Ankler Features
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The Gulf Buys Big Into Paramount. What It Wants in Return
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE sovereign funds will own 22% after the merger and potential influence to match
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Maria Sharapova: The ‘Bitch’ Label Every Ambitious Woman Knows
The tennis champ confronts the double standard on the court, in the C-suite and on the podcast charts
Latest Ankler Features stories
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PSKY, Welcome to Wall St: Analysts Warn of ‘Risk Running This Into the Ground’
They tell me their worries on Day 1 of the company’s trading on NASDAQ
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Netflix Doubles D.C. Lobbying Spend; Paramount Paid Trumpworld Firm
I tell you how much every studio and union is coughing up as Hollywood floods Washington with cash — and calls in the fixers
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Smurfed: Inside the Rotten Tomatoes Market Weaponizing 1-Star Reviews
How an Aussie critic enriched top bettors on Kalshi, feeding a ‘degenerate economy’ that threatens any studio’s best laid plans
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Gen Z and Alpha Want IRL. This Is How Every Studio is Racing to Respond
I talk to Netflix, Uni, WBD, Paramount & Lionsgate execs about plans to win the $52B experience economy as streaming flattens, IP goes live & AI looms
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AI Wars Hit Film School: Profs Teach It, Students Rage. ‘What About Our Jobs?’
At USC, Dodge and other top programs, the next generation fears being left in the dust, alarming the elders: ‘Participate in the revolution or sit it out’
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A Netflix Dust-Up on the ‘Prairie’: When Laura Ingalls Wilder Meets MAGA
The ‘Little House’ reboot, featuring a ‘Girl Dad’, Black doctor and Osage family, is a high-stakes test of Hollywood’s nostalgia machine and a franchise’s tangled legacy
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After L.A. Fires, 200,000 Living in Limbo: ‘I Cannot Get My Bearings’
Six months later, ‘there are no good decisions,’ says music producer Greg Wells, as the displaced battle insurance, emotion & toxic ground
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Participant Collapsed. These 10 Execs Landed Big Roles Afterward
A year later, the indie’s alums prove there’s life after layoff
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The 19 Press Tour Stops Ruthless Publicists Care About Now (and Don’t)
‘Vanity Fair’ or Theo Von? ‘60 Minutes’ or 60 seconds? Reps unload on today’s A-list outlets and who has the new power
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TV Agent Panic as News Talent Goes Solo; WME Blocks Joy Reid
‘An avalanche of capitulation,’ says Steve Schmidt of cable as Piers Morgan, Jim Acosta & more describe life in Substack, YouTube and…the Noosphere?!
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Before You Fly, Read This. It Could Change Your Journey Home
From social media ‘likes’ to shopping receipts to detainment: a USC professor on what to know before facing U.S. border control post-Cannes and beyond
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Eli Roth’s Fix for Indie Films’ Bloodbath? Crowdfunding 2.0
‘This is the most free I’ve ever felt,’ says the horror director, who, like Robert Rodriguez, is fan-financing movies outside of the studios
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‘Minecraft’: Live Chickens, Popcorn & the Gen Z ‘Blur’ that Should Scare Studios
78% of audience is 13-24, mocking the film, and themselves, in a meme-y phenom that defies marketing as ‘head-in-the-sand’ execs remain ‘oblivious’
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Stalked: A ‘Baywatch’ Star’s 13-Year Nightmare
For the first time, an actress reveals the private, shattering hell caused by an obsessed fan
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IP 2024: What Sold, What Didn’t & Why (+ 6 Picks for Now)
A special edition of The Optionist, The Ankler’s sibling newsletter about the world of available rights
Ankler Features showcases our most ambitious storytelling, delivering deeply reported, long-form pieces on the ideas, people and shifts defining Hollywood.