Strictly Business

On today’s episode, in our Box Office segment, Variety’s Rebecca Rubin breaks down a typically weak Super Bowl weekend at the turnstiles in the U.S. , and she examines “Zootopia 2’s” staying power at the international box office . Marc Malkin presses Netflix’s Ted Sarandos about the fate of the Warner Bros. Discovery deal at the Directors Guild Awards. See omnys...

On today’s episode, Russell Hollander, national executive director of the Directors Guild of America, gives a wide-ranging interview as Hollywood contract negotiations begin Feb. 9 with SAG-AFTRA sitting down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Hollander addresses the precipitous drop in TV and film employment, efforts to secure a federal production tax incentive, "...

On today’s episode, in our Cover Story segment, Variety ’s Daniel D’Addario details his behnd-the- scenes reporting on “Love Story,” the latest installment of the FX franchise, this time focusing on the romance between JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. And Jennifer Maas explains how she pulled off a meeting of great minds of D&D -- Brennan Lee Mulligan and Matthew Mer...

On today’s episode, host Cynthia Littleton unpacks the big leadership transition news out of Disney and what it means for Josh D’Amaro and Dana Walden . Plus, highlights from Ted Sarandos’ politically charged grilling in the Senate as the Netflix co-CEO fights for the Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today episode, in our Box Office segment, Variety 's Rebecca Rubin breaks down the weekend numbers with “Melania” surprising , “Send Help” leading and “Iron Lung” setting a new bar for DIY creator films at the multiplexes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Luminate analysts Andrew Wallenstein and Tyler Aquilina break down the Luminate Year-End Film & TV Report 2025 , examining the viewership numbers and trends for streaming originals on Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon, Peacock, Disney+ and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, Variety ’s Joe Otterson explains the recent burst of pilot orders at NBC and why the network is returning to a TV tradition. And Luminate’s Andrew Wallenstein gives a preview of Friday’s “Strictly Business” podcast episode, which goes deep on  Luminate’s just-released Year-End Film and TV Report tracking viewership of streaming ori...

On today’s episode, Natalie Portman, Rob Lowe, Daniel Kwan, Kiernan Shipka, Judd Apatow, Salman Rushdie, Gregg Araki and more sound off on industry issues in interviews conducted at Variety’s Sundance Film Festival studio, presented by Audible. Music legends Kim Gordon and Kathleen Hanna also talk about the music business then and now in connection with Tamra Davis’  Sundanc...

A message from "Daily Variety" host Cynthia Littleton about the episode for Monday, January 26. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stuart Ford, chairman and CEO of AGC Studios and a longtime player in the global movie business, offers a blunt assessment of the problems facing independent film, and he offers thoughts on the adjustments to financial models for production and distribution that would greatly help the sector. Ford explains how AGC has managed to grow over the past seven years with investments in original ideas wit...

On today’s episode, Variety ’s Todd Spangler breaks down Netflix’s Q4 2025 earnings report and what the numbers reveal about the streamer’s business momentum. And he reads between the lines on what co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters had to say about the status of Netflix’s $83 billion deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

On today’s episode, Variety ’s Rebecca Rubin and Clayton Davis break down the art, the science and the bottom line of Academy Award nominations and how box office receipts influence film awards season. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, Variety ’s Brent Lang, Peter Debruge and Owen Gleiberman discuss getting ready as film pros for the Sundance Film Festival, which begins Jan. 22 . These Sundance veterans give us the long-term view of the festival and its profound impact on the film industry as the annual gathering in Park City, Utah prepares for a big move to Boulder, Colo., in 2027. See omnystudio...

Creator Hannah Stocking and executives from Tubi, Smosh, Betches Media, RHEI and LV8 detail how digital natives hustle for clicks, likes and bucks. Recorded live on Jan. 8 at Variety's Business of Creators Summit held at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, Variety’ s Jem Aswad analyzes the prospects for BTS’ massive world tour plans and other big treks in music. And in advance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, host Cynthia Littleton looks back at how King emerged as a media figure on the national stage , as covered by Variety . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, Variety ’s Gene Maddaus breaks down the issues and the schedule for Hollywood union contract negotiations that are set to begin Feb. 9 when SAG-AFTRA sits down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. AI, health care benefits and streaming residuals will surely be on the agenda. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, Variety ’s Todd Spangler explains the latest wrinkle in Paramount Skydance’s pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery with its lawsuit filed in Delaware. And Joe Otterson takes the pulse of WWE viewership and fandom one year after the storied grappling franchise moved to Netflix. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, Variety 's Rebecca Rubin breaks down  the weekend box office and encouraging starts for Paramount’s “Primate” and Neon’s “No Other Choice.” And host Cynthia Littleton offers reporter's notebook observations after a week that started with the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and ended with the Golden Globe Awards swirl in Holl...

Today's episode includes highlights from Variety ’s two-day summit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Actors Simon Helberg and Billy Magnussen preview AMC Network’s Silicon Valley-set dramedy “The Audacity,” and a rare one-on-one conversation with Roku founder and CEO Anthony Wood. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, in our Cover Story segment, Variety’s Daniel D’Addario discusses his revelatory profile of Jodie Foster. And Marc Malkin has a Red Carpet Rundown from the Golden Globes' Golden Eve celebration of Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Mirren. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, as Los Angeles marks the one-year anniversary of the devastating Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires, NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff details the cathartic process of writing his new book, “Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, Variety’s Jazz Tangcay explains why the 98th annual Academy Awards may well mark a breakthrough moment for female cinematographers.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, we’ll break down the holiday box office with Variety’ s Rebecca Rubin. It was a bountiful end of the year for exhibitors. And Todd Spangler does some crystal ball gazing with Variety ’s predictions for 2026. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Strictly Business" co-host Andrew Wallenstein traveled to Israel last month to take part in Jerusalem Sessions, a first-time festival where local TV and film pros discussed how to contend with the dark cloud that has been cast over their industry since Oct. 7, 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On today’s episode, showbiz historians David Monod and Peter Rader describe the entertainment marketplace as it existed in 1905, the year Variety began publishing in New York. The pair have great insights into how the past has informed the present in the world that Variety has covered for 12 decades and counting. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.