Ankler Agenda

Back from the golf-F1 mashup Netflix Cup, Richard Rushfield joins Sean McNulty and Elaine Low to reveal that what happened in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas as the team talks Ted-spotting, celebrity entourages, and what it all has to do with the sports-ification of today's entertainment. Also how the streamer may be the only one left to take big swings (no pun intended).Also: the Globes have a TV partner after a year of brutal rejection; Peter Kiefer reveals who's battling for Britney Spears' book rights; and SAG's new rules around "synthetic" performers. Transcript here. For more about the entertainment industry, subscribe to The Ankler at TheAnkler.com/subscribe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood’s dystopian-sounding future is here, with AI the overriding issue for actors as they negotiated their new deal with the studios. Today, two actors on that SAG negotiating committee, Picard’s Michelle Hurd and actor Kevin E. West, walk host Elaine Low through new guardrails around “synthetic” performances, and how an actor can still get paid even when their replica is the one at work. The pair also unpack the new streaming residual “fund”, new intimacy coordinator rules, and what hair and makeup provisions mean for performers of color. As for criticism of the deal by some as it goes to a vote? “Everybody take a deep breath.”Transcript here. For more entertainment industry news, subscribe to The Ankler at theankler.com/subscribe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“None of the workers in this industry are going to let themselves be dictated to anymore by big companies,” says SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher, who sat down, along with chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, with Elaine Low on Nov. 10, in the wake of a new contract with the AMPTP. They detail the drama around AI that took talks to the “last minute, literally the last day.” Drescher says the studios first said of proposed AI guardrails, “You'll have to trust us, but we’re not going to put it in writing… come on, do I look like I was born yesterday?’” And while never naming her, they spare no words for AMPTP president and negotiator Carol Lombardini: “I never want to go back to… a middleman. Now I want to talk to your boss.” Transcript here.For more entertainment news, subscribe to The Ankler at theankler.com/subscribe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The longest actors strike in history is over, but a scarred landscape of reduced spending, fewer shows and a shrinking job market now awaits. Sean McNulty, Elaine Low and Richard Rushfield reveal what executives are privately saying, and how to interpret those messages coming from Disney’s Bob Iger to WBD’s David Zaslav. To top it off, labor discontent is still afoot: Elaine interviews former Love is Blind alums Nick Thompson and Jeremy Hartwell, who detail “inhumane” treatment on the show as advocates for reality TV’s unionization; and, on a lighter note, the team offer a round of winter box-office predictions.  Transcript here. For more entertainment news, you can subscribe to The Ankler at theankler.com/subscribe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Swifties follow their favorite pop star from stadiums to theaters, even to NFL games. Now, Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper — founder of new multimedia company, Trending, with producer-fiancé Matthew Kaplan — hopes her fan army (known as the “Daddy Gang”) does the same. With her $60 million Spotify deal expiring soon, and plans to further activate her fanbase through a tour, an Alex Cooper multiverse of other shows, and, as the pair exclusively reveals, a detour into music with Unwell Music, the duo talk details of their budding media empire (which recently produced Netflix hit Love at First Sight) in clips shared by interviewer Nicole LaPorte. Also: HBO chief Casey Bloys’ bizarre Twitter exploits, what Condé Nast layoffs portend, and a game of “let’s guess the broadcast TV advertising rates!" For more entertainment industry news, subscribe to The Ankler at theankler.com/subscribe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The dramatic story of how high-flying CAA agent-to-the-stars Maha Dakhil ended up grounded as who-said-what about conflict in the Middle East inflames Hollywood.Also; real-life Hollywood horror stories, Peacock’s losses peak, and Ralph Nader’s apocalyptic AI warning to Hollywood. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The pivot into advertising is off to a rough start: Journalist Sahil Patel on the shuffle inside Netflix as it misses first-year ad goals by half. For more entertainment industry news, subscribe to The Ankler at theankler.com/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

The world has no shortage of villains, and according to Jonathan Taplin, author of The End of Reality, Hollywood is currently up against four: Silicon Valley billionaires Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen and Elon Musk. “We have right now a culture of dystopia and nihilism,” says Taplin, who argues that ‘The Four’ are wreaking havoc yes, on politics and economics, but also popular culture by creating their own model of escapism, a role once filled by Hollywood. For more news about the entertainment business, subscribe to our daily newsletters at TheAnkler.com/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

The podcast discusses the challenges faced by writers in a changing industry post-strike and the higher bar for greenlights. They also explore the sustainability of the entertainment industry, rising costs of streaming services, and various other topics such as social pressure, box office breakdown, and upcoming releases.

For years, CAA agents were promised a pot of gold. Now as the behemoth sells, the 10 percent crew cries foul over its own 10 percent.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