The Business

<p>Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have written movie scripts about real people like Ed Wood and Larry Flynt, but they weren't TV guys until they got an offer to tackle the trial of the century.</p>

<p>Director Todd Haynes and producer Christine Vachon trace tell us about the long journey to make their newest movie, <em>Carol</em>. Despite their past success, they say they still face resistance in the industry whenever they pitch a movie about women without any male leads. </p>

<p>Writer-director Adam McKay is known for his Will Ferrell comedies like <em>Anchorman</em> and <em>Talladega Nights</em>. He’s gone a different direction with <em>The Big Short</em>, and now the film about the 2008 financial collapse is up for five Oscars. </p>

<p>Director Lenny Abrahamson didn’t expect author Emma Donoghue would choose him to make a film based on her bestselling novel <em>Room</em>. Abrahamson tells us how he made his pitch to Donoghue -- and she explains why it worked.</p>

<p>First-time director László Nemes knew it would be tough to find funding for his intensely realistic Holocaust film, but he had no idea the level of resistance he'd face. He tells us how he went from having the movie no one wanted to touch to being a Cannes darling and Oscar contender.</p>

<p>Filmmaker Andrew Haigh had a difficult time funding his first film, a small indie drama called <em>Weekend.</em> When that movie charmed critics, everything changed. He tells us about his new film <em>45 Years.</em></p>

<p><span>Kim Masters, Michael Schneider of TV Guide Magazine and Matthew Belloni of the Hollywood Reporter, join forces for a 2015 year-in-review. They take on the year of the woman (or not), the fight over the future of Viacom, feast or famine at the box office, peak TV and more.</span></p>

<p>Rapper, actor and producer Ice Cube long hoped to make a movie about N.W.A., the hip hop group that gave him his start. <em>Straight Outta Compton</em> faced hurdles and backlash but that was no surprise to Cube. He tells us how he finally got the story to the screen.</p>

<p><em>Creed</em> director Ryan Coogler wasn't even born when most of the <em>Rocky</em> movies were made, but he fell in love with the franchise thanks to his father. Coogler tells us how he went from football player to filmmaker, and how he convinced Sylvester Stallone to go another round with <em>Creed.</em></p>

<p>Bill Pohlad has spent the past decade producing award-winners like <em>Brokeback Mountain</em> and <em>12 Years a Slave</em>. With <em>Love & Mercy</em>, a unique Brian Wilson bio-pic, he comes back to directing after a 24 year hiatus.</p>

<p>KCRW's Saul Gonzalez checks in on the headshot -- still a staple of the industry despite changing technology. And executive producer Betsy Beers tells us why she's sick of talking about diversity and how an all-woman producing duo locked down Thursday nights on ABC.</p>

<p>Despite a shrinking budget and difficult subject matter, director Tom McCarthy pulled together a stellar ensemble including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams to portray the unglamorous work of investigative reporting for his new movie <em>Spotlight.</em></p>

<p>Nick Hornby has seen his novels like <em>High Fidelity</em> and <em>About a Boy</em> made into films. He's also adapted other writers' work for movies, including <em>An Education, Wild,</em> and now, <em>Brooklyn,</em> an immigrant love story already generating Oscar buzz.</p>

<p>Bryan Cranston and <em>Trumbo</em> director Jay Roach tell us how they ended up making a biopic about blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and what drew them to the story of Hollywood’s darkest hour.</p>

<p>Director Leslee Udwin was in India as a court blocked the broadcast of her documentary about an infamous gang rape and murder in that country. Her film, <em>India's Daughter</em>, remains banned in India to this day. She tells us about putting herself at risk and in debt to make the film. </p>

<p>Director Lenny Abrahamson didn’t expect author Emma Donoghue would choose him to make a film based on her bestselling novel <em>Room</em>. Abrahamson tells us how he made his pitch to Donoghue, and she explains why it worked.</p>

<p>Early in his career, Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim declared he would never make documentaries. He tells us about the bad experience in Hollywood that made him have a change of heart, and talks about his newest film, <em>He Named Me Malala</em>, which profiles activist Malala Yousafzai and her family.</p>

<p>The German thriller <em>Victoria</em> follows a bank heist in Berlin in real time. Director Sebastian Schipper shot the entire film in one long take. Schipper and actress Laia Costa tell us how you make a movie without ever saying "cut!"</p>

<p>With her new film <em>Prophet's Prey,</em> documentarian Amy Berg takes on the polygamous, fundamentalist arm of the Mormon Church. She tells us about encountering unwilling subjects and also addresses her Hollywood child sex abuse doc, <em>An Open Secret.</em></p>

<p>Filmmaker Anna Muylaert has won acclaim at home and abroad for <em>The Second Mother,</em> which is Brazil's Oscar entry this year. But even with all the success, Muylaert's found that she's still not taken seriously within an industry dominated by men.</p>

<p>It may seem strange for the head of a cable network that's gone from two to 20 shows in the last decade to say there's officially too much TV, but that's exactly what FX's John Landgraf declared at this summer's TCA gathering. He breaks down his thinking for us.</p>

<p>The 1997 movie <em>Seven Years in Tibet</em> was banned in China, and its director Jean-Jacques Annaud barred from entering the country. A decade later, China came to Annaud and asked him to direct <em>Wolf Totem</em>, an epic Chinese movie. Annaud tells us what changed.</p>

<p>Television icon Norman Lear wrote sitcoms that tackled real issues, like rape, abortion and race relations. This Labor Day, we revisit Lear's conversation with Kim Masters about the lifetimes worth of adventures in film and television chronicled in his memoir.</p>

<p>For years, Bobcat Goldthwait wanted to make a movie about his mentor, Barry Crimmins. A stand-up comic with a taste for sharp political satire, Crimmins became an activist who testified before Congress, taking on AOL over the proliferation of child pornography on the Internet. Goldthwait tells how the film came together with help from his best friend Robin Williams.</p>

<p>Writer and comedian Keegan-Michael Key shares why he and Jordan Peele have opted to go the "British route" and end their Comedy Central show <em>Key & Peele</em> at the height of its popularity. </p>

<p>A TV show about the one man left alive after a virus wipes out the rest of humanity may not sound very funny, but Will Forte saw great comedic potential in the idea. Now he's Emmy nominated for writing and starring in Fox's <em>The Last Man on Earth.</em></p>

<p>David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik hit the TV jackpot with shows like <em>Friends</em> and <em>Mad About You.</em> They mined their experience of years in network TV to make the Emmy-nominated Showtime satire <em>Episodes,</em> now headed into its fifth season.</p>

<p>Jason Segel says he was terrified to take on the role of writer David Foster Wallace in <em>The End of the Tour</em>, but director James Ponsoldt never doubted him. They tell us about their new film, which follows a journalist on the road with the famed author. </p>

<p>The 2001 film <em>Wet Hot American Summer</em> tanked at the box office, but acquired a cult following as many members of its ensemble cast went on to have huge careers. Now director David Wain has reunited the entire cast for a new series on Netflix, <em>Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp</em>.</p>

<p>Filmmakers Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia tell us about the secretive, years-long process of making <em>Web Junkie</em>, a documentary about an internet addiction treatment facility for teens in China. Then, the executive producers of the Hulu hit <em>East Los High</em> share how their show is filling a void in the teen media market. </p>

<p>Filmmaker Benjamin Statler hopes his new documentary <em>Soaked in Bleach</em> will help reopen the Kurt Cobain case. Meanwhile, Courtney Love and her lawyers are attempting to stop his film from being shown in theaters.</p>

<p>Tab Hunter was the ultimate 1950's Hollywood heartthrob. Blond hair, blue eyes, stunning smile...and also gay. The multifaceted star, now nearly 84, tells his story in the new documentary <em>Tab Hunter Confidential</em>, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz. </p>

<p>When filmmaker Crystal Moselle first saw the long-haired Angulo brothers walking in the Lower East Side, her gut told her to run after them. She and Govinda Angulo, one of the six members of <em>The Wolfpack</em>, tell us how their friendship evolved into an award-winning documentary.</p>

<p><em>What Happened, Miss Simone?</em> is the first original documentary from Netflix. Director Liz Garbus shares how her Nina Simone project ended up there and tells us about the worldwide journey she traveled to find rare footage of the famous performer.</p>

<p>The new dramedy <em>UnREAL</em> is a major departure from the typical Lifetime fare. The series co-creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro tells us how her past experience working on <em>The Bachelor</em> led to the creation of a show all about the behind-the-scenes machinations of a reality TV producer.</p>

<p>Comedian Cristela Alonzo created and starred in an ABC sitcom based on her own life -- which made getting canceled after just one season that much harder. She reflects on the past year and tells us why she won't be joining <em>The View</em>.</p>

<p>Journalist Josh Karp tells us why the Orson Welles movie <em>The Other Side of the Wind</em> has been so troubled for decades. And KCRW's Saul Gonzalez checks in on California's latest attempt to keep movie-making in Hollywood. </p>

<p>Best known for his role at Lieutenant Sulu on Star Trek, George Takei is now the subject of the documentary, <em>To Be Takei</em>. The actor and activist talks about the chaos behind the first <em>Star Trek</em> movie and why William Shatner is like the crazy uncle of the <em>Star Trek</em> family.</p>

<p>If you came up with a hit TV show, would you want your agent to make more money than you? According to agent-turned-producer Gavin Polone, that's exactly what can happen thanks to what's known as the TV package fee. Polone and writer-producer Rob Long help us examine the long-standing system of fees.</p>

<p>As Brett Morgen has learned, people have powerful feelings about the mere idea of his new Kurt Cobain documentary, <em>Montage of Heck</em>. He tells us why Courtney Love first approached him about a film, and how having the cooperation of Love and her daughter, Frances Cobain, doesn't mean he had to give up control.</p>

<p>Brian Grazer has produced some of the most memorable movies of the last 30 years. He tells us how he's adapting to a rapidly changing film world and shares stories from his new book, <em>A Curious Mind.</em></p>

<p>Showrunner Nahnatchka Khan reflects on a successful freshman season of her ABC comedy <em>Fresh Off the Boat</em>, and KCRW's Matt Holzman meets the top dogs of the new Hungarian movie <em>White God</em>.</p>

<p>When he switched from theater to film and television, Aasif Mandvi found himself relegated to roles as cab drivers and deli owners. Now <em>The Daily Show</em> correspondent created a new web sitcom, <em>Halal in the Family,</em> in an effort to tackle anti-Muslim bias.</p>

<p>Filmmaker Lacey Schwartz always had the darkest skin in her nice Jewish family. Her documentary <em>Little White Lie</em> reveals the reason for that. She tells Kim Masters about revealing her family's drama in her new PBS documentary.</p>

<p>Author Hilary Mantel and producer Colin Callender tell us about adapting novels set in the intrigue of 16th century politics for 21st century television.</p>

<p>The writing team behind the new Netflix series <em>Bloodline'</em> is a three person collaboration known as KZK. Two of those members, Todd and Glenn Kessler tell us how they, along with Daniel Zelman, crafted a family drama that turns into a thriller in the Florida Keys.</p>

<p>When Danny Strong first pitched the idea for <em>Empire</em>, he got the green light right away. But then he actually had to write the show, set in a world he knew little about. He shares how he took the musical soap opera mega-hit from a blank computer screen to the TV screen.</p>

<p>Author Michael Connelly sold the movie rights to his most famous character, Detective Harry Bosch, 20 years ago. The project got stuck in development hell, but when Connelly finally got his Bosch back, he found Amazon waiting with open arms. </p>

<p>Comedian, author, TV personality and podcast host Adam Carolla adds another title to his resume: director. His crowdfunded, semi-autobiographical film <em>Road Hard</em> is about the struggles of a traveling stand-up.</p>

<p>Oscar-winner Geena Davis has played some memorable roles, but she knows that great parts for women are all too rare. She shares her plan to boost diversity on the screen and behind the cameras -- by launching a film festival in Arkansas. Then, Rick Ludwin, former head of NBC late night, shares insight from more than 30 years on the job.</p>