The Town with Matthew Belloni

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss how the independent thriller ‘Sound of Freedom’ came out of nowhere and made $100 million in its first two weeks. They talk about the unique crowdfunding “pay-it-forward” model that helped market and finance the film and wonder if this is just a fluke or if there are any lessons to learn. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider news...

Matt is joined by research analyst Michael Pachter to unpack Netflix’s strong earnings report this week that included the company adding 5.9 million subscribers in Q2. They discuss what Netflix is doing right and how other streamers can learn from them, why the stock went down this week, whether the password crackdown is working, how Netflix should differentiate themselves during the writers and a...

Matt is joined by The Quorum founder David Herrin to discuss the meteoric rise in popularity of ‘Barbie,' the unprecedented data around its tracking, how the marketing has eventized the film, and why this movie has taken the world by storm. They also discuss the "Barbenheimer" movement and how the simultaneous release of ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’—along with the newest Mission Impossible film and...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss Bob Iger’s latest comments on the possibility of selling off Disney’s linear TV assets, including the ABC television network and its station affiliates, FX, and ESPN. They break down Iger’s strategy or lack thereof, the suitors for ABC and ESPN, and whether a deal with Comcast for Hulu is possible. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood in...

Matt is joined by National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of SAG-AFTRA Duncan Crabtree-Ireland to gain more insight from the union’s side of the strike. They break down all the issues that the actors have with A.I., digital replicas, and more. Duncan also shares the proposals that were given during the negotiations that were all eventually turned down, as well as the rules for union membe...

Matt is joined by Puck’s Jonathan Handel as they discuss the failed negotiations between the studios and SAG-AFTRA, who are now ready to go on strike. They discuss where the talks break down, what is realistically going to happen from here, and more. And, after yesterday’s Emmy nominations, Matt finished the show by giving his prediction for Best Comedy Series. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s...

Matt is joined by Point Grey cofounder Evan Goldberg to discuss his latest release, ‘Joy Ride,’ and how comedies can become theatrical successes once again. They discuss how theatrical releases rely on eventizing the film, what the studios are looking for when it comes to comedies, and if it is possible for someone to create comedies with the same strategy that Blumhouse uses to create horror movi...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss his latest piece about Amazon CEO Andy Jassy asking his studio executives for detailed budget analyses of some of their biggest shows. They debate whether Amazon’s issue is more related to its content strategy, what happened during the production of ‘Citadel,' the overall goal at Amazon with Prime Video, Jen Salke’s job security, and more. Also,...

Welcome back to Town Hall! Matt and Craig answer a slew of listener questions about Bob Iger’s legacy, an overpacked summer of blockbusters, how the AMPTP really works, inflated movie budgets, the future of Hollywood mega-mergers, the sustainability of premium video on demand, and more. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the opening weekend for 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Par...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to look back on Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s publicly disgraced decisions to cut costs at the company and determine whether or not they were justified. It’s rare a media CEO becomes a central piece of the discourse, but after several PR mishaps and controversial content decisions, he has become the poster child for the troubled state of the ind...

Matt is joined by Matthew Liebmann, the Chief Innovation and Data Officer at Vista Group, to discuss Gen Z’s relationship with going to the movies. Matthew talks about how much Gen Z is going to movie theaters these days, their favorite franchises and genres, the effect of marketing on moviegoing habits, and more. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about NBC’s streaming service Peacock. For...

Matt is joined by Nathan Hubbard—former CEO of Ticketmaster, current CEO of Firebird Music and Ringer podcaster—to discuss Taylor Swift’s world dominating Eras Tour and her path to achieving the first billion-dollar tour. They discuss how much money Taylor actually makes on this tour, why she isn’t releasing her weekly grosses, and whether or not she will reach that billion milestone and beyond. F...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to compete in the very first executive draft. Matt and Lucas will each select who they believe is the best in the business in each of these four categories: CEO, Studio Chief, Rising Star, and Specialist. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click here. Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com Host: Ma...

Matt is joined by Matt Stoller, the research director for the American Economic Liberties Project and the writer of the monopoly-focused newsletter 'Big,' to discuss the evolution of Hollywood’s markets, how vertical integration has poisoned the industry, and why we need to de-consolidate the studio streamers to rescue the entertainment business. Matt finishes the show by giving a box office openi...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss whether the recent stretch of superhero flops is a sign of things to come or simply a blip on the radar. Four of the last six Marvel films have underperformed, DC’s ‘The Flash’ just bombed, and Marvel has pushed back the release date of its next line of Avengers films. So is it officially time to hit the panic button on the superhero genre? For a...

Matt is joined by The Hollywood Reporter’s Rebecca Keegan to discuss Pixar’s recent cold streak, who’s to blame, and if it can be rectified. They talk about whether their pandemic misfires has caused permanent damage, why their movies cost so much more than every other animation studio, and how leadership and the creative process has changed over the years. Matt finishes the show with two predicti...

Matt is joined by veteran film marketing executive Terry Press to discuss the upcoming movie ‘The Flash’ and how studios promote and release a movie with a controversial star attached. They discuss how Warner Bros. has handled the Ezra Miller situation in the lead-up to opening weekend, the decision to have them attend the premiere, and if any of this could affect box office numbers. They also tal...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the growing issue of data transparency in the streaming era, whether streaming rankings— like the Netflix top 10 lists—are manipulated in the absence of credible data, and whether we will ever see how many people are actually watching these shows. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click here...

Matt is joined by John Lopez, a writer, producer, and member of the AI working group in the WGA, to explain what the guild actually thinks about AI, misperceptions about AI’s ability to write scripts, and why this will be one of the key issues in Hollywood for years to come. Matt finishes the show with a box office prediction for the opening weekend of ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.’ For a 20...

Matt is joined by Puck’s Dylan Byers to discuss the details behind Chris Licht’s fallout with CNN, why this happened now, how this reflects on Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zazlov, and what needs to be done to save CNN. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click here. Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Dylan...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to parse through the first half of an eventful 2023 and highlight the under-discussed winners and losers across the industry so far. Matt finishes the show by giving a prediction about the future of CNN CEO Chris Licht. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click here. Email us your thoughts! thetown@spoti...

Matt is joined by film producer and television executive Gail Berman ('Elvis,' 'Wednesday') to discuss the writers strike from the studios' perspective, using her experience as a former film studio and television network head to touch on what the studios might be thinking about this labor dispute. Matt finishes the show with a prediction for the opening weekend of ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Ve...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw, who attended the Cannes Film Festival in France, to discuss the significance of the festival within the industry, the indie film market, if streaming services are still interested in premiering their projects at Cannes, the optics of David Zaslav’s party, and more. Lucas and Matt also give an update on their box office draft. For a 20 percent discount on M...

Matt is joined by theme park journalist Scott Gustin as they discuss all the latest news surrounding the Disney parks, as well as Universal Studios. They dive into the changes made by former CEO Bob Chapek when the parks reopened during the pandemic, why the immersive Galactic Star Cruiser (a.k.a. the 'Star Wars' hotel and experience) is shutting down, how the international Disney parks are doing,...

Matt is joined by Ronald Gladden, the star of Amazon Freevee’s new hit series ‘Jury Duty,’ as well as the director of the show, Jake Szymanski. They go through the process of creating the show, how Jake managed to direct the actors on set without breaking the illusion, Ronald’s thoughts after learning it was all a show, whether this type of show could be replicated, and more. Matt finishes the sho...