The Town with Matthew Belloni

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to recap Hollywood’s slow start to the year and reveal their under-the-radar winners and losers of 2024 so far. Matt finishes the show by revealing the championship matchup in the Hollywood Power Bracket and predicting who will take home the trophy. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click here. Email u...

Matt is joined by Sheila Nevins, producer and former president of HBO Documentary Films, to discuss why she isn't bothered by the complicated state of documentaries. Thanks to streaming, documentaries are more popular than ever, reaching more households and finding consistent relevance in pop culture like never before. Sheila gives her take on the perception that quality filmmaking has ceded its p...

Matt is joined by WWE president Nick Khan to discuss the WWE’s $5 billion deal with Netflix, making the streaming giant the exclusive new home to WWE’s 'Raw' starting in January 2025. Nick talks about how the deal came together, the creative vision in a post–Vince McMahon world, the Rock’s return to the ring, what this deal means for the future of sports media, where he expects the brand to be in...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss what’s at stake in Disney’s proxy battle with billionaire corporate raider Nelson Peltz. With the annual shareholder meeting coming up this week, they dive into the war Peltz has waged against Disney and CEO Bob Iger, whether his case has any merit, and whether he could actually win. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about how the box offi...

Matt is joined by Van Lathan to discuss the complicated and nuanced relationship between TMZ and Hollywood. As a former TMZ employee, Van walks us through how the sausage is made at TMZ and outlines its aggressive reporting style, how it pays its sources, and how, despite its often negative perception, the mainstream media has become more like TMZ, not the other way around. For a 20 percent discou...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the battle for time in the attention economy of streaming and social media. They parse through the latest data on how people spend their time and wonder whether streaming services are in danger of losing relevance with young millennials and Gen Z. They talk about whether legacy studios and streamers are worried about apps like TikTok and how they...

Matt is joined by Matt Panousis, the COO and cofounder of VFX and AI technology company MARZ, to discuss how AI is currently being implemented in Hollywood. Matt outlines the recent innovations and their impacts on VFX, dubbing, postproduction, digital makeup, and much more. Matt finishes the show with a box office prediction about the opening weekend of ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.’ For a 20 per...

Matt is joined by Puck’s Dylan Byers to check in on the world of television news and anchors like Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson exiting their perches and starting new careers on social media platforms like Twitter/X. They discuss whether these cable TV stars can retain their cachet and relevance, whether they can make as much money (or more), and whether the life after TV business model is sustaina...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to craft The Town’s first ever Hollywood Power List: their definitive (and subjective!) ranking of who has the most “juice” a.k.a. the most influential figures in the entertainment business. Matt and Lucas debate who deserves to be in the top 10, who doesn’t, whether an actor will break the top 10, and who currently deserves the coveted top spot. For a 20 p...

Matt is joined by Jeremiah Reynolds, partner at Eisner LLP and copyright law expert, to untangle the recent plagiarism accusation by screenwriter Simon Stephenson over Alexander Payne’s ‘The Holdovers,’ then outline whether or not this case has merit. Matt and Jeremiah discuss famous past examples of copyright infringement, whether the WGA can help with plagiarism, and what a writer can do if they...

Matt is joined by Julia Alexander from Puck and Parrot Analytics to discuss what is and isn’t working in Netflix’s foray into live sports and sports-adjacent programming, and they outline how Netflix is experimenting to make a potential bid on live rights for a major sport. She reveals some data around Netflix viewership, explains why the sports documentary market is oversaturated, and outlines th...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the various winners and losers from the Academy Awards, including Universal Studios, film chief Donna Langley, Christopher Nolan, and Disney's Searchlight Pictures as winners and Apple and Netflix as losers. Now, with awards season officially in the books, Matt and Lucas create their new movie studio power rankings. For a 20 percent discount on M...

Matt is joined by Mosaic talent manager and Oscar enthusiast Michael Lasker to parse through the awards season chatter to find a gambling edge on the Academy Awards. Matt and Michael discuss whether anyone has a shot at defeating 'Oppenheimer,' Emma Stone vs. Lily Gladstone, the tight screenplay races, and whether history still plays a role in who wins. Matt finishes the show with a prediction abo...

Matt is joined by Puck’s longtime fashion journalist, Lauren Sherman, to discuss the business of the red carpet, the amount of money celebrities can make from high-end luxury brands, and the state of the Oscars as a fashion and brand platform. Lauren tells us which stars have the biggest brand deals, who has broken out this year, and how a stylist can take them to the next level. Matt finishes the...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the big changes on the film side of Netflix and Disney, and what these moves signal for each studio. Netflix hired producer Dan Lin as their new head of film, and Disney promoted David Greenbaum as their new head of Disney Live Action and 20th Century Studios. Dramatically fewer movies at Netflix, Disney goes for more original hits, big changes a...

Matt is joined by The New Yorker’s Michael Schulman to parse through the endless campaigns from the 2024 Oscar season and give out their own awards for the best, worst, and everything in between. Some of the awards include Best Campaign Narrative, Biggest Campaign Misfire, Best Stunt, Best Overall Campaign, and Who Won Awards Season. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter...

Matt is joined by Ben Thompson, the founder of Stratechery, to discuss Open AI’s new text-to-video model Sora and the ensuing Hollywood freakout. Ben explains how Sora works and what effect it could have in the short and long term in the entertainment industry. They discuss which departments will be disrupted the most, how Sora and text-to-video models can be used as a productivity tool, and how t...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to check in on Warner Bros. Discovery and CEO David Zazlav after a rocky earnings call last week. They discuss the disappointing movie quarter, their murky path to streaming profitability, the state of the MAX brand, whether they will keep their NBA rights, and if it's officially time to pivot on WBD’s business model. Matt finishes the show with a predictio...

Matt is joined by Dr. Stacy Smith—the founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative—to discuss the state of female representation in Hollywood and how “The Year of the Woman” after major box office hits from ‘Barbie’, Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ and Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance' might not be accurate. They also discuss the state of casting older men and women in Hollywood, the DEI initiatives of...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss Peacock’s strong start to 2024 and the prospect of a possible joint venture or “commercial partnership” with Paramount+, as reported by The Wall Street Journal late last week. They run through the logistics of a merger, the curious timing of the Journal’s story, the critical role live sports rights play, Warren Buffett's sale of a third of his st...

Matt is joined by Neon founder and CEO Tom Quinn to talk about the thesis for launching Neon, the difficulty of starting a theatrical distribution company centered around adult-oriented movies in 2017, how they are able to compete financially with other major studios’ Oscar campaigns, the business model behind a movie like ‘Anatomy of a Fall,’ what they learned from ‘Parasite,’ what he deems a suc...

Matt is joined by box office columnist and Puck contributor Scott Mendelson to discuss the historically bleak start to the year at the box office, filled with few tentpole releases and bombs from movies like ‘Argylle.’ They preview the rest of the year’s movie slate, discuss whether movies like 'Dune: Part Two' can outperform the limitations of their genre, offer up some potential wild-card hits,...

Live from Las Vegas, Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw and special guest Jimmy Kimmel to discuss the state of sports television, the NFL's dominance in an otherwise struggling television landscape, Las Vegas as a Super Bowl venue, the potential move of the Oakland A's to Vegas, the hardest part about hosting the Oscars, the future of late-night television, and more. For a 20 percent discoun...

Matt is joined by media analyst Rich Greenfield to discuss Disney’s latest quarterly earnings report, as well as a slew of new announcements from CEO Bob Iger. Matt and Rich run through each announcement, including their new $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games, a stand-alone ESPN streaming service, their bundled sports streaming service with Fox and WBD, Moana 2, Taylor Swift's concert movie com...

Matt is joined by sports business journalist and Puck contributor John Ourand to discuss ESPN, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery teaming up to create a new over-the-top sports streaming platform that will air live sports from ESPN, TNT, FS1, and more. They discuss the dynamics of this deal, why this is happening, how it will affect the future of linear cable, potential drawbacks, and more. Matt fini...