The Business

How will the Wall Street meldown affect Hollywood studios and their coporate parents?

Do salacious rumors swirling around NBC's embattled programming chief signal his ouster? What has he done that's so bad, and what good is being overlooked?  Plus, a world without Don LaFontaine.

Are Hollywood celebrities irrelevant in an election when their candidate's a star? Plus, mommy and me go to the movies.

Hollywood's been sniffing around Atlas Shrugged since Ayn Rand published it in 1957. So why hasn't it been made into a movie? We talk to the first guy to get the go-ahead from Rand -- in 1974.

We revisit our conversation on Hollywood assistants, with authors Peter Nowalk and Hillary Stamm . Plus, how does a studio spend $100 million on a movie when they don't own the rights?

Hollywood's studios are slashing producer deals in record numbers. What are these producer pacts? What does it all mean for the kinds of movies that we'll be seeing?  We talk to Adam Fields , who's had pacts with most of the majors. Plus, what's in a production company name?

This week on The Business , six degrees of celebrity philanthropy with, of course, Kevin Bacon - actor, musician and on-line philanthropist.

We talk to Shelley Billik , the Vice President of Environmental Initiatives at Warner Bros. Entertainment.  She's spent the last sixteen years explaining to the industry that recycling vintage Halston doesn't make you an environmentalist.

Dennis Palumbo , screenwriter turned psychologist, puts Hollywood on the couch.

SAG and the producers are at an impasse, so what happens next? Plus, what happens when the mavens of Mumblecore go Hollywood?

From Hannah Montana to High School Musical , we look at Disney's teen green-making machine.

AFTRA approves their deal with producers...and SAG goes back to the negotiating table. Is peace at hand in Hollywood?  

This special edition of The Business features a rare head-to-head conversation about future of acting with the dueling presidents of SAG and AFTRA. It's the first time the leaders have spoken since March 29... Note: This special edition of The Business pre-empts The Treatment at 2:30 and Which Way, LA? at 7pm.

Do sky-high gas prices mean boffo box office? Plus, first there was the writers' strike and now there's strike TV. Plus, the Zen of making movie titles.

The two-way street between American television and British telly. We talk to TV producer extraordinaire Caryn Mandabach about her dealings across the pond.  Plus, last words from the late special-effects wizard Stan Winston.

A makeover at MySpace continues to transform Hollywood into your space.  We chat with MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe .  Plus SAG and AFTRA's battle over the hearts and minds of its members.

How will rating ads instead of programs change what you see on your TV? Plus, whether or not to shoot a scene often depends on the weather.

A hit network TV show picks up, moves to New York and stirs up the enduring question: why doesn't California do something to staunch the flow of runaway production?

This week on The Business , everything you wanted to know about being an assistant, but were too terrified to ask. We talk with the authors of The Hollywood Assistants Handbook . Plus, an update on the actors' negotiations for a new contract.

A major studio is getting out of the indie business and one stalwart indie distributor is rumored to be having serious money problems. The two indie film TV channels may roll into one. Is Hollywood going to give indie the bum's Rushmore? We talk to esteemed indie producer Christine Vachon and uber -salesman John Sloss . Plus, 'Hollywood on the Couch,' Part II, with writer-turned-therapist Dennis P...

We put Hollywood on the couch with writer-turned-therapist Dennis Palumbo .

Pixar's Brad Bird just received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Writers' Guild. So this week we revisit our conversation with the creator of The Incredibles and Ratatouille . Plus, the entertainment industry home team.

The uneasy alliance between the two actors' unions has turned into outright hostility. Plus, the unions want money from the digital future. When will that future arrive? Finally, who gets credit before the credits roll?

There's been a mad game of musical chairs in the agency business in the last few of weeks. The agency business is changing, but the relationship between agents and clients seems to be as quirky as ever.