The Ankler

๐ŸŽง Wall Street’s War on Hollywood

Investor appeasement drives Paramount sale drama, Disney woes and a nightmarish job climate

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Wall Street likes surefire bets โ€” growth companies that deliver predictable returns for infinite quarters. But in Hollywood, โ€œyouโ€™re in the failure game,โ€ says Richard Rushfield. Yet when the alchemy works, hits power the industry. Still studio leaders are mired in machinations to appease investors, often with disastrous results: a studio for sale (Paramount); activist investors (Disney); and open jobs at Netflix and NBCU that have almost nothing to do with creativity. Despite it all, when Sean McNulty and crew evaluate the upcoming box-office slate, they find cause for hope. After all, Ankler Rule No. 1: this is a business of hits.

Transcript here.


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