Tipping Point: Gen Alpha & Z Shifts, Your Microdrama Future, Warnermount Fear
Plus: ‘House of Cards’ leaving Netflix? Inside a 10-year expiration
We love seeing you IRL — and not just in your inbox. Natalie Jarvey of Like & Subscribe (one of Substack’s fastest-growing titles) led a panel at Tuesday’s Unscripted Executive Summit with CAA’s Brett Weinstein, Samir Chaudry (of Colin and Samir) and more about creators, platforms and fandoms; then, two days later during an intimate salon hosted by NRG Research, execs from Amazon, Warners, Universal and Disney were guided by Natalie in a lively discussion about the creator economy’s surging intersection with Hollywood. In between all that, at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech in Park City on Wednesday, Ankler Media CEO Janice Min took the stage — alongside People CEO Neil Vogel, ProRata.ai CEO Bill Gross and Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince — to tackle another hot-button issue: AI’s impact on audience and IP. Catch their spirited debate on video here.
Meanwhile, news of Paramount’s brewing bid for Warner Bros. Discovery spun across Hollywood like a tornado, and Team Ankler hit all the angles, from Sean McNulty’s whip-smart, in-depth analysis of the potential fallout for film, TV, dealmaking, sports and — crucially — jobs, to Richard Rushfield’s urgent call for industry leaders to save the independence of one of the last great studios. Digging deeper into the implications of this potential move (and its Big Tech + Trump-world maneuvers), Richard recruited antitrust expert Matt Stoller, author of the newsletter BIG, for an emergency Substack Live about the roll-up’s dangers — and how the entertainment industry should shake off its fatalism and pressure California Attorney General Rob Bonta to stop it (he indeed has the power). Do not miss the conversation — you can watch or read the transcript at the third link below.
But even as the M&A turns, the industry still needs to fight for its next consumers, Gens Z and Alpha. We’ve got three can’t-miss stories that point the way: Elaine Low and Natalie Jarvey on the Hollywood stalwarts hustling in on the microdrama boom; Matthew Frank’s deep dive into the social media clippers disrupting not just film and TV viewing but also studio marketing; and Natalie’s report (only for paid subscribers to Like & Subscribe) about the Gen Alpha podcasters taking over teen attention (and besting Joe Rogan along the way).
Now, ICYMI, here’s the rest of our best of the week:
Series Business: Will ‘House of Cards’ End Up On… Tubi?!
Scores of Netflix scripted, studio-produced originals will soon see their 10-year worldwide exclusive holds expire, and Lesley Goldberg goes deep on the coming battle for the 130+ shows, from House of Cards to Orange Is the New Black; the FASTs, rival streamers and even cable circling for the kill; and how streamers are rethinking these pacts overall today:
Richard Rushfield: WB Hot Streak
Richard takes on the doubters as Mike & Pam keep winning, and Sphere’s Wizard of Oz continues to pay off; plus his diary — favorite films, Sydney Sweeney selfie and all — from five sleep-deprived days at TIFF:
Reel AI: Elon Musk’s AI Hellscape
As short video competes with Hollywood, Elon Musk wants X to join the fray — but with a twist. Erik Barmack breaks down Grok Imagine, the text-to-video feature embedded directly inside X; the dire fallout it could have for Hollywood jobs; and the existential stakes for creatives:
Prestige Junkie: Joel Edgerton
Katey Rich sits down for an hour-long TIFF conversation with Train Dreams’ Joel Edgerton to discuss the Oscar contender, Edgerton’s storied career and sage advice for up-and-coming filmmakers. Plus: The History of Sound director Oliver Hermanus on his star-studded period romance with two of the hottest actors today:
The Wakeup
Along with the nitty-gritty of the Paramount bid for WBD, Sean McNulty analyzes Zaslav’s conference pronouncements, Ms. Rachel’s sophomore stumble on Netflix and more from a roller-coaster week:
Weekly Shows
Monday Morning QBs: This week, on our live box office show, Richard and Sean sort out what went so right on The Conjuring: Last Rites’ $83 million opening weekend:
The Rushfield Lunch: Richard is joined by a familiar face on his weekly live show — Ankler deputy editor Christopher Rosen — to chat all things awards like the buzz out of TIFF, whether voters will buy The Rock’s Smashing Machine narrative and why Hollywood still values the charade:
🎧 PODCASTS
THE ANKLER
The Netflix of Microdramas: Who Gets There First? Hollywood vets want in on the vertical drama boom. Plus: Richard pops in to talk TIFF highlights and how Sydney Sweeney forced him into a selfie:
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
MARTINI SHOT
Psychos, Muggers, Thieves (And Agents) Why budgets need to be big enough for everyone to get a piece:
👓 THE OPTIONIST BY ANDY LEWIS
FINAL HOUSEKEEPING!
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