The Ankler Podcast

As streamers remove series and unions fight over residuals, agreeing on metrics is near impossible. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who had the worst week in Hollywood? Was it Bob Iger, whose Disney headaches keep mounting? Or The Flash hype man David Zaslav, who watched his superhero film sputter just days before Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese scolded him? Hard to say, yet both CEOs face the same conundrum: “It starts with stopping the bleeding, to the best they can,” says Richard Rushfield, who joins Elaine Low and Sean McNulty. Also: how Taylor Sheridan became writers’ public enemy this week; Ryan Murphy’s decision to boomerang back to Disney; and why, with one week left in contract talks, it’s impossible to predict SAG’s next move.Full transcript here.Listen here: Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most-watched entertainment company in the world, Disney lately is roiled by major exec changes, an animation eclipse from other studios, layoffs and a CEO racing to both name a successor and right the ship at the same time. CNBC media reporter Alex Sherman joins Sean McNulty and Elaine Low to talk the perfect storm facing the company with less than 18 months left in Iger’s second term. Also: the PGA-LIV anti-trust problem (2:27), latest on the strike, and what’s next on the Sun Valley agenda (43:52).Full transcript here. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Turning Tiffany into Walmart: that’s how Ari Emanuel recently described Bryan Lourd’s stewardship of CAA, putting some harsh, eyebrow-raising words behind the heated rivalry between the Endeavor and CAA chiefs. Peter Kiefer joins Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield to discuss his juicy profile of the war between the two agenting titans (21:26)— and why it explains Hollywood’s dilemmas of the moment. “We’re in the era of Ari and Bryan… and they really don’t like each other very much,” says Kiefer. Also: the PGA’s questionable decision to merge with the Saudi-backed LIV (4:05), how Jeff Zucker outplayed (former) CNN chief Chris Licht (7:43), and the state of the writers strike amid the DGA’s tentative deal and SAG’s negotiations (40:05).For a transcript, click here. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In-between the writers and studio/streaming chiefs are Hollywood’s day-to-day working executives, who find themselves in a rare slowdown — and assorted existential crises. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The box office drought is over. But there are only so many slots for winners.For a transcript, click here. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What the death of cable TV has to do with the writers strike. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How writers have leveraged themes around the gig economy, CEO pay and suspicions about Silicon Valley to their benefit. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With an impasse over everything from quotas to AI, the first week of the strike has revealed an entirely different playing field than the one from 2007-2008. Richard Rushfield and Elaine Low join Sean McNulty to talk what they’ve seen on the pickets, the particular ire at Netflix, the AI arguments, and the tenuous, shifting solidarity from the other guilds. And, the how and when this possibly ends. Also: David Zaslav’s optimistic earnings call and its impact on the strike (1:37), and the upcoming DGA negotiations (23:25). This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a special Strikegeist episode, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield join Sean McNulty to report back what they are seeing and hearing (and the who’s who) at the picket lines across town. “Upbeat but not combative,” says Rushfield, who took in the scene outside Paramount. Also: why a short-term resolution doesn’t seem likely (10:36); takeaways from Elaine’s interview with WGA lead negotiator Ellen Stutzman (11:24); awkwardness surrounding FYC events (22:18); and why AI has more than just writers worried (13:21). For by-the-minute coverage of the WGA strike, please subscribe to our free Strikegeist newsletter. And if you enjoy this podcast, please click here to subscribe.  This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices