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About

☀️ China Powers ‘Zootopia 2’ to Huge 🦃 Heights

NETFLIX's latest theatrical results / 'Raymond' hits for CBS / College 🏀 scores at ESPN

5 hrs ago•
Sean McNulty

19

Holiday TV Money Wars; Hollywood Vultures; PTA’s Fortnite Play

Plus: the new foreign pre-sales playbook; 30% off Ankler gifts!

16 hrs ago•
Alison Brower

5

🎧 Dwayne Johnson Is Not Giving Up on ‘The Smashing Machine’

The actor says playing fighter Mark Kerr changed his life: ‘I was a completely different human being’

Nov 29•
Katey Rich

4

59:45

Rushfield Lunch: What ‘Good, Smart People’ Are Doing to Survive the Industry Roller Coaster

Creatives in entertainment have to ‘work to make things better ourselves,’ comedy writer Jay Kogen tells me: ‘Nobody’s coming to save you’

Nov 26•
Richard Rushfield
and
Jay Kogen

25

1

3

The Ruthless Biz of TV Holiday Movies: Lots of Joy — But ‘They Want Snow for Free’

The Grinch brings fewer films on tighter budgets, but for writers, the pay can feel like Christmas morning: ‘Sometimes money floats down from the…

Nov 26•
Lesley Goldberg

9

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Series Business\
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An in-depth newsletter about audience trends in entertainment

How Paul Thomas Anderson Landed in Fortnite, as the Movies-as-Games Era Arrives

SCOOP: I get the story behind the director's ‘One Battle’ crossover as studios also flood Roblox — and Disney’s Epic Games investment starts to deliver

Nov 26•
Matthew Frank

21

3

☀️Fall Box Office: Movies Drop The Ball With Dudes

CAA agents to WME / PAR adds to spec 🔥 / WBD wants more 💰 / NETFLIX’s ‘Champagne’ pops

Nov 26•
Sean McNulty

17

1

1

Indies’ New Foreign-Presale Rules: Tight Budgets, Tough Calls — and Jason Statham

I talk to top agents about an overseas market that’s slower, tougher and now in charge. Still, ‘If something is great, people will see it’

Nov 25•
Ashley Cullins

6

1

Cousin Collab: Rian & Nathan Johnson Balance ‘Ugliness and Beauty’ in ‘Wake Up Dead Man’

The filmmaker and his composer let me in on the process they’ve developed over decades: ‘We really like imperfection.’ Plus: Listen to an exclusive…

Nov 25•
Rob LeDonne

8

🎧 How ‘Wicked’ Women Saved the Movies

As film’s bros go bust, underserved females spend to end ’25

Nov 25

31

2

🎧 Chloé Zhao Won an Oscar. Then She Learned Enough to Make ‘Hamnet’

The acclaimed filmmaker tells me how she tapped into grief, joy, her inner volcano and ‘harmonizing the vibration of everyone’ to create her film’s…

Nov 25•
Katey Rich

9

1

The Day of the Vulture is Here

A different kind of bird has descended upon Hollywood for Thanksgiving

Nov 25•
Richard Rushfield

28

4

10

The latest from

Sean McNulty\
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☀️ China Powers ‘Zootopia 2’ to Huge 🦃 Heights\
\
Richard Rushfield\
\
Rushfield Lunch: What ‘Good, Smart People’ Are Doing to Survive the Industry Roller Coaster\
\
Lesley Goldberg\
\
The Ruthless Biz of TV Holiday Movies: Lots of Joy — But ‘They Want Snow for Free’ \
\
Matthew Frank\
\
How Paul Thomas Anderson Landed in Fortnite, as the Movies-as-Games Era Arrives\
\
Ashley Cullins\
\
Indies’ New Foreign-Presale Rules: Tight Budgets, Tough Calls — and Jason Statham\
\
Elaine Low\
\
As A-Listers Rush Into TV Ads, the Middle-Class Actor Economy Collapses \
\
Natalie Jarvey\
\
Netflix’s Pod Pitch Lands Flat; Fox Comes for YouTube; Yeezy Alum Drops New App\
\
Erik Barmack\
\
Tilly Norwood: Exec Dream, Union Nightmare and an AI Actor Army Already on Set \
\
Nicole LaPorte\
\
The Fence That Broke Brentwood: A Country Club’s Barbed Wire Ignites War \
\
Janice Min\
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A Fascinating, Unsettling Conversation with Tilly Norwood’s Creator \
\

Show 4 more

The Ankler.

The business of entertainment

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Ankler Features

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Gen Z Is Huge. Their TV Shows Are Tiny. And Hollywood Is Panicking

Showrunners Nahnatchka Khan, Ben Kronengold & Rebecca Shaw, and top execs, on the industry's most-wanted demo miss

Nov 20•
Whitney Friedlander

257

4

28

The Fence That Broke Brentwood: A Country Club’s Barbed Wire Ignites War

The prison-like partition mysteriously sprung up along scenic San Vicente Blvd. without warning. Says one homeowner: ‘It’s like I live next to Sing…

Nov 14•
Nicole LaPorte

16

2

A Fascinating, Unsettling Conversation with Tilly Norwood’s Creator

Eline Van der Velden reveals new footage, responds to outrage and says her AI actress will be able to think all on her own next year

Nov 13•
Janice Min

10

6

2

Zohran Mamdani’s Great on Camera. Can He Help NYC Make More Film & TV?

How the likely next mayor’s stance on unions, production credits and affordability could transform Hollywood-on-Hudson (take that, New Jersey!)

Nov 4•
Elizabeth Spiers

15

7

6

Inside WB’s Marketing Machine: The Chiefs Rewriting the Movie Playbook Tell All

In the midst of a banger year, Dana Nussbaum and Christian Davin reveal to me their strategy on AI and chasing audiences from gas stations to gridiron

Oct 17•
Sean McNulty

8

Prestige Junkie

View all

🎧 Dwayne Johnson Is Not Giving Up on ‘The Smashing Machine’

The actor says playing fighter Mark Kerr changed his life: ‘I was a completely different human being’

Nov 29•
Katey Rich

4

🎧 Chloé Zhao Won an Oscar. Then She Learned Enough to Make ‘Hamnet’

The acclaimed filmmaker tells me how she tapped into grief, joy, her inner volcano and ‘harmonizing the vibration of everyone’ to create her film’s…

Nov 25•
Katey Rich

9

1

He’s the Reason ‘Hamnet’ Makes You Cry Your Eyes Out

Composer Max Richter tells me about scoring the year’s most heartbreaking scene and how his Iraq War protest song became an indelible emotional anthem

Nov 24•
Katey Rich

12

1

1

He Acts! He Embroiders! Josh O’Connor Says ‘I Keep Telling Myself I’ll Take a Break’

Four movies, four star turns: The in-demand talent tells me about wanting to slow down. But then Spielberg calls

Nov 20•
Katey Rich

17

Dealmakers

View all

Indies’ New Foreign-Presale Rules: Tight Budgets, Tough Calls — and Jason Statham

I talk to top agents about an overseas market that’s slower, tougher and now in charge. Still, ‘If something is great, people will see it’

Nov 25•
Ashley Cullins

29

Indies’ New Foreign-Presale Rules: Tight Budgets, Tough Calls — and Jason Statham

I talk to top agents about an overseas market that’s slower, tougher and now in charge. Still, ‘If something is great, people will see it’

Nov 25•
Ashley Cullins

6

1

Film Crowdfunding 2.0: An Indie Studio Got 60,000 Fans to Invest $25 Million. How?

Players like Legion M, Bleecker Street and Eli Roth’s Horror Section are turning to ‘fan-vestors’ to finance films and activate audiences

Nov 11•
Ashley Cullins

12

2

Film Crowdfunding 2.0: An Indie Studio Got 60,000 Fans to Invest $25 Million. How?

Players like Legion M, Bleecker Street and Eli Roth’s Horror Section are turning to ‘fan-vestors’ to finance films and activate audiences

Nov 11•
Ashley Cullins

6

1

3

Scariest Thing in Hollywood Right Now? Missing the Brand Money in Horror

I talk to Blumhouse’s Abhijay Prakash and more pros about why advertisers are finding the genre’s loyal young fans — and modest budgets — a killer deal

Oct 28•
Ashley Cullins

8

1

Richard Rushfield

View all

59:45

Rushfield Lunch: What ‘Good, Smart People’ Are Doing to Survive the Industry Roller Coaster

Creatives in entertainment have to ‘work to make things better ourselves,’ comedy writer Jay Kogen tells me: ‘Nobody’s coming to save you’

Nov 26•
Richard Rushfield
and
Jay Kogen

25

1

3

The Day of the Vulture is Here

A different kind of bird has descended upon Hollywood for Thanksgiving

Nov 25•
Richard Rushfield

28

4

10

Trump Noose Tightens on the Warners Sale

Plus: Penske takes Ben Shapiro’s money; Pope Leo’s list of directors

Nov 20•
Richard Rushfield

19

3

3

The Ellisons Made Their Trump Bed. First Whispers Hollywood May Finally Push Back

I hear rumblings the worm could be turning

Nov 18•
Richard Rushfield

32

5

3

Reel AI

View all

Tilly Norwood: Exec Dream, Union Nightmare and an AI Actor Army Already on Set

SAG-AFTRA is great at fighting the last war, not the one in front of it

Nov 18•
Erik Barmack

8

Tilly Norwood: Exec Dream, Union Nightmare and an AI Actor Army Already on Set

SAG-AFTRA is great at fighting the last war, not the one in front of it

Nov 18•
Erik Barmack

2

2

Fade to Black: Hollywood’s AI-Era Jobs Collapse Is Starting

Amazon plans a 75 percent automated workforce. Now full human creativity may soon only exist for a few indie weirdos

Nov 5•
Erik Barmack

11

Fade to Black: Hollywood’s AI-Era Jobs Collapse Is Starting

Amazon plans a 75 percent automated workforce. Now full human creativity may soon only exist for a few indie weirdos

Nov 5•
Erik Barmack

14

6

4

Sora 2 Shook Hollywood. This AI CEO is Helping the Industry ‘Take a F-ing Stand’

Backed by CAA and Comcast Ventures, Bryn Mooser and co-founder Natasha Lyonne’s Asteria is an AI model safeguarding IP in an era of copyright chaos

Oct 22•
Erik Barmack

10

3

Top posts

The Lost Photos: When Hollywood Was Hollywood

Feb 18, 2023•Jennifer Laski

77

5

1

☀️Which Studios Won the Summer, Fall Box Office Preview

Sep 1, 2024•Sean McNulty

563

3

On Vacation: When Hollywood was Hollywood

Aug 19, 2023•Jennifer Laski

69

3

1

H'wood FTX Frenzy as Michael Lewis Reveals He Spent 6 Months with Founder

Nov 13, 2022•Richard Rushfield and Peter Kiefer

26

1

'Snow White' Stupidity Should Terrify You

Mar 18•Richard Rushfield

50

4

8

☀️VERSANT Numbers ⬇️, Exec Pay ⬆️; UNI's Scarlett 'Exorcist'

SINCLAIR makes SCRIPPS offer / DWA + Lil Dicky / NBA drops on NBC / LGF, NIELSEN FAST deal

Nov 25•
Sean McNulty

14

1

28:02

Richard & Sean: ‘Wicked’ Win Masks the ‘Scary’ Decline of Big Screen Drama

As ‘For Good’ expectedly soars, especially with women (70 percent of ticket buyers), some troubling numbers lie underneath

Nov 24•
Richard Rushfield
and
Sean McNulty

24

1

4

As A-Listers Rush Into TV Ads, the Middle-Class Actor Economy Collapses

A big chill hits the shill as stars from Jason Momoa to Chris Pratt move in on commercials

Nov 24•
Elaine Low

3

1

He’s the Reason ‘Hamnet’ Makes You Cry Your Eyes Out

Composer Max Richter tells me about scoring the year’s most heartbreaking scene and how his Iraq War protest song became an indelible emotional anthem

Nov 24•
Katey Rich

12

1

1

Netflix’s Pod Pitch Lands Flat; Fox Comes for YouTube; Yeezy Alum Drops New App

Right now in creator land: my scoop on Kanye West’s former CTO, plus fresh reporting on big players battling in the pod-verse

Nov 24•
Natalie Jarvey

13

☀️‘Wicked’ Soars, But Can’t Save ’24 Box Office Comps

NETFLIX gets A24 military show / Middle East indie film deal 🔥 / LEGENDARY eyes Sweeney, Centineo combo

Nov 23•
Sean McNulty

11

2

2

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