Strictly Business

Casey Bloys, the content leader of HBO and Max, engages in a wide-ranging discussion about HBO’s recent streak of pop culture hits, from “Succession” to “The Last of Us” to “The White Lotus” and more. Bloys also offers his view of the limits of AI and its use in entertainment, and he explains how HBO and Max can live together and separately under one streaming roof. Recorded June 7 at Variety’s TV FYC Fest held at the 1 Hotel in West Hollywood.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The veteran film and TV producer behind the Searchlight/Hulu release details the purpose that has driven his unconventional career in Hollywood. Franklin discusses why Hollywood has shied away from faith-infused properties in recent years and how he hopes to change that with mainstream movies and TV shows rooted in moving and meaningful themes. “The only thing that matters is a great story, period,” he says. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The end of the great streaming content boom has brought with it a responsibility by the entertainment industry to address the compensation issues presented by the digitial transition to the creative community, as reflected by the writers strike. So says Paul Lee, CEO of Wiip, the production banner behind “Mare of Easttown,” “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “The White House Plumbers,” “Dickinson" and more. In a candid interview, the Disney veteran discusses who the tightening in the content marketplace will be good for independent producers in the long run.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Variety’s team of television reporters offer a debrief on the 2023 programming presentations in New York. It was an upfronts week like no other with Writers Guild of America pickets outside of all the major events. Behind the velvet rope, there were plenty of signals of the industry’s difficult transition from linear to streaming. Variety’s Jennifer Maas, Joe Otterson, Todd Spangler and Brian Steinberg offer highlights and insights from Disney, Netflix, NBCUniversal, Fox, YouTube and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lila Snyder, CEO of Bose Corporation, oversees all aspects of the company’s consumer electronics, automotive and related businesses and leads a global staff of 6,000. Her guiding principle: that “sound is not an accessory. It is everything we do; it's in the center.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At a time when many showbiz scribes couldn't be more disillusioned with the traditional studio system, along comes Toonstar with a blockchain-powered business model for entertainment that lets creators bypass the usual modes of content distribution. Toonstar co-founders John Attanasio and Luisa Huang discuss their Web3 story studio on the eve of its latest series premiere, "Space Junk."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Perkins Miller, the CEO of entertainment company Fandom and subsidiaries Fandom.com, Metacritic, GameSpot, Giant Bomb and TV Guide, advises on where Hollywood should be putting its limited cash in this uncertain economy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks in large part to top seller Bad Bunny, Latin music sawexplosive growth in 2022, exceeding $1 billion in U.S. revenues forthe first time, and up nearly 25% from 2021. Amazon Music is on asimilar path as it relates to Latin music and its many subgenres.Leading the charge: Rocío Guerrero, a veteran of Spotify and WarnerMusic Group whose role as Amazon’s Global Head of Latin Music runsacross multiple digital and physical offerings at the retail giant.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity giant shares his observations on the changing nature of Hollywood and how that moniker became synonymous with the global entertainment business. In discussing the motivation behind his new PBS series “Iconic America: Our Symbols and Stories,” which premieres April 26, Rubenstein describes the world of studio smoke and mirrors “a uniquely American enterprise” that has become part and parcel of the American dream. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daniel Rausch, VP of entertainment devices and services at Amazon, provides an update on expansion plans for the Fire TV business, which aims to be a hub for the smart-home experience, as well as a status check on the company's cloud-gaming offering, Luna.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.