Transcript: Wall Street's War on Hollywood
Investor appeasement drives Paramount sale drama, Disney woes and a nightmarish job climate
Sean McNulty (00:04):
Welcome to The Ankler Podcast. This is Sean McNulty from The Wakeup newsletter here at The Ankler here on Thursday, March 21st in New York City. I'm joined by Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield in Los Angeles as always. Richard, would you turn off the March Madness behind you? I mean, come on, man, we're podcast recording, no time for college basketball.
Richard Rushfield (00:23):
They're hooping it up. I can't-
Sean McNulty (00:25):
They really are.
Richard Rushfield (00:26):
I'm hooked. I'm hooked on hoops.
Sean McNulty (00:27):
Wow. I've finally broken through to Richard, Elaine. I've got him converted to at least college hoops, so-
Elaine Low (00:33):
Noted sports fan, Richard Rushfield.
Sean McNulty (00:35):
A noted sports fan. The sports enthusiast, Richard Rushfield.
Richard Rushfield (00:38):
Give me more hooping. 60... What is it? 164 games or something?
Sean McNulty (00:42):
Yeah, that's exactly right, Richard. 164 games. So we have a busy weekend to fit in some hoops. So three weeks of Madness coming up.
(00:48):
But before we start, of course, you can catch the Ankler crew, just a reminder here to catch them on the LA's number one NPR station and Southern California Public Radio's flagship radio station, 89.3 LAist, throughout the day every Thursday as part of Entertainment Thursday during the programming of Morning Edition, AirTalk, and All Things Considered. And you can reach Richard, Elaine, and myself here at the podcast anytime at podcasts@theankler.com.
(01:13):
Elaine, do you think the fact that no one actually works in offices anymore will probably stop all of those pieces that come out every year about productivity going down when March Madness happens, or not so much?
Elaine Low (01:22):
Oh, I hadn't even thought about that. March Madness, this thing has started, yeah?
Sean McNulty (01:28):
It's going as we speak, Elaine, trust me, I just turned off my TV before we recorded here.
Elaine Low (01:33):
Look, all I know is we're about to start clay season tennis, so that's where my head is at.
Sean McNulty (01:37):
No one is talking about that, Elaine, I guarantee you that, but yeah.
Elaine Low (01:40):
Second and the Sunshine Swing after the Miami Open, no one? No one? All right, fine.
Sean McNulty (01:44):
Got to get that tennis mention there, that's it, every time. I love it. All right. A few things coming up today. Elaine, of course, did her next dive into where the jobs are, and more importantly, what they are in her Series Business column this week, which we'll touch on in a moment. Richard looked at Wall Street's influence on Hollywood, which was terrific. Richard, that's a hot take. I didn't expect that at all.
Richard Rushfield (02:02):
Bringing out the best in us.
Sean McNulty (02:04):
Yeah, exactly. A totally positive influence on Hollywood and where the business is at, which we'll dive into that shortly as well. Plus, a look at what I think could be some positive upcoming box office news. Richard may be scowling for me on that, but we shall see and dive into what's ahead on the calendar.
(02:21):
And a lot in the news this week, Elaine, but first, dare I say that you've spurred some jobs talk around town. It's been a popular topic. There was a piece over in Deadline, which, this stat just came, I put it in The Wakeup, but this is a senior vice president at a top Hollywood recruiting firm who estimates that the industry lost about 20 percent of VP and above roles during the, I guess we call it The Purge, what everyone would call it at this point, and that he estimated a good 5 percent are not coming back, whether that's through-