The Business

The Thalberg; Windows Close in Hollywood

The Motion Picture Academy hands out the first Thalberg Memorial Award since 2000, but what exactly it?  Plus, DVD's are dying. What will take their place, and how will it change the way we watch – and pay for – movies?

Producer Grant Heslov Directs; Stopping Hollywood's Scammers

Writer/actor/producer Grant Heslov moves to the director's chair on the new George Clooney movie, The Men Who Stare at Goats. Plus, "I'll make you a star! - for 5,000 bucks."

Marketing Movies Interactively, Producing for Cable v NBC

This week, how Warner Brothers used interactive tricks to power a surprisingly strong opening weekend for Where the Wild Things Are. Plus television writer/producer Dan Harmon toiled in basic cable on Comedy Central and VH1.  Now, as creator of NBC's Community he tells us how the game is different on a big broadcast network. And, as always, the Hollywood news banter.

Curse of the Mogul; NCIS Spin-off Success

A new book argues that media moguls act like spoiled brats, squandering the shareholders' money on toys that they don't really need. Plus, how do you create a TV spin-off that's original but not too original? We ask the producer of the CBS shows NCIS and the brand new NCIS: Los Angeles.

Writers Face the New Hollywood Economy; Studio Shake-ups

This week, how the recession and major changes in the entertainment industry are impacting the lives of film and TV writers. Plus, Disney and Universal are the latest studios to shake up the executives suites and send a tremor through the industry.

'Paranormal Activity' Gets Life; Thalberg Changed Hollywood

A producer who was haunted by passing on the Blair Witch Project produces a low-budget horror film with big hopes of redemption.  Plus Irving Thalberg changed the studio system. Now his life is on display.

Disney; D23; Toronto Film Festival

This week, fans came out in full force to a recent celebration of all things Disney. But major changes are afoot in the Magic Kingdom. Plus, was the Toronto Film Festival a bloodbath for indie filmmakers or just a shift in the life cycle of independent film?

Do the Emmys Matter?; The 'Guiding Light' Goes Out

Does winning an Emmy matter to you, to me, to the business?  And, the Television Academy puts TV legends on-line.  Plus after 72 years, Guiding Light gets snuffed.

Summer Box Office Round-up; A Long Look at Leno

The summer box office broke records, but was blockbuster season really all that? Plus, what does the Leno prime-time experiment mean for the TV business?

Disney Buys Marvel; Hollywood Labor Strife, Part ?

Disney buys Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Is it a super deal or super dud?  Plus, the division and drama continues in Hollywood's labor unions, and two top TV producers and their money-making program they call the "total engagement experience."

Programming note: This program will be not air on KCRW as it will be pre-empted by special Labor Day programming. It will be available as a podcast and on demand, and will be archived online.

The Academy's New President; Making Great TV...and a Successful Marriage

The producers of the hit show Ghost Whisperer on making great TV…and a successful marriage.  Plus, we talk to the newly-elected president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Hollywood Bollywood and Vice Versa

India's Reliance Big just made a major investment in Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks. Has another sucker landed on our shores, or has Hollywood finally met its match? And while India is coming to Hollywood, one Hollywood production went to India –  tales from Bombay with the producers of Bollywood Hero.

HBO=Doc; Hollywood Back on the Couch

Documentaries used to be relegated to PBS and college classrooms, but these days, they're just as liable to come to theater near you.  We talk to Sheila Nevins, who's had a big part in growing of the nonfiction business as head of HBO Docs for the past three decades. Plus, we revisit our session with Hollywood therapist Dennis Palumbo.

Movie Speak; Scissorhands Revisited

This week, we look at the arcane, historical, fantastical and off-color jargon of the movie set.  Plus, when good executives recut bad films...inside the mind of a cinematic scissorhands. 

Hollywood Goes to Comic-Con

This week, The Business goes to "The Con," the annual nerd-fest know as Comic-Con that’s become a major marketing stop for Hollywood.  Plus, a new documentary looks at Ozploitation...

Twilight: A New Dawn for Summit

Twilight gave a faltering new movie studio an extreme makeover. We talk with Rob Friedman, the chief of Summit Entertainment.