Hello from the holiday interregnum, as we enter those few awkward days of are-we-working-or-not? that fall between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Today, you can upgrade to a paid yearly subscription at 25% off as you prepare for 2025 with our Thrive in ’25 deal. A paid subscription gives you full access to the same career-changing information the top people in entertainment already receive: Smart, credible and thoughtful reporting from the inside from Sean McNulty’s The Wakeup, Elaine Low and Manori Ravindran’s Series Business, Dealmakers’ Ashley Cullins, Reel AI’s Erik Barmack, Prestige Junkie’s Katey Rich, Entertainment Strategy Guy, Rob Long’s Martini Shot, Todd on the Town, and of course, Richard Rushfield. An Ankler subscription is a rare gift to yourself: Uncompromised insight into the trends and news shaping an industry that, quite literally, will help you do your job better.
For the next 24 hours, now is your chance to receive 25% off the annual subscription. This offer expires at 9 a.m. PT tomorrow.
Okay . . . with that out of the way, I want to acknowledge the passing of the great Richard Parsons, whose resume includes stints at Time Warner, CBS and Citigroup — and far lesser known, a role as an early Ankler investor. He and his Imagination Capital cofounder Rachel Lam listened to Janice and Richard describe their plan in April 2022 to turn Richard’s one-man show into something bigger. Dick, as he was known, nodded, listened quietly, and then said at the end with a twinkle, “Well, I know people in entertainment want to read about each other more than anything else. I like this.” Yes they do. The Ankler team is grateful for his legendary career, support and belief in what we could build.
Of course, Dick Parsons was right: Storytelling is the foundation of what Hollywood makes — and how we talk about each other. Over here, we ended the year extraordinarily strong on this front (making, not coincidentally, for the best growth quarter in Ankler history):
Richard Rushfield’s Hollywood Stories: Tales from the ’90s podcast series featured charming, revealing and often laugh-out-loud sit-downs with Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life), Adam Leff and Zak Penn (Last Action Hero) and just this past week, the legendary CAA cofounder and Universal studio chief Ron Meyer.
Our matchless awards editor Katey Rich delighted us all this week with her interview with star of the year, Glen Powell. Listen how she draws him out on how he’s built his career and the process of getting Hit Man made with his co-screenwriter and director Richard Linklater. As I told Katey, sooo good.
Are you caught up with Rob LeDonne’s captivating interviews with music luminaries Maren Morris, Sir Elton John and Brandi Carlile and Lainey Wilson for his Notable newsletter? You should be.
This is why I’m excited to share three early January events — two in L.A., one in New York — that further represent our commitment to bringing you high-value, entertaining and illuminating conversations:
Prestige Junkie LIVE: Inside Out 2 Come see the seminal coming-of-age film that broke all records this year at the box office and then hear Katey in conversation with director Kelsey Mann before anyone else.
The Ankler & Pure Nonfiction Documentary Spotlight: Shortlist Edition in NYC Speaking of conversationalists non-pareil, if you, like I, are in the New York area, come watch Thom Powers engage with the filmmakers behind Black Box Diaries, Daughters, Eno, Frida, Porcelain War and Will & Harper.
The Ankler x Letterboxd “Audience-First” FYC Screening Series For the kickoff event in this new series, watch the remarkably inventive and powerful Nickel Boys and then hear director and co-writer RaMell Ross, star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and cinematographer Jomo Fray in conversation with Katey.
Jan. 6, MGM Screening Room, L.A., doors open at 6:30 p.m. PT
Request your invitation here.
Now, with no further ado, our best stories of the week as 2024 winds down, ICYMI:
Top Dealmakers Reveal Their Picks
While everyone awaits deal frenzy in the year ahead, Ashley Cullins asks top media CEOs and dealmakers such as Legendary Entertainment’s Joshua Grode, Brillstein’s Jon Liebman and AGBO’s Chris Brearton to name the 2024 deals that will most change the industry in 2025 — and what Comcast’s SpinCo augurs for the next 25 years:
Rushfield: Ron Meyer Tells All
In the third episode of his special pod series Hollywood Stories, Richard Rushfield interviews CAA founder and Universal Studios chief Ron Meyer about why he fell in love with a Hollywood career; CAA’s “ferocious rivalry” with William Morris in his upstart agency’s early days; how he made the rare move from agent to studio head and survived six owners in 25 years; the movies he’s proudest of; and why he’s still an optimist about showbiz:
Series Business: Year-End Group Therapy
If you spent the holidays dreading family asking “How’s work?” or “When will you get promoted?”, Elaine Low devotes her year-end Series Business to several more first-person accounts from her Salary Confessions portal to reveal no, you’re not alone in trying to make the best of a very trying year:
Prestige Junkie: A Chat with Glen Powell
Katey Rich ends on a bang, interviewing 2024’s brightest star, Glen Powell, about his big year and how he’s learned to navigate the “sine wave” of a Hollywood career. Plus: Moana 2 co-director Dana Ledoux Miller shares how her Samoan heritage, Dwayne Johnson and even a Quibi series led to her making Disney’s long-awaited sequel:
THE WAKEUP
Sean McNulty’s holiday gift to you: Breaking down Netflix’s debut streaming NFL games — and stepping back to provide long-lens perspective you won’t get anywhere else. Don’t miss his look back at errant predictions with his “Everyone’s An Expert Awards” or his deconstruction of Disney’s challenges in marketing ESPN’s forthcoming “Flagship” D2C app:
🎧 PODCASTS
THE ANKLER
Trends Giving Us Hope in 2025. Seriously Signs of optimism in the business after a battering year:
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
👓 THE OPTIONIST
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