The Business Brief
The Business Brief
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Four minutes from the heart of Hollywood from Matt Holzman, producer of “The Business,” public radio’s show about the business of show business.
RECENT SHOWS
The Digital Revolution Will Be Televised...for $24.95
Yahoo has launched a nice new ad campaign with messages of digital empowerment like "now the Internet has a personality – yours." But one of their slogans has got to be causing Hollywood severe angina...
Back from the Boondocks
The story of Troy Duffy's rocket-ride to success and equally dramatic plummet back to Earth is combination of Hollywood legend and Greek tragedy; call it Icarus meets Narcissus meets William Morris. But now, it appears that his saga is far from over...
Which Way, Emmys?
Last night was the 61st prime-time Emmy Awards, the television industry's biggest night, and the question has to be: who cares? I'm not trying be provocative, I'm asking the question the TV academy has got to be asking itself: who really cares about the Emmys? Who is our audience?
Tyler Perry's House of Payin'
In 2004, a guy from New Orleans named Tyler Perry showed up in Hollywood. He had the temerity to suggest that the studios might want to turn his wildly popular stage productions into movies. And they all said no. Perry then hooked up with indie studio Lions Gate, and five years later, he continues to beat the big boys at their own game. His low-budget, big profit movies have grossed something like $400 million so far, and that doesn't even include I Can Do Bad All by Myself. His seventh and latest came in first at the box office this past weekend with $24 million – it probably cost half that...
What's So Glorious about 'Inglourious Basterds?'
Hollywood watched the opening weekend of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds with baited breath. After all, this one movie could determine whether there's a future for one of Hollywood's most colorful and controversial figures: Harvey Weinstein, the hot-headed, plus-sized exec who bullied American independent film into a real business...
'District 9' Does Well, Can 'District 10' Be Far Behind?
My head is still spinning after seeing District 9 last weekend. Not just because of the relentless action, the complex plot, the uncomfortable political allegory and the cool aliens that look a bit like seafood and are disparagingly referred to as "prawns." The thing that really set me back was how clear it made it to me that it really is possible to make a great movie that also makes money; that indie-aspirations of art and meaning and studio desires for entertainment and big box office are not mutually exclusive. So why don't the studios crank out more movies like D-9?
It's Not the Pictures That Got Small, It's the A-List
This weekend I watched Sunset Boulevard for like the 1,000th time, and it occurred to me that a lot of modern A-list actors have retreated to their own literal and figurative mansions, trying to ignore the fact that their stars are fading...
The Nerds' Hollywood Takeover
The big comic book, science fiction and fantasy convention known as Comic-Con is to Hollywood what New Hampshire is to presidential politics: that is, it's simply the most important campaign stop of the year. Don't believe me? Just look at the directors who star trekked to San Diego this past weekend...
Race to the Bottom
It seems Michigan is a hot spot for show business folks this summer. But it isn't because of the wonderful beachfront property on Lake St. Clair. It's because Michigan is throwing money at Hollywood with a gigantic 40 percent production tax rebate...
Everybody's a Critic
Last March, stock analyst Richard Greenfield gave a thumbs down to Pixar’s newest film, Up. I went on the air condemning his prediction, and $300 million later, Greenfield has admitted he might have been wrong. Now, I'm getting all sorts of congratulations for calling him out, but I feel like everyone's missing my point…
The Pendulum Swings
There’s a power pendulum in Hollywood that swings between the studios and the people who actually make movies – directors, writers and actors. When the pendulum swings towards the creative people, you get The Godfather and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and even Star Wars. When the pendulum swings to the studios, you get You’ve Got Mail. But, when the pendulum swings to either extreme, it’s bad for the business...
Mommas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be in Show Biz
In 1939, California passed a law to keep unscrupulous adults from stealing the earnings of child actors. But no one ever got around to crafting legislation that would shield these kids from the psychic damage they’d suffer under the cruel lights of fame...
Below the Line and Under the Gun
After a year of working without a contract, the Screen Actors' Guild finally signed a deal with producers last week. Even so, SAG is a union deeply divided. But this isn't a commentary about Hollywood labor strife but the strife currently being felt by Hollywood laborers. I know, it's tough out there for working people everywhere, but if you're below the line in movie or television production, it's downright cataclysmic.
Do You Hulu?
At the end of April, Disney, which owns ABC, announced that it would become a partner in the television web site Hulu. So now, Hulu has three of the four major networks on board, and they have those great commercials with Alec Baldwin. But does Hulu have a future?
Friends with You
Relationships are a core part of the way a lot of businesses do business. But no business tosses around the word “friend” to describe those relationships like they do in Hollywood. A talented film executive I know lost his job recently and he’s been having trouble finding meaningful employment. “In times like these,” he told me, “you can really tell your friends from your Hollywood friends.”
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