Kim Masters and Matt Belloni discuss why Comcast’s proposed bid for NBA TV rights put Warner Bros. Discovery in a tight spot. They also get into the latest at Paramount as a potential merger inches closer. 

Plus, Eric Deggans speaks to legendary actress Pam Grier about her storied career in filmmaking and appearing in Prime Video’s horror anthology series, Them. The pioneering female action star explains the origins of the term “Blaxploitation” and shares how she accidentally left Quentin Tarantino hanging for three weeks after he sent her his script for Jackie Brown.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni examine the surprising decision made by the New York State Court of Appeals to overturn Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction. 

Plus, Masters speaks to writer Justin Kuritzkes about the rollout of his first effort at writing a movie, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers. He talks about how the Zendaya-led film was inspired by a particular US Open match that turned him into a tennis obsessive. And he shares how he and his wife, Celine Song — known for her Oscar-nominated Past Lives — manage to keep their work separate from their relationship.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni take a look at Jeff Skoll’s decision to close Participant Media after 20 years. And the banter partners break down why two congress members sent a letter addressed to the heads of Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery about their in-development joint sports streamer affectionately nicknamed “Spulu.” 

Plus, Masters speaks to Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz about their investigative documentary series, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. The filmmakers talk about working with Business Insider contributor Kate Taylor to uncover years of inappropriate behavior that took place on the sets of Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider. They also share how Investigation Discovery went from ordering a three episode series to five episodes with more on the way as the cameras continue rolling.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni dive into the challenges faced by legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola as he struggles to find distribution for his self-financed passion project, Megalopolis. The Banter partners also take a look at the risks behind David Ellison’s bid to acquire Paramount parent company National Amusements.

Plus, Eric Deggans speaks to comedian Mike Birbiglia and documentary filmmaker Eddie Schmidt about their new special, Good One: A Show About Jokes. They share how they approached adapting a popular Vulture podcast into their Peacock special, and talk about sticking with the truth in autobiographical comedy following allegations that Hasan Minaj falsified elements of his award-winning special Homecoming King.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni take a quick look at Ari Emanuel-led Endeavor going private, and the banter partners break down the outcome of the long battle between Nelson Peltz and Disney. 

Plus, on this special episode of The Business, Kim Masters speaks to director James Hawes about his film One Life, which tells the story of Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved more than 600 children, including Masters’ own mother, from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Hawes talks about how after years as a television director, he found his feature directorial debut in One Life, and Masters shares her deeply personal family stories connected to Winton’s rescue efforts.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni report on the latest in the Disney proxy battle, and the banter partners examine the outrage of NBC staff following the brief, yet confounding, hiring of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel.

Plus, Masters speaks to writers Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo about their FX limited series, Shōgun. The husband and wife creative team talk about how they’ve been granted more control writing for television over feature films. They also explain why the risk FX took on their very expensive—and heavily subtitled—period epic tops any hurdles they experienced on the show’s massive production.

Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw examine four Disney executives poised to take the throne in 2026 following CEO Bob Iger’s proposed retirement.  Plus, we revisit our conversation with Steven Yeun, who joined Kim Masters to talk about his Emmy winning limited series, Beef. The actor talks about his initial fears of not living up to expectations after being cast in what would become an Academy Award-nominated performance for Minari, why he and his Beef co-star Ali Wong broke out in hives after production wrapped, and how Netflix approached the A24 limited series with an offer that was too good to turn down.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni discuss the alleged years of abuse and inappropriate behavior on Nickelodeon sets as shown in ID’s new docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. 

Plus, Eric Deggans talks to actors Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira about reprising their breakout roles as Rick and Michonne Grimes on The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Gurira shares why writing an episode of the new spinoff series opened her eyes to the challenges of writing for television, and co-star Lincoln talks about how streaming affected the flagship show’s viewership over the years.  

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni examine the latest developments in the Disney proxy fight. They also take a look at a peculiar lawsuit filed against CBS Studios and Paramount. Plus, Masters speaks to writer Tony McNamara about his Academy Award-nominated screenplay for the Yorgos Lanthimos film, Poor Things. He talks about how he and Lanthimos managed to take a book about Scottish nationalism and turn it into their film, which is nominated for 11 Academy Awards this weekend. He also shares why he likes splitting his time between film and TV, and why the voices he hears in his head dictate how he writes a screenplay.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni break down the latest executive hires at Netflix and Disney. They also take a look at Kevin Costner’s ambitious plans to theatrically release a four-part film saga set in the Old West. 

Plus, NPR contributor Jeff Lunden speaks to composer Laura Karpman about her work on two vastly different 2023 films: the Disney juggernaut The Marvels, and Cord Jefferson’s sharp comedy-drama, American Fiction, which led to her first Academy Award nomination.

PREVIEW: Kim Masters speaks to writer Tony McNamara, who adapted a 1992 Alasdair Gray novel into the Oscar nominated Yorgos Lanthimos film, Poor Things. Tune in to The Business on March 8th to hear the full interview with McNamara, where he shares how his toddler inspired him to write Emma Stone’s favorite line in the Academy Award nominated screenplay.  

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni examine FuboTV’s $1 billion lawsuit seeking to halt the development of the recently announced Fox, Disney, and Warner Brothers Discovery sports streaming service. They also take a look at Sony’s struggles with live action Marvel films.

Plus, Masters speaks to filmmaker and war correspondent Mstyslav Chernov about his documentary, 20 Days in Mariupol. The BAFTA-winning director shares how an Associated Press assignment in war-torn Ukraine turned into a devastating Oscar contender for best documentary. He also talks about the importance of keeping the world’s eyes on the war in Ukraine.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni examine the latest updates in the Disney proxy vote saga. Also, has peak TV officially ended? The banter partners break down FX chairman John Landgraf’s recent remarks on the current state of television.  

Plus, Masters speaks to Oppenheimer writer and director Christopher Nolan and American Prometheus co-author Kai Bird about adapting the film’s Pulitzer Prize winning source material. Bird talks about the 25 years it took to complete the sprawling biography with co-author Martin Sherwin, and Nolan shares how he approached adapting their 700-page book into a summer blockbuster hit.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni take a look at the big surprises revealed during Disney’s Q1 earnings call. They also dive into the announcement of ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox’s joint sports streaming service set to debut this year.

Plus, Masters speaks to writer-director Ed Zwick about his new memoir, Hits, Flops and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood. The filmmaker shares lessons learned from his decades-spanning career in the industry, and he reads excerpts from the book, including stories from the making of the 1989 film Glory and how he nearly directed an early iteration of Shakespeare in Love, which he would later end up producing and winning an Oscar for Best Picture.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni examine media mogul Byron Allen’s offer to acquire Paramount Global. They also take a closer look at the Netflix-WWE deal in the wake of WWE founder Vince McMahon’s resignation following allegations of battery and sex trafficking.

Plus, Masters is joined by The Hollywood Reporter’s Executive Awards Editor Scott Feinberg to discuss the frontrunners, surprises, and snubs of the 2024 Academy Awards.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni examine the latest happenings at Netflix and Jon Stewart’s surprise return to The Daily Show. 

Plus, Masters speaks with Matthew Heineman about directing American Symphony. The filmmaker describes the process of documenting musician Jon Batiste and his wife Suleika Jaouad through her battle with leukemia. Heineman also shares how he snuck into the Grammys to film Batiste’s big night, and how he whittled down 1,500 hours of footage into the film that ended up being acquired by Netflix and the Obamas’ production company, Higher Ground.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni look into the Tom Cruise-Warner Bros. deal and what that means for his projects at Paramount. 

Plus, Masters speaks to Jon Batiste about being the subject of American Symphony. The musician explains how the documentary was originally conceived to follow his composition and performance of a symphony, but following his wife’s recurrence of leukemia, the project evolved into an intimate portrait of the couple coping with a life-threatening illness. Batiste shares how director Matthew Heineman spent eight months with the couple, resulting in over 1500 hours of footage, a premiere at Telluride, and distribution by Netflix.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni take stock of layoffs at Amazon as a result of consolidation and reorganizing across its studios. Eric Deggans speaks to Fargo creator Noah Hawley about the fifth season of his anthology series. The writer and director talks about the challenges of writing 51 hours of television based on the Coen Brothers film of the same name. He also teases his upcoming FX series based on Ridley Scott's Alien franchise.

Eric Deggans speaks to Gary Oldman about starring in Apple TV+’s spy thriller series, Slow Horses. He also talks about the joys of briefly reuniting with Christopher Nolan in Oppenheimer, how he worked around being typecast in over-the-top roles, and why he’s considering stepping away from acting after Slow Horses wraps. 

Plus, the Disney proxy fight continues, with CEO Bob Iger gearing up to stave off advances from activist shareholder Nelson Peltz, former Marvel chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, and former Disney exec Jay Rasulo. 

What will 2024 hold for Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Disney, Netflix, and mega-agencies CAA and Endeavor?

Hollywood’s messy year: Strikes disrupted show biz, the box office surprised, studios and execs struggled, and streamers started licensing. Kim Masters, Matt Belloni, and Lucas Shaw look into the main Hollywood events of 2023.

Netflix released its first report revealing viewership patterns. Why does it matter? What does the data reveal — and what happens next?

Then, Past Lives writer-director Celine Song and producer Christine Vachon discuss Song’s foray into filmmaking, their partnership, and the journey of the awards circuit.

SAG-AFTRA members ratify a three-year contract with studios. Plus, actors promote work post-strike, studios license content, and streamers bundle services.

Then, Kim Masters revisits a 2014 conversation with legendary television producer Norman Lear, who died Dec. 5 at the age of 101. The force behind TV shows like All in the Family, Maude, Good Times and Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, among many others, Lear discusses his memoir Even This I Get to Experience, and shares stories about how he got his first job in television and the line that almost caused CBS to pull the plug on All in the Family.

Disney CEO Bob Iger talks about the company’s many struggles, including his succession, selling ABC, and Marvel troubles during the New York Times’ DealBook Summit.

Then, we’re taking it to Broadway: Contributor Jeff Lunden speaks to Tony-winning producers Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley about their streaming platform, BroadwayHD. Lunden also talks with Waitress star Sara Bareilles and producer Jessie Nelson about the live capture and theatrical distribution of their hit musical show.

Kim Masters and Matt Belloni discuss what’s shaping up to be a lean holiday box office and what success for movies looks like — and how it’s perceived — when it comes to theatrical versus streaming releases.

Then, filmmaker and SAG-AFTRA generative AI advisor Justine Bateman joins to share her concerns over the union's new contract, while Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland explains why it’s the best deal possible.

WBD is looking for a buyer for its Coyote vs. Acme film. Can it find one? Plus, an AI-generated Édith Piaf biopic is in the works at Warner Music.

Filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli talks with Kim Masters about his Nicolas Cage-led film, “Dream Scenario,” directing commercials, and how the Norwegian Film Institute unknowingly funded his projects conceived in LA.

SAG-AFTRA reaches a tentative deal with studios after 118 days on strike. Was the deal a win? What is in it? Plus, WBD and Disney earnings news. Legendary sitcom director James Burrows talks with Eric Deggans, NPR TV critic and guest-host on The Business, about the revival of Frasier, his directing career, and whether sitcoms can endure on streaming services.

First, HBO CEO Casey Bloys asked staffers to create fake Twitter accounts to fight critics of the network. What’s all the attention about? Plus, Disney is finally buying Hulu.

Actress-comedian Leslie Jones discusses her tell-all memoir, overcoming personal and career obstacles, and her relationship with ‘SNL’ creator, Lorne Michaels.

The actors’ strike forges on as Hollywood reckons with the impact of the Hamas-Israel conflict and streamers raise prices — again. NPR TV Critic Eric Deggans talks with comic-book-author-turned-showrunner Robert Kirkman about the new animated adaptation of his print series Invincible, modernizing the superhero genre, and why he’s not worried about comic book adaptation fatigue.

The CEO of Endeavor, Ari Emanuel, attacked rival Bryan Lourd, head of the talent agency CAA, at Bloomberg’s Screentime conference. What’s behind the feud? 

Documentarian Ken Burns talks about his latest project, The American Buffalo,  his career, financing projects, and controversies, including a recently surfaced photo of him posing along Clarence Thomas and David Koch.

Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour concert film is out in theaters. Was this a good deal for Swift and AMC? And will this become a trend with other artists? This week on The Business, Kim Masters revisits an interview with Sterlin Harjo, co-creator of the hit comedy series Reservation Dogs on FX.

As the actors’ strike continues, Netflix announces a price hike. What does this mean for subscribers and the streamer? 

Then, Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter talks about her new book, collaborating with Spike Lee and Steven Spielberg, and the joys and challenges of costume designing for Black Panther.

WGA leaders reached a deal this week with Hollywood studios, ending 148 days of work stoppage. What did they get? Where did they compromise? And will SAG-AFTRA be next? Plus, director Gareth Edwards discusses his new AI-centric film The Creator and its timeliness within our current cultural climate. He also gets real about behind-the-scenes drama on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

First, Rupert Murdoch has announced that he is stepping down as the head of both Fox Corp. and News Corp. What will this mean for the Murdoch family line of succession? Plus, Warner Brothers Discovery announces a new paid tier to offer live sports coverage on Max. Then, Ladies First executive producer Dream Hampton talks to NPR’s Eric Deggans about why she doesn’t hesitate to call out misogynists by name in her new documentary series spotlighting women in hip-hop. Plus, she gets real about initially not wanting to do the project at all.

First, what lasting damage to the entertainment industry will the extended impasse between striking Hollywood creatives, and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers leave in its wake? 

Then, in an encore interview, Navalny director Daniel Roher and investigative journalist Christo Grozev discuss how they came to pursue a film about Alexei Navalny, Russian opposition leader. They also talk about the risks they faced to make the Oscar-winning documentary, and the eventual arrest and sentencing of the politician in Russia. 

First, the Walt Disney Co. has pulled all programming from Charter Spectrum in early September. What ripples does this create for Disney, other networks, and the cable industry?

Then, Reservation Dogs director Danis Goulet talks about working on the final season of the FX hit, representation in Hollywood, and Taika Waititi’s integral role in creating a platform for Indigenous stories.

First, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav hires former New York Times executive Mark Thompson to head CNN. Will Thompson turn the struggling network around?

Then, directors Sam Lipman-Stern and Adam Lough talk with NPR TV critic Eric Deggans about their HBO documentary, Telemarketers and share how their work helped investigate fraudulent charitable organizations. They also discuss how the Safdie brothers came on board to executive produce the series, and how HBO came to be at the helm.

First, the AMPTP released its latest offer to the WGA in a press release this week. Will the studio’s move work or backfire? Then, actor, comedian, musician, and producer Steve Martin and co-creator of Only Murders in the Building, John Hoffman, explain how they met and what it took to get this idea from paper onto the screen.

First, Hollywood strikes throttle on, despite recent talks between AMPTP and WGA, complicating industry plans for the season ahead.  What will this mean for upcoming film festivals and fall television? 

Then, Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse, discusses the latest on the work stoppages, and the (spooky) current state of Hollywood. But it’s not all horror talk with one of our leading experts on the genre — the powerhouse producer has advice on amplifying profitability across the industry.

The 2023 Emmy ceremony has been rescheduled for January 2024. How will it contend with the NFL playoffs? And Disney presents more changes via its latest investor call.

Political analyst Bill Kristol joins to break down an FCC petition to deny a Fox Corp. affiliate’s license renewal and his larger role in seeking accountability for the organization.

After months of stagnation, the AMPTP has asked the Writers Guild back to the negotiating table. Is there a deal to be made? Plus, Disney re-hires some familiar faces as consultants.

Then, director Sam Pollard discusses his new doc The League, which pairs his love of baseball with his ongoing examination of Black history, and discusses working with producer Questlove and the “uphill climb” of documentary filmmaking. 

Barbie and Oppenheimer have proven to be massively successful at the box office, but where does that leave the comparatively underwhelming performance of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One and other tentpole hopefuls? Then, The Horror of Dolores Roach Executive Producer Gloria Calderón Kellett talks to NPR TV critic Eric Deggans about the challenges of making a screen adaptation of a hit podcast. She also explains the significant impact of residuals throughout her career, and why she thinks writers need a better deal in the streaming age.

On the strike lines, rhetoric from studios and guilds makes it difficult to reach a resolution, while Disney’s CEO digs in. Plus, Netflix and streaming services face growth challenges. 

Then, Emmy-nominated VFX specialist and AI expert Mike Seymour talks about the various ways Hollywood has benefited from AI. He discusses the risks of human misuse of the technology and the need for regulation, and explains how AI can be harnessed — and in some cases, already is — to help rather than hurt creatives. 

The Business analyzes SAG-AFTRA’s strike, which will effectively shut down Hollywood at an already perilous time. Plus, Bob Iger announces a contract extension until 2026, and the summer box office heats up.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy asks for detailed budgets of all the biggest shows made by its Hollywood studios. Why now? Plus, another polemic involving David Zaslav. Oscar-nominated screenwriter and director Billy Ray talks with Kim Masters about the guilds' battle surrounding AI, its limitations and dangers in the workplace, and whether it can really take over the WBD CEO’s job. 

Following the decision to fire top execs at Warner Bros. Discovery’s TCM, WB’s CEO David Zaslav feels the blowback and is forced to reverse the channel’s course. Plus, Netflix’s union busting tactics, exposed. Kim Masters and Matt Belloni discuss. 

Plus, diving into her debut book ‘Burn It Down,’ journalist Maureen Ryan dispels myths about Hollywood, exposes industry misconducts and coverups, and offers fixes.

To pay debt, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is licensing HBO original series to Netflix, and fires the head of TCM. Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar’s “Elemental” underperforms at the box office. Kim Masters and Matt Belloni break down what it all means and the potential impacts.

NPR contributor and guest interviewer Jeff Lunden talks to music supervisor music.com/new-page">Randall Poster about his career in film and television, his work with Martin Scorsese over the years, his long relationship with Wes Anderson, and why finding the right music for a project is a deeply collaborative process.

A summer banter: Will the season bring the big box office returns studios are hoping for? Plus, Disney pushes back franchise releases, and The Golden Globes undergoes another massive change. Kim Masters and Matt Belloni break it down.

Then, as the 2023 Emmy Awards voting begins — with nominations announced July 12 — Masters and Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter’s Executive Director of Awards Coverage, talk about the award show’s recent voting changes, and Feinberg gives a special preview of what to expect.

CNN CEO Chris Licht is out from the network following a damning article in The Atlantic reporting his “alienating” behavior towards his staff. Was he a bad match for the job?  

Then, Kim Masters speaks to legendary actress, singer, writer, and comedian Carol Burnett about her sprawling career in entertainment, her close relationship with friend and mentor Lucille Ball, how she created her long running CBS variety show, and why she says working with "Better Call Saul" creator Vince Gilligan was one of the greatest experiences she’s ever had.

While the WGA strike continues in the U.S., many writer-directors, actors were off promoting their films at Cannes. Did that weaken the WGA effort? 

Then, former National Association of Theatre Owners CEO John Fithian speaks about the industry navigating the pandemic, and why he is optimistic about its future. 

As week three of the writer’s strike continues, other unions and guilds show solidarity while studios cut costs to see quarter stock increase. Plus, we revisit our long pre-strike conversation with Tony McNamara, whose viciously satirical series “The Great” has just returned for its third season on Hulu. McNamara talks about his fascination with Catherine the Great, working with Hulu, and how he transported a world he originally created for the theater stage to the small screen.

“Wild Life” directors Jimmy Chin and his wife Chai Vasarhelyi discuss mortality, making the film, and its uncanny parallels with their own lives. 

Plus, guest host Matt Belloni of Puck News speaks with Lucas Shaw, head of entertainment at Bloomberg, about the stakes for streamers and striking writers at the 2023 Upfronts in New York this week.

Director Allen Hughes discusses his five-part FX documentary series “Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur,” his relationship with the late rapper, and why examining the life story of Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur was integral to the documentary series. 

Plus, after a dismal Q1 earnings report, Paramount’s shares fell 30%. It shut MTV News and cut 25% of its network staff. Will the company break?

“Tiny Beautiful Things” series creator and showrunner Liz Tigelaar and author Cheryl Strayed discuss the kismet of their collaboration and adapting the acclaimed book into a Hulu limited series.

First — you might have heard — the Writers Guild of America is on strike. How will other guilds react? And when and how could the strike end?

Scandals! Legal duels! Ousters! Looming strikes! Even by Hollywood standards, this week’s industry news has been fit for, well, Hollywood. To make sense of it all, The Business presents a special spring Megabanter in which host Kim Masters teams up with Banter compatriot and Puck News founder Matt Belloni and Bloomberg entertainment and media head Lucas Shaw to break down some of the biggest Hollywood stories of 2023 so far — from a misconduct shakeup at NBCUniversal and Disney’s tête-à-tête with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to Tucker Carlson’s Fox departure  and the latest on the impending writers’ strikes. 

This week, The Business revisits a conversation with actor Aubrey Plaza and director John Patton Ford about their film “Emily the Criminal.” When Plaza’s colleague handed her the script for the drama thriller, she was immediately struck by it. “It was just one of those scripts that I started to read, and I just flew through it,” she says. “It's so readable and fun … it has this momentum that propels you forward.” While Plaza had found her next great project, Ford explains why it took 12 years to write the story. With Plaza, they discuss the struggles of making “Emily The Criminal” and independent movies in general, and the film’s unexpected success. First, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni look into how the Writers Guild of America has voted to authorize strike, while Netflix details its plans for a crackdown on password sharing in the United States, and Fox News and Dominion reach a settlement. 

This week, The Business revists a conversation with the creators of “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.” After almost an eight-year hiatus, actor Jenny Slate and director Dean Fleischer-Camp are bringing their lovable Marcel the Shell back to life. This time audiences will see the seashell with two pink shoes and one plastic eye, who babbles insightful and funny life-observations, in the stop-motion, feature-length mockumentary, “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.”

Steven Yeun discusses his fears in taking “Minari,” why he and his “Beef” co-star broke out in hives after production wrapped, and how Netflix’s offer for the series was too good to turn down. First, Amazon Studios’ lack of vision, and unlimited resources sets up a brandless streaming service. Does Amazon care about the bang that they're getting for their buck?

This week, The Business revisits a conversation with Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, co-creators and co-executive producers of the series “Yellowjackets,” just out with its second season on Showtime. 

“Daisy Jones & The Six” co-writer and co-creator Scott Neustadter talks about his early career, writing book adaptations, and the making of the sprawling rock ‘n’ roll limited series for Amazon. First, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni look into Disney’s announcement of a LGBTQ+ summit in Florida in September. Is Disney’s CEO Bob Iger clapping back at Governor Ron DeSantis?

New York Times Presents’ reporters and producers Rachel Abrams and Liz Day discuss “Sin Eater: The Crimes of Anthony Pellicano” two-part documentary on FX and Hulu. They explain the infamous Hollywood private investigator’s rise and fall, his 15-year sentence for illegal wiretapping and other crimes, campaigns of intimidation, and how almost all of his powerful clients walked away unscathed.

Director-producer Elizabeth Banks understood the challenges of making the mixed-genre horror-comedy “Cocaine Bear.”

 “I knew that if we could just create inside the movie the sense of chaos that the bear represented, that the title represented, that the ride was for theater goers, the comedy really came second to me,” she states. “I didn't want to make a comedy, if you will. It ended up being really funny, though.”

Banks talks about hearing the call of destiny with “Cocaine Bear,” releasing the raunchy R-rated horror-comedy in theaters, working with Ray Liotta, and how she has dealt with failures in her career.

But first, Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch defends company against Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit. Kim Masters and Matt Belloni discuss if his justification is surprising.

Director Daniel Roher is over the moon with the Oscar nom for his bio-doc “Navalny.” “How bittersweet this experience has been for me personally, as [a] filmmaker,” he affirms. “This film has put my life on a rocket ship, [and] has empowered creative career opportunities I never could have dreamed of.” Investigative journalist Christo Grozev, however, took one of the biggest risks imaginable: working on a film about Alexei Navalny, Russian opposition leader, has landed him on Putin’s wanted list. “When Navalny and I were saying our goodbyes, when he was about to leave for Berlin, he literally turned to me and said, ‘Well, until now I was number one on Putin's list, and from now on, you're number one on Putin's kill list.’ And it seems that he was not joking,” Grozev says. Roher and Grozev discuss how they came to pursue a film about Navalny, the risks they faced, and the eventual arrest and sentencing of the politician in Russia. 

For director Shaunak Sen documentary filmmaking is like a “fever dream,” in that when he starts he “sort of jumps off a cliff.” The same goes for his latest documentary “All That Breathes,” as he didn’t know where the film “would land.” “Everything that has happened with the film was utterly and entirely outside of my orbit of predictive reasoning as well.” In this interview, Sen discusses the creation of “All That Breathes,” the rescue work of black kites in New Delhi, the challenges of filming it, and the recognition it has received. But first, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni look at the possible exit of Kevin Costner from “Yellowstone.” Where does the franchise go without him? 

Irish actor Brendan Gleeson has received his first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for playing Colm Doherty in the black tragicomedy “The Banshees of Inisherin.” “It's a thrill… I'm not in the springtime of my career,” he notes. In this in-depth conversation, the 35-year TV and film veteran discusses his early acting career, two of his four sons becoming actors, fame from the “Harry Potter” movies, and his award-nominated role in The Banshees of Inisherin.” First, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni look into Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise’s rekindled friendship. Is it genuine or a marketing stunt? Plus, a new book about the Redstone family empire.

Jerry Bruckheimer has credits on some of the most successful TV shows and movies of the last five decades. One thing he’s learned is that this business is unpredictable, so much that even he couldn’t have guessed that “Top Gun: Maverick” would be a breakout hit.

Writer-director Sarah Polley had a successful career as a child actor. By eight, she had appeared in several TV series and films and was cast to play Sally Salt in the notorious “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen,” Terry Gilliam’s adventure fantasy film. While Polley’s family was thrilled about it, she recalls an out-of-control production, with “unsafe and scary situations” on set. 

Before “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” saw a limited theatrical release last November, Producer Ram Bergman wasn’t sure if audiences would be back in theaters. Bergman is grateful that Netflix decided to premiere it on 600-odd screens for a week, and hopes the experiment moves the needle.  

With “Avatar: The Way of Water” charting a course for a $1.9 billion international gross, co-writer, producer and director James Cameron can now continue working on the following three sequels of the franchise, a project he compares to having kids. “Once you've done that, you're kind of stuck,” he jokes. 

Filmmaker James Cameron started pre-production of “Avatar: The Way of Water” in 2014. Though sequels two and three to the 2009 “Avatar” had been greenlit by then 20th Century Fox head Jim Gianopulos, Cameron knew change was coming. In early 2019, The Walt Disney Company acquired the studio and with it, Cameron’s latest project. “We sort of were led to believe that the ‘Avatar’ overall [intellectual property] was one of the jewels in the crown of what Disney was acquiring, so we expected them to be leaning forward and wanting to see what we were all about,” says Cameron. “They were excited by the potential of the new films, especially as it was planned out to be a series of films, a saga over time played out in four movies.” In the first installment of a two-part conversation with Cameron, the filmmaker shares what changes affected the production of the movie, and why what he calls an “arranged marriage” with Disney turned out better than expected. He also discusses the importance of theaters and repeat views for the film’s success, and how he views streaming services. But first, Kim Masters discusses with Matt Belloni how the “Avatar” and “Top Gun” sequels brought droves to the theaters. Will audiences go back in 2023, or will studios continue to focus on streaming?

The Business revisits its most popular episode of 2022: part two of a conversation with multi-hyphenate Bradley Cooper. To get a shot at directing his remake of “A Star is Born,” Cooper passed on an upfront payday in exchange for a piece of the profit. And that gamble paid off. But as Cooper is painfully aware, the movie business has changed. “Those days are completely gone,” Cooper says. “So, there is trepidation I have with that, no question. And I have thought: I really have to actively start thinking about other ways of making revenue that have maybe nothing to do with movie making.” In part two of this interview with Cooper, he shares his worries about the streaming future. He also remembers picking up filmmaking tips on the set of “Alias.” And he shares how he created the memorable voice of Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon.

It’s time for The Business’ annual year-in-review Megabanter. Kim Masters, Matt Belloni, founding partner of Puck News, and Lucas Shaw, entertainment reporter at Bloomberg, discuss the biggest Hollywood stories of 2022. 

Ruben Östlund’s latest film “Triangle of Sadness,” a satirical dark comedy that takes  place in a luxury yacht, has gained considerable recognition since it came out, including a Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in the spring. Now, Östlund delves into his directing, shooting during the pandemic, funding, and the aftermath of the film’s success, while Filipina actress Dolly De Leon discusses her career and how being in the film has changed her life. But first, the “Avatar” sequel premieres worldwide, including a coveted theatrical release in China. Can it gross more than $2 billion to succeed? Plus, Warner Bros. Discovery pulls the plug on “Minx” season 2. Matt Belloni and Kim Masters analyze.

Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino stays busy with his projects, which lately have stacked up on top of each other throughout their production cycles. After recovering from a broken foot, he’s flown to Brazil, Argentina, the United States, and around Europe in a months-long global press tour to promote two most recent films that he produced and directed.  

When actor, writer, and producer Kumail Nanjiani was 18, he moved from Karachi, Pakistan - a city of more than 9 million people - to the United States to attend Grinnell College, a small, private liberal arts college in Iowa in 1997. The town of Grinnell’s population was about 9,000 then. Though he had visited New York as a teenager, and “sort of knew America the way it is in movies,” he was not prepared for the cultural shock. 

After writing and starring in the film “The Big Sick” in 2017, actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani says writer-director and producer Robert Siegel (“Pam and Tommy,” “Big Fan,” “The Wrestler”) approached him with an idea to make a drama film about the American stripper troupe Chippandales. At the time, Nanjiani turned it down.

For Peter Kujawski, chairman of Focus Features, it was “very simple and easy” to greenlight James Gray’s drama “Armageddon Time.” Gray had written the script before the pandemic shut down of March 2020. By that Summer, Kujawski got a call from Roeg Sutherland, a talent agent from CAA, saying he had something that he should look at. Sutherland knew Kujawski was a “gigantic fan” of Gray’s work and he was in a position to say yes to the project. “I was predisposed because of my fanship,” Kujawski reveals. “The movie literally could have been about young James Gray just building a model rocket, and I would have wanted to do it.” Gray, who also produced and directed the film, says he didn’t know of Kujawski’s admiration. “This is fabulous to hear!” Now Gray and Kujawski discuss “Armageddon Time,” the challenges of making the film during the pandemic, their careers, and Gray’s bad experience working with former film producer Harvey Weinstein. But first, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni talk about another producer, Eric Weinberg, the criminal charges against him, and the “club” culture of complicity that allowed him to keep getting jobs in Hollywood.

Actor, comedian, writer, and producer Larry Wilmore has been in show biz for four decades. He has written for dozens of iconic TV shows, including “In Living Color,” “The Office,” and “Black-ish.” But early in his career, he says a Black comedian who didn’t fit a stereotype didn’t have a job. 

This week, The Business revisits a conversation with filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who is now being tapped to direct an upcoming “Star Wars” movie, along with Damon Lindelof, who will develop and co-write it. Obaid-Chinoy will be the first woman and person of color at the helm of this movie franchise. Recently, the two-time Academy Award winner directed two episodes of Disney’s limited series “Ms. Marvel.” She shares with Kim Masters her path from making intimate documentary shorts in her home country of Pakistan, to animated features, to “Ms. Marvel” – her first live-action, narrative fiction series. “I know what ‘Black Panther’ did for communities across the world. And this is exactly what ‘Ms. Marvel’ is going to do for South Asian communities,” says Obaid-Chinoy. The mini series portrays a teenage, Pakistani-American superhero, and within its first week on Disney+, it received a 97% score – the best reviewed Marvel series and film production on Rotten Tomatoes, a record previously held by “Black Panther.” The filmmaker also talks about how the real life heroes she has depicted over the years in documentary form are tied to “Ms. Marvel.” “Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel is a superhero who … is very much in line with the other characters that I had been filming throughout my career,” she explains, adding she desires to continue telling important stories in the future. First, Masters and Matt Belloni have a fresh banter about Lucasfilm and how its leadership’s lack of creative vision is running the franchise into the ground. Plus, Peacock has growing problems. 

Documentary filmmaker Margaret Brown was born and raised in Mobile, Ala., and has had an absorbing interest in the American South, including her 2004 documentary “Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt.” But only while filming “The Order of Myths,” in 2008, she learned of the last known slave ship brought to the United States in the late 1850s, and the nearby community former slaves formed. “I didn't remember learning about that in school. That was the first time I had heard of the Clotilda [ship] or Africatown,” she states. That was the moment when she came across the topic of her newest project, the film “Descendant.” Now, Brown shares how she created partnerships to make the film, and got Questlove, Netflix and the Obamas to become involved in it. But first, Kim Masters banters with Matt Belloni about Warner Bros. Discovery’s unpredictable decision to hire filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran to run the DC Universe. 

It’s been five years since The New York Times and Ronan Farrow, contributing writer for The New Yorker, broke Havey Weinstein’s story of criminal conduct. “There was a lot of frustration in the national conversation about gender and sexual violence, and then, Harvey's place in Hollywood changed, and maybe in some subtle ways Hollywood started to change,” he says. 

After AMC rice-rights-the-vampire-chronicles.html">acquired the rights to Anne Rice’s major literary works in 2020, the network tasked producer Mark Johnson (“Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul”) to oversee its ambitious new project of making shows out of the author’s 18 supernatural novels. First is “Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire” on AMC+, telling the love story of two vampires, Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson) and Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid) in early 20th century New Orleans. For the more sensual scenes, an intimacy coordinator was hired. “They make all of us feel just what they're supposed to do, get more comfortable,” Johnson says, “then it's up to wonderful actors who make it all seem ad lib, spontaneous.” For Anderson, who played Grey Worm on the HBO series “Game of Thrones,” having an intimacy director to guide his character’s more sizzling sequences has been an important asset. “[Johnson and I] were talking about demystifying the idea of storytelling as being just purely magic and in the moment and all about feeling, but I think when it comes to intimate scenes, you can't do that,” he says, “there’s things that can really get into your head if you don't prepare properly.” IWTV’s Executive Producer, Johnson, and actor, Anderson, discuss the making of the new AMC series with Kim Masters. But first, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav laid off about a quarter of the company’s television division staff this week. What does this mean for the company’s future? Matt Belloni discusses with Lucas Shaw. 

Steven Levitan was still working on his ABC’s hit-show “Modern Family'' when the network decided to revive the sitcom “Roseanne” after a 20-year hiatus. But after finishing its 10th season, the show was reboot-timeline.html">canceled under a cloud of internal rift between cast members and barr-offensive-tweets.html">turmoil with ABC executives. That incident made Levitan reflect on the industry. “It made me think about what an interesting situation it is for people to come back together again after many years, and [how] in this business, sometimes when a project ends everybody has high hopes about what's up for them next, and maybe there are some deep feelings about each other,” he says. From that reflection, Levitan used the behind-the-scenes drama as inspiration to create “Reboot.” Now, he talks about some of the challenges of launching the show, having Hulu as its home, and the joys of having his show live on a streamer versus network television. First, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni look into Apple’s decision to release the film “Emancipation” starring Will Smith, as well as the “Rust” civil lawsuit settlement.

Mike Rinder spent most of his life as a member of the Church of Scientology International. He joined as a child, and by the age of 18, he signed the organization's Sea Org contract, pledging loyalty and allegiance to the church, while committing all of his future lifetimes to it as well. But after years of emotional and physical abuse, he left the organization in 2007. “I didn't make it all the way through to the end, that's for sure,” he says. Now, Rinder discusses his just released memoir “A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology,” in which he exposes a harrowing account about the church that only someone of his former high rank could provide. But first, Netflix has made several adjustments recently due to competition. Kim Masters and Matt Belloni look into whether they will need to make more changes to survive. 

Comedy is not exactly in vogue among big studios, so when filmmakers Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller approached actor Billy Eichner about making ‘Bros,’ the first big-studio, big-screen LGBTQ+ rom-com for Universal Pictures, he was skeptical. “I have an openly gay man in comedy for over 20 years,” he said, “and I am telling you that even the most gay-friendly execs at a major studio are not going to greenlight this movie. And even if they do, they're not going to let me tell it in an authentic, honest way.” The movie was greenlit, and now Eichner talks about starring on a feature film for the first time, the thrill of co-writing the script with Stoller and how a major movie studio came on board to make a gay romatic comedy came to life. But first, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni look into the return of The Golden Globes to NBC in 2023, and what it means for next year’s awards season.

When Aubrey Plaza’s colleague handed her the script for “Emily the Criminal,” she was immediately struck by it. “It was just one of those scripts that I started to read, and I just flew through it,” she says. “It's so readable and fun…it has this momentum that propels you forward.” While Plaza had found her next great project, director John Patton Ford explains why it took 12 years to write the story. With Plaza, they discuss the struggles of making “Emily The Criminal” and independent movies in general, and the film’s unexpected success. But first, Kim Masters talks to Matt Belloni about her 15-minute interview with Disney’s head Bob Chapek at the D23 Expo, as well as the PR effort to give the embattled CEO an image reboot at the event.

In 1994 Kevin Smith wrote, produced, and directed his first feature “Clerks.” The movie became a cult classic, and Smith introduced the audience to Jay and Silent Bob, the fictional friends portrayed by Jason Mewes and Smith, respectively. Despite the film’s success, the filmmaker reveals he didn’t necessarily have a plan moving forward. “There's never been a career path,” he says. “There's never been, ‘One day I'll get to the Oscar.’ No, not at all.” Almost three decades later, Smith discusses his latest movie “Clerks III,” his work in animation, and changes in the movie industry. First, Kim Masters and Matt Balloni detail yet another setback for Warner Bros. Discovery on its quest to find a head to run DC Films. And, more about Disney+ perks.

Documentarian Alex Pritz didn’t have a background in film. He studied environmental science in college and was certain he wanted to be a scientist to “work on these big problems plaguing our planet,” he says. But at the end of his time at university, he realized that film was a better way to engage with big issues. “I have always been interested in participatory video working with communities that are experiencing conflicts and challenges to help them use film as a method of advocacy and also self expression,” he remarks. With that approach in mind, he went to the western part of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest to direct “The Territory.” The filmmaker discusses how he was introduced to the Uru-eu-wau-wau people, a small indigenous community that is fighting to protect their land, the challenges and accessibility issues he faced to make the documentary. But first Kim Masters and Matt Belloni look into the competition between Amazon and HBO for more viewers. Which series will win: ‘The Rings of Power’ or ‘House of the Dragon?’

This week, The Business revisits a conversation with Danny Strong, writer, producer, and creator of “Dopesick,” which has 14 Emmy nominations for the portrayal of the evils of Purdue Pharma. Before co-creating the hit show “Empire,” Strong won accolades for writing two HBO movies based on real events: “Recount” and “Game Change,” as well as “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” So when he decided to make a series about the opioid epidemic based on Beth Macy’s book “Dopesick,” he thought he’d be met with open arms. “I was going around to these pitches like, ‘I’m coming back to my nonfiction roots, like ‘Recount’ and ‘Game Change,’ and I’ve got a bestselling book,” he recalls. But the reaction he got was, “No one cares. ‘Oh, ‘Recount?’ Cute. That was 14 years ago’... if no one cares who you are, or what you've done… or if they don't want the project, they're not going to engage. It's not it's not an easy business. It's a tough racket.” Hollywood can be cold, but “Dopesick” eventually found a home on Hulu. Strong tells Kim Masters about falling down the Sackler family rabbit hole while researching Purdue Pharma and its deadly drug, OxyContin, and the many challenges he faced to get the show made. First, KCRW has fresh banter with guest-hosts Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw about how two major theater chain operators AMC and Regal have recently made desperate financial moves to stay afloat.

Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson are co-creators and co-executive producers of the series “Yellowjackets” on Showtime. The married team say they bonded over a revision class and have been collaborating ever since, but they write the series from the retreat of their own spaces. “We definitely cannot be in the same room when we're working,” Lyle quips. Writing this complex show is a joint effort where they pick a different starting point, and repeatedly review each other’s work. But their thinking is not always fully aligned, so Nickerson explains that with the back and forth process, “we kind of find a shared point of view.” With Yellowjackets’ seven Emmys nominators, the duo is now working on season two of the hit series. They join The Business to discuss the show’s conceptualization, their hit-and-miss pitches, and how Showtime proved to be the right home for their vision.  First, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni, founding partner of Puck News, delve into the latest decisions Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Zaslav has made, and how the industry is responding. 

Filmmaker Peter Jackson was 3 years old when The Beatles first appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on February 9,1964. His family didn’t own a television and he didn’t see the original airing because he believes New Zealand didn’t broadcast the TV show. “Even though I was born in 1961, I kind of don't really have a story or any memory of The Beatles in the ‘60s, which is crazy because I lived all the way through that period,” Jackson remarks. His parents were not “rock and rollers,” he says, but he recalls hearing the band “endlessly through ‘65, ‘66, ‘67 because the radio was playing nothing else.” Sixty years later, he produced and directed the Disney+ docuseries “The Beatles: Get Back,” about the making of the 1970 documentary “Let It Be.” Jackson’s series has been nominated for several Emmys, and the award-winning director discusses what led him to tackle this documentary project, and how his labor of love morphed from being a feature film to a series. But first, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni, founding partner of Puck News, discuss the Disney+ positive quarterly results, and what the decision to raise subscription prices mean for consumers, and the future of its streaming services. 

Actor, comedian, musician, and producer Steve Martin had been invited to one of talent manager’s Sandy Gallin’s showbiz parties in New York. There, he recalls seeing a lot of actors, including three older ones, when Gallin suggested he should write something for them. “I thought, ‘That's a good idea: three older guys who live in a building and solve murders because they don't have anything else to do,’” Martin recalls. His premise was: “They're too tired to go downtown to investigate things, so they limit it to only murderers in the building, so they could just stay home to solve the crime.” From that idea, Martin was introduced to John Hoffman and the two created “Only Murders in the Building,” the biggest comedy hit on Hulu. Now, the duo share how they met, and what it took for them to get Martin’s idea from paper onto the screen. But first, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav cancels “Batgirl.” Kim Masters and Matt Balloni discuss what this means for the DC brand and the studio. 

Filmmaker Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic’s debut feature “Murina” won best first film at Cannes last year. Though it may seem like a story of instant success, the Croatian director says she spent years educating and establishing herself. When something happens “out of the blue and overnight, it's actually ten years of work behind it,” she explains. Kusijanovic had worked at different film companies and affirms those connections helped her finance the 2017 short film “Into the Blue.” The path to fund “Murina,'' she says, seemed easier, as she presented RT Features with only a letter of intent.  “Everybody already knew me, how I am in business, so I was already familiar to all of these people that were involved in the project,” she says. Now, Kusijanovic discusses her love for theater and the path that took her to co-writing and directing the coming-of-age drama “Murina.” But first, movie theaters will start to feel the summer cool-off, with moviegoers banking on streaming services’ shows, including the first $1-billion series. Plus, former Disney executive John Lasseter returns. Kim Masters discusses with guest-host Lucas Shaw from Bloomberg.

B.J. Novak knows a thing or two about comedic writing. He spent a lot of time in the writers’ room and starred as Ryan Howard on NBC’s hit series “The Office.” Now, he’s taking his writing skills to the big screen, debuting as a director in the comedy-thriller, “Vengeance.” “When you realize someone has a little regret in their eyes… you could be very careful with an actor and see how you could capture that in a shot,” he says. For him, it’s all the same, but “being able to learn how to write directorially is a very special and exciting opportunity.” On this episode of The Business, Novak discusses “The Office” origins, his standup comedy career and first acting job on MTV, and how he teamed up with Blumhouse producer Jason Blum to write and direct “Vengeance.” But first, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni banter about Netflix’s Q2 numbers. Netflix was projected to lose 2 million subscribers, but only lost nearly 1 million, which its CEO believes it’s “less bad” than feared. Is the streaming service really over the hump?

After almost an eight-year hiatus, actor Jenny Slate and director Dean Fleischer-Camp are bringing their lovable Marcel the Shell back to life. This time audiences will see the seashell with two pink shoes and one plastic eye, who babbles insightful and funny life-observations, in the stop-motion, feature-length mockumentary, “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.” The online shorts were a smash-hit at the time, so for Fleischer-Camp it was important for the film to maintain Marcel’s original online integrity. That is why, he explains, “it took a while for us to find the right partners to do that, in a way that was really holistic to what we had made and what and how we like to work.” And because Fleischer-Camp invented much of the filmmaking process, Slate remarks that they wanted to take that to the film production, “so we took the risk to try to create that [environment] for ourselves.” The duo now share the story behind how “Marcel the Shell” was created, and their trajectory of taking this tiny character from being a YouTube sensation to the big screen. But first, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni banter about the Emmys group-like nominations this year. And while Hulu got 58 nods, its future as a streaming platform remains uncertain. 

Filmmaker Sara Dosa’s childhood fascination and fear of volcanoes shaped her career. While finishing her last film “The Seer and the Unseen” about an Icelandic woman fighting to save a lava field from becoming a road, she came across archival footage from Katia and Maurice Krafft, the renowned French volcanologists. “They had shot hundreds of hours of footage, and Iceland was one of their absolute favorite places, so they did have extraordinary images of volcanoes,” she says. The scientist couple were killed in a pyroclastic blast at Mount Unzen in Japan in 1991. And though the documentarian doesn’t remember their tragic deaths, she and her team became transfixed by the duo. “Once we learned more about them as people, both as these unique, idiosyncratic, hilarious, and philosophical individuals [who had] this extraordinary life where they chased erupting volcanoes all around the world, we thought, this is a world we want to dwell in.” Dosa pieces together their imagery to make “Fire of Love.” It is an homage to the French couple, their love for each other, and devotion and fearlessness to studying volcanoes – a job that ultimately led to their deaths. The film also explores the Kraffts’ travels, writings, and lectures on the beauty and dangers of molten lava and blasts of hot gasses, and their ability to document and share their findings with a wide audience. But first, Hollywood media and tech moguls reconvene in Sun Valley Idaho this week, where large deals used to be brokered, but are now less likely.

To some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, creator Dustin Lance Black’s FX series “Under the Banner of Heaven” is an unfair depiction of their religion. Having grown up in the church, Black says he is not surprised. “As I grew older, and got to know more that this is a church that does not like anything questioned,” Black says. “They have the saying to ‘doubt your doubts.’ And one of the things I know the church is most uncomfortable with is outsiders discussing the faith, and I'm seen as an outsider now.” Black explains his approach to adapt Jon Krakauer’s nonfiction book into the FX series, and how his Mormon upbringing helped him shape and explore the history of the Mormon church. He also discusses advocacy, and having failures, and successes in his career. But first, Disney renews Bob Chapek’s contract for another three years, despite his turbulent tenure. Has Disney given him a full vote of confidence, or will they keep an eye on him?

Comedians Desus Nice and The Kid Mero have careers that span from social media to television’s late-night show scene. Today, they host “Desus & Mero” on Showtime. The duo started being funny on Twitter, which opened doors, but also made them understand their craft. “Sometimes you’re just tweeting away and it’s not getting you anywhere. You see people and they have really great tweets, and they’re basically just giving away genius ideas, or genius jokes for free, then you don't even technically own your tweets after you put them up,” says Desus. Desus and Mero join Kim Masters to discuss their progress from tweeting at their day jobs to a career in podcasting, to web series, to their self-titled “Desus & Mero” TV show, and what’s next.  “I'm a father of four, so I see stuff like ‘Captain Underpants’ or ‘Dog Man,’ and it's not just a book. It's a cartoon, it's merchandise,” Mero remarks. “I'm particularly interested in the children's book space because it's something that can create an empire.”

Twice Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy directed two episodes of Disney’s limited series “Ms. Marvel.” She shares with Kim Masters her path from making intimate documentary shorts in her home country of Pakistan, to animated features, to “Ms. Marvel” – her first live-action, narrative fiction series. “I know what ‘Black Panther’ did for communities across the world. And this is exactly what ‘Ms. Marvel’ is going to do for South Asian communities,” says Obaid-Chinoy. The mini series portays a teenage, Pakistani-American superhero, and within its first week on Disney+, it received a 97% score – the best reviewed Marvel series and film production on Rotten Tomatoes, a record previously held by “Black Panther.” The filmmaker also talks about how the real life heroes she has depicted over the years in documentary form are tied to “Ms. Marvel.” “Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel is a superhero who … is very much in line with the other characters that I had been filming throughout my career,” she explains, adding she desires to continue telling important stories in the future. But first, Bob Chapek’s latest miscalculated decision may have cost Disney subscribers.