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Matthew Belloni, Eriq Gardner, Julia Alexander, Kim Masters & Scott Mendelson
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Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday
An essential, insider-friendly Hollywood tip sheet from Matthew Belloni, who spent 14 years in the trenches at The Hollywood Reporter and five before that practicing entertainment law. What I’m Hearing also features veteran Hollywood journalist Kim Masters, as well as a special companion email from Eriq Gardner, focused on entertainment law, and weekly box office analysis from Scott Mendelson.
THE LATEST ARTICLES
Matthew Belloni
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January 31, 2022
‘Sing 2’ and the Art of Franchise Survivalism
Hollywood’s new and diminished definition of success doesn’t actually require a film to be wildly profitable so long as its franchise can continue. Of course, how to define and create one in the streaming era is perhaps the most difficult and debated question of all.
Matthew Belloni
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January 28, 2022
Netflix-pocalypse: The Human Toll
Reed Hastings' recent stock swoon could portend a compensation crisis inside his executive ranks. But the right-sized valuation might just bring some competitive normalcy to the rest of the entertainment industry.
Matthew Belloni
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January 24, 2022
Why Does Showtime Still Exist?
Short-term cash and executive turf wars are preventing ViacomCBS C.E.O. Bob Bakish from doing the obvious: merging Showtime and Paramount+ into a single, more valuable streaming service
Matthew Belloni
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January 24, 2022
Netflix’s Black Friday
The stock price apocalypse is a market problem more than a business problem. Netflix may not be growing fast enough for Wall Street, but what’s wrong with throwing off tens of billions of dollars in cash?
Matthew Belloni
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January 21, 2022
Why Hollywood Thinks Trump Was Right About China
A candid conversation about China’s cultural imperialism, the rise and fall of Wang Jianlin, and how Beijing learned to beat Hollywood at its own game.
Matthew Belloni
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January 18, 2022
What We Lose When We Lose the CW
It’s amazing that the linear network lasted as long as it did. But in this Peak TV era, it’s worth analyzing how the growth of streaming necessarily comes with contraction elsewhere, and, most importantly, who wins and who loses in the process.
Matthew Belloni
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January 14, 2022
Disney’s Bob Chapek Only Has One Pillar
Chapek’s “relentless focus on our audience” is generating a lot of chatter, but the C.E.O. isn’t particularly compassionate about the customer. It’s about establishing streaming as a new and viable business model—and ensuring that Chapek keeps his job.
Matthew Belloni
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January 10, 2022
How NBC Resolved Its $60 Million Globes Contract Dispute
Will everyone just pretend the Globes don’t exist?
Matthew Belloni
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January 10, 2022
“We Made the Right Decision”: A Chat About Movies and HBO Max with Jason Kilar
We talked about the legacy of Project Popcorn, the future of non-franchise films, Discovery spinoff details, CNN+, The CW, The Batman and more.
Matthew Belloni
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January 7, 2022
The Triumph and Tragedy of ‘Yellowstone’
The story of Yellowstone is the story of modern Hollywood—complete with all the egos, dysfunction, botched strategy pivots, the #metoo movement, and, despite it all, incredible creative execution and financial windfalls. Here’s what actually happened, according to multiple sources close to the show.
