The Town with Matthew Belloni

Matt is joined by Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, to discuss all things Netflix, including the ‘Emilia Perez’ scandal, vetting talent, their IMAX deal with Greta Gerwig’s upcoming 'Narnia' movie, struggling to make franchise IP, and why Netflix is misunderstood (03:12). Matt finishes the show with a ratings prediction for the 'SNL50' anniversary show (32:40). For a 20 percent discou...

Matt is joined by award-winning entertainment marketing executive Terry Press to discuss the social media whirlwind surrounding best picture nominated film ‘Emilia Pérez’ after tweets from its star and Best Actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón have derailed its Oscar campaign. Terry offers her expertise and runs through the awards campaign playbook to outline how Netflix and ‘Emilia Pérez’ can salva...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the complicated holdup in the sale of Paramount Global to David Ellison and his company, Skydance Media. They break down the situation—which involves Donald Trump's lawsuit over Kamala Harris's '60 Minutes' interview on CBS—and consider the options for Paramount Global head Shari Redstone to get this deal done. They also look ahead at the implica...

Matt is joined by Antenna CEO Jonathan Carson to look at the NFL in the digital age and provide insight on how streamers are leveraging NFL rights as a massive subscriber event. They talk about some moves the league has made to target different fans, how much of an impact live NFL games have had on Netflix, and if the splintering of NFL rights could lead to diminishing returns (02:32). Matt finish...

Matt is joined by Lesli Linka Glatter and Russell Hollander, the president and director, respectively, of the Directors Guild of America, to talk about some of the most important topics for directors in the entertainment industry. They discuss how the DGA manages its relationship with SAG and the WGA; how the AI landscape has changed since its last CBA, including AI's use in the film ‘The Brutalis...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to recap an exciting and star-studded 2025 Grammy Awards, break down what it was like to be there in person, and nominate their biggest winners and losers from music’s biggest night. They also talk about Chappell Roan's acceptance speech pleading for record labels to treat their artists better, Kendrick's dominant night, and Will Smith’s return to the award...

Matt is joined by ‘Wicked’ producer Marc Platt to discuss how the smash hit musical adaptation got made and why it took so long despite the stage play's successful multi-decade run. They also discuss why 'Wicked' is the only Best Picture–nominated film with only one credited producer, Platt. They also talk about why the ‘Wicked’ marketing campaign was such a success, tough choices he has had to ma...

Matt is joined by legendary music industry executive Irving Azoff to discuss FireAid, the massive benefit concert on January 30 to help L.A. fire victims. As the Los Angeles area continues its recovery from devastating wildfires, the benefit concert will raise millions for relief efforts. Irving explains how this concert came together so quickly, including the unprecedented streaming effort that w...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to break down Netflix’s quarterly earnings report that saw the streamer add nearly 19 million subscribers and its stock price push to $1,000 a share (02:51). As one of the most valuable media companies, where else does Netflix have room to grow? Next, Matt and Lucas make a correction to the 2025 Box Office Draft from last week (25:43). Click HERE to help th...

Matt is joined by Steven Zeitchik, senior editor at The Hollywood Reporter, to break down some industry angles from the 2025 Oscar nominations, including Netflix's 13 nominations for 'Emilia Pérez' and the movie's chances to win Best Picture in this year's wide-open race, the constituencies among the voters, the growing globalization of the Academy, studio politics, and who they think will win Bes...

Matt is joined by Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy and MusiCares, to discuss how the Grammys plan to address and support the people affected by wildfires in Los Angeles, how the week leading up to music's biggest night is changing this year, why the Grammys are moving from CBS to ABC, TikTok’s place in the music industry, and more (02:20). Matt finishes the show with a prediction abo...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to conduct the third annual box office draft on ‘The Town.’ Matt and Lucas each draft seven blockbuster movies set to be released in 2025 with the goal of making the most money possible against the production budget. Plus, an added twist that allows each person to saddle the other's team with a movie they believe will bomb. Click HERE to help those affected...

Matt is joined by Warner Bailey to talk about one of the most underdiscussed yet crucial pieces of the Hollywood ecosystem: the assistant. Warner surveyed tens of thousands of currently employed assistants in the entertainment business to answer questions about their current salary, how the job has changed over the years, whether they’d want to be their boss one day, if they’ve ever been asked to...

Matt is joined by Amy Reisenbach, the president of CBS Entertainment, to talk about how broadcast networks continue to succeed despite living in a world of streaming and social media. She discusses why these linear networks are still surviving, how a hybrid broadcast-streaming model can be beneficial for legacy networks, and the challenge of programming shows for audiences of different age ranges...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the fallout from the devastating fires in L.A. that are still ongoing. So much of Los Angeles is made up of the entertainment industry—from movie stars, directors, and agents to camera operators, teamsters, caterers, and production assistants—thousands of whom have been seriously affected by the fires. Matt and Lucas take a look at how Hollywood...

Matt is joined by Robbie Whelan from the Wall Street Journal to discuss Disney’s most popular non-theme park experience, the cruise line, and its increasing value to Disney. Matt walks us through his own personal experience on a Disney cruise over the holiday break, and they get into the business of how and why this business is so profitable and important for Disney, and if any other company has t...

Matt and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw react to the Golden Globes and Lucas gives his takeaways from inside the room Sunday night. Then they look ahead to the new year and pose their biggest industry questions of 2025 (01:48). Finally, Matt looks back at his year in predictions on The Call Sheet and Craig reveals whether this was Matt’s best or worst year of prognosticating (24:31). For a 20 percent disc...

In Part 2 of the exclusive Townie Awards, Matt and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw decide who won the year, including executives and talent, and give out some additional awards, including: Biggest Flex; Executive Fail of the Year; Movie Marketing Miss of the Year; Suck It Haters, I Was Right; and so much more. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click h...

It’s podcasting’s most exclusive event of the year: the third annual Townie Awards! Join Matt and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw as they go through the biggest moves, deals, and fails from 2024, while also awarding the Most Annoying Media Narrative, Sneaky Successes, Publicist Fails, Larry David Spite Store of the Year, and much more in Part 1 of this year's Townies. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Ho...

Matt is joined by producer Peter Jaysen to discuss his latest film, ‘A Complete Unknown,’ and how he managed to get a movie about Bob Dylan made. He details how he secured the rights to Dylan’s musical archive and life, how they chose Timothée Chalamet, how much Dylan was involved, and secrets to finding and developing top-tier IP (02:45). Matt finishes the show with a Christmas Day box office pre...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to run through a slew of topics tied to a recent survey conducted by Shaw that polls hundreds of Hollywood insiders on some of the hottest questions around town. They also touch on the latest news in the complicated 'It Ends With Us' feud (02:02). Matt finishes the show with a ratings prediction about Netflix's NFL Christmas debut (25:47). For a 20 percent...

Matt is joined by Michael O’Leary, CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) to discuss their pledge to spend $2.2 billion to modernize and upgrade theaters, what that actually means, and what these new “entertainment centers” will actually look like. They also talk about the biggest successes of the year in moviegoing, how theaters can improve for the modern audience, how theaters...

Matt is joined by Mark Roesler, founder and chairman of CMG Worldwide, to discuss how AI has added a new twist to how the rights of dead famous people are being exploited. They discuss how incredibly valuable these rights are and how new technology is changing the way name, image, and likeness are being enabled to resurrect dead stars. They highlight a few recent examples, including James Earl Jon...

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss why Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to separate its TV networks unit from movies and streaming and what this could signal for the company moving forward. Later they discuss ABC News’ decision to settle Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit for $15 million and whether Disney will operate any differently under the Trump administration (02:55). Matt...

Matt is joined by the Entertainment Strategy Guy to help find out which TV shows were the most important to their streaming service in 2024 before revealing which movies actually performed well on streaming and which largely disappointed. He runs through the biggest movie releases of the year on streaming and reveals just how successful or disappointing they were (01:26). Matt and Craig finish the...