Strictly Business

The veteran comedy writer/producer/performer is back with another talk show on the Peacock streaming network, where he's up to the challenge of finding the humor amid bleak political headlines. Wilmore also traces his evolution through a 30-year TV career.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer discusses the global scope of the streaming giant’s business during a wide-ranging Q&A. Sarandos details how the company decides when to invest big in local language production, and the metrics that Netflix uses to evaluate the success of original and acquired content. The long-serving Netflix executive also weighs in on the controversy in the U.S. over the French film “Cuties,” the challenges of filming during the coronavirus pandemic and recent changes in the company’s senior management ranks. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carlos Watson, co-founder and CEO of Ozy Media, started his company in 2013 as a digital magazine venture that was dubbed by one reader “the love child of Vice and the Economist.” Watson’s ambition for Ozy Media has grown to include TV series, podcasts and a traveling festival featuring top thinkers and entrepreneurs. The former McKinsey & Co. analyst turned journalist discusses how his San Francisco-based company plans to grow even in pandemic times and how he attracted top investors, including Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective and Marc Lasry.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wattpad Studios head Aron Levitz and his team comb through the nearly 1 billion stories that members of Wattpad’s 80 million-plus monthly users have shared on the app. His goal: to find the unique narratives that resonate with fans, and then turn them into TV shows, movies and books. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mona Scott-Young, CEO of Monami Entertainment and the steward of VH1’s “Love and Hip Hop” franchise, discusses the growth of the company she launched in 2008. Scott-Young details the preparation and the lucky breaks that allowed her to seize the moment to segue from her background in music management to TV and media. She credits the seminal influence of her hard-working mother for helping her realize her strengths and her potential. “I have so many tools at my disposal – how dare I not succeed,” Scott-Young says. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recently recreated in an Oscar-winning film, the travel route African-Americans used in the segregated south is being revisited not only as a new podcast, but as an audio guide thanks to a new integration between Apple Podcasts and Apple Maps. MacMillan Publishers VP of podcasting Kathy Doyle describes "Driving the Green Book" and shares her perspective on the broader podcast business. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ariel Horn and Ben Kusin, co-founders and co-CEOs of VENN, discuss how the “white space” in TV for content aimed at videogame enthusiasts drove them to launch the Videogame Entertainment & News Network streaming platform. The digital entrepreneurs detail the steps they took to the Aug. 5 launch and how they plan to fund up to 50 hours of original programming through sponsorships and distribution partnerships with Twitch, YouTube and others. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Craig Hunegs, president of Disney Television Studios, details how the Disney-21st Century Fox mergers create a TV production behemoth and why studio chiefs decided it was important to maintain three distinct imprints: 20th Television, ABC Signature and Touchstone Television. He also discusses the studio’s new approach to compensation formulas for creative talent at a time when Hollywood’s traditional profit models are in flux. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The music biz legend discusses how he teamed with “Bohemian Rhapsody” screenwriter Anthony McCarten to develop a biopic of Whitney Houston, the singer whose career Davis shepherded to great heights before her tragic death in 2012. Davis details how they shaped the script, raised the financing and then held a vigorous auction for the property with Hollywood’s major studios. Davis also offers his thoughts on the state of the pandemic-rocked music industry and his advice for aspiring music moguls. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the political conventions set for next week, the presidential campaign is ready to take yet another unpredictable turn. 'Good Luck America' host Peter Hamby gives his POV on what to expect next on the road to the election and his own role translating politics for Snapchat's Gen Z audience. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.