ICYMI: Animation Domination; Netflix Deal Memo; An Emmy Writer's 'R&D' Hell
Plus: Richard Rushfield on David Zaslav
Happy Emmy Sunday to all who celebrate! Katey Rich and Elaine Low will explore the winners and their implications for the TV business on Monday both in your inbox and on Katey’s Prestige Junkie podcast. Keep a lookout.
Even as we launched our new Ankler Rewind newsletter yesterday from the great Joe Pompeo (coming to you every other Saturday), we mostly found ourselves looking ahead this past week to developments that could further rock Hollywood.
Richard Rushfield captured the increasingly loud noises coming from CEOs warning investors about more consolidation and “chaos” in the next two-to-three years.
Claire Atkinson covered how Netflix’s aggressive use of Emily in Paris to build its advertising business is just the beginning of what we can expect as streamers blur lines between content and marketing.
Erik Barmack had a conversation with AI Nicki Minaj and came away realizing that chatbots are the new IP.
And Matthew Frank took us inside the emerging world of entertainment gambling on everything from Rotten Tomatoes scores to release dates to box office results. (HR departments, never say we didn’t warn you.)
Each of these stories signals a near future that looks very different from today, and — as is one of our goals — is designed to help our paid subscribers, the smartest people in entertainment, get ahead of these potentially seismic events (and the competition).
But wait, as they say on TV, there’s more! So with no further ado, here’s our best of the week, ICYMI:
Animation Hit Machine
Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4 draw the headlines, but all kids’ films are over-performing, making animated kids movies suddenly the genre with the best hit rate in Hollywood. Entertainment Strategy Guy details how this happened, the one move that almost guarantees an animated hit on streaming; and four bits of strategic advice for growth:
Even a Top Writer is Stuck in 'R&D' Hell
If you’re attending tonight’s Emmys for the acclaimed series you write for, you’re living the dream. But are you? In this edition of Series Business (for paid subscribers only), Elaine Low chats with a prestige scribe heading to the ceremony — yet still shaken by the downturn in the industry:
Talking IP With AI Chatbots
Character AI allows you to chat with stars in bot form, and is becoming hugely popular. Can Hollywood cash in? In this edition of Reel AI (for paid subscribers only), Erik Barmack explains how Character AI works; the licensing bonanza on the horizon once digital replica regulation is in place; and the untapped IP factory that AI chatbots could enable:
Rushfield: Mad About M&A; TIFF Tiff
When Richard wasn’t feuding with security guards at the Toronto Film Festival, or roasting David Zaslav, he sat down with Ron Howard to talk how it came to be that one of the most successful directors in Hollywood was hawking an indie. Richard also spent the week spelling out what Ari Emanuel, Lachlan Murdoch and Tony Vinciquerra are signaling in dire terms — more consolidation is coming:
Betting on Hollywood
We mean that literally: You can now actually bet on box office totals, Rotten Tomatoes scores and movie release dates on online “prediction markets.” Matthew Frank talks with the traders making serious cash on Hollywood, while Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns, who cofounded the Hollywood Stock Exchange, assesses the perils and promise of entertainment joining the $1 trillion gambling economy:
Emily in Brand Paradise
Product placement isn’t new, but Netflix is taking it new places as the streamer puts every piece of Emily in Paris up for grabs to win ad commitments. Claire Atkinson discloses a leaked Netflix memo about the service’s product placement efforts, talks to the streamer’s former ad chief, Peter Naylor, and breaks down its meaning for the struggling ad tier:
What Marilyn Monroe Has to Do With Matthew Perry
For the debut of Ankler Rewind, Joe Pompeo looks back at the madness in the days after Marilyn Monroe’s death and how one can see history rhyming as news and speculation swirl around Matthew Perry’s 2023 drug overdose:
Prestige Junkie: Lessons and Interviews from Toronto
Like Richard, Katey Rich is back from TIFF, where she interviewed Hugh Grant and Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter and brought home some revelations about the “forward-looking, daring” bunch of Oscar hopefuls:
THE WAKEUP
When CEOs talk — or quietly reveal plans to go public — Sean McNulty is there to to parse what you need to know, from David Zaslav’s mind-blowing defense of cable to Angel Studios’ SPAC plan:
🎧 PODCASTS
THE ANKLER
An HBO Earthquake Rocks Hollywood WBD’s crown jewel is going basic — and the ground shifts again:
On Apple Podcasts, subscribe and listen here
Transcript here
MARTINI SHOT
But How Does This Affect Me? Rob Long on life outside the 310 area code:
👓 THE OPTIONIST
FINAL HOUSEKEEPING!
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