Most of Hollywood is sprinting right now to Friday, when the business (largely) goes pencils down for the two-week holiday break. So first of all, remember: A subscription to The Ankler is the best gift you can give, something of real and meaningful value to someone’s career. Second, given the crunch, we were thrilled to see so many of you made the time to come to our festive first-ever live Series Business event on Dec. 12 at The London in West Hollywood. The names onstage simply couldn’t have been bigger from the world of TV: Erin Foster (creator of Netflix’s zeitgeisty Nobody Wants This), Paul Simms (EP of FX’s smash English Teacher and What We Do in the Shadows) and Michael Schur (creator/showrunner/writer/director of Netflix’s utterly delightful A Man on the Inside). Katey Rich was ringleader (Series Business’ Elaine Low, under the weather, is on the mend), Foster graciously accommodated everyone’s selfie request and the packed house laughed out loud at the clips shown (followed by our panelists’ immediate — and very witty —commentary from the stage). So fun. Stay tuned for more details from Series Business this week . . .
TV TALK 1. Katey Rich and Paul Simms; Katey and Michael Schur; 3. A Man on the Inside, onscreen; 4. A very full house laughed at What We Do in the Shadows; 5. Nobody Wants This, onscreen; 6. A Series Business sign welcomed guests; 7. Janice Min made opening remarks; 7. Erin Foster. (Todd Williamson)
(Btw, my daughter’s currently enjoying both English Teacher and A Man on the Inside, so thanks to my colleagues for giving what I do an imprimatur of cool in my household.)
In Elaine Low’s latest about who’s-buying-what shows (for paid subscribers only), she reveals the most reliable format to try to sell CBS; the proven exec working on Paramount’s streaming strategy agents are closely watching; what kinds of shows have been working for CBS and Par+; whether Showtime is really buying again; and how agents feel about CBS Studios head David Stapf and drama development head Bryan Seabury:
From the newTiger Woods and Rory McIlroy-fronted golf league to L.A.’s state-of-the-art Intuit Dome, CAA Sports is seemingly behind every big deal in the $500 billion global sports business. In the latestDealmakers (paid subscribers only), Ashley Cullins goes deep in an interview with CAA Sports co-head Mike Levine about whether the sports market is a bubble; how they identify opportunities for clients; and which big-name college football coach will be shopping a docuseries next year:
Rushfield’s Tales of the 1990s; Actor Crisis Series
Tales from the '90s: 'Last Action Hero' Screenwriters Tell All
The Ankler Podcast
1:21:46
In a new podcast series, Hollywood Stories (appearing every Monday for the next month; subscribe to never miss an episode), we’re sharing wild, untold showbiz tales from the '90s. This week, Richard Rushfield sits down with Adam Leff and Zak Penn, the original screenwriters behind 1993’s Last Action Hero. For the first time they tell the hilarious tale of how their spec script dream turned into a nightmare (and yes, they name names). It is an absolutely great listen: You’ll be laughing out loud. (Transcript here)
Actor Crisis: Why It Matters, Who’s to Blame, How to Adapt
In a special series this week, Richard identifies the culprits that have made it impossible to be a working actor, shares six ideas for how actors can adapt to the new reality and points fingers at whose fault this actually is:
Standups used to break in with late-night appearances. Now they go to Austin, Texas to appear on Joe Rogan’s No. 1 podcast, where his megaphone has catapulted a world of “un-cancelable” comics into millions touring, podcasting and selling merch. Ankler contributor Lachlan Cartwright explains how the Rogan machine operates; how Tony Hinchcliffe is turning his infamous Trump rally appearance into a giant business with UTA’s help; all the Hollywood agents profiting from a Trump-era brand of comedy; and Netflix’s role fueling the trend:
As awards season heats up, Katey delivered everything you need to know about the Golden Globes and Critics Choice nominations via Substack livestream, podcast and newsletter. Plus, Katey sat down with Nickel Boys director RaMell Ross and star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor about their daring adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel:
Golden Globes Reactions with Esther Zuckerman, Plus Marianne Jean-Baptiste on Mike Leigh's Hard Truths
For the second week of Notable, where music and Hollywood meet, Rob LeDonne interviews the great Elton John and Brandi Carlile about the duo’s collaboration on the title track for Sir Elton’s new Disney+ documentary, Never Too Late; how John serves as a mentor to Chappell Roan and Allison Ponthier; and how working with Carlile reminded him of John Lennon:
After WBD dropped a surprise restructuring this week, the smartest people in the business turned to Sean McNulty to analyze precisely how the move sets the conglomerate up for dealmaking and why Wall Street reacted the way it did:
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