x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Ankler Agenda

"Ankler Agenda" breaks down the headlines, trends and creativity shaping the evolution of Hollywood, the creator economy and entertainment. The show is hosted by Elaine Low, author of Ankler Media’s popular “Series Business” Substack newsletter, who is joined weekly by her colleagues Sean McNulty (“The Wakeup”) and Natalie Jarvey (“Like & Subscribe”) -- in addition to Richard Rushfield, the Ankler himself. Episodes will also be available every Thursday on YouTube.

business entertainment news

All Episodes

43:13

Trump’s Lethal Weapon to Fix Hollywood

Ankler Agenda ·

2025/01/17

Can Jon Voight save Hollywood? Probably not. But on the eve of President Trump’s inauguration, his announcement that the Midnight Cowboy, Mad Max (Mel Gibson) and Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) would be his “special envoys” in L.A. followed the latest report on L.A.’s continued production exodus. Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield dissect the numbers behind Hollywood’s spiraling shoots and where the industry is heading in 2025. Plus: How is Gen Z outfoxing studio and streaming

en

33:59

‘An Intense Couple of Days’

Ankler Agenda ·

2025/01/10

“Everybody was feeling really optimistic going into this year,” says Elaine Low — and while there are encouraging signs for Hollywood, from new business models to a return to the fundamentals, she and Richard Rushfield tell Sean McNulty about friends who have lost homes, Richard’s memories of growing up in Pacific Palisades, and Elaine’s anxiety over suddenly preparing a go-bag. On a lighter note: They also dissect their night at Netflix’s WWE Raw premiere — with Richard announcing whom he’ll be

en

63:57

Tales From the ’90s: How New Line Dominated the Decade

Ankler Agenda ·

2025/01/06

For the capstone of his Hollywood Stories series exploring the 1990s — an era of explosive creativity and innovation in the entertainment industry — Richard Rushfield talks to two execs who helped New Line Cinema become the movie studio of that golden moment. Mike De Luca is today the co-chair and CEO of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, but in the ’90s he was the head of production at New Line, a powerful role he stepped into at the tender age of 27. Richard Brener started as a temp at New Line in

en

40:23

Lively vs. Baldoni: Lawsuits! Exposés! Rumors!

Ankler Agenda ·

2025/01/03

Blake Lively alleges a full-on smear campaign aimed against her. Justin Baldoni claims the star of his It Ends With Us used the New York Times to destroy his reputation. Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield discuss the fallout of the feud heard round the world, the YouTube journalist roped into the ruckus, and why Richard boils it all down to typical Hollywood bluster. Plus: The crew breaks down how animation and IP defined the 2024 box office.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

en

57:23

Tales From the ’90s: Ain’t It Cool News’ ‘Titanic’...

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/12/30

At the dawn of the internet as we know it today, long before social media exploded the Hollywood hierarchy, there was Ain’t It Cool News, an in-your-face site, launched in 1996, that covered the movie business — passionately, disruptively and absolutely without fear or favor. Drew McWeeny, who joined Harry Knowles’ Austin startup in its earliest days, writing from L.A. under the pseudonym Moriarty, tells Richard Rushfield how Ain’t It Cool News remade entertainment journalism, confounded the studios

en

38:54

Trends Giving Us Hope in 2025. Seriously

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/12/27

One sure precursor to any Golden Age in Hollywood? A long fallow period preceding it, not unlike the one we’ve been in. Now, with a spec market for originals coming back to life, and fresh opportunities for producers and writers to make money through YouTube, branded content, podcasts and yes, AI, Sean McNulty, Elaine Low, Richard Rushfield and Janice Min take stock of where the industry is heading in 2025 with cautious optimism. Plus: The gang dissects the Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni smear campaign

en

37:50

Tales From the ’90s: Ron Meyer’s 'Miracle' Hollywood...

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/12/23

From founding CAA to leading Universal Studios, Ron Meyer built one of the entertainment industry’s most storied careers. The high school dropout and former Marine talks with Richard Rushfield about his entire legendary run, especially the events surrounding the pivotal moment in 1995 when he successfully executed a maneuver that has stymied other sharks — leaving the talent ecosystem (and ending his partnership with CAA cofounder Mike Ovitz — "a marriage gone kind of sour”) to become a studio head

en

41:43

A New Spec Script Boom Catches Fire

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/12/20

Writers are getting paid $1 million or more on so-called “naked” scripts — no IP, actor or director attached. It may sound like Shane Black’s 1990s, but it’s happening right now as Nicole LaPorte joins Sean McNulty and Elaine Low to reveal a fast change in the market (thanks, Dan Lin!), and the kinds of scripts selling (think Sherry Lansing). Plus: Lachlan Cartwright talks his massive scoops from TV news, including MSNBC’s plan for more conservative voices, pay cuts for big on-air faces, and fears

en

67:15

Tales From the ’90s: Before ‘Wicked,’ Winnie...

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/12/16

Richard Rushfield sits down with Winnie Holzman, creator of the beloved but short-lived teen drama My So-Called Life, which ran for one 19-episode season from 1994-95 and later became a cross-generational cult hit. The show that launched Claire Danes and Jared Leto also captured adolescent angst onscreen in a totally new way — “School is a battlefield for your heart,” anyone? — that made ABC execs “deeply nervous,” says Holzman, though she was fiercely protected by her EPs and mentors, Marshall

en

37:45

Joe Rogan Helped Trump Win. Now He’s Conquered Comedy

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/12/13

Pro-free speech, anti-trans, anti a lot of things, the standup comedians who made their bones on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast — from Theo Von to notorious Trump rally opener Tony Hinchcliffe — are rewriting how big comics can get without movies and TV. Ankler contributor Lachlan Cartwright joins Sean McNulty to discuss why Gen Z loves these guys and how these comics’ reps are building multi-million-dollar constellations around these dark stars. Plus, Elaine Low, Richard Rushfield and Sean

en

81:46

Tales from the '90s: 'Last Action Hero' Screenwriters...

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/12/09

In this new Ankler series, Hollywood Stories, we are starting with wild untold showbiz tales from the '90s. For our debut episode, Richard Rushfield sits down with Adam Leff and Zak Penn, the original screenwriters behind one of film's most iconic flops, Last Action Hero. Speaking publicly together for the first time about the screenplay they sold when they were just out of college 30 years ago, they recall the highs — a heady bidding war, a yes from megastar Arnold Schwarzenegger — and the

en

32:08

HBO & the Harry Potter Gamble

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/12/06

What is HBO heading into 2025? A major prestige cabler that can attract any talent it wants? An empire in decline? A little bit of both? Series Business writer Manori Ravindran was at the intimate London gathering where HBO chief Casey Bloys revealed plans for a Harry Potter series, and joins Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield to talk the storied brand’s changed TV buying mandate, new frugality and if it needs a megahit to restore luster. Speaking of! Manori explains the new trick for selling series

en

53:54

AI Stole My Scripts: Rage as Big Tech Takes Without...

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/11/27

When The Good Wife co-creator Robert King saw that 139,000 produced TV and movie scripts — including his — were used for AI training, it “personalized” the AI issue for him. “There’s something very offensive of someone just walking into your house, checking into your computer, grabbing everything and saying, Well, it’s for the better good of training,” says King, who joins Elaine Low to discuss writers’ reaction, why studios must take action and no one should believe Big Tech’s assurances. Plus:

en

53:02

MSNBC’s $125 Million ‘Ratings Viagra’

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/11/22

Ratings are down 40 percent, Morning Joe’s hosts are being ridiculed and the network’s anchors and shows are soon to be ruthlessly reshuffled. Turns out it’s time for MSNBC to take its $125 million “ratings Viagra.” Ankler contributor Lachlan Cartwright joins Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Janice Min to discuss his scoopy, blockbuster about MSNBC, Rachel Maddow’s pay cut and who’s likely to be on air and off (even before Comcast spins-out the channel). Plus: Richard Rushfield’s exclusive on the

en

39:42

The New Disney Magic

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/11/15

Don’t mind the $430 million revenue drop in linear over the last two years — Bob Iger would like to shift your attention over to streaming, where price hikes have proven a magical Disney attraction. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty and Richard Rushfield break down all the news from Disney’s Q3 earnings call, new turns in the company’s succession drama — and why Richard worries we’re headed back to 1993, only worse. Plus: The crew predicts which films will top the holiday box office.Transcript here. For

en

39:10

State of Film: ‘Roll With the Punches’

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/11/14

In this bonus episode recorded live at the Montclair Film Festival, Sean McNulty — author of The Wakeup newsletter at The Ankler — leads a discussion about the state of the movie industry. Neon executive Dan O’Meara, WME partner Maggie Pisacane and AMC Networks film head Scott Shooman join McNulty to break down the box office realities of 2024 and beyond, from how to reach audiences to changes in dealmaking to the broader consumer behavior shifts and cultural trends disrupting filmed

en

48:14

AI in Hollywood: More Intern Than God

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/11/12

In this bonus episode recorded live at the Montclair Film Festival, Ashley Cullins — author of The Ankler’s Dealmakers newsletter — leads a discussion about artists, audiences and artificial intelligence. Attorney James Grimmelmann, tech investor and advisor Greg Kahn, EDGLRD executive Eric Kohn and filmmaker Michaela Ternasky-Holland join Cullins to unpack AI’s creative possibilities and limitations, the megadeals it’s driving, the guardrails for Hollywood and the legal implications for artists and

en

45:26

Trump 2.0: Why Ari Wins, Studios Lose

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/11/08

Hollywood usually loves a sequel. Trump’s reelection? Not so much. His forthcoming second term has the town feeling “resigned,” says Richard Rushfield (even if James Carville thinks he won’t survive all four years). But M&A-obsessed CEOs aren’t so downtrodden. Elaine Low, Sean McNulty, Richard and David Lidsky break down potential winners and losers, and deal scenarios — including a pro-con debate over Big Tech buying studios — and why the industry needs to learn the value of authenticity.Learn

en

36:16

Free. Popular. Unprofitable

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/11/01

FAST services are heralded for stratospherically high subscriber totals. Tubi has 80 million monthly active users, Roku’s got 85.5 million — Samsung is even at 88 million. So how come none of them are turning a profit? Elaine Low, Richard Rushfield and Sean McNulty evaluate free TV’s struggle (and how paid streaming compares). Plus: What Harris or Trump would mean for industry M&A; and NBCUniversal’s mysterious “study” of whether to spin off its cable networks.Learn more about your ad choices

en

43:58

Hollywood’s WFH Wars Worsen

Ankler Agenda ·

2024/10/25

Hollywood is a relationship business. So can you learn from your bosses, network and get promoted if you’re working from home? Nicole LaPorte talks to Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield about the divide over remote work as Lionsgate and Amazon mandate five days in office, and agents and execs warn that young Hollywood’s work-life balance may come at a professional cost. Plus: What Disney’s buying for Hulu, FX and ABC while the company’s Iger succession drama takes another

en

219 results

Similar Podcasts

TaxTalent.com The Golden Rule Podcast

Adam Golden

TaxTalent.com Podcast

Tony Santiago

Handelsblatt Crime - spannende Streitfälle der deutschen Wirtschaft

Ina Karabasz, Solveig Gode, Sönke Iwersen

Deffner und Zschäpitz – Der Wirtschafts-Talk von WELT

WELT

Black Box - La scatola nera della finanza

Guido Brera e Gian Luca Comandini -...