Gen Z and Gen X dominated The Ankler charts this week. In a far-ranging interview, FX chief John Landgraf delivered a scoop to Lesley Goldberg about the renewal of Adults, the series about New York City twenty-somethings — a hit born out of what he describes as the necessary “inefficiency” of quality TV. He also gets into what in the world is going on at Disney TV:
Meanwhile, the Gen X executives who helped build Hollywood’s golden age of television are discovering a far crueler reality: They’re too young to retire, but increasingly too old to get hired. Elaine Low‘s latest installment of her Disappearing Ladder series examines what happens when an entire generation finds itself stranded in Hollywood’s great contraction:
And if finding work weren’t hard enough, TV executives now have to worry whether the jobs they’re being offered even exist. Manori Ravindran investigates an elaborate new breed of hiring scam, with fake recruiters dangling dream jobs paying as much as $400,000 a year — and preying on the desperation of an industry in crisis:
Meanwhile, beyond the headlines, Team Ankler touched down at two big events. Janice Min, Yahoo CMO Josh Line, Yahoo Media Group president Ryan Spoon and Web Summit’s Ciara Haley hosted a private dinner in Lisbon amid Web Summit; and, in partnership with Adobe and ahead of Adobe MAX, Like & Subscribe‘s Natalie Jarvey gathered a group of creator economy innovators for our first in a series of Creative Thesis salons. Catch the conversation on The Ankler YouTube or read Natalie’s recap of the top tips:
Now, ICYMI, the rest of our best of the week:
The DC Shakeup
↑ DC Palace Coup: Gunn & Safran Ousted — What Now Matthew Frank and Lesley take stock of Josh Greenstein & Dana Goldberg assuming more power in their Hollywood empire, and what happens next for Superman, Batman and HBO.
TV in 3: Lanterns in Limbo After DC Power Play Plus: Lesley digs into new data on Netflix audience bleed; and a three-year Pluribus mystery
Richard Rushfield
↑ The Cravenness Report: Hollywood’s Trump Hall of Shame Who bent the knee, who profited and who stood their ground? Richard delivers his final accounting of our most powerful (yet weak) players.
Dealmakers
↑ Indie Producer Playbook, With Nina Jacobson & Brad Simpson Eight employees. Box office billions. Ashley Cullins goes deep with the Color Force founders on how they win coveted IP and thrive in a brutal market.
Can Raman Save Hollywood?
↑ Nithya Raman’s L.A. Production Rescue Meets Reality Matthew explains Raman’s plans for a film czar, cheaper permits, an end to HOA shakedowns — and her city constraints.
Prestige Junkie
↑ The Obamas’ Post-Netflix Doc Pivot: YouTube and IShowSpeed For Higher Ground’s The Eyes of Ghana, Katey Rich details how the film’s director and company president enlisted a creator with 62M followers.
Plus, Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo tells Katey how she “stayed unemployed for quite a long time” before fronting two of the year’s best indies:
Matt Damon’s 29-Year Oscar Drought May Be Ending Plus: Christopher Rosen talks with I Play Rocky writer Peter Gamble about how he was burned by another writer, then waited — and waited — to feel seen.
The Wakeup
In Skydance’s first earnings since the merger, David Ellison and Ynon Kreiz outlined where $6B in cuts will come from and the expected timeline of the company’s eventual streaming combo. Sean McNulty breaks it all down:
Friday → ☀️ Bloys Makes 1st PAR+ Order, APPLE Gets More Pitt
Thursday → ☀️ NETFLIX-Radford Studios Gamesmanship
Wednesday → ☀️ CBS’ Vanished Late-Night TV Audience
Tuesday → ☀️ SKYDANCE Cuts, Layoffs & HBO-PAR+ Timelines Revealed
Podcasts
Ankler Agenda
Elaine and Sean unpack when the layoffs could hit, where else the cuts will come from and whether Ellison can slash his way to profitability without gutting the business he’s just bought:
Shows
Monday Morning QBs
Godzilla Minus Zero cost $18M to make. Cat in the Hat rung up a bill of nearly $100M. Sean and Christopher Rosen explain what their wildly different openings reveal about the 2026 box office:
Rushfield Lunch
One of Hollywood’s oldest marketing tricks: make audiences desperate to know a secret. Marketing guru Gerry Rich tells Richard how he pulled it off at Miramax and how A24’s You Can See Everything replicated it. Plus, three lessons for selling movies in the attention economy:
Like & Subscribe
New from Natalie Jarvey’s creator economy newsletter:
↑ Tubi Is Winning Hollywood’s War for YouTube Creators. How?
The Optionist
Andy Lewis’ latest IP picks:
↑ A Propulsive Twist on Dragon Tattoo; Thomas Crown for Wine Fraud
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