In 1970 Warner Brothers had a surprise hit on its hands when they released the documentary/concert film Woodstock. Though the studio spent less than a million dollars on it, the film would eventually gross $50 million at the box office. Warner Bros. had caught lightning in a bottle. The question for the suits was: How do we make lightning strike twice? The answer was the Medicine Ball Caravan . But the lightning fizzled. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 18, 2020•48 min•Season 3Ep. 7
When I first met Aigul Kaparova, the woman whom I would eventually marry, she told me she was from Kazakhstan. And of course there was basically one thing I knew about Kazakhstan: Borat. I remember asking her how she felt about Borat , because I remembered the reaction to that film in Kazakhstan. She told me the whole controversy didn't really bother her much and that the country had seemingly accepted that Borat would always be associated with her home. And that was about it. Until this week. T...
Oct 25, 2020•9 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Christopher Reeve came out of Superman retirement to make Superman IV: The Quest for Peace , a film widely considered a disaster. He had said in 1983, after the release of Superman III , that he was done with the role that made him a star. So why did he return for a relatively low-budget superman movie, in which he battled a villain named Nuclear Man? To help green light another film, Street Smart, which helped launch the film career of Morgan Freeman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for ...
Sep 16, 2020•49 min•Season 3Ep. 5
In 1985, Baltimore infomercial star Santo Victor Rigatuso, aka Santo Gold, produced an extravaganza with something for everyone: It promised horror, wrestling, rock, and even a "three-headed Munga Magoon." It was all supposed to be filmed and turned into a feature film more exciting than the recent Rocky III . The spectacle, called Blood Circus , was also supposed to introduce some exciting new technology called a "scream bag." Attendees were promised a Thundervision sound system, atomic fleas, ...
Jul 22, 2020•41 min•Season 3Ep. 4
John Barry is a deeply respected set designer, responsible for the Korova Milk Bar in A Clockwork Orange , the cantina in Star Wars , and the Fortress of Solitude in Superman , among other starkly original film locales. But when it came time to make his own film, Saturn 3 , things fell apart. The setup for Saturn 3 is fine: Farrah Fawcett and Kirk Douglas are a May-December Adam and Eve in space. Then Harvey Keitel arrives. With a clumsy robot. John Barry escaped from Saturn 3 just in time to wo...
Jun 11, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 3
In 1971 actor Elliott Gould was on top of world. Then he started A Glimpse of Tiger, a new movie that he was starring and producing. What followed was a tumultuous five day production that would see Gould fire his director, terrify his co-star, and have armed guards be called to the set. Show notes with sources listed can be found here . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 10, 2020•22 min•Season 3Ep. 2
When Israeli filmmaker Menahem Golan wanted to break into Hollywood he went all in on an over the top disco musical. Unfortunately by 1980, when his movie was released, disco was dead and the reaction to his flashy new film didn’t go according to plan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 17, 2020•24 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Slow, melancholy, and the true meaning of Christmas. It might sound more like a December mass at a local church but it's actually commonly used description of a beloved holiday classic: A Charlie Brown Christmas. In this bonus episode we go over how this timeless tale, that was originally as wanted as a withered Charlie Brown tree, became to be the enduring classic it's considered today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 16, 2019•13 min
Patrick Read Johnson first wrapped on his autobiographical film 5-25-77 back in 2004. The title refers to the day Star Wars was released and how it changed his life. In the years since then he's be working to get the picture finished his own way. In 2019 he's almost there. Show notes and sources listed at http://industrypodcast.org/articles Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 06, 2019•23 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Director Michael Cimino has a complicated history. As Oscar and Razzie winner who only made seven films, Cimino frequently found himself struggling with producers to get his vision out. When the producers of The Sicilian felt his version was too long he used his final cut clause to give them something else. It wasn't a good idea. Show notes and links to sources can be found at https://industrypodcast.org/articles Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 23, 2019•24 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Jamaa Fanaka was the most prolific college filmmaker of all time. Once he left college he found Hollywood to not be so inclusive. He decided to fight the industry with a series of lawsuits that would ultimately cost him his career. Filmmakers Zeinabu Davis, Lexi Alexander, and Maria Giese help tell this story along with Jamaa's attorney Irving Meyer. Show notes and sources listed here: https://industrypodcast.org/articles Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Oct 09, 2019•30 min•Season 2Ep. 6
On paper it was a great idea. Bringing the iconic character of The Lone Ranger to the silver screen should have brought with it good feelings of classic television, Americana, and just plain ole nostalgia. However, when producers decided to ice out Clayton Moore, the man who was behind the mask for years on television, they found themselves in fight with the Lone Ranger fan base itself. On the set of the new Lone Ranger movie issues also abound with the new masked man. Dawn Moore, Clayton Moore'...
Sep 25, 2019•30 min•Season 2Ep. 5
The James Bond series has been going for over 50 years. In that time the MI:6 agent has fought many villains. However, for many fans of the series, 007's greatest villain might have been off screen. Producer Kevin McClory helped create the "cinematic Bond" and then spent most of the rest of his life trying to claim him for himself. Show notes and sources listed at http://industrypodcast.org/articles Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 11, 2019•37 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In the 1970's actor Tom Laughlin helped change the industry with his advertising and distribution ideas for his Billy Jack series. In the 1980's he planned a comeback movie and another potential industry game changer, this time for home video. It did not go according to plan. Robin Hutton, Laughlin's former assistant and an author, helps the story of Laughlin's attempted return. Show notes and sources listed at http://industrypodcast.org/articles . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...
Aug 28, 2019•36 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Robertino Yanzanny was just a teenager in Puerto Rico when he fell in love with the movies and developed an admiration for super producer Dino De Laurentiis. De Laurentiis left a huge impression in The Industry. Big successes and big flops and big risks were his standard. When Dino opened his own studio in the 1980s things did not go exactly according to plan. Then he had an idea. It involved garbage bags. Yanzanny helps tell the story of what it was like to work with De Laurentiis during this t...
Aug 14, 2019•28 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Jackie Gleason is an entertainment legend. He's one guy who truly did it all. Movies, Broadway, conducted his own orchestra (!), and most of all television. He was The Great One, after all. That doesn't mean the guy didn't make mistakes. In 1961 Gleason made a huge mistake when, after a couple of years away from television, he made a highly anticipated return with what turned out to be a ridiculous game show. What he did next was unheard of. Show notes for this episode can be found at http://ind...
Jul 31, 2019•23 min•Season 2Ep. 1
A new season of The Industry is coming this summer, with more lesser known stories of Hollywood history. Check out season one at http://theindustrypodcast.com . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
May 09, 2019•1 min
The Dukes of Hazzard was a top ten show heading into its fifth season. That's when a report came out revealing just how much the show had earned in merchandising. And that's when the stars of that show realized how much they weren't getting. In this episode of The Industry we take a look at the contract dispute that led to two replacements taking over a top ten show and how that show would never be in the top ten again. Byron Cherry (Coy Duke) helps tell the story of Coy and Vance. Show Notes Pe...
Nov 26, 2018•28 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Aliens, mountain men, and Jesus were the stars of the day for Sunn Classic Pictures. Throughout the 1970s, Sunn Classic proved to be a highly successful independent movie studio, cranking out pseudo-documentaries and G rated nature themed movies like it was going out of style. They used unique methods to get their ideas and to get their movies out to the public. The Industry takes a look at the history of the company that specialized in inventing history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...
Oct 29, 2018•45 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Mister Dugan had the potential to be a hit show. It was a topical series about a recently elected idealistic black congressman who has to contend with his less than helpful staff. Norman Lear was producing, Cleavon Little was the star. However, just days before it was to air on CBS in 1979 Lear himself pulled the show from the schedule. What went wrong? We take a look at the troubled production that started when Lear's hit series Maude ended. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...
Sep 30, 2018•24 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In this bonus episode we take a look at how in the 1980s Cannon Films signed a major star to the biggest deal in entertainment history and still didn't get the movie made. LaBrava was to be an adaptation of the Elmore Leonard (Justified, Get Shorty, Jackie Brown) novel and a signal that Cannon had moved into the big leagues. Instead Cannon's own excitement over the project became its biggest problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 27, 2018•9 min
The fall season for NBC in the 1978-79 season was a disaster. It was such a wreck that virtually of their fall debuts were gone by the time January rolled around. However, hope was on the horizon. For the last place network, they had an ace up their sleeve that they could not wait to play. That ace was called Supertrain, a super expensive, super marketed, super show that couldn't miss. Until it did. The failure of Supertrain is of legendaryproportions. A failure that all other giant television f...
Jul 23, 2018•27 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In 1977 actor Cliff Robertson received a notice in the mail saying he owed taxes a $10,000 payment he received from Columbia Pictures. The only problem was he hadn't worked for Columbia Pictures in the previous year. What followed uncovered embezzlement, a corporate power struggle, and the blackballing of the man who started it all and would not stop talking about it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 16, 2018•25 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Director William Richert had a dream set up for his first feature film. It was based on a new popular novel from the author of The Manchurian Candidate, he had a hot leading leading man in Jeff Bridges, and he had an all-star supporting cast made of up Oscar winners, legendary character actors, and one bonafide member of Hollywood royalty. What could go wrong? As it turns out, everything! William Richert helps tell this story that involves shotguns, drug dealers, and a repossessed mink coat. Hos...
Jul 09, 2018•31 min•Season 1Ep. 4
After earning massive success in the early 1970's with the movies The French Connection and The Exorcist, William Friedkin could call his own shots. For his next movie he decided on a remake of the 1953 French thriller The Wages of Fear. What started out as a small budgeted movie turned ballooned into a never ending production with casting issues, unwelcoming locals, and uncooperative rivers. Toby Roan of the Sorcerer Blog helps explain the mystique of this movie, which Friedkin considers his be...
Jul 02, 2018•23 min•Season 1Ep. 3
When Menahem Golan left Cannon Films for 21st Century Pictures, he brought with him a grudge that would propel both companies into direct competition over the Brazilian dance craze, the lambada. From this sprang a crazy race to the theaters between competing lambada movies. J. Eddie Peck, star of Lambada (for Cannon Films) and Greydon Clark, director of The Forbidden Dance (for 21st Century Pictures) help tell the true story of this cinematic grudge match. Get Greydon Clark's autobiography here ...
Jun 27, 2018•37 min•Season 1Ep. 2
The Rural Purge is legend of television history. A landmark time and a watershed moment when TV decided to leave behind the down home fun and wholesomeness of shows like Mayberry RFD, Green Aces, and The Beverly Hillbillies for urban skewing shows like All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. But what was it that prompted mass cancellations and started a television revolution? In this episode we explore the history of The Rural Purge with author Telly Davidson. Telly Davidson's latest bo...
Jun 23, 2018•20 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Introducing a new podcast telling stories of Hollywood history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 20, 2018•1 min
