The Business

<p>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. </p> <p></p>

<p>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. </p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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, “<a href="https://www.focusfeatures.com/vengeance">Vengeance</a>.” “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?</p>

<p>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, “<a href="https://a24films.com/films/marcel-the-shell-with-shoes-on">Marcel the Shell With Shoes On</a>.” 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. </p>

<p>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 “<a href="https://films.nationalgeographic.com/fire-of-love">Fire of Love</a>.” 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.</p>

<p>To some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, creator Dustin Lance Black’s FX series “<a href="https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/under-the-banner-of-heaven">Under the Banner of Heaven</a>” 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 <a href="https://www.jonkrakauer.com/books/under-the-banner-of-heaven-tr">book</a> 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?</p>

<p>Comedians Desus Nice and The Kid Mero have careers that span from social media to television’s late-night show scene. Today, they host “<a href="https://www.sho.com/desus-and-mero">Desus & Mero</a>” 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.”</p>

<p>Kim Masters and Matt Belloni celebrate the Disney-Pixar film Inside Out 2, which knocked the box office out of its summer slump with a whopping $155 million domestic debut. They also discuss Netflix’s latest venture into “immersive entertainment centers.”</p> <p>Plus, Masters speaks to Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood, two executive producers behind National Geographic’s anthology series Genius: MLK/X. The husband-and-wife duo talk about the challenge of dramatizing the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, two towering historical figures who met just once during their lifelong fights for equality.</p>

<p>Twice Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy directed two episodes of Disney’s limited series “<a href="https://www.disneyplus.com/video/d54de5dc-254b-4854-892e-6a0c3e407131">Ms. Marvel</a>.” 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. </p>

<p>Brothers Aaron and Adam Nee are the directing-duo behind the hit movie “The Lost City,” starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, and Brad Pitt. They’ve been collaborators since childhood. Adam says, “In prepping, we really get inside of each other's heads – and we just know each other so well, and have the same kind of ideas and taste, so that allows us to be on the same page on set.” And in another Disney shakeup, CEO Bob Chapek <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disneys-peter-rice-ousted-in-major-executive-shake-up-1235161999/">fired head of television content Peter Rice</a>. Dana Walden is now the Chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content, where she will oversee original programming for Disney’s broadcast, cable, and streaming networks.</p>

<p>It took Samuel L. Jackson years to find a home for his passion project, “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.” He’s the star and executive producer of the miniseries, based on a novel by Walter Mosley. Apple TV+ finally stepped up, but Jackson says once the project got going, the trillion-dollar-plus company still pinched pennies when he came to them with budget requests. “You go, ‘Wait a minute, did you stop selling phones in the last hour or something? In the time we're having this conversation, you've made enough money to do this thing that I need you to do,’” Jackson says. Jackson talks about his mid-career stardom, the team he’s had around him for decades, and the bumpy road to bringing “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” to life.</p>

<p>“Squid Game” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk had never written a TV series before, but after a decade conceptualizing it, he created an unprecedented global sensation. “Squid Game” is about a dystopian survival competition where hundreds of cash-strapped players aim for a multi-million dollar cash prize. The show has become No. 1 in 90 countries and the most-watched Netflix program of all time. The USC-trained filmmaker had big ambitions for the project, but was blown away by how many people worldwide are fans. “I wanted to make a global TV show. My goal was hitting number one in the U.S. Netflix rank. But I never expected this kind of big success,” he says. When Hwang proposed “Squid Game,” it was considered too weird and too violent. So while he searched for investors for that project, he directed three acclaimed films: “The Crucible,” “Miss Granny,” and “The Fortress.” In 2018, Netflix took a closer look, “got hooked,” and greenlit the show. The streaming service’s global platform gave the show visibility and a massive audience. With all the achievements, Hwang has agreed to work on season two, which could be out by the end of 2023 or 2024. And the streaming service may be spawning a “Squid Game” universe.</p>

<p>Tony McNamara's viciously satirical Hulu series “The Great” follows young Empress Catherine's adventures in her adopted country: 18th century imperial Russia. McNamara’s version is one with a lot of swearing, sex, and violence, and the series is now in production on its third season. As is typical for a streamer, Hulu doesn’t tell McNamara much about who’s watching. But he’s fine with that. “You sort of assume it’s going well because they renew it,” McNamara says. “But you're not locked into ‘what's the ratings this week? What's the data?’ So there’s a freedom in that.” 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.</p>

<p>Before he co-created the FX comedy series “Reservation Dogs,” Sterlin Harjo directed three micro-budget films in his home state of Oklahoma. He had knocked on Hollywood’s door but somehow he never could find financing. "I even heard, like, this film’s just a little too Indian," Harjo says. "Or, this film’s not Indian enough. So, it was very confusing." Now, FX is preparing to release a second season of “Reservation Dogs" and the series is looking to nab Emmy nominations this year.</p>

<p>Natasha Rothwell played Kelli on HBO’s “Insecure,” and the beleaguered spa manager in “The White Lotus.” Now, she’s in the hit sequel “Sonic The Hedgehog 2.” With her own production company and an overall deal at ABC Signature, she plans to create movies and TV that skip the tired tropes and feature diverse casts. "I think so many scripts use page real estate in Act One just to justify someone's Blackness, or fatness or womanness, and then the story can start," Rothwell says. "We have to acclimate the audience to our otherness before we can tell a story, and I think that's bullshit." Natasha Rothwell talks about blossoming in the "Insecure" writers room, and says that she has big plans for her company, Big Hattie Productions.</p>

<p>The longest-running original series on Netflix is coming to an end. Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin have played “Grace and Frankie” for seven seasons, telling raunchy and honest stories of older women. After co-creating “Friends,” Marta Kauffman thought up the Netflix hit “Grace and Frankie,” which made it to an unheard-of 94 episodes. While Netflix has been offering a high volume of shows, only to drop many scripted series after a couple of seasons, Kauffman is not surprised that the big-volume approach has led to problems. “We’re going to do a little bit of everything in the hopes they’ll be a niche audience for every show,” Kauffman says. “And there isn’t a niche audience for every single show.”</p>

<p>In 1970, a 21-year-old heir to a margarine fortune became a nationwide sensation when he vowed to give away his money to anyone who needed it. Michael Brody was deluged with thousands of letters, most of which sat unopened for decades, until documentarian Keith Maitland and his team decided to read them. “We started researching people, and we started tracking them down,” Maitland says. “And over and over, we kept discovering that almost nobody remembered having written these letters.” Director Keith Maitland and Executive Producer Ed Pressman talk about exploring a strange, poignant, and all but forgotten story with the film “Dear Mr. Brody.” </p>

<p>Talent agent-turned-producer Theresa Kang Lowe had a pretty good idea of the challenges she’d face in adapting the novel “Pachinko” for television. A series almost entirely subtitled, largely set 100 years ago in Korea, with a huge budget — it wasn’t an obvious greenlight. “At the time when I was an agent and I came across a book, my job was to think about strategy. How are we gonna sell this?” Kang Lowe says. “So the immediate no’s were: period piece. The budget has to be significant for it to have scope and scale from a cinematic point of view. It also had to be an all Asian-led cast. And it had to be told in Korean, Japanese and English.” Kang Lowe was able to use her decades of experience to land the budget and support she needed at Apple. Kang Lowe discusses her career—including an interesting time as Ari Emanuel’s assistant, her rise to partner at William Morris Endeavor, and her move to become executive producer of the new Apple TV+ series “Pachinko.”</p>

<p><a href="https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/coda-oscar-win-apple-tv-plus-viewer-increase-1235220528/">“CODA” won three Oscars</a> this year: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Writing (Adapted Screenplay). When making “CODA,” <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0559144/awards?ref_=nm_awd">Marlee Matlin</a>, who won an Oscar in 1987 for “Children of a Lesser God,” realized she was usually the only Deaf person on a set. She told KCRW in January: “I’m the one typically going to my trailer by myself, and it’s just me and my interpreter. But in all honesty, I never thought of it until I got on the set of ‘CODA’ and realized there’s a whole different world out there I’ve been missing all this time. Realizing that here I am, on the set of ‘CODA,’ in my element at lunch time, because everybody is signing. The hearing crew — they’re signing, there’s Deaf cast members, and most importantly, our director learned sign language.” KCRW reairs its conversation with director Siân Heder and Matlin. Also in a new Banter, Matt Belloni talks to Lucas Shaw about what happens now as the WarnerMedia Discovery merger is imminent. </p>

<p>Writer Ellen Rapoport’s workplace comedy “Minx,” about a Playgirl-style magazine, was hard to sell. Set in 1972, the series follows an idealistic young Vassar graduate who teams up with with a pornographer to create a magazine featuring feminist articles alongside photos of naked men. With “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig as a producer, Rapoport was pretty sure the show was a slam dunk. “We took it to everyone. Every buyer. Buyers I didn’t even know existed. Networks I’ve never heard of. And everyone said no,” Rapoport says. Ellen Rapoport describes how “Minx” eventually found a home on HBO Max, and how she made her way from Harvard Law to Hollywood. </p>

<p>The downfall of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has inspired books, podcasts, and now the hit limited series “The Dropout.” Showrunner Liz Meriwether (“New Girl”) admits she was surprised when Hulu asked her to pitch her vision for the project. “I was a playwright before I was a screenwriter, and maybe they had some belief in my ability to do something besides write sitcoms. I really don’t know why they came to me. And in fact, when they called me, I was like, ‘really?’”</p>

<p>Bringing Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel “Dune” to the big screen was considered a daunting proposition. But Mary Parent, a top Legendary Entertainment executive, gave filmmaker Denis Villeneuve the biggest budget of his career to realize his vision. Still, it wasn’t Marvel-sized funding and Villeneuve says he’s actually grateful for that. “It’s good to have restrictions, it brings discipline. And I needed that discipline. I’m serious about that. I don’t think I would be comfortable to make a movie without limits,” says Villeneuve. “Dune” was a success, and it’s now up for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture.</p>

<p>Hollywood has dominated in making global blockbusters for years, whereas China isn’t making those hits yet, but it’s now the biggest generator of box office revenue worldwide. The book “Red Carpet: Hollywood, China and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy” explains that China is playing a long game. Plus, director Jessica Kingdon talks about her Oscar-nominated documentary, “Ascension,” which focuses on social class and consumption in modern China.</p>

<p>Filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” is the first Japanese film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. He’s also the first from his country to be up for Best Director since Akira Kurosawa back in 1986. And for Hamaguchi, the success is a lot. “I have been working with very small budgets, very small films,” Hamaguchi says through an interpreter. “So to think that my own work is lined up in a place like the Oscars where Hollywood stars are all there, and to think that my film is part of that — it’s really hard not to feel some kind of hesitation, not knowing what to do with myself.”</p>

<p>Before he even landed the job, director Reinaldo Marcus Green could tell that the film “King Richard” was a special project for the superstar sitting across the table from him – Will Smith. “I could sense that this was a really, really important role for him,and that he was going to give everything to it, and that I was the guy to help him get there.” Though he had only directed two features before, Green was hired and got to work building his filmmaking dream team. Although filming hit snags because of pandemic shutdowns, “King Richard” has nabbed six Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor for Will Smith. The story of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams, and the family effort behind their success, is also up for Best Picture.</p>

<p>ViacomCBS has rebranded as Paramount, but investors did not respond well. How long will Shari Redstone hang onto control of the company her father built? Plus, there’s chaos at CNN following the ouster of executive Jeff Zucker. A mega-banter with Matt Belloni of Puck News and Lucas Shaw of Bloomberg gets into all the details. Also, who could win the big prize at this year’s Oscar Awards when there’s no clear frontrunner for Best Picture? The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg gives predictions.</p>

<p>Kamau Bell talks about his new documentary, “We Need to Talk About Cosby.” Also, the Oscars won’t require COVID vaccinations to attend, and Disney+ boasts a growth in subscribers.</p>

<p>Filmmaking team Phil Lord and Chris Miller have been making movies together for years. “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” “21 Jump Street,” and “The Lego Movie” are just some of their many credits. In 2017 they were fired from the Star Wars spinoff movie “Solo,” but bounced back with an Oscar for Best Animated Feature with “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” And they’re currently working on the two sequels for that. Meanwhile, they’ve just dropped the murder-mystery spoof “The Afterparty” on Apple TV+. Chris Miller admits it’s a lot. “The trick is not to sleep,” Miller says. “There were days when we were shooting ‘The Afterparty’ where — I have pictures of Phil in a field with a laptop, rewriting a scene for ‘Spider-Verse.’ … That’s the kind of balancing act we have to do to try and make these things be as good as they can be.”</p>

<p>Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin is usually the only Deaf person on a set. Matlin came to a big realization when making “CODA,” a breakthrough film featuring Deaf actors. “I’m the one typically going to my trailer by myself, and it’s just me and my interpreter. But in all honesty, I never thought of it until I got on the set of ‘CODA’ and realized there’s a whole different world out there I’ve been missing all this time,” Matlin says. “Realizing that here I am, on the set of ‘CODA,’ in my element at lunch time, because everybody is signing. The hearing crew — they’re signing, there’s Deaf cast members, and most importantly, our director learned sign language.” Director Siân Heder and Matlin tell KCRW about making their family drama “CODA,” which scored a record-breaking deal at Sundance last year and has already made history. For the first time, a film featuring a Deaf cast has been nominated for Outstanding Performance at the SAG Awards.</p>

<p>To get a shot at directing his remake of “A Star is Born,” Bradley 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 KCRW’s interview with Bradley 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.</p>

<p>Multi-hyphenate Bradley Cooper is out with two new films. There’s “Licorice Pizza,” in which he plays real-life wild man producer Jon Peters, and “Nightmare Alley,” where he stars as carnival worker-turned-con man Stanton Carlisle. Cooper commits to all his roles but says it was a challenge to bare all in Guillermo del Toro's dark drama, “Nightmare Alley.” “It demanded that we be naked — emotionally and soulfully and even physically for me, which actually was a big deal,” Cooper says. “I still remember that day, just to be naked in front of the crew for six hours. … It was pretty heavy.” In the first of a two-part interview, Cooper talks about how he prepared for each role. His short but memorable turn as Jon Peters was just nominated for a SAG Award. And Cooper has another connection to Peters — Cooper made 2018’s “A Star is Born,” a remake of a 1954 film that producer Jon Peters had already re-made in 1976 with his then-girlfriend, Barbra Streisand. Cooper tells KCRW why he was so committed to writing and directing a remake of a remake, even though everyone told him not to do it.</p>

<p>Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has won two Oscars and could be up for a third. His new movie “A Hero” is on this year’s shortlist for Best International Film. Working in his home country, Farhadi makes compelling cinema despite strict government censorship.</p>

<p>Actress and now director Maggie Gyllenhaal wanted to set her new drama “The Lost Daughter” in Maine, but New Jersey offered a better tax credit. So the plan was to shoot in New Jersey until Gyllenhaal decided it just didn’t feel right. Gyllenhaal tells KCRW about finding her power as a director and how she ended up making “The Lost Daughter” in Greece.</p>

<p>It's time for the 2021 Megabanter! The streaming wars ramped up. Scarlett Johansson sued Disney. And Netflix was the envy of all with “Squid Game.”</p>

<p>Mahershala Ali has worked for 20 years, earning Oscars for “Moonlight” and “Green Book.” But the new drama “Swan Song” is his first leading film role. He’s also a producer on the project, which came naturally since he feels he’s been doing some of that work — without the credit — for years. Ali tells us why “Swan Song” was the right film for him to take on a role behind the camera too.</p>

<p>Documentarian Jonas Poher Rasmussen long wanted to tell the story of his friend, who fled Afghanistan as a child and ended up alone in a Danish town. But that friend didn’t want his identity revealed, and there was no footage of his journey. The answer was animation. Rasmussen’s movie “Flee” is now Denmark’s Oscar submission for Best International Film. </p>

<p>KCRW resumes its conversation with James Andrew Miller, author of “Tinderbox,” the new book about HBO. He talks about more recent HBO history, including the 2020 launch of Warner Media’s streaming service. When asked whether he thought naming the streamer HBO Max was a good or bad idea, Miller responded, “I think it’s one of the great branding disasters of all time.”</p>

<p>For his exhaustive new book on HBO, James Andrew Miller talked to 600 people about the network that brought us “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” and “Veep.” Behind the scenes, executives were playing their own “Game of Thrones.” In the first of a two-part conversation, Miller tells KCRW about his new HBO oral history, “Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers.”</p>

<p>The new Netflix documentary “Procession” follows Dan Laurine and five other victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, as they use drama to ease the burden of their traumatic childhoods. They write and re-enact scenes from their past — scenes that are not at all graphic but still carry a powerful emotional charge. Laurine and “Procession” director Robert Greene tell KCRW how they hope their film can help facilitate change for other survivors. </p>

<p>Kieran Culkin has found a defining role playing Roman Roy, the snarkiest of the siblings on HBO’s “Succession.” Culkin tells KCRW about acting from an early age, facing his fears while fulfilling a dream as host of “Saturday Night Live,” and how he sometimes finds it hard to turn off that very snarky Roman Roy persona.</p>

<p>The Netflix documentary “Found” follows three Chinese cousins, adopted as babies by very different American families. Thanks to DNA, the teen girls found each other. Then they travelled to China seeking clues about their past, and got the help of a young Chinese genealogist with her own complicated family history. Director Amanda Lipitz and producer Anita Gou tell us how their emotional film “Found” benefitted from a big helping of kismet from start to finish.</p>

<p>Bryan Carpenter has worked as an armorer — the person responsible for overseeing weapons — on series such as “Queen of the South” and “Cloak & Dagger.” He has a lot of thoughts about what appears to have gone wrong on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie “Rust.” The biggest issue of all? The apparent presence of live ammunition. “That never should occur,” Carpenter says. “That would be the worst case scenario — to introduce a live round onto a movie set that’s using firearms.”Carpenter details the circumstances that contributed to the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and he shares his hope that this nightmare will lead to more standardized gun safety training across the film industry. </p> <p></p>

<p>KCRW revisits its conversation with filmmaker Edgar Wright. His music documentary “The Sparks Brothers” celebrates two musicians whose work he loves. Ron and Russell Mael are brothers who make up the band Sparks, and they’re a pair of complete originals. Wright is an original, too. His hit movie “Baby Driver” and upcoming thriller “Last Night in Soho” are based on ideas he made up. And he can’t help but wonder why movie studios aren’t willing to take a few more chances on fresh ideas. Plus, KCRW has fresh banter about internal strife at Netflix, HBO Max numbers, and IATSE. The below-the-line Hollywood union has a contract, but will its members ratify it?</p>

<p>The third season of HBO’s award-winning black comedy “Succession” was supposed to premiere a year ago, but the pandemic halted production for many months. Series creator Jesse Armstrong says despite the delay, the cast was soon back in the zone when they finally reunited. Armstrong tells KCRW how the road to “Succession” began with a script about an imagined Murdoch family dinner, and explains why he re-writes his scripts — full of lacerating insults — throughout the production process. </p>

<p>Before he co-created the hit show “Empire,” writer Danny Strong won accolades for two HBO movies based on real events. So when he wanted to make a series about the opioid epidemic based on Beth Macy’s book “Dopesick,” he thought he’d be met with open arms. Instead, he found no one was much interested in his pitch. He tells KCRW about his quest to make a limited series version of “Dopesick,” which eventually found a home on Hulu. </p>

<p>After budget blowups, a leadership change and many delays, the long-awaited Academy Museum is finally open. KCRW takes a whirlwind tour with museum president Bill Kramer to hear how exhibits cover all aspects of the movie business. And there are lots of fun sightings, including ruby red slippers, the typewriter used to write “Psycho,” Leo’s “Revenant” body cast, and even the famous Rosebud. </p>

<p>For the first time in decades, the crew members who make movies and TV shows are threatening to strike. Members of IATSE — the union that covers cinematographers, editors, costumers and many more behind-the-camera jobs — say they’ve had enough of low wages and long hours without sufficient breaks. Script coordinator and IATSE member Shawn Waugh tells KCRW why he will vote to authorize a historic strike.</p>

<p>Natalie Morales built up a bunch of acting credits on shows including “Parks and Recreation” and “The Grinder.” But what she really wanted to do was direct. When her agents didn’t get on board, she dropped them and got new ones. Now she’s made not one but two features. Morales tells KCRW about her double directorial debut with the films “Plan B” and “Language Lessons.”</p>

<p>Before he co-created the FX comedy series “Reservation Dogs,” Sterlin Harjo directed three micro-budget films in his home state of Oklahoma. He had knocked on Hollywood's door, but somehow he never could find financing. No one wanted Native films, and Harjo almost left the industry entirely. Then he teamed up with his friend Taika Waititi to make a coming-of-age show about four Native teenagers. FX liked “Reservation Dogs” so much, they’ve already ordered a second season.</p>