Ankler is an independent voice covering Hollywood. If you're a subscriber, feel free to share this edition with a friend but just a couple, please. The Ankler depends on its paid subscribers. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us at Apple Podcasts, on Twitter, and subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories like these.Today's Ankler Hot Seat podcast welcomes guest co-host Sonny Bunch, culture editor of The Bulwark and Washington Post contributing columnist, joining Janice Min and Tatiana Siegel. On today's episode, Bunch discusses his latest for The Washington Post, “The Oscars are niche entertainment now. Just let Netflix stream them” and the dismal awareness numbers for some of the Best Picture nominated films. The show also tackles China's decision to not broadcast the Oscars for a second-straight year and why, the puzzle of who is invited to be a presenter on the show, and predictions for Best Picture. The hosts also tackle the controversy around Jay-Z's Oscar afterparty, scheduled to be held at Los Angeles's iconic Chateau Marmont, a hotel whose controversies have drawn a boycott supported by Issa Rae, Jane Fonda, Spike Lee, Amanda Seyfried, David Diggs and Alfonso Cuarón. The Chateau has faced damning accusations in the last few years, ever since they fired nearly their entire staff at the onset of the pandemic without benefits. Female employees have said they were subjected to sexual harassment, including from owner Andre Balazs (which he has denied); darker-skinned employees have said they were subjected to racist remarks and passed over for promotions, with The Hollywood Reporter reporting that the Chateau's managing director, Amanda Grandinetti, referred to one staff member as a “blackie”, and told another to respond to her with “Yessa, massa.” April Blackwell, a Black Chateau worker, said Grandinetti fired her after she complained about a pattern of racist abuse from guests. She is one of two Black employees currently suing the Chateau. The boycott is also supported by the Writer's Guild of America, and a picket line is expected on Sunday night. Keisha Banks, a former Chateau events server, tells The Ankler: “We constantly see Black elites putting their fame and money before their fans. By now, Jay-Z and Beyonce must be aware that Chateau's workers have spoken out about being mistreated. They should be leveraging and moving their dollars elsewhere in solidarity with the people they claim to support and who are calling out for justice. At this point, the news on Chateau is out there, some celebs are willfully choosing to ignore it. The working class is sick of seeing the rich virtue signal.” Chateau Marmont workers and Black clergy leaders are set to hold a press conference and delegation outside ROC Nation in an attempt to make their voices heard and deliver a complaint alleging impending violations of a recently enacted state law protecting workers' jobs.Ed note: After this podcast was taped, a press release was sent out announcing that 22-year veteran employee Walter Almendarez, who was laid off by Chateau Marmont in March 2020, would present legal complaints today to the California Labor Commissioner, alleging that both the Chateau Marmont and Jay-Z's entertainment company ROC Nation are in violation of SB-93, the state return-to-work law, by failing to rehire him and his coworkers in general and specifically for Jay-Z's party. The complaint alleges that the entities failed to offer guest relations, valet, security, and other work to Almendarez and his colleagues, as last year's state law requires. Of the 50 workers with the longest tenures at Chateau Marmont prior to the layoffs, approximately 46 were Latinx.See you next Friday for our next Ankler Hot Seat podcast. Follow us at Apple Podcasts and on Twitter.If you aren't yet a subscriber, we invite you to join the most influential and powerful people in the entertainment industry.New on The Ankler:The Oscars "Minefield" About to Happen: A Conversation with Bruce Vilanch. The legendary, long-time Oscar head writer of the stops by our podcast to share his memories and thoughts about what lies ahead.Are Oscar Films Good Business Strategy? ESG asks the tough question and answers it. The Decline and Fall of Oscar: A timeline of mishaps, mishegas and the bad choices that have become an annual Academy ritual.In this week's Transom: Avatar 2 gets a date with Marvel; COVID stalks the awards circuit.Executives on the red carpet! 15 photos of Hollywood on the town.What will be the new accessory on the Oscars red carpet? Supporting Ukraine.The story that's got the whole town talking! Read our exclusive scoop on Elisabeth Finch, the Grey's Anatomy writers' room and an investigation. Then listen to the new Hot Seat podcast as writer Peter Keifer reveals the details on how he broke the story shaking Shondaland and what happens next.ESG on Netflix's Drip Drip Decline.On The Optionist:It's March Madness in the IP world! This week: hot properties about basketball.Q&A: What A.I. Tells Us About Debut AuthorsThe new recommendations are up! What just fell out of option and is ready again? Who doesn't love an Ivy League scandal?Subscribe during the free beta period here (it's almost over!).FOR GROUP SUBSCRIPTIONS, please email Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.com for more information,FOR ADVERTISING on The Ankler, The Ankler Hot Seat, The Glossy, or The Optionist, please contact Kymber as well.Can't afford The Ankler right now? If you're an assistant, student or getting your foot in the door of this industry, and want help navigating the craziness of this business but don't have money to spare right now, drop me a line at richard@theankler.com and we'll work it out. No mogul or mogul-to-be left behind at The Ankler.The Ankler is an independent voice covering Hollywood. If you're a subscriber, feel free to share this edition with a friend but just a couple, please. The Ankler depends on its paid subscribers. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us at Apple Podcasts, on Twitter, and please subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories like these.The Ankler's Peter Kiefer broke the remarkably strange story that has Hollywood buzzing about Elisabeth Finch. The star Grey's Anatomy writer, following accusations she may have made up parts of her extraordinary medical history, is currently on administrative leave and the subject of a current investigation by Disney. On this episode of Ankler Hot Seat, Kiefer joins hosts Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel to reveal how and when he first heard whispers about something gone awry in the Grey's Anatomy writers room, and then how he tracked down the details of a story no one wanted to talk about. As part of his reporting, he had a phone conversation with Finch's wife (they are in the process of divorcing) and called Finch herself. Kiefer confirmed that questions around the veracity of at least parts of Finch's life story, one that includes cataclysmic medical traumas — and detailed in personal essays in Elle, the Shondaland website, and multiple times in The Hollywood Reporter — were raised to Disney and Shondaland through Finch's wife. Later, our hosts discuss why Bob Chapek seems to bear the brunt of “Don't Say Gay” controversy when no other leader does, the coming cultural storm about to hit with Georgia's own bill, what on-air talent Chris Cuomo names in his $125 million lawsuit, and if there is a path to redemption for Jussie Smollet. Please join us every Friday for another episode of Ankler Hot Seat. New on The Ankler:ESG on Netflix's Drip Drip Decline.Richard Rushfield asks the 14 Big Questions for Now.We just wrapped Anxiety Week! Check out an unemployed TV writer sharing her Hollywood Unemployment Agony, and ESG's hard look at The Content Bubble's Sum of All Fears.Then go deeper. For an understanding of why so many of us feel this way, start with The Pit in Your Stomach is Real, and continue on to “It Feels Like the Last Days of Rome” from new contributing editor Nicole LaPorte.On the departure of Netflix's flamboyant marketing chief, Bozoma Saint John, and her clap back.The Glossy is up! Men, ditch your jackets for the shacket! And Power of the Dog's Kodi Smit-McPhee has a surprising new player in his corner.If you're not already a subscriber, we invite you to join our audience of the most influential and powerful members of the entertainment community.On The Optionist:It's March Madness in the IP world! This week: hot properties about basketball.Q&A: What A.I. Tells Us About Debut AuthorsThe new recommendations are up! What just fell out of option and is ready again? How about this story about a family cruise gone awry.Subscribe during the free beta period here (it's almost over!).WE NOW HAVE GROUP SUBSCRIPTIONS! Please email Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.com for more information,IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING on The Ankler, The Ankler Hot Seat, The Glossy, or The Optionist, please contact Kymber as well.Can't afford The Ankler right now? If you're an assistant, student or getting your foot in the door of this industry, and want help navigating the craziness of this business but don't have money to spare right now, drop me a line at richard@theankler.com and we'll work it out. No mogul or mogul-to-be left behind at The Ankler.The Ankler is an independent voice covering Hollywood. If you're a subscriber, feel free to share this edition with a friend but just a couple, please. The Ankler depends on its paid subscribers. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us at Apple Podcasts if you like what you are hearing. And please subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more interviews and stories like these.This episode of the Hot Seat dives into The Ankler's Anxiety Week. What is eating this business? As the Streaming Wars rage, money is flowing like never before, but a sense of unease among its workers has been the subject of several of our stories that clearly are touching a nerve. Hosts Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel touch on why (Janice Min sat this one out), but also: • Disney and the fallout over Florida. Bob II has gotten himself in another fine mess over Florida's “Don't Say Gay” bill. We look at what drove him into such hot water, how Disney gets out of it, and wonder why no one else is getting the same scrutiny. (NOTE: This episode was recorded before Bob Chapek's Friday apology for his earlier stand on the issue.)• The Batman takes the box office. Another Batman scored another hit last weekend for Warners, showing another sign of life in the theatrical business. But with many caveats? Is it all going to be just like it was before? • The return of Scott Rudin. A year after being sidelined for decades of fabulously awful conduct Tatiana exposed, the combative producer is inching his way back into the mainstream with a new project.• The Oscars are coming! The field is wide open. At least five films have a plausible shot at the prize. Who will win? We give our picks. And will anyone be watching?All that and more on this week's Hot Seat!If you are already a subscriber, thank you. If not, come aboard today and join the community of some of the most powerful insiders in entertainment. Also on The Ankler:It's Anxiety Week! An unemployed TV writer shares her years of agony. Slouching Towards Pavilions.The Entertainment Strategy Guy takes a hard look at the numbers behind our collective feeling of instability and stares straight into The Content Bubble's Sum of All Fears.Then go deeper into our exclusive Anxiety Week coverage. For an understanding of why so many of us feel this way, start with The Pit in Your Stomach is Real, and continue on to “It Feels Like the Last Days of Rome” from new contributing editor Nicole LaPorte.On the departure of Netflix's flamboyant marketing chief, Bozoma Saint John, and her clap back.CAMERA ROLL IS UP! Great photos of who was where this week in Hollywood.Check out our new awards season pop-up, The Glossy. It's Vincent Boucher's take in the ramp-up to the Oscars on the nexus of fashion and entertainment, who's making money now and how, and the most inventive costume work in film and TV.Zelensky Memo Reveals 'Your Business Smells Russian' Campaign: Sean Penn's co-director/producer shares the leader's call to action, revealed on The Ankler Hot Seat podcast.On The Optionist:Q&A: What A.I. Tells Us About Debut AuthorsA highly curated list of 10 current and backlist books, new journalism, and podcasts ready for option. This week: divorcees, a detective and Ukrainian ghosts.Subscribe during the free beta period here (it's almost over!).The Ankler's Got People Talking!WE NOW HAVE GROUP SUBSCRIPTIONS! Please email Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.com for more information,IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING on The Ankler, The Ankler Hot Seat, or The Optionist, please contact Kymber as well.Can't afford The Ankler right now? If you're an assistant, student or getting your foot in the door of this industry, and want help navigating the craziness of this business but don't have money to spare right now, drop me a line at richard@theankler.com and we'll work it out. No mogul or mogul-to-be left behind at The Ankler.The Ankler is an independent voice covering Hollywood. If you're a subscriber, feel free to share this edition with a friend but just a couple, please. The Ankler depends on its paid subscribers.And if you've been passed along this issue, please join us! And find out why the New York Times called us the “hit Hollywood newsletter.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us at Apple Podcasts if you like what you are hearing. And please subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more interviews and stories like these.Though the world's eyes are on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, few have spent time with the charismatic leader in recent weeks. Among the exceptions: Sean Penn and co-director/producer Aaron Kaufman, who were on the ground in Kyiv when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The pair had been filming a documentary for Vice centered on the comedian-voice actor-turned-politician. In the early days of the war, Zelensky shared with Kaufman one of Zelensky's plans for resisting the Russian onslaught, which Kaufman then passed on to Ankler Editor at Large and Ankler Hot Seat podcast host Tatiana Siegel in the hopes it would be shared. The campaign, conceived by Zelensky and his leadership, is called “Your Business Smells Russian” and its objective is to limit the activities of international businesses in Russia and thus financially choke and pressure Russian leader Vladimir Putin.On the podcast, Siegel talks about her text exchanges last week with Kaufman, who told her that “Zelensky was hoping to get [a series of talking points] out to the world.”Here's the memo Kaufman says Zelensky asked him to share. Kaufman delivered the memo through a series of texts:The “Your Business Smells Russian” campaignInsight: At a time when states are banding together and making significant efforts to create sanctions for Putin's Russia, most Western companies continue to do business in Russia, following business as usual policies. They continue to bring in significant revenues to the budget, perform an important public function of "universal approval" in society, while declaring the importance of values for modern life.There is a policy of double standards, instead of support by actions, they close activities in Ukraine, (Coca Cola, Uber, McDonalds) motivated by military actions, they close in Ukraine, but not in Russia.Task:1) To show that this policy, just business, does not work in the modern business, in which values should be above all.2) To show global consumers that money earned in Russia is “bloody and toxic money”.Objective:To limit the activities of businesses in Russia, the outflow of finance/capital.Campaign:Your Business Smells RussianActions:1) Use well-known celebrities (e.g. Richard Branson) who could denounce double standards. Generate a large number (assault) of inquiries to companies in different countries about the ethics of doing business in Russia;2) Consumer reactions/boycotts to goods/services in their countries.3) Requesting ethic[al behavior] through national company forums.Examples of the depth of the problem:McDo - made $2.5 billion in Ru(ssia) last year;Coke - made $2.6 billion in profits for the quarterWhile it is unclear if Hollywood power brokers also received the memo, it appears that they got the message. A number of studios announced that they are “pausing” films scheduled for release in Russia including The Batman, Lost City and the Michael Bay action pic Ambulance. Similarly, Netflix put the kibosh on four series scheduled to shoot in Russia. “We're not talking China numbers, but you can have sizable box office performances in Russia,” Siegel noted during the podcast. “For example, Joker made $37.2 million in Russia, and something like The Batman, which has been paused, would likely be comparable.”In this episode, Siegel talks with co-hosts Janice Min and Richard Rushfield about Hollywood's big reaction to the ongoing crisis and contrasts that with its continued silence on Russia's ally, China, in addition to other entertainment headlines of the day. Thanks for reading and listening. The Ankler is subscriber-supported. To receive new posts and support our work, we invite you to join our community.Also on The Ankler:On the departure of Netflix's flamboyant marketing chief, Bozoma Saint John, what it says about Netflix and Hollywood today.Entertainment Strategy Guy explains the MGM/Amazon/FTC death spiral and what it all means for the rest of entertainment.Richard Rushfield's annual State of Showbiz address.CAMERA ROLL: 20 pictures of who's where in Hollywood this week.The fight is on for the role of the decade. The Transom has the details on the battle to play Madonna in the Material Girl's self-directed biopic.Adult animation was supposed to be the streamers' secret weapon during the pandemic. But things didn't go quite as planned. Entertainment Strategy Guy breaks down the bitter numbers.On The Optionist:Q&A: What A.I. Tells Us About Debut AuthorsA highly curated list of current and backlist books, new journalism, and podcasts ready for option. This week: a real-life biopic about the greatest Wall Street manipulator, a time travel murder mystery, A Civil Action-esque courtroom drama, a fun romcom podcast, and a superhero adventure on the backlist that, incredibly, has not been spoken for yet.Subscribe during the free beta period here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Follow us at Apple Podcasts if you like what you are hearing. And please subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com for more interviews and stories like these.Back in the mid-'90s, Maria Farmer was a promising artist with a tiny New York City apartment who had just been commissioned to create two large installations for director James L. Brooks' film As Good as It Gets. Enter Jeffrey Epstein, a well-connected patron of the arts whom she met at a gallery showing of her work, and a friend to Hollywood figures such as Mike Ovitz, Ron Burkle, Chris Tucker and Alec Baldwin. He offered her space to create the works as an artist-in-residence at the Ohio property of Victoria's Secret billionaire Les Wexner. What followed was a now-familiar story of sexual abuse at the hands of Epstein and his literal partner in crime, Ghislaine Maxwell. Those stories were at the heart of Netflix's Filthy Rich, and also are in an upcoming HBO project from Adam McKay. The now-deceased Epstein went on to become a prolific predator of underage girls, with help from Maxwell, who was found guilty in December on five out of six sex trafficking-related charges and is facing up to 65 years in prison. But his predation could have been stopped by a 2003 Vanity Fair story about the late financier. In fact, Farmer and her sister Annie, another Epstein victim, gave their on-the-record accounts to Vanity Fair writer Vicky Ward one year earlier. But their stories never made it to print, prompting The New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner to take a closer look at the circumstances surrounding the omission and who exactly was culpable (hint: Ward comes off looking even worse than former editor in chief Graydon Carter). After that publication, Ward hit back with a pair of rebuttals (What the New Yorker Got Wrong and The Last Word on the New Yorker and Isaac Chotiner). For Farmer, who was undergoing cancer treatment and didn't participate in the New Yorker story aside from a statement (she has lymphoma and brain cancer), Chotiner got it right. “Vicky Ward was, I think, a very dangerous quote journalist because she promised our safety. And then she goes and has a drinks with the people who are the perps and befriends them,” she says of Ward, who would later describe Maxwell as “passionate” and capable of “vulnerability” in another Vanity Fair story from 2011 (both stories no longer exist on the magazine's website). Says Farmer: “She's culpable for the rapes of so many women, in my opinion, because of her not reporting what she had been told and instead befriending the perps and hanging out with them and going to bars and writing about it." Indeed, even as recently as 2016, Epstein was making the rounds at the 2016 premiere of Warner Bros.' Batman vs. Superman, prompting Ankler Hot Seat co-host Tatiana Siegel to ask a Warner Brothers executive that night “why a level three registered sex offender was invited.”When asked for comment, Ward tells Siegel today, “I did do my very best to protect them, and it kills me that I failed in 2003. That is why in 2015, I did tell the story (in The Daily Beast), with their permission and support, and also wrote what had happened at Vanity Fair.”To date, Ward has profited off her relationship to the Epstein-Maxwell stories through an Audible podcast, Chasing Ghislaine, and a Discovery+ docuseries of the same name. Farmer calls those who have profited off the stories of Epstein's victims “presstitutes.”In addition to the Ward controversy, Farmer also weighs in on Prince Andrew's stunning settlement with a fellow Epstein accuser (also represented by David Boies), and the suicide hanging of Epstein accomplice Jean-Luc Brunel in a Paris jail. As for Maxwell's planned appeal, Farmer says, “Ghislaine is shameless to put the survivors through more trauma. Of course, she does not care and is desperate at this stage.” Farmer also voices her opposition to the HBO series in the works from Adam McKay based on the work of Miami Herald journalist Julie K. Brown's book, Perversion of Justice (neither HBO nor McKay responded to requests for comment), as Brown is now being sued by two other Epstein victims for her portrayals of them. She also raises objection to Netflix's Epstein documentary Filthy Rich because of Ward's participation. (Netflix declined comment.) The conversation is sobering, and reflects a rarely-discussed rift between survivors and the journalists who cash in with their #MeToo coverage. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Megyn Kelly has the latest breaking news in the Jeff Zucker CNN scandal saga, and is joined by Tatiana Siegel, editor-at-large for The Ankler and senior writer for Rolling Stone, to talk about her reporting that Jeff Zucker was privately advising Andrew Cuomo along with Allison Gollust, the truth and lies about Zucker's affair with Gollust, what may come out next, and more. Also, Allison Williams of The Daily Wire and Ethan Strauss of the House of Strauss Substack are here to talk about NBC pushing China propaganda during the Olympics, a racial discrimination lawsuit in the NFL, trans swimmer Lia Thomas, and Shaq speaking out against vaccine mandates. Then, comedian Akaash Singh, co-host of the Flagrant 2 podcast, talks about calls to cancel Joe Rogan and Whoopi Goldberg, the evolution of comedy, and his latest special "Bring Back Apu."Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKellyTwitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShowInstagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShowFacebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow Find out more information at: https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow
Welcome to another episode of The Ankler Hot Seat, this one the last in a special series about the 2022 Sundance Film Festival hosted by Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel. Please follow us at Apple Podcasts and on Twitter. Our guest today is a true behind-the-scenes superstar of Hollywood, Josh Braun of Submarine, a Los Angeles hybrid sales, production and distribution company run by Braun and his identical twin Dan. Submarine sold American Factory from the Obamas' Higher Ground productions and Participant Media, a documentary that premiered at Sundance in 2019 (and went on to win the Best Documentary Oscar). He also brought Boys' State to 2019 Sundance, where it became the highest-priced documentary sale in the festival's history, bought by Apple for $12 million. That same year, he sold Billie Eilish's documentary, also to Apple, for $26 million, a record for a music documentary. Currently Braun is “at” virtual Sundance with the festival's most buzzed-about title, Nothing Compares, a documentary about Sinead O'Connor, an elusive personality he says he had pursued for years. Since premiering on Jan. 21, the movie, directed by Kathryn Ferguson, has won rave reviews, and a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes for its poignant and powerful storytelling about O'Connor, an artist Braun says delivered a protest message that many Americans now lean into, but at the time only earned her scorn, ridicule, and eventually exile. She spoke about “reproductive rights and gay rights, and the ability for a woman to choose and many other issues,” says Braun, “and was essentially raked over the coals and penalized. I think every position she took at that earlier point…she would now be hailed almost as a hero.” Braun also reveals in his interview how, while preparing for Sundance, he and the team behind Nothing Compares responded when they learned that O'Connor's 17-year-old son had committed suicide. “If they wanted to be pulled, we would have pulled it,” he says on the podcast, “and we respected what those nearest and dearest to her believed was the right path.”Also on the podcast, Braun discusses what it was like working with the Obamas, attending the screening of the surprise documentary about Alexi Navalny, the Putin opposition leader, and how it feels to help independent filmmakers who typically work on shoestring budgets to suddenly, many for the first time in their lives, make the kind of money they once could only dream of: “I have to say it is the greatest feeling.”Also on The Ankler:In Wall St. Just Handed Netflix a Golden Opportunity to Grow Up, Entertainment Strategy Guy discussing eight ways the streaming service can emerge from a disastrous week. A few weeks before the Netflix subscriber miss, ESG also delivered four charts predicting how Netflix's woes were right around the corner in Streaming's Winner-Take-All Theory Collapses. Because the news isn't all-Netfix all the time, he also recently weighed in on The Worst Case Scenario for Disney, now facing some of the same downward pressures afflicting its rival. However, Is Bob Chapek Secretly the One Hollywood's Been Waiting For? Richard Rushfield looks at the mobs forming against Disney's still-getting-comfortable kingpin and asks, what if we're getting it all wrong? A look at the business under Chapek, the Iger ghost that haunts the company, and how the low key, non-nonsense boss might in fact be what Disney needs (if not what they want).Ankler Hot Seat Podcast: Sundance Cinderella Stories and The Time Harvey Weinstein Joined the Women's MarchPLUS! A New Optionist Newsletter is Out! Check out Andy Lewis' The Optionist, a weekly newsletter about the best intellectual property with filmed rights available. Sign up here! The new issue contains new rights details about the suddenly buzzy world around Donna Tartt and Bret Easton Ellis. To advertise with The Ankler, please contact Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.com.We now offer group subscriptions! Please email info@anklermedia.com to sign-up.Can't afford The Ankler right now? If you're an assistant, student, or getting your foot in the door of this industry, and want help navigating the craziness of this business but don't have money to spare right now, drop me a line at richard@theankler.com and we'll work it out. No mogul or mogul-to-be left behind at The Ankler.The Ankler is Hollywood's favorite secret newsletter, an independent voice holding the industry's feet to the fire. If you're a subscriber, feel free to share this edition with a friend but just a couple, please. The Ankler depends on its paid subscribers to keep publishing.If you've been passed along this issue, take the hint and get on the train. Find out why the New York Times called us the “hit Hollywood newsletter.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Welcome to our newest episode in the special Ankler Hot Seat series about the Sundance Film Festival past and present. In 2017, Ankler Hot Seat hosts Janice Min and Tatiana Siegel both attended the Sundance Film Festival, which, that year, took on a distinctly different mood. Newly-elected Donald Trump was inaugurated as president during the festival, and the mood was tense, as politics and women's rights overshadowed the regular programming. During his campaign, Trump had derided accusers who had come forth with sexual assault claims, viciously attacked his rival Hillary Clinton, and insulted many prominent women including Rosie O'Donnell and Megan Kelly. One month before the election, Trump's infamous Access Hollywood tapes leaked out, and many women boiled over. At Sundance, Kristen Stewart, Anna Taylor-Joy, Charlize Theron and Chelsea Handler (plus John Legend and Nick Offerman) marched down Main Street in protest. Harvey Weinstein also marched — or rather was driven down —to show his support on Main Street. His action was thick with irony. Later that year, Rose McGowan would reveal that he had raped her in a hot tub at the Sundance Film Festival years earlier, and with her voice, she joined a chorus of other accusers as a wall of silence broke around Weinstein, and the #MeToo movement was born. By May 2018, Weinstein had turned himself in to be arrested on charges of rape and sexual assault. Within months, not only would a series of prominent men in Hollywood and media be exposed for rape and sexual assault, but women — for the first time — saw something shift in the entertainment job market that actually began to resemble progress. In this episode, Min and Siegel discuss the decades-long frustrations that led to the march, with Trump serving as a catalyst, why things actually began to change after that, and how the 2017 festival will go down as one of the major inflection points in the story of women in Hollywood. Also on The Ankler:Ankler Hot Seat Podcast: Sundance Cinderella Stories As a slew of independent filmmakers make headlines at the 2022 installment of the festival, directors Jesse Moss of Boys State and Liz W. Garcia of The Lifeguard revisit their dramatic backstories from that took them from unknown to acclaim in one stressed-out week. A few weeks before the Netflix subscriber miss, and a precipitous stock tumble, our own Entertainment Strategy Guy delivered four charts illustrating how Netflix's woes were right around the corner in Streaming's Winner-Take-All Theory Collapses. More recently, ESG weighed in on The Worst Case Scenario for Disney, now facing many of the same downward pressures afflicting its rival. In his column, ESG predicts how the next decade for Disney (and possibly all the streamers) could look very very different from the 2010s. Check out the debut of Andy Lewis' The Optionist.Yes, Woody Allen gets a film release in China, while no other American filmmakers seem to these days. In Hollywood's China Grovel is Failing, writer Sonny Bunch dives into the absolute mess stemming from the studios' decades of capitulation to the Chinese government. If you are interested in advertising on The Ankler, please contact Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.com.Can't afford The Ankler right now? If you're an assistant, student, or getting your foot in the door of this industry, and want help navigating the craziness of this business but don't have the money to spare right now, drop me a line at richard@theankler.com and we'll work it out. No mogul or mogul-to-be left behind here at The Ankler.The Ankler is Hollywood's favorite secret newsletter, an independent voice holding the industry's feet to the fire. If you're a subscriber, feel free to share this edition with a friend but just a couple, please. The Ankler depends on its paid subscribers to keep publishing.If you've been passed along this issue, take the hint and get on the train. Find out why the New York Times called us the “hit Hollywood newsletter.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Welcome to The Ankler Hot Seat, a new podcast that takes you behind the scenes of Hollywood's big personalities, power struggles and ever-changing playbook. It is a production of The Ankler, a subscription-only newsletter. Please follow us on Apple Podcasts (and rate us if you like what you are hearing), and on Twitter.Before we get started with today's episode…We are proud to introduce you to The Optionist, a new Ankler newsletter out today about available intellectual property for the entertainment community, written by Andy Lewis. The Optionist aims to do some of your reading for you by highlighting the best material with rights still available from the worlds of book publishing, backlisted titles, journalism and podcasts (names of reps will be attached to each property when applicable). As anyone who works in this industry knows, the publishing-to-Hollywood superhighway has only expanded in the streaming age, yet the hours in the day have not. We hope this newsletter helps makes your work life just a little bit more productive through our legwork. Try The Optionist in beta free for a limited time Now, as for today's episode 2 of our limited podcast series The Ankler Hot Seat: Sundance 2022, we look at a very special part of the Sundance experience. At the center of the entire circus are the stories of lone filmmakers inspired to defy the odds and make a film — generally outside any formal system, with a hodgepodge of support and financing held together with Band Aids and Scotch tape.The filmmakers who actually end up accepted to the festival defy stratospheric odds, not only in getting their films made, yes, but then in their acceptance to the world's premiere launching pad for independent film. But once filmmakers get there, the road out of Sundance gets even narrower. Some land splashy deals, great riches and enormous futures. Others scratch their heads wondering — what exactly was that all about?Today, we talk to two filmmakers about what the experience suddenly going from a quiet under-budgeted editing room to the bright lights at Sundance was like.First up, host Richard Rushfield chats with Jesse Moss, whose documentary Boys State debuted at Sundance in 2020, the last time the festival met in person. The film tells the story of a meeting of high school boys in Texas to form a representative government through an American Legion-sponsored program, and was wildly well-received upon its debut, ultimately selling to Apple and A24 for $12 million — one of the highest price-tags ever for a documentary feature.For Moss however, the experience was a whirlwind of fear, joy, logistics and illness as he went into the Sundance barrel. There was even a bout of vomiting from anxiety. We also chat with filmmaker Liz W. Garcia, who hit Sundance in 2013 with her late-coming of age drama, The Lifeguard which has gone on to become a cult favorite and touch stone for many women belatedly searching for their path.Like Moss, Garcia found herself overwhelmed by the whirlwind of suddenly coming to Sundance and seeing the intimate drama she had carved with her bare hands premiere at the Eccles Theater, Sundance's grandest venue. Despite the thrill of the moment and the later glories to come, Garcia's Sundance journey was made bittersweet by the chorus of all-male critics who didn't connect with the female story, and pestered her with undermining and patronizing questions in their interviews throughout the week. For many female filmmakers, it will be a familiar story. Join us for the next episode in our Sundance series, hosted by Janice Min and Tatiana Siegel, on Monday. Thanks for listening! And please subscribe to The Ankler if you like what you are hearing and reading. Also on The Ankler this week:Again check out the debut of Andy Lewis' The Optionist, hot off the presses.ESG weighs on The Worst Case Scenario for Disney, between streaming winds and China problems, a perfect storm of risk is brewing for the entertainment giant.Ankler Hot Seat Podcast: What to Expect at Sundance The first episode in our Sundance podcast series in honor of Hollywood's big festival discusses the big titles, Dakota Johnson, swag bags, and the pinnacle, er nadir, of the festival: the Pizza Hut VIP lounge. Hollywood's China Grovel is Failing Writer Sonny Bunch dives into the absolute mess stemming from the studios' decades of capitulation to the Chinese government. The Chinese government was badly embarrassed following American outrage over the revelations that Disney's live-action Mulan filmed on location in Xinjiang province — where as many as a million Muslim Uyghurs have been detained in concentration camps designed to destroy their ethnic identity. Disney has paid a price ever since. None of Disney's new Marvel Cinematic Universe films received a theatrical release in China. Not Black Widow, not Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which used Chinese iconography and Chinese actors in the hopes of appealing to Chinese audiences and winning approval of Chinese officials, and not Eternals, which was directed by the best director-winning, China-born Chloe Zhao, who has her own baggage with Chinese audiences after old interviews resurfaced in which she said China was a “place where there are lies everywhere.”Broadway's Crisis: It's ‘Las Vegas on the Hudson' As Broadway suffers its lowest attendance in a decade, omicron wreaking havoc, and audiences rejecting one new production after another, longtime entertainment critic and journalist Frank Scheck writes about Broadway's risk of becoming Vegas-on-the-Hudson, a place defined only by longstanding mega-hits: "If the producing doesn't get smarter, the gap between the blandly commercial and artistically pretentious flops will continue to widen." If you are interested in advertising on The Ankler, please contact Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.com.Can't afford The Ankler right now? If you're an assistant, student, or getting your foot in the door of this industry, and want help navigating the craziness of this business but don't have the money to spare right now, drop me a line at richard@theankler.com and we'll work it out. No mogul or mogul-to-be left behind here at The Ankler.The Ankler is Hollywood's favorite secret newsletter, an independent voice holding the industry's feet to the fire. If you're a subscriber, feel free to share this edition with a friend but just a couple, please. The Ankler depends on its paid subscribers to keep publishing.If you've been passed along this issue, take the hint and get on the train. Find out why the New York Times called us the “hit Hollywood newsletter.” Subscribe now! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Welcome to The Ankler Hot Seat, a new podcast that takes you behind the scenes of Hollywood's big personalities, power struggles and ever-changing playbook. It is a production of The Ankler, a subscription-only newsletter. Please follow us on Apple Podcasts (and rate us if you like what you are hearing), and on Twitter. Before we tell you about today's episode…We want to make sure you saw the news about The Optionist, a new Ankler newsletter about available intellectual property for the entertainment community that will debut Friday, January 21. Written by Andy Lewis, The Optionist aims to do some of your reading for you by highlighting the best material with rights still available from the worlds of book publishing, journalism and podcasts (names of reps will be attached to each property when applicable). As anyone who works in this industry knows, the publishing-to-Hollywood superhighway has only expanded in the streaming age, yet the hours in the day have not. We hope this newsletter helps makes your work life just a little bit more productive through our legwork. For a limited time, you can sample The Optionist for free here.Learn more about Andy's background here. Okay, back to the podcast at hand. Over this week and next, The Ankler Hot Seat team will deliver five podcasts in total about the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, the premiere festival for independent film for Hollywood that has become something so much more: a place for stars, brands and yes, still cinema, to convene. But this year, it's not in person. Again. This episode, the first in the series, kicks off the festival. Our hosts, Janice Min, Richard Rushfield and Tatiana Siegel preview what is on hand now that the proceedings have gone from IRL in Park City, Utah, to virtual. The team discusses the Sundance titles that everyone is talking about, festival It Girl Dakota Johnson, the hunt for the mythical next Little Miss Sunshine, and the white hot Sinead O'Conner documentary from Josh Braun, the same agent who sold the Billie Eilish documentary for $26 million to Apple. Oh, and don't miss the dissection of the swag — omg, the swag. Plus, our hosts pay homage to Sundance's pinnacle, er, nadir atop Park City's Main Street — the Pizza Hut VIP lounge. And lots more. It is a lively discussion where you'll almost feel the Park City snow on your face. Please join us on Friday of this week for another Sundance podcast, and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of next week. If you have thoughts about what is said on the pod, or a guest or topic suggestion, let us know at HotSeat@anklermedia.com. Follow @TheAnkler @AnklerHotSeat and our hosts: @janicemin @anklerrushfield @tatianasiegel27.If you'd like to sponsor The Ankler Hot Seat, contact Kymber Allen at kymber@anklermedia.com.And subscribe now to The Ankler, and learn why The New York Times called us a “hit Hollywood newsletter.” Also on The Ankler:Hollywood's China Grovel is Failing Writer Sonny Bunch dives into the absolute mess stemming from the studios' decades of capitulation to the Chinese government. The Chinese government was badly embarrassed following American outrage over the revelations that Disney's live-action Mulan filmed on location in Xinjiang province — where as many as a million Muslim Uyghurs have been detained in concentration camps designed to destroy their ethnic identity. Disney has paid a price ever since. None of Disney's new Marvel Cinematic Universe films received a theatrical release in China. Not Black Widow, not Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which used Chinese iconography and Chinese actors in the hopes of appealing to Chinese audiences and winning approval of Chinese officials, and not Eternals, which was directed by the best director-winning, China-born Chloe Zhao, who has her own baggage with Chinese audiences after old interviews resurfaced in which she said China was a “place where there are lies everywhere.”Broadway's Crisis: It's ‘Las Vegas on the Hudson' As Broadway suffers its lowest attendance in a decade, omicron wreaking havoc, and audiences rejecting one new production after another, longtime entertainment critic and journalist Frank Scheck writes about Broadway's risk of becoming Vegas-on-the-Hudson, a place defined only by longstanding mega-hits: "If the producing doesn't get smarter, the gap between the blandly commercial and artistically pretentious flops will continue to widen."ESG Report: Uh-oh, Streaming Musicals Keep Bombing Netflix's Tick, Tick...Boom! from Lin-Manuel Miranda was NOT another Hamilton — and the problems kept mounting from there for the category.Richard Rushfield on Paramount's 'Yellowstone' debacle, pique Pixar under Bob II, and...a 100 percent unverified rumor too good not to share. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe
Hosts Tom Dotan and Eric Newcomer speak with longtime Hollywood reporter Richard Rushfield, who launched his newsletter The Ankler in 2017. Rushfield told readers he would be “giving Hollywood the business,” describing his unsparing newsletter as “the newsletter Hollywood loves to hate and hates to love.” Now, Rushfield has broader ambitions. A splashy New York Times piece announced that he'd teamed up with Janice Min, the media executive responsible for reinventing both The Hollywood Reporter and Us Weekly. Substack is helping to fund their growth as The Ankler joins Y Combinator. Almost immediately drama ensued. Variety, the Hollywood trade publication and Ankler rival, ran a headline on Dec. 16: Janice Min Loses First Hire at Ankler Newsletter to Rolling Stone (EXCLUSIVE). It just so happened that Jay Penske, who was desperately trying to keep star reporter Tatiana Siegel in his media ecosystem, is the owner of Variety, Rolling Stone and Siegel's employer The Hollywood Reporter. Meanwhile, Min insisted on Twitter that Siegel intended to join The Ankler.The blowup only seemed to firm up The Ankler's insurgent posture and the threat it posed to Penske's Hollywood media empire. We spoke to Rushfield about the contentious launch. We also talked about some of the biggest stories in Hollywood right now, including Netflix employees protesting Dave Chappelle and the backlash to the Golden Globes. Get full access to Newcomer at www.newcomer.co/subscribe
Hosts Tom Dotan and Eric Newcomer speak with longtime Hollywood reporter Richard Rushfield, who launched his newsletter The Ankler in 2017. Rushfield told readers he would be “giving Hollywood the business,” describing his unsparing newsletter as “the newsletter Hollywood loves to hate and hates to love.” Now, Rushfield has broader ambitions. A splashy New York Times piece announced that he’d teamed up with Janice Min, the media executive responsible for reinventing both The Hollywood Reporter and Us Weekly. Substack is helping to fund their growth as The Ankler joins Y Combinator. Almost immediately drama ensued. Variety, the Hollywood trade publication and Ankler rival, ran a headline on Dec. 16: Janice Min Loses First Hire at Ankler Newsletter to Rolling Stone (EXCLUSIVE). It just so happened that Jay Penske, who was desperately trying to keep star reporter Tatiana Siegel in his media ecosystem, is the owner of Variety, Rolling Stone and Siegel’s employer The Hollywood Reporter. Meanwhile, Min insisted on Twitter that Siegel intended to join The Ankler.The blowup only seemed to firm up The Ankler’s insurgent posture and the threat it posed to Penske’s Hollywood media empire. We spoke to Rushfield about the contentious launch. We also talked about some of the biggest stories in Hollywood right now, including Netflix employees protesting Dave Chappelle and the backlash to the Golden Globes. Get full access to Newcomer at www.newcomer.co/subscribe
In this episode we discuss The Hollywood Reporter's article, "He's Radioactive: Inside Johnny Depp's Self-Made Implosion", written by Tatiana Siegel. It's completely unbiased and not influenced by Amber Heard's camp at all.
Please rate and subscribe to our podcast if you haven't already! In Episode 55, we talk about the passing of Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse, and discuss “Avengers: Endgame” passing “Avatar” to become the highest grossing movie of all time. In the Premiere Topic, we are looking at the career of Leonardo DiCaprio (AKA Maureen's favorite actor of all time). Inspired by the article “‘His Brand Is Excellence': How Leonardo DiCaprio Became Hollywood's Last Movie Star” by Tatiana Siegel of “The Hollywood Reporter,” we consider our first interaction with Leo, list the best performances he has given, give our favorite movies in which he has appeared and try to determine just what it is that makes him such a bankable and reliable movie star. PLUS, in our teasers, Josh recommends a finance podcast and Maureen recommends a throwback show that just had a recent revival on Hulu. Email us at thepoppedcast@vernacularpodcast.com! Links: Russi Taylor passes away “Avengers: Endgame” passes “Avatar” for all-time global box office record “How to Money” podcast “Veronica Mars” on Hulu
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