ICYMI: Judy Blume's 50-Year Search for Kelly Fremon Craig

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It was a rare week when Hollywood’s focus was not on itself, as the industry stayed glued to news from the Middle East. Even the disappointing breakdown in SAG-AFTRA talks couldn’t divert people’s attention from coverage of the aftermath of the horrific attacks on Israel, and the looming crisis in Gaza.

Richard offered some thoughts on the role Hollywood might play in dark times, arguing that more than ever, the world needs alternatives to cruelty and nihilism:

More and more of what we put out seems factory-made, its humanity, the humanity of the storytelling eclipsed. And if humanity is going to survive, it needs storytellers to show us why this thing called the human experience still means something.

Which is perfect segue to legendary storyteller Judy Blume, who joined The Ankler’s first In Conversation: Page to Screen event in Santa Monica yesterday with Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret director Kelly Fremon Craig. The classic story includes talk of breasts and periods, yes, but also a subplot about 11-year-old Margaret’s mother’s estrangement from her own Christian parents after marrying Margaret’s father, a Jewish man. You can watch 11 minutes of their feel-better-about-life conversation, moderated by Janice.

HERE COMES THE SUN Judy Blume looked at yesterday's eclipse outside Zibby's Bookshop before beginning her talk with director Kelly Fremon Craig. Blume said she finally said yes to an adaption of her classic novel because of Craig: 'My son said... 'you wait until the women who read your books grow up and are in charge in Hollywood.' (Photos by Todd Williamson)

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ALSO THIS WEEK…

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☀️The Wakeup

☀️ WME/CAA, SAG/AMPTP Cap Week of Despair

☀️ NETFLIX Animation Begins Cuts; Bitter SAG Standstill

☀️Int'l Pics Beat Domestic on NETFLIX Films chart - Again

☀️ ROKU's Surprise Spend; Ridley's 4hr 'Napoleon' APPLE cut

☀️UNI's EXORCIST Falls Short; More Layoffs Hit the Town

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🎧 Podcasts

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• According to Jonathan Taplin, author of The End of Reality, Hollywood is currently up against four Silicon Valley billionaires Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen and Elon Musk. He argues that ‘The Four’ are wreaking havoc yes, on politics and economics, but also popular culture by creating their own model of escapism, a role once filled by Hollywood.

THE ANKLER

'A Culture of Dystopia and Nihilism'

Transcript here

Listen here: Apple | Spotify

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• Rob Long on how to get our creative engines restarted after the end of the eternal writers strike:

MARTINI SHOT

Stuck in a Bad Rewrite

Transcript here

Listen here: Apple | Spotify

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🪧Strikegeist

• A Standstill, and a Ticking Clock

• Studios Say Actors Guild Talks Suspended For Now

• Today's Curious Email From the 'Teacher's Pet Union'

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👓 The Optionist

• IP Picks🔎: 1906 S.F. Quake Dramas, a Gay 1950s P.I. and Spooky Short Stories Plus, the tricky hurdles to making a Martin Luther King Jr. biopic