Hello and Happy Sunday. If you see me at the Irvington Farmers Market today outside New York City, introduce yourself. I’ll be wearing my Ankler hat, listening to a podcast with one earbud in and probably checking out the fresh asparagus. (A more reliable way to reach me: email me at david@theankler.com and let me know how we’re doing.)
Ankler Events
An Ankler IRL triple-header alert! From June 8-10, we have three exciting events in L.A. Make sure to RSVP:
June 8: John Leguizamo has been a thrilling performer for decades. Check out his new period drama, followed by his conversation with awards editor Katey Rich. RSVP here
June 9: It’s The Ankler x Thom Powers Documentary Spotlight event, featuring conversations with Andrew Jarecki, James Carville and Matt Tyrnauer, Alex Gibney, Lisa Henson, Fisher Stevens and Prentice Penny. I’m told Carville will have lots to say about this election year and, I gotta presume, a certain conviction that just happened. RSVP here
June 10: David Oyelowo, another acting great, will also be interviewed by Katey following a screening of the Paramount+ miniseries Lawmen: Bass Reeves. RSVP here
Now, here’s our best of the week, ICYMI:
First-Looks and Development
Your career wants you reading Ashley Cullins’ Dealmakers column and Elaine Low’s Series Business to understand what’s really happening in the business right now (for paid subscribers only). This week, Ashley talked to agents and lawyers about the good and bad of first-look deals as overalls diminish, and Elaine’s unfettered conversation with an anonymous leader at an indie studio reveals the major change in the development market sending “shockwaves,” the new budget normal for a TV episode and the genres selling now:
Rushfield: Box Office to Bob Chapek
Anyone can wring their hands about the box office, but only Richard Rushfield resets all the broken ways we’re talking about the problem. Plus, don’t miss Richard’s interview with Jenny Nicholson about Bob Chapek and Disney’s Star Wars Hotel debacle. You’ll never abuse the word immersive again:
IP Now & Forever
What if the trouble with theatrical and streaming isn’t IP but a lack of it? Entertainment Strategy Guy makes the case for more — and fresh — IP:
Prestige Junkie: Hacks’ Miracle, Maya’s Loot
When Katey isn’t on stage with talent, she’s talking to them for her Prestige Junkie newsletter and podcast. This week: Hacks co-creators Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello on that finale scorcher . . .
. . . and the marvelous Maya Rudolph:
📸 Todd on the Town
Roving photog Todd Williamson gets all the stars to pose. This week was Christopher Nolan to Kaley Cuoco:
Must-Reads About the Moment
Andy Lewis, who writes our sister IP newsletter The Optionist, tackled the Academy Museum’s Hollywoodland exhibit to write about how it does — and doesn’t — serve the story of the Jewish founders:
Meanwhile, in London, Manori Ravindran gets to the bottom of how DEI has gone sideways in U.K. television:
☀️THE WAKEUP
Every morning, the industry’s smartest people get their news from Sean McNulty. Hope you read his seminal data analysis of film viewership on Netflix:
🎧 PODCASTS
THE ANKLER
Pray for Paramount. And the Movies The state of play for the storied studio as box office hits the skids. And let’s not even start on TV . . .:
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
MARTINI SHOT
Are You a Showbiz Clown or Monkey? Or third option: Are you the 60-year-old wearing Supreme?:
👓 THE OPTIONIST
FINAL HOUSEKEEPING!
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