158 episodes
The Town with Matthew Belloni The Ringer
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- Society & Culture
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4.6 • 320 Ratings
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Puck founding partner Matthew Belloni takes you inside Hollywood, using exclusive reporting and insight to explain the backstories on everything from Marvel movies to streaming wars. Multiple times each week, Matt will touch on what is getting made and why, who is winning and losing, and what people in show business are actually talking about.
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Apple’s Billion-Dollar Bet on Movie Theaters
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss his report about Apple planning to get into the theatrical business in a big way, with the company planning to spend $1 billion to make and release movies in theaters. They break down Apple’s rationale, partnering with traditional studios for distribution help, its commitment to making movies with top-level talent, and whether or not this will help build the Apple TV+ brand.
For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com
Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Lucas Shaw
Producer: Craig Horlbeck
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
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Lionsgate Film Chief Joe Drake on ‘John Wick’ and the Modern Independent Studio
Matt is joined by the chair of the motion picture group at Lionsgate, Joe Drake, to talk about how the 'John Wick' series came to be and the future of the franchise, how hard is it for a non-major studio to compete with other studios in the theatrical business, making originals vs. franchises, and how an independent movie studio survives in 2023. They also discuss a potential sale of Lionsgate and what is next for the company. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the final season of ‘Succession.’
For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com
Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Joe Drake
Producer: Craig Horlbeck
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
BET and the Future of Small Streamers
Matt is joined by Puck contributor and analyst at Parrot Analytics Julia Alexander to talk about Paramount selling the BET, a rare instance in which a media conglomerate sells an entire network and streaming service. They discuss why Paramount is selling BET, rumored potential suitors like Tyler Perry and Diddy, and the argument for small streamers to be in the hands of independent owners instead of major media conglomerates. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about ‘John Wick: Chapter 4.’
Read Julia's article on Puck here!
For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com
Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Julia Alexander
Producer: Craig Horlbeck
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
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Is the Franchise Model Starting to Fatigue in Hollywood?
Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss whether we are starting to see signs of decline in the franchise entertainment model. After the poor box-office showing of 'Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' and a slow start to Season 3 of 'The Mandalorian,' they speculate about whether the bankable franchise model of spinoffs, sequels, prequels, and universes is still as safe a bet as it once was. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about Hulu’s future and the upcoming film ‘Flamin’ Hot.’
For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com
Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Lucas Shaw
Producer: Craig Horlbeck
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Matt’s Year One Prediction Report Card
Matt and Craig celebrate The Town’s one-year anniversary by looking back at Matt’s predictions and highlighting his best and worst takes after a wild year in Hollywood. They break down his strongest box-office hits and largest misses, as well as his takes from 2022 that aged the best and worst, including Netflix’s future after the Great Netflix Correction, 'SNL' cutbacks, Bob Iger potentially buying the Phoenix Suns, HBO Max’s new name, and more. They finish the show by making a box office prediction for ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods.’
For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com
Host: Matt Belloni
Producer: Craig Horlbeck
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices -
Michael B. Jordan and How to Build a Modern Movie Star Career
Matt is joined by co-founder, president, and managing partner of M88 Phil Sun to talk about how to build a movie star career, how to evaluate projects for your client, the decision for his client Michael B. Jordan to direct 'Creed III', what is next for his career and the Creed universe, why he decided to leave WME and start his own managing film, and the growing influence of diverse audiences in entertainment.
For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click this link: puck.news/thetown
Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com
Host: Matt Belloni
Guest: Phil Sun
Producer: Craig Horlbeck
Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Customer Reviews
Love it, Informative AND Entertaining Look at the Industry
As a someone with a career in private equity (not in the entertainment industry), I tend to lean towards strictly "fun" content for podcasts on my daily commute, comedy shows or sports related topics. However the ringer production team here is doing a fantastic job here and I'm finding I'd like to learn even more about the finer structuring of these contracts and acquisitions. If y'all need a PE profession and legal business point guru to layout deals and analyze contracts gimme a ring. I'm not directly in the industry and can't burn bridges by showing how the sausage is made.
Baffling
I’m baffled that two clearly slanted, in their own bubble libs with lisps, run a show about a multimillion dollar industry.
These two clearly have no idea why shows and movies are failing. Disney. Hero movies. Franchises. It’s because the MAJORITY of the nation doesn’t want to have transgender trash and demonic garbage shoved down their throats. They want good story not shallow characters and pointless plots with green alien babies.
Why did Top Gun Maverick do well? Great story about Americans.
Why is Yellowstone doing so well? It’s about American. With American cowboys. Before you do the show get a feel for the pulse of the rest of the country.
And it is 2023 where there is easy access to speech therapy. Go be an adult and get the help you need so when you speak you don’t sound like an 8 year old asking mommy for a PBJ sandwich.
Started Strong, But...
Definitely a "Bro Podcast." You're not going to get a lot of diverse voices here. Matthew needs to blowhard less and let his guests finish a sentence because the content is often interesting. Lucas Shaw is knowledgeable, but there are more experts out there in the industry.