ICYMI: Disney Bake-Off Mess; 2 Toxic TV Pitch Words; Mega-Agent Pod Deal Intel
Plus: Penske and his monopoly further corrupt the Globes
I caught the New York leg of Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ world tour in person this week. (My colleague Manori Ravindran saw Sarandos in London; don’t miss her piece on how the U.K. television community reacted, plus his worrisome message for L.A. production.) Sarandos has made some recent news, yes, but what struck me was his illuminating answer when asked about the company’s propensity for saying it’d never do something — only to do it later.
“Never is a focusing word,” he replied, adding, “climates change and I think we should always reserve the right to get smart.” People love to call out Netflix’s “hypocrisy” or carp about how it creates new rules just as its rivals are catching up to the old ones — as if that is a bad thing! There’s no reason for Netflix to be misunderstood 27 years into its existence. If you don’t get hung up on dogma, are intellectually flexible and don’t consider the rules of your business written on stone tablets, it’s never too late to change.
Dare I say that’s what we try to do here at The Ankler, always striving to make you smarter about how you do your job, and question your own status quo as well as that of the industry. Case in point: Ashley Cullins’ Dealmakers newsletter, where this week she interviewed WME’s Ben Davis and CAA’s Josh Lindgren about the myth of the broken podcast market — and how talent can get the best deal today. You can listen to Ashley on Morning Edition right here, and read her piece for more detail:
So with no further ado, our best of the week, ICYMI:
Rushfield: Iger’s Long Shadow; Globes’ Schlock Hawking
A four-way public bake-off to replace a “superhero” CEO who doesn’t seem to want to leave. How is this a good thing? Richard Rushfield writes about Disney succession madness, and the historic toxicity of bake-offs to a company (cough, Warner Bros). Plus, Richard was first to call out monopolist Jay Penske’s questionable efforts to strong-arm studios and streamers as owner of both the Golden Globes and his Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline (bonus: behold the full grocery-store ad flyer on Deadline!):
Series Business: TV Market Intel; Netflix’s Semi-Bitter Tea in the U.K.
Shōgun, The Bear and Baby Reindeer may be risk-taking critical darlings, but that’s not translating into networks wanting more of the same. In Series Business (for paid subscribers only), Elaine Low interviews agents, creators and execs on how to buck the market’s conservative flight to safety — and takes a temperature check on the market:
Ted Sarandos recently boasted about Netflix’s $6 billion investment in British productions since 2020 and the service’s 100 active productions. Not everyone in the U.K. is sold, though. Manori Ravindran reveals why many producers still feel in the dark about Netflix’s intentions; how they worry they won’t be able to build their own businesses; and the damning message Sarandos delivered to the Hollywood production community:
Mega Agents’ Mega-deal Podcast Secrets
Look, a growth area in Hollywood! With Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett, and Alex Cooper scoring nine-figure deals in a market that’s going to exceed $2 billion in ad revenue this year, Ashley Cullins devoted her Dealmakers column (for paid subscribers only) to getting the top CAA and WME podcasting agents to share the sector’s biggest areas of potential; what the major podcast platforms want from talent and what they can do for them; and how video is going to change podcasting:
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
The decor is minimal and the space used to house a pharmacy. But Toscana in L.A.’s posh Brentwood neighborhood has become an elite hotspot as C-suiters Dana Walden, David Ellison and Bob Iger are among its frequent diners. Nicole LaPorte goes deep on the restaurant’s history and why CEOs love it so much:
Prestige Junkie: Goodbye Emmys, Hello Oscar
When awards season closes a door, it opens a window. No sooner had Katey Rich put a wrap on TV’s biggest night (with Elaine Low as her wingman) than she turned to assess the TIFF People’s Choice honorees’ chances as Oscar season kicks off.
THE WAKEUP
If you don’t see Sean McNulty this weekend, that’s because he’s parsing through Netflix’s H1 2024 data to find key insights so you don’t have to. In the meanwhile, enjoy the smartest analysis in town from a week of more wild headlines:
🎧 PODCASTS
THE ANKLER
Succession and the Cult of Iger The storied CEO is venerated like a Silicon Valley founder. And that's a problem:
MARTINI SHOT
TV's New Old Ideas Rob Long on Hollywood's sentimentality for . . . the money of yesterday:
👓 THE OPTIONIST
FINAL HOUSEKEEPING!
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