Puck founding partner Matthew Belloni takes you inside Hollywood, using exclusive reporting and insight to explain the backstories on everything from Marvel movies to streaming wars. Multiple times each week, Matt is joined by major executives, dealmakers, and journalists, to discuss what is getting made and why, who is winning and losing, and what people in show business are actually talking about.
Last refreshed: ⓘ
Follow this podcast in the Metacast mobile app to refresh it and see new episodes.
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to conduct the fourth annual box office draft. Matt and Lucas each draft seven blockbuster movies set to be released in 2026 with the goal of making the most money possible against the production budget. Plus, an added twist that allows each person to saddle the other's team with a movie they believe will flop. Follow along with Matt and Lucas here ! For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ...
Matt is joined by national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA Duncan Crabtree-Ireland to discuss the union's upcoming negotiations with the AMPTP, the possibility of another strike, what he wants to achieve in this negotiation, why they are starting their negotiations before other guilds, the state of AI disruptions, and what the actors actually want in their new CBA (01:21). Matt finishes the show with an updated prediction on who will win the bidding for Warner Bros. Discove...
Matt is joined by Jared Bush, the writer and codirector of Zootopia 2 and chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, to discuss the smash-hit sequel, its incredible success in China, the state of original animated films in theaters, AI and other challenges facing the animation industry, incorporating adult humor into animated films, the plans for a third and fourth 'Frozen,' and more (02:00). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for '28 Years Later: ...
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to react to Sunday's Golden Globe Awards, including the cringiest corporate moments and the studios and streamers that overperformed. Then, they discuss the latest move in the ongoing Warner Bros. Discovery saga, with Paramount filing a lawsuit seeking to force Warner to release more information about its merger agreement with Netflix, and their plan to launch a proxy fight (01:56). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about a few heavily favored Osca...
Matt is joined by Jeff Sagansky—a longtime investor, executive, and producer—to discuss the current media landscape and how things are trending as we begin 2026. Jeff previews the M&A deal market for this year, makes the case for Warner Bros. surviving without a merger, shares what it’s like to be a producer in Hollywood right now, discusses the dark age of talent profit-sharing, and explains what investors appear most interested in this year (01:50). Matt then finishes the show with an open...
Matt is joined by Puck contributor and box office guru Scott Mendelson to recap the year in moviegoing, give his take on the general disappointment in domestic box office performance, and hand out awards like Surprise Hit of the Year, Surprise Miss, and the Great Legs Award. He also checks in on the state of superhero movies and the horror genre and gives final grades to each studio (01:38). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the 2026 Golden Globes (38:58). For a 20 percent discount ...
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to ask their most burning questions for Hollywood in 2026, including whether another strike is imminent, how NFL rights negotiations will affect the shows and movies made for streaming, what types of movies David Ellison will make as the head of a major studio, whether Universal can unseat Disney as the box office champion for the first time in over a decade, and much more (01:34). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’...
Matt Belloni and Julia Alexander provide a comprehensive year-end review of the streaming industry, analyzing subscriber numbers for major platforms and highlighting YouTube's massive user base. They delve into top shows, dissect Peacock's struggles and surprise hits like "Love Island," and examine Netflix's content strategy amidst a maturing business landscape. The discussion also covers the growing importance of free ad-supported services like Tubi, the emergence of social video on TV, and the intense competition for lucrative sports broadcasting rights.
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the big Christmas weekend at the box office, including the big ‘Marty Supreme’ win and Sydney Sweeney’s box office bounce. Then they dive into Lucas’s recent Bloomberg survey polling 700 industry experts to answer the biggest burning questions around town, including who will end up owning Warner Bros., who will be the CEO of Disney in 2027, where you should sell your movie, and who is the worst CEO in media (01:42). Matt finishes the show with ...
In Part 2 of podcasting's biggest night, Matt and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw hand out the Executive Fail of the Year Award; the Savviest PR Move Award; the Mea Culpa I Was Wrong Award; the Suck It Haters, I Was Right Award; and the Biggest Self-Inflicted Wound Award. Then they declare which executive and talent won 2025 (00:07). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘Marty Supreme’ and ‘Anaconda’ (34:57). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsle...
It’s podcasting’s most exclusive event of the year: the fourth annual Townies! Join Matt and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw as they recap the year in Hollywood with exciting and hilarious categories like Biggest Flex, Most Destructive Behind-the-Scenes Drama, Most Baffling Success, Most Annoying Media Narrative, Deal of the Year, and much more in Part 1 of this year's Townies. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ...
Matt is joined by Gerry Cardinale, founder and managing partner of RedBird Capital, to discuss Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros., why their bid is superior to Netflix’s bid, Larry Ellison and the Middle East's involvement, whether they will look to raise their bid, and what the next steps will be (02:33). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash' (29:44). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’...
Matt is joined by United States Senator Elizabeth Warren to discuss what should happen to Warner Bros., why it should not go to Netflix or Paramount Skydance, whether Democrats and Republicans could unite to block this sale, and how Hollywood should fight to survive in the era of big tech consolidation (02:08). Matt finishes the show reacting to the Oscars moving exclusively to YouTube in 2029 (25:29). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ...
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss Disney entering a licensing agreement with Sora and investing $1 billion in OpenAI. The deal allows OpenAI to use characters from Disney’s deep pocket of popular IP in its Sora AI video generator. They break down the details of the deal, why Disney did it, how CEO Bob Iger handled the announcement, whether other companies will follow suit, and what this means for the long-term tension between Hollywood and AI (03:12). Matt finishes the show wit...
Matt is joined by casting director Tiffany Little Canfield (‘Wicked’) to discuss casting major franchise roles that draw thousands of auditions like Elphaba and Glinda in ‘Wicked,’ the challenges of casting stars vs. unknowns, misconceptions about the casting process and how it has changed, Hollywood’s lack of young movie stars, the new achievement in casting Oscar, the best auditions she has ever seen, and other challenges of the casting process (02:06). Matt finishes the show with an opening w...
Matt is joined by Peter Supino from Wolfe Research to discuss Paramount launching a hostile takeover of Warner Bros., days after they agreed to a deal with Netflix. Peter maps out the differences in each bid and makes the case for and against each bidder. They also talk about the latest comments by David Ellison, Ted Sarandos, and Donald Trump, where the financials are coming from for Paramount-Skydance, and ultimately who has the upper hand (02:27). Matt finishes the show with a prediction abou...
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to break down every angle of Netflix agreeing to buy the Warner Bros. film and streaming business. They dig into why Netflix made this deal, why David Ellison and Paramount lost out, the threat to moviemaking and movie theaters, what will happen to HBO Max, and possible roadblocks that could prevent this deal from going through. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ...
Matt is joined by Stephen Galloway, the dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, to discuss the state of film school education in 2025, how it has evolved, and the increasingly high tuition costs (02:22) Matt finishes the show by predicting whether 'Rush Hour 4' will actually get made (27:09). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click here...
Matt is joined by Nielsen Global Media executive Brian Fuhrer to discuss why NFL ratings seem to be setting new viewership records all the time, how sports-ratings measurements have changed, why these numbers are so important for sports leagues, and which leagues are growing the fastest (02:35). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘Five Nights at Freddy's 2’ (26:35). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ...
Matt is joined by Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw to discuss Lucas’s recent report that Netflix would continue to release Warner Bros. movies in theaters if it were to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. They talk about whether they actually believe Netflix, how theatrical movies at Netflix would work, and possible conditions that could accompany a Netflix–Warner Bros. Discovery deal (03:07). Lucas sticks around to give an update on the 2025 box office draft and discuss the big opening weekend for ‘Zootopia ...
Live from Los Angeles, Matt is joined by director Chloe Zhao ('Hamnet') to discuss what she learned from Steven Spielberg producing her movie, how she developed her visual style, directing a Marvel movie, casting ‘Hamnet’, the COVID Oscars, and her plans to work in anime (00:41). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘Zootopia 2’ (21:45). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ...
In part two, Matt and director James Cameron talk about how much ‘Avatar’ really costs to produce, whether he has plans for a fourth and fifth movie, his relationship with Disney and Bob Iger, what COVID and streaming did to the industry, who should buy Warner Bros. (and why it’s definitely not Netflix), why 3D never took off, the Sphere, aliens, his director hang-out sessions, and much more. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ...
Matt and director James Cameron sit down for a wide-ranging conversation on the misconceptions about the filmmaking of the 'Avatar' franchise, how it landed at Fox/Disney, why Jim prefers using performance capture technology, the cost of CGI, the threat of AI in Hollywood, his relationship with Elon Musk, whether Jim agrees that he is a “difficult” director, his deep-sea explorations, and more. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ...
Matt is joined by Tom Freston, former CEO of Viacom and MTV Networks, to discuss why legacy companies missed the boat with YouTube in the early aughts, the similarities YouTube from the aughts shares with the AI boom of today, why MTV died, and whether it can be revived (02:13). Matt finishes the show with a prediction on the hottest story in town: Parmigiano Reggiano signing with UTA (25:57). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ...
Matt is joined by Jonathan Kanter, a lawyer who served as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2021 to 2024, to look at the looming Warner Bros. Discovery sale from an antitrust perspective, highlight the biggest antitrust issues for each potential bidder (Paramount, Comcast, Netflix), whether consolidation is necessary to compete with Big Tech, the government’s influence over this merger, and the perilous state of existence for media compa...
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to investigate a historically bad fall season at the box office by highlighting which issues are actually real and which are insignificant. They look at larger industry-wide trends, like the shortening of theatrical windows and the rise of streaming, as well as smaller, more recent developments like releasing independent movies wide rather than platforming them. They discuss whether the "movie-star problem" excuse is overblown or legitimate, as well as if...
Matt is joined by Rahul Purini, the president of Crunchyroll, to discuss the anime boom both globally and in America, the rise of global streaming services and its role in spreading anime and manga content, and what is it about the anime content itself that appeals to audiences (03:49). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘The Running Man’ and ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t' (24:08). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m ...
Matt is joined by Tubi CEO Anjali Sud to discuss how Tubi reached profitability, its push to bring in original creators, the growth of ad-supported streaming, how the FAST landscape is evolving, and why everyone is competing with YouTube (01:55). Later, Matt discusses a few details about the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic, ‘Michael,’ and gives an early prediction for how the movie will perform and whether there will be a sequel (26:20). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider news...
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the ongoing dispute between YouTube and Disney, which has resulted in the removal of ESPN and other Disney properties from YouTube TV for the past week. They break down why this dispute is different from others that have come before it, focusing on the leverage a tech company like Google has over traditional cable operators. Later, they touch on the recent Warner Bros. Discovery earnings report and give an update on the state of the company's s...
Matt opens up the mailbag for another Town Hall and answers listener questions about Disney turning down a Steven Soderbergh–penned 'Star Wars' script, the possibility of Netflix and Comcast splitting Warner Bros. Discovery, whether Netflix will ever release movies in theaters, who the best home for Warner Bros. is from the perspective of the talent community, and what will happen to 'The Challenge' and other MTV properties under David Ellison. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insid...
