Spotlight on The Business
Host Kim Masters is featured in "Celluloid Ceiling," about women in Hollywood, on SoCal Connected
KCET: Thurs, 2/25 (8 pm); repeats 2/26, 27 and 28 at various times
The recession and the general malaise of the media industry has hit hard. KCRW’s Kim Masters talks with NPR’s Steve Inskeep about the economic impact on Hollywood.
The Business is public radio's show about the business of show business. This entertaining half-hour about the people who make entertainment is hosted by Kim Masters, who most recently covered the business for National Public Radio. She's served as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, Time and Esquire and is the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else and co-author, with Nancy Griffin, of Hit & Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood.
Photo credit: Marc Goldstein
This week, the Academy Awards…and the thankless job of producing the Oscar telecast. We talk to the co-producer of this year's show, film producer and former Fox Chairman Bill Mechanic.
It's tough to get distribution for indie movies these days. But just what is distribution, and what can you do if you have a great little movie without it?
It's a big awards weekend in Hollywood. We hear what it's like for a movie executive whose company has three of the five films in Oscar’s Foreign Language category and he still doesn't feel like a front-runner. But before the Academy Awards on Sunday, folks in the indie world are heading to their annual awards bash on Friday. We hear from indie film panelist John Waters and others about how they're going to roll at the Spirit Awards.
Peter Pan's not just a fairy tale character. He could be the mascot of an industry obsessed by youth. This week, we talk to two TV writers involved in an age discrimination suit against the studios.
A hefty new book conceived by director George Lucas examines the DNA of 300 American blockbusters. We examine how the book was made and what we can learn from it. Plus, how far will you go to become a successful screenwriter? The Hurt Locker's Mark Boal went to Iraq.
New music from pop star Ben Folds, popular novelist Nick Hornby and William Shatner. Plus, we check out those star maps that point out houses of the rich and famous. And what can we learn about today's shrinking A-list from a book about one of yesterday's biggest stars?
If we've learned anything from the Leno/Conan debacle, it's the value of a well written contract. We talk to one entertainment lawyer and find out exactly what he does to earn his 5 percent. Plus, the author of About a Boy and High Fidelity didn't write the movies based on his novels, but he did write the script to An Education. Nick Hornby tells us why.
The television business is crazier than ever. We try to make sense of it all with two veteran TV journalists. Plus, a look at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival with the fest's new director, John Cooper.
It's a new year and the Oscar race is in the final stretch. We go behind the horse race with two industry veterans.
The year 2009 was a crazy year for the business, and 2010 should top it. This week, its the Hollywood year to be with Cynthia Littleton of Variety and John Horn of the Los Angeles Times.
We look at the ups, the downs, the all-arounds of the Hollywood year that was with Cynthia Littleton of Variety and John Horn of the Los Angeles Times.
Pixar scored big with Up! this year, and now they're seven for seven. We chat with a member of the company's original brain trust and the director of Up! about Oscars, 3-D and making movies that almost everyone loves. Plus, James Cameron's Avatar cost hundreds of millions to make. How much green does it need to earn to put Fox in the black?
We look at the crazy story behind the new movie Crazy Heart. It's got Oscar buzz now, but it almost didn't make it into theaters. Plus, Twilight has made hundreds of millions at the box office, but a lot of other people have been riding on the cape tails of everybody's favorite vampire movie.
James Cameron's Avatar isn't just a hugely expensive sci-fi adventure – it's a titanic bid to transform movies. We get inside the mind of one of Hollywood's biggest players with Rebecca Keegan, author of the new book The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron.
Did the Academy's documentary short list short some docs? Plus, Hugo Chavez takes on Hollywood.
Former entertainment-industry correspondent for National Public Radio, she's served as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, Time and Esquire and is the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else and co-author with Nancy Griffin of Hit & Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood.
From 1990 through 1996, Masters covered politics for the Washington Post's 'Style' section. Her work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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A CD copy of The Business is available by calling 1.888.600.5279. Transcripts are not available.
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