It’s the unofficial start of summer, and that can only mean one thing: Travel for you and The Ankler team!
🇨🇦 This week, we turn our lens to the tech world, as Ankler CEO and editor-in-chief Janice Min and Like & Subscribe’s Natalie Jarvey hit Centre Stage at Web Summit Vancouver, where we’ll also host an intimate dinner for top creators and creator economy stakeholders.
🇫🇷 Vive la France! In June, Janice and Natalie head to Cannes Lions; look for our A-list programming announcement this week.
🌴 Here in L.A., Katey Rich swings back into town for another Netflix FYSEE LA event (after three earlier whiz-bang panels). The Ankler & Letterboxd Present an “Audience First” Screening of Adolescence is on Friday, May 30 at the streamer’s Tudum Theater, featuring a Q&A with creator Jack Thorne and creator-star Stephen Graham. Request to attend here. 🦑 And Elaine Low has a date on May 29 with SAG-AFTRA and Squid Game at Tudum, where she’ll chat with the Korean juggernaut’s cast and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk. You can RSVP for that conversation here.
🤖 Also in L.A., Erik Barmack and Elaine host panels on May 28 and May 29, respectively, at AI on the Lot, the third annual summit connecting filmmakers, technologists and startups exploring AI’s creative disruption.
Meanwhile, ICYMI, the team jet-setted from the DGA Theater in L.A. to New York’s Crosby Street Hotel this week.
“Being an artist myself, I know the questions to ask that most artists don’t get asked.” That’s how Questlove, keynote speaker at The Ankler x Pure Nonfiction Documentary Spotlight on May 21, described his interview style with artists from Billie Eilish to Mick Jagger for his NBC doc Ladies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music.
Thom Powers emceed the night and led signature deep dives into the creative journeys of more filmmakers including:
Liz Garbus (Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer)
YouTuber and genre newcomer Michelle Khare (Challenge Accepted: I Trained Like A Black Belt For 90 Days)
David Tedeschi (Beatles ’64)
Lance Oppenheim (Ren Faire)
Reginald Hudlin (Number One on the Call Sheet)
The team behind The Fall of Diddy: Mary Robertson, Emma Schwartz, and Yoruba Richen
DOC TALK 1. Thom Powers, right, and David Tedeschi. 2. Keynote speaker Questlove. 3. Michelle Khare. 4. From left: Mary Robertson, Emma Schwartz, Yoruba Richen and Powers. 5. Powers and Lance Oppenheim. 6. Liz Garbus. 7. Reginald Hudlin. (Lou Aguilar)
Back in L.A., the Ankler — together with the Directors Guild of America — hosted our first-ever event centered on TV directors, “The Art of the ‘Show’: Demystifying TV Directing.” Presented by Threads on May 18 at the DGA Theater, the packed Sunday morning showcase rolled out a series of seven riveting discussions moderated by Elaine Low, Lesley Goldberg and Katey Rich with top helmers from Good American Family, Hacks, High Potential, The Pitt, Severance, What We Do in the Shadows and Zero Day. These auteurs not only went deep on their creative process (and how they navigate business and budget), but also what’s giving them hope for Hollywood and advice for passionate creators trying to break through. As Katey wrote earlier, Damian Marcano, a native of Trinidad and Tobago and a director on The Pitt, closed his panel with a mic drop:
He described growing up surrounded by violence and making the active choice to become a “shooter” — of film, that is — instead of a shooter. “Most of you would meet a man like me selling you beads on a beach in Jamaica,” Marcano told the crowd. “That was me staying true to myself. So that’s why I say it’s so important to be drunk on yourself. Don’t rob us of what you have to offer.”
RIGHT DIRECTION 1. Elaine Low, left, with What We Do in the Shadows director Yana Gorskaya. 2. Lesley Goldberg, right, on stage with High Potential helmer Alethea Jones. 3. From left, Zero Day’s Lesli Linka Glatter with The Pitt's Amanda Marsalis and Damian Marcano. 4. Katey Rich, right, with Hacks creator and director Lucia Aniello. (Todd Williamson)
Now, without further ado, ICYMI, our best of the week:
Lesley Goldberg got Lionsgate TV chair Kevin Beggs to share his unvarnished take (paid subscribers only) on the industry’s challenges and why it’s “gradually moving toward a recovery”; his view on M&A including the Skydance-Paramount deal; and — in an Ankler exclusive — news about the sale of the Shohei Ohtani interpreter gambling scandal series:
Fresh from the 2025 upfronts frenzy, Elaine Low breaks down what this year’s ad presentations reveal about the the future of work in Hollywood; what both scripted and unscripted sellers should incorporate in pitches now; and the new skills everyone working in Hollywood needs:
Rosé in Cannes, red carpets in L.A., but for global TV buyers, the real drama unfolded at the transformed — and increasingly opaque — L.A. Screenings. Manori Ravindran outlines how drastically the format and feel have shifted; the pressure on buyers feeling the budget squeeze; and Amazon’s bold sales play, including the two marquee Prime Video originals being sold at the Screenings:
Entertainment Strategy Guy names the audience and strategic gaps each streamer needs to fill, from the genre Netflix isn’t doing (but should be) to why Disney+ needs to revive a secret weapon from the 2000s; and the low-risk way streamers can grow without deficit spending or losing focus:
Rumor has it the hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI will be deploying AI-powered NPCs designed to remember, react and evolve with unscripted, dynamic logic. Erik Barmack dissects the seismic ramifications for Hollywood (paid subscribers only), including how AI becomes a retention engine in gaming narratives — and how games’ AI innovations change the understanding of what story is:
Rushfield: Big Mouth Origins; An Epic Universe Diary
Richard’s Hollywood Storiespodcast is back! This season, he dishes out untold tales from the world of TV and, in the first episode, chats with the creators of Netflix’s Big Mouth about how they brought the raunchy adolescent comedy to life. Plus, Richard reflects on his week well spent at Universal’s Epic Universe, the first new major U.S. theme park in 24 years:
TV Tales: 'Big Mouth' Creators Nick Kroll & Andrew Goldberg Tell (Almost) All
Prestige Junkie: Tony Gilroy & Diego Luna on Andor
Katey Rich chats with Andor creator Tony Gilroy and Cassian Andor himself, Diego Luna,about the Star Wars series’ epic conclusion and the state of the industry at large:
Surviving a Hollywood Plague (Or Eight) with Richard Rushfield, Plus Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna on Andor's Grand Finale
Gregg Kilday and Claire Atkinson delivered the Cannes coverage you actually want to read, from the Palais reception for new films from Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson and Spike Lee to the parties (and pooches) along the Croisette, plus Gregg’s final word on this year’s Palme d’Or (yes, it’s a Neon film, again):
S&P Global made its thoughts on Warner Bros. Discovery quite clear: They think it’s “junk.” Sean McNulty breaks down what that means for the company, why it’s not that bad (hi, Paramount) and what S&P thinks of a possible split-off of WBD’s cable networks:
Creators Rhett & Link, Michelle Khare and talk series ‘Hot Ones’ are gunning for Emmys, and I have the details on how YouTube has doubled down to position its top talent as part of Hollywood’s creative class, CEO Neal Mohan’s off-the-record meetings to make Emmy voters take creators seriously and why the company chose the three campaigns it’s backing publicly…
This week’s can’t-miss IP picks feature a prestige Houdini historical drama hiding in plain sight, a forensic thriller with ‘Mare of Easttown’ grit and a heavy metal legend in Finland — and yes, it should be a sitcom…
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