It’s Labor Day weekend here in the U.S. (finally), so unless you’re in Telluride (like Ankler deputy editor Christopher Rosen) or Venice (like our CEO Janice Min and London correspondent Manori Ravindran), I hope you’re logging some true downtime. With the Toronto Film Festival kicking off in just six days — stay tuned for exclusive interviews and portraits from Ankler Studios at TIFF, helmed by Katey Rich and Chris — Hollywood will officially be back to school.
To help you prep, The Ankler did some math. Our top two stories of the week followed the money — Dealmakers’ Ashley Cullins broke down what VCs want from Hollywood and which firms are placing big bets now.
Subscribers were also hungry for news about another kind of deal: the increasingly rare showrunner overall. Series Business’ Lesley Goldberg looked at how those pacts are being remade, with new intel on Seth MacFarlane’s NBCUniversal terms, plus her scoop about Dungeon Crawler Carl co-showrunner Eric Heisserer:
And for a lighter holiday weekend read, may I recommend Degen Pener’s diverting profile of TJ Wilk, an actor who’s found stardom in vertical dramas (did you catch him in Knocked Up by My Ex’s Billionaire Uncle?) after a long string of showbiz “almosts.”
In Venice, Janice and Manori helped lead a powerful program at Lights! Camera! Impact!, producer and activist Anadil Hossain’s initiative – in partnership with the Human Safety Net and the Van Leer Foundation — to highlight film and TV’s role in driving social change. Janice on Saturday surveyed the landscape for impact films and the producers and founders who are still getting issue-driven movies made in a challenged market, and Manori led a panel on representations of motherhood onscreen, and how Hollywood can offer more nuanced portrayals of parenthood.
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| TRUE IMPACT From left: Janice with Maria Farinha Filmes’ Estella Renner, The Human Safety Net CEO Emma Ursich and Minderoo Pictures’ Malinda Wink. Manori Ravindran |
On Monday, Janice heads to the Lumière Summit in St.-Paul-de-Vence, France, an intimate forum of 150 entertainment power brokers addressing the forces reshaping the moving image. Co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, the gathering will welcome Donna Langley, Bryan Lourd, Casey Bloys and Ted Sarandos. Janice will take the stage with Letterboxd CEO Matthew Buchanan, AGBO co-founder Anthony Russo, EbonyLife CEO Mo Abudu and more top voices. Follow our Instagram for highlights.
And finally, if you’re still not a paid subscriber to The Ankler, now is the time to upgrade — because through Monday only, we’re offering 25 percent off an annual subscription. Sign up today — click here or use the code LaborDay 2026 — for full access to all of our great journalism, the no-spin intel Hollywood runs on.
Now, ICYMI, the rest of our best of the week:
Shows
Monday Morning QBs
Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars opened in 5th place with just $8 million — Sean and Chris dissect the legendary director’s flop:
Rushfield Lunch
There’s a reason Hollywood parents don’t let their kids become stars, says Alison Pill, who sheds light on insiders’ “knowledge of exploitation” and urges the industry to protect child actors:
