Transcript: A Peek Under Netflix's Secretive Hood
The team's learning after sifting through data that will impact the entire industry; an interview about drugs with 'Narcos' and 'Hotel Cocaine' creator Chris Brancato
Sean McNulty (00:00):
For your consideration. Sponsors of this episode of The Ankler Podcast include Max. Presenting The Last of Us, the HBO original series starring Pedro Pascal as Joel, a hardened survivor hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they depend on each other for survival. Don't miss the critically acclaimed series Empire calls “a masterpiece.” Eligible for outstanding drama series and all other categories, The Last of Us is now streaming on Max. Welcome to The Ankler Podcast. This is Sean McNulty from The Wakeup newsletter here at the Ankler on the afternoon of Thursday, December 14th. I'm here in New York City, joined by Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield in Los Angeles. Elaine, 10 days till Christmas Eve. How's that holiday shopping going?
Elaine Low (00:52):
Oh, I got all mine done on Black Friday. Thank you very much.
Sean McNulty (00:55):
Wow, you are completely done. Is that right?
Elaine Low (00:58):
Yes. The spreadsheet is filled. Everyone is shopped for.
Sean McNulty (01:01):
Alright. I look forward to my gift. That's very nice of you. Thank you. A bit of a busier week out there than last in Hollywood. I think as the holiday does approach, a lot of bidding wars out there and a bunch of series and TV deals coming in this week. Netflix, Amazon, Peacock alone today and some more I've written about. You can check those out over in The Wakeup newsletter this week for that roundup, including two essentially $4 to $6 million writer paydays. Richard, can we get in on that, or what's going on here? I feel like we've made some wrong life decisions.
Elaine Low (01:28):
We're writers? Where's our money?
Richard Rushfield (01:30):
Yeah. No, I think it's open for all writers. It's just-
Sean McNulty (01:33):
As always. Yeah. I'm thinking, I don't think Netflix didn't-
Richard Rushfield (01:35):
They have. Because we didn't, so-
Sean McNulty (01:36):
Oh, that's right. All right. We need agents, so that's what it is. Okay, got it. Right.
Richard Rushfield (01:41):
You have to tell them you want to be on the mid-seven figure list, not on the-
Sean McNulty (01:45):
Oh. Got it. I missed that clause in the WGA agreement, Elaine. I guess that's a new thing, I think. So that was sneaked in there. But Richard, it's clearly year-end bonus time at the agencies. We have the final dash to get the numbers in on maybe a quiet year. Richard, maybe a little bit of a factor here for the motivation.
Richard Rushfield (02:02):
Yeah, it's coming down to the wire to scrape together some funds after a pretty rough 2023 with a rough 2024 ahead, so good luck to everybody. Get those bonuses up, while you can.
Sean McNulty (02:15):
Get the deals signed. Yeah, exactly. Certainly this is, again, a lot of streamer action, not necessarily a lot of studio action. Again, we're all keeping our eyes on whose big checkbooks are still open, and certainly the Amazon and Netflix money is still out there for sure. So we'll see what transpires-
Richard Rushfield (02:32):
It seems like a still ongoing concern. It seems like.
Sean McNulty (02:34):
It is. That was an MGM deal, but certainly MGM is basically essentially Amazon at this point, so-
Elaine Low (02:39):
Which is interesting. All the writers that I spoke to last week when we were talking about TV buying and selling. Yeah, Amazon and Netflix are apparently two of the most robust buyers out there right now. One was more expected name than the other.
Sean McNulty (02:52):
Yes, exactly. Yeah, based on what we'd heard previously. Otherwise, Paramount certainly back in the headlines this week, which we'll get to in a moment, which got my mind thinking forward to 2024. If you thought 2023 was a year of tumults, I think 2024 is not going to be great news for you. So we're going to dive into all that in a bit. Claire Atkinson has an interview with showrunner, Chris Brancato, who was of course part of the Narcos brain trust. He joins Claire to share some insights into the post-strike world for writers as well as his upcoming series over at MGM+, Hotel Cocaine.