ICYMI: New TV 💰 in '25; $100M Movie Secrets; Lively-Baldoni Botched
Plus: Rushfield's guide for how to (hate) watch the Globes
During my time at The Ankler, I’ve invited you to a lot of our exceptional events, from L.A. to London, but today marks a new milestone: Our first event in New York City. The Ankler & Pure Nonfiction Documentary Spotlight: Shortlist Edition in NYC at the Crosby Hotel features Thom Powers in conversation with the filmmakers behind Black Box Diaries, Daughters, Eno, Frida, Porcelain War, Will & Harper and Union. If you’re among the 90 doc branch members who RSVPd yes, please come say hello; I love meeting our subscribers.
Meanwhile, our Prestige Junkie LIVE event on Friday featured our Katey Rich in a live podcast recording at The London Hotel in L.A. with Inside Out 2 director Kelsey Mann; subscribe to the Prestige Junkie feed to receive this conversation automatically on Wednesday.
A teaser from Katey in our Slack:
“It’s not that Kelsey Mann never wanted to be the director of his own animated movie — he just never thought he’d get the chance, much less to be the director of a $1.7 billion-grossing phenomenon. That’s just the beginning of what I learned when Mann joined me for the latest live edition of the Prestige Junkie podcast, discussing what went into making his directorial debut, Inside Out 2. In front of a lively audience, Mann told me about learning to lead with his own emotions while making a film that was all about them, and how Anxiety became the defining character of 2024.”
Now, with no further ado, ICYMI:
Series Business: TV Producers’ Strange Bedfellows for '25
Manori Ravindran got more than a dozen executives and producers to share their strategies for how they’ll thrive in '25 (for paid subscribers only). Think AI, YouTube and TikTok; when and how to get a brand to fund their project; and the value of cross-collaboration with digital-first producers:
The YouTuber in the Lively-Baldoni Drama
Hollywood continues to be obsessed with all things Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, and The Ankler was first to interview Kjersti Flaa, the entertainment reporter and YouTube creator that the New York Times implied to be an operative of Baldoni’s alleged smear campaign against his costar. Flaa tells Matthew Frank why the Times owes her an apology, the hate messages she’s been receiving and what the incident says about Hollywood:
ESG: How to Get Back to $100M Grossing Movies
Entertainment Strategy Guy analyzes the last three years of box office data (for paid subscribers) to deliver key insights about the six most promising new franchises; the steep decline in $100 million grossing films; the one genre currently minting money with almost every new movie; and the one thing major studios can do to revive the box office:
Rushfield: Globes Viewing Guide; The Website That Raised Titanic
The Golden Globes are later today, and if you’re going to watch, you best read Richard Rushfield’s guide to watching the scandal-addled awards show. Plus: In the latest episode of his special pod series, Hollywood Stories, Richard interviews Drew McWeeny from Ain’t It Cool News, the pioneering website that bedeviled studios, execs and changed the fate of Titanic:
Prestige Junkie: Katey’s Top Movies, Performances
In a two-part podcast, Katey Rich and Richard exchange their top 10 films and performances of 2024. Plus: Katey chats with Javier Bardem about his role in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, and with Pablo Larrain and Walter Salles, the directors of two Oscar contenders, Maria and I’m Still Here, respectively:
Notable: Diane Warren’s Lucky No. 16?
Rob LeDonne’s latest lively chat is with songwriter Diane Warren to discuss her shortlisted H.E.R. ballad, “The Journey”, for Tyler Perry’s World War II Netflix drama, The Six Triple Eight. She plays a round of F***, Marry, Kill, and tells Rob how she’d react if she finally wins an Oscar after 15 previous noms:
THE WAKEUP
During an otherwise quiet New Year’s week, Sean McNulty was the only one to report on Paramount’s SEC filing that gives its current execs a potential windfall. Plus, you can always count on Sean for his holiday box office analysis:
🎧 PODCASTS
THE ANKLER
Lively vs. Baldoni: Lawsuits! Exposés! Rumors! Both sides lodge 80-page legal filings in a holiday greeting from hell:
Like and subscribe on Apple Podcasts
👓 THE OPTIONIST
FINAL HOUSEKEEPING!
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