Lively banter about entertainment industry news and in-depth interviews with directors, producers, writers and actors, hosted by award-winning journalist Kim Masters of The Hollywood Reporter.
James Cameron's Avatar isn't just a hugely expensive sci-fi adventure – it's a titanic bid to transform movies. We get inside the mind of one of Hollywood's biggest players with Rebecca Keegan , author of the new book The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron .
Did the Academy's documentary short list short some docs? Plus, Hugo Chavez takes on Hollywood.
In an industry where honesty is such a lonely word, the creator of a hit TV show says what he thinks on line. We talk to Kurt Sutter of Sons of Anarchy about his blog, Sutterink. Plus an Academy Award-winning writer on how show business is like every other business we know.
A Hollywood rags-to-riches-to-rags story might have a happy ending after all. We talk to Troy Duffy , the controversial director of The Boondock Saints . Plus, a not-so-fresh report from the American Film Market with Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman .
The Motion Picture Academy hands out the first Thalberg Memorial Award since 2000, but what exactly it? Plus, DVD's are dying. What will take their place, and how will it change the way we watch – and pay for – movies?
Writer/actor/producer Grant Heslov moves to the director's chair on the new George Clooney movie, The Men Who Stare at Goats . Plus, "I'll make you a star! - for 5,000 bucks."
This week, how Warner Brothers used interactive tricks to power a surprisingly strong opening weekend for Where the Wild Things Are . Plus television writer/producer Dan Harmon toiled in basic cable on Comedy Central and VH1. Now, as creator of NBC's Community he tells us how the game is different on a big broadcast network. And, as always, the Hollywood news banter.
A new book argues that media moguls act like spoiled brats, squandering the shareholders' money on toys that they don't really need. Plus, how do you create a TV spin-off that's original but not too original? We ask the producer of the CBS shows NCIS and the brand new NCIS: Los Angeles.
This week, how the recession and major changes in the entertainment industry are impacting the lives of film and TV writers. Plus, Disney and Universal are the latest studios to shake up the executives suites and send a tremor through the industry.
A producer who was haunted by passing on the Blair Witch Project produces a low-budget horror film with big hopes of redemption. Plus Irving Thalberg changed the studio system. Now his life is on display.
This week, fans came out in full force to a recent celebration of all things Disney. But major changes are afoot in the Magic Kingdom. Plus, was the Toronto Film Festival a bloodbath for indie filmmakers or just a shift in the life cycle of independent film?
Does winning an Emmy matter to you, to me, to the business? And, the Television Academy puts TV legends on-line. Plus after 72 years, Guiding Light gets snuffed.
The summer box office broke records, but was blockbuster season really all that? Plus, what does the Leno prime-time experiment mean for the TV business?
Disney buys Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Is it a super deal or super dud? Plus, the division and drama continues in Hollywood's labor unions, and two top TV producers and their money-making program they call the "total engagement experience." Programming note : This program will be not air on KCRW as it will be pre-empted by special Labor Day programming. It will be available as a podcast and on demand, and will be archived online.
The producers of the hit show Ghost Whisperer on making great TV…and a successful marriage. Plus, we talk to the newly-elected president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
India's Reliance Big just made a major investment in Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks. Has another sucker landed on our shores, or has Hollywood finally met its match? And while India is coming to Hollywood, one Hollywood production went to India – tales from Bombay with the producers of Bollywood Hero .
Documentaries used to be relegated to PBS and college classrooms, but these days, they're just as liable to come to theater near you. We talk to Sheila Nevins , who's had a big part in growing of the nonfiction business as head of HBO Docs for the past three decades. Plus, we revisit our session with Hollywood therapist Dennis Palumbo .
This week, we look at the arcane, historical, fantastical and off-color jargon of the movie set. Plus, when good executives recut bad films...inside the mind of a cinematic scissorhands .
This week, The Business goes to "The Con," the annual nerd-fest know as Comic-Con that’s become a major marketing stop for Hollywood. Plus, a new documentary looks at Ozploitation...
Twilight gave a faltering new movie studio an extreme makeover. We talk with Rob Friedman , the chief of Summit Entertainment.
From Michigan to New Mexico, the production tax incentives derby is on in a big, big way. We talk to one of the producers of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino , which moved from Minnesota to Michigan because of incentives, and two state legislators on opposite sides of the incentives debate.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has inducted 134 new members. We talk to one of funniest, actress Jane Lynch . Plus, the Supreme Court has cleared the way for cable companies to record programs so you don't have to. What does it all mean for the television business and TV viewers?
Paramount shuffles its top executives and Universal may be next. Sony cancels a high-profile project just before cameras roll and Fox balks at the budget of their new Denzel Washington thriller. What the hell’s happening to the movie business?
In a surprise move, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that next year there will be ten Best Picture Oscar nominees, instead of five. AMPAS President Sid Ganis explains why. Kind of. Plus, producers stand up and say, "I am somebody!" at their guild's new Produced By conference. We speak with motion picture and TV producer and guild president Marshall Herskovitz .
Even in the age of Obama, black writers in Hollywood find there's no such as thing as post-racial, and a new Writers' Guild report concurs.
The changing entertainment industry and tanking economy have combined to put people below the line under the gun. We talk about what’s making it so hard and how its affecting the people on the ground with a veteran gaffer, a cameraman and an agent for below-the-line people.
Hollywood's video game nerds come out of the closet with a hip new event for less game savvy show biz types. Plus, executives are often maligned for re-cutting films, but sometimes they save filmmakers from themselves.
Network TV scheduling turns into a brutal game of musical chairs. We talk to the creator of the NBC show Medium , which jumped to CBS at the last minute to grab a seat.
A shaky economy and falling viewership meant nervous networks at the upfronts. Also, many new shows will be in hi-def. That’s great for viewers, but what does it mean for the people who make TV?
Why have the studios decided to get back in the video game business? Plus, even the biggest producer in the business is playing games. A chat with Jerry Bruckheimer about his new video game company.
