ICYMI: CNN Star Slashing; Apple TV+ Series Wishlist; Saudi Money's Steep Price
Plus: We launched The Ladder to help early-career professionals
In my own career, I’ve been happy to talk to anyone thinking about a future in media, as I’m forever grateful to mentors who helped me navigate this world. When I started, my industry, and this one we cover here, were at the zenith of relevance and success. Now, disruption has made it ever more challenging to break in.
But there’s strength in both fellowship and knowledge. That’s why we launched The Ladder this week, our membership community for entertainment professionals in the first decade of their career. Read about it here:
Applicants can request to join here, and when admitted, will receive everything from a curated collection of The Ankler’s most informative stories on a private Substack to invitations to quarterly member events in N.Y. and L.A. — including our first one on Nov. 3 in Brooklyn — to special access to our team here at The Ankler.
No other entertainment media brand is doing more to give the next generation of leaders a hand in this bonkers business. I’m proud that we are. It’s just another of the things that makes The Ankler special.
Meanwhile, on the Red Carpet…
I’m writing from a family wedding in Ohio, and was sorry to miss another stellar The Ankler x Pure Nonfiction Documentary Spotlight event hosted by the inimitable Thom Powers on Friday. But Janice reports that the standing-room-only crowd at Vista House in the Hollywood Hills was packed with the names and camaraderie that make the documentary community so special. (Stay tuned to The Ankler for more coverage.)
And East Coasters, you can still check out Katey Rich’s Montclair Film Festival panel, “Hollywood Awards Season: Who Wins and Why It Matters,” with Sony Pictures Classics cofounder and co-president Tom Bernard, as well as former Prestige Junkie podcast guests Chris Murphy of Vanity Fair and Chris Rosen of Gold Derby. If you’re able to be there today at 4 p.m. ET, grab tickets here.
And I’ll remind you again of the two Ankler-led panels next Saturday, Oct. 26:
The Wakeup’s Sean McNulty moderates “Annual Report: State of the Film Industry” panel with NEON EVP for Nonfiction and Special Projects Dan O’Meara and WME partner Maggie Pisacane: Oct. 26, 1 p.m. ET. Tickets here
Dealmakers’ Ashley Cullins leads “Artists, Audiences & Artificial Intelligence” with James Grimmelmann, Tessler Family Professor of Digital and Information Law at Cornell Tech and Cornell Law School who first alerted Ankler subscribers to the AI threat in Feb. 2023; investor and strategic advisor Greg Kahn, cofounder of AI Trailblazers; and Eric Kohn, an executive at Harmony Korine’s EDGLRD: Oct. 26, 3:30 p.m. ET. Tickets here.
Now, with no further ado, ICYMI:
CNN’s Brutal Next Chapter
Lachlan Cartwright’s buzzy, scoop-filled report from inside CNN captures CEO Mark Thompson’s burgeoning efforts to digitally disrupt the network, from Jake Tapper and Wolf Blitzer being forced to accept contract renewals with no raise, to Chris Wallace’s proposed pay-cut, to Thompson’s vision to make CNN more like, yes, the failed Vice News:
Series Business: Fall Market Guide
Apple TV+ has a reputation around town — big money, bigger stars. But as Elaine Low covers in her first Fall Market Guide (for paid subscribers only), Apple’s evolving. What it’s like to work with its decision-makers; the types of IP, comedy and drama the streamer wants now; and the talent it covets:
The impossibility of getting shows financed these days has created a global TV marketplace terrified of risk. On the eve of the international TV market Mipcom, leaders at TV giants Banijay, Fremantle and ITV Studios reveal to Manori Ravindran how producers can work around today’s budget challenges and still get stuff made:
Rushfield: Top of the Flop
As pundits excoriate Joker: Folie à Deux and Megalopolis for their box office failures, Richard Rushfield turns the tables, explaining why we should celebrate these big risks if we want to find the next big thing:
The New Saudi Money Rules
In this edition of Dealmakers (for paid subscribers only), Ashley Cullins reveals the new rules for taking Saudi investment, and shares why MBS’ Public Investment Fund isn’t interested in being Hollywood “dark money”, and what you have to do to get a piece of Saudi’s billions today:
Ankler Rewind: Connie Chung’s Kiss-and-Tell
In this exclusive excerpt from Connie: A Memoir, trailblazing TV journalist Connie Chung delivers the dish from her days anchoring L.A.’s local news, including the hobnobbing (and sometimes more) with Warren Beatty and Ryan O’Neal — and how her time in town led to her Emmy-winning tête-à-tête with Marlon Brando:
Prestige Junkie: Legos and Oscars
This week Katey chatted with Morgan Neville, director of the Lego Pharrell Williams biopic Piece by Piece, as well as the artisans who made Saturday Night so percussive, including, yes, composer Jon Batiste:
THE WAKEUP
Only Sean McNulty went deeper than the narrative Netflix wants you to know from its Q3 earnings, modeling just how many ad-tier subscribers it added last quarter and reasoning when to expect its next price hike. Plus: He exposes what the industry seems to be missing as it inflates this sports bubble:
🎧 PODCASTS
THE ANKLER
CNN Stars Brace for Impact Inside CEO Mark Thompson's tumultuous makeover of cable news:
MARTINI SHOT
Botox and Fillers Rob Long on how Hollywood plays with history:
👓 THE OPTIONIST
FINAL HOUSEKEEPING!
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