Martini Shot

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Martini Shot: Timing Your Exit Oct 26, 2022

Show notes

On call sheets, child actors have a pumpkin icon next to their names, notifying everyone on set about their inviolate shorter workdays, lest the kid turns into, well, a pumpkin. Rob Long reflects on the significance of that symbol — especially when the time comes to part ways with Hollywood. Even if you’re calling a temporary wrap on your on career, there’s a power and shrewdness to putting a putting a pumpkin next to your own name before someone else does it. Says Rob, “It's the smart and healthy thing to do.” Which means you — and he — probably will never do it. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Martini Shot: You’re Going To Get Fired Oct 19, 2022

Show notes

At one point or another, everyone in Hollywood will get fired, or will fire someone else. It’s as inevitable as getting unhelpful notes from an executive, or another Avengers sequel. After reading the news of the latest layoffs around town, Rob offers advice on how to deal with this part of the business, as well as how to handle the equally inevitable fallout: the creation of enemies. Sure, there are always people who you are never going to want to work with again, but there are actual enemies — people who you exchange words with — and secret enemies, the most troublesome kind of all. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Martini Shot: The Second Date Spark Oct 12, 2022

Show notes

Host Rob Long today explains why attracting an audience to a movie or TV show works the same way those dating apps work in attracting people to one another. But without the swiping. And why writers must always serve the dessert first in their scripts, no matter how “important” the message is. Because audiences want the candy, not the homework. So please, don’t bury the fun. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Martini Shot: 'We're Going to Be Okay!' Oct 05, 2022

Show notes

Today Rob Long tells the story of a friend on a flight about to make an emergency landing. The worst wasn’t the pilot’s announcement that they were in trouble; it was the flight attendant’s attempt to get everyone to chant, hands clapping, “We’re going to be okay!” As anyone in the industry long enough knows, such happy self-talk usually indicates something that is exactly the opposite — particularly in this era of Entertainment 2022. Enter the ninth planet. Please subscribe for more podcasts and stories about the entertainment industry. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Martini Shot: Throw it Away Sep 28, 2022

Show notes

“Everyone in the entertainment business works hard. Except agents, obviously.” So says Rob this week, as he describes the differences between writing and directing, with a few nods to actors (and their overacting): Being a writer teaches you how to be alone. But being a director teaches you how to be with people. So maybe, actually, being a director is the harder job? Also, what’s the best way for an actor to play a drunk person? We won’t spoil it here, but it hinges on on not being yourself. Follow us (and like us!) wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts, and on Twitter. Also please subscribe at TheAnkler.com for more podcasts and stories about the entertainment industry. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Martini Shot: Harry Styles at Dinner Sep 21, 2022

Show notes

Today, Rob Long presents the idea that anyone who puts on a little play, bangs on an instrument or talks into a microphone for money can say they’re in entertainment. But a true show business professional — hello, Harry Styles! — is hard to find these days, because the kind of people drawn to the industry are often much like baby actors — moody, mercurial, hard to reason with, yet also adorable. So when a fussy infant is faced with the prospect of being replaced by a cutting-edge robot on set, as witnessed by Rob, can they step up to the challenge? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Martini Shot: Never Go First Sep 14, 2022

Show notes

Today, Rob Long dives into some of the unspoken commandments that everyone working in entertainment ought to know and live by, from savvy advice when it comes to pitching (“never go first”) to why writers should never solicit feedback from execs who pass on their projects (“explanations are meaningless”). Also do your agent and manager secretly hate each other? This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Martini Shot: Just Look Up Sep 07, 2022

Show notes

This week, Rob Long recalls a childhood memory of a large, unidentifiable spinning machine with blades that took two people to operate — lest one lose a hand — which serves as good metaphor for working together in show business. And as long as that machine is doing its job, don’t try to tinker with it; just ask the people behind New Coke, who discovered — too late — that soda drinkers didn’t want something new. On the other hand, don’t be the CW, making shows for teens when the average age of your audience is… 58. Network programmers, this one’s for you! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Martini Shot: A Case of Mistaken Identity Aug 31, 2022

Show notes

Rob looks back at the “olden times”, when just a handful of broadcast networks with mediocre — and somewhat problematic — shows like Webster dominated the airwaves. Their main goals weren’t about attracting viewers as much as not driving them away to competitors. But in today’s streaming landscape, viewers aren’t drifting through a primetime lineup, or mindlessly channel surfing. And just like Rob, seduced by local clothes while on vacation in faraway places, both streamers and broadcast businesses need to remember who they are — lest they end up coming back dressed in a sarong and wooden slippers, looking ridiculous. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

Martini Shot: Advice on Advice Aug 24, 2022

Show notes

Writers get lots of advice during the development of a script, usually in a backhanded way with all sorts of qualifiers: agents like to give notes (typically on the prospects of a script in the marketplace) starting with phrases like “Hey, I’m not a writer!” or “I don’t have a creative bone in my body!” But if there’s one thing more awkward than receiving negative feedback on your work, it’s overhearing someone else getting those notes in a public space — a skill Rob has dubbed ‘yoga eavesdropping’. At the end of the day, sometimes the best thing one can do is provide no advice at all. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theankler.com/subscribe

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