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Welcome back to What I’m Hearing, and congrats to everyone who’s checked out for spring break. Remember, I love news tips, insightful comments, and column ideas, just reply to this email.
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What I'm Hearing

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Welcome back to What I’m Hearing, and congrats to everyone who’s checked out for spring break. Remember, I love news tips, insightful comments, and column ideas, just reply to this email. And as always, if you’ve been forwarded this, join the stylish WIH community by clicking here.

Thursday Thoughts…
  • First, a mini-rant: Can we please ignore the poverty rhetoric coming from the studios as the Writers Guild begins negotiating? Yes, the stocks are down, and no one has figured out streaming. Real issues. But here’s an undisputed fact: One after another, from the Art Deco Television Center to Television City to CBS Radford to even a facility planned at the former Sears in Hollywood, the studios and the companies that serve their productions have been frantically upgrading or breaking ground on new spaces to accommodate demand. Long term, entertainment is gonna be a good business.
  • The Anonymous drama ends quietly: Fired Anonymous Content manager-producer Keith Redmon failed to get his desired public apology in today’s joint statement announcing...
Can’t see the full story? You’re receiving the free version of What I’m Hearing at . For full access to Puck, and to each of my colleagues, you can subscribe here.
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Streaming’s Long, Slow Journey to Television
Streaming’s Long, Slow Journey to Television
New Disney+ and Netflix numbers point to a split between existing and new subscribers, and a familiar, potentially stable future for streaming.
MATTHEW BELLONI MATTHEW BELLONI
Adam McKay has been making the rounds lately with a pitch for an allegorical dramedy, and it sounds pretty interesting. The film, dubbed Average Height, Average Build, is said to be about a serial killer who gets into politics in an effort to change the laws to be more, well, murder-friendly. McKay’s got Robert Pattinson attached to lead what will likely be a starry cast, with Robert Downey, Jr. and more in the mix. Good stuff.

But as with most McKay projects, the budget is high for a political dramedy, and despite the fact that his past three movies as a director have generated 17 total Oscar nominations, McKay hasn’t...

Keep Reading with a Free Trial
FOUR STORIES WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
R.N.C. Bidding Wars
R.N.C. Bidding Wars
Notes on Psaki’s MSNBC debut, a media tug-of-war, and CNN’s ratings nadir.
DYLAN BYERS
Ron’s Soft Touch
Ron’s Soft Touch
On the perils of ignoring the MAGA elephant in the room.
TINA NGUYEN
Hoffman’s DeSantis Gamble
Hoffman’s DeSantis Gamble
S.B.F. informants & Reid Hoffman’s DeSantis bet.
TEDDY SCHLEIFER
Xi Jinping, Superstar
Xi Jinping, Superstar
What are D.C. insiders making of the Putin-Xi summit?
JULIA IOFFE
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The most popular next stop for U.S. viewers who watched Suits on Netflix was actually Hulu.
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Latest Articles from Hollywood

Jonathan Handel • November 20, 2023
A Quick Fix for (Some of) the Actors’ A.I. Contract Fears
SAG-AFTRA can take some control of the playing field by issuing its own consent forms for digital replicas.
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Matthew Belloni • November 20, 2023
And the Golden Globes Go to… CBS
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Apple, Marvel, and the Great Box Office Fallacy
In a perverse side effect of the streaming age, Hollywood seems unwilling to call a flop a flop. Instead, the question of what is “profitable” or “value-additive” has become convoluted—especially if it involves a pure-play streamer or a Scorsese movie.


SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher speaks as SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland looks on at a press conference discussing their strike-ending deal with the Hollywood studios on November 10, 2023, in Los Angeles.
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Are Actors Overthinking the A.I. Threat?
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The streaming conversation is consumed with a juxtaposition of Max, D+, Par+, Peacock, and Netflix. But the tech companies are playing Vulcan chess with higher stakes.


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Marvel Enters Its Age of Reduced Expectations
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