The Business

We talk to Fox reality czar Mike Darnell about changes to that American TV behemoth, American Idol .

Kim Masters joins the show as host today. A scary question for the Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios: will DVD sales ever bounce back? Plus, the sweeps week dinosaur.  Why do they still exist?

The Los Angeles Times fights to be the newspaper of record in our “company town.” Plus, the epic battle over the Star Wars -fan movie Fanboys .

Assumptions may make an *%$@! out of you and me…but not during the Academy Awards.  We talk about how once again the safe bets paid off on Oscar night.  Plus, the SAG saga, Part Duh…will the actors ever have a contract?

We go inside the secret world of media mogul Rupert Murdoch,  “the man who owns the news”…and a lot of Hollywood.

This week, we talk about the Oscars' sci-tech awards and ask: Why do Hollywood's techo geeks have to sit at the kid's table? Plus, producer Dean Devlin uses technology to lead TV into the digital future. His new TNT show, Leverage , is 100% digital, from camera to finished product.

Getting famous isn't all its cracked up to be. Just ask Peter Jacobson , aka Dr. Chris Taub on the Fox hit, House . Plus, Sumner's discontent: who is the aging head of Viacom, and what does that mean for the future of his company?

This week, two smart but naive ad guys from Chicago make it in TV, despite themselves. We talk to the creators of the new TNT drama, Trust Me .

The networks have just finished their dog and pony show for the TV critics. We take a peek inside what's known as the TCA's. Plus, celebrity publicist Howard Bragman helps you find your 15 minutes.

This week on The Business, a Hollywood lawyer predicts a rough road ahead for what used to be a recession-proof business. Plus, video games…go indie!

The Hollywood Reporter's 17th annual "100 Most Powerful Women in Hollywood" list. What does is say about the progress of women in the business? How do power lists in general reveal Hollywood's insecurities?

2008 was a roller-coaster of a year for show business.  What’s in store for the industry in 2009?  It's the Hollywood year-to-be with Lauren Schuker of the Wall Street Journal and Scott Collins of the Los Angeles Times.

As Princess Leia, she was saved from the Empire by Luke, Han and Chewy.  As Carrie Fisher , she's had to rely on a higher power to save herself from drugs and alcohol. Plus, going to the big show, Showest.

We revisit our favorite feature stories of 2008: the woes of a video-game reviewer, going to the movies with babies, Hollywood's fascination with swag, and what it's like to be a lady in the testosterone fueled world of the paparazzi.

The ups, the downs, the all arounds of the business of show in 2008.  We talk with Lauren Schuker of the Wall Street Journal and Scott Collins of the Los Angeles Times.

Laura Bickford , the producer of Steven Soderbergh's new epic Che , on themaking and marketing a four-hour movie in an age of multi-tasking and quick cutting. Plus, a female in the testosterone-fueled world of the Hollywood paparazzi?

You're in a play?  But I thought you said you were in show business?  We look at the weird relationship between Hollywood and LA's legit stage.  Plus, even though they're not actors, directors can get typecast, too.

With a full-fledged production facility, major investments in film, and two world class film festivals, the United Arab Emirates is the next country to role the dice on Hollywood.

We talk to director Danny Boyle about making his new film in India, a country that's on the move, but still sometimes on the make.  Plus, the bizarre bazaar that is the American Film Market.

Hollywood's been beguiled and bedeviled by Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged since it was published in 1957. Fifty years later, why hasn't it been made into a movie?  We talk to legendary producer Al Ruddy, the first guy to get Rand's go ahead…in 1974.  (This is a rebroadcast of a program that originally aired on September 8. However, the "Hollywood News Caravan" is new.)

Is there a "Tom Bradley effect" in the movies, or are low returns for movies with black casts just self-fulfilling prophecy? Plus, music mogul Danny Goldberg and the future of the record business.

This indie film was all about the art until the studios got in the game. How will independent film change again now that the studios seem to be backing away? Plus, watching movies 'til you drop with the programmers of the Sundance Film Festival.

Will record-low consumer confidence cause companies to pull their ads off network television or will broke Americans staying at home be a boon to the TV viewing? Plus, the director of Repo! The Genetic Opera may have his career repossessed.

The making and marketing of a Christian hit which landed an impressive fourth place at the box office in its first weekend out. Plus, the first family of hair and make-up finally gets its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The closely-contested, presidential race has brought Americans back into the political process, not to mention doing wonders for TV ratings. Plus, and the winner is…not the press covering the Emmys. And finally, the daughter of a black-listed writer comes to Hollywood.