The Town with Matthew Belloni

Latest Episodes:

Is the Sundance Dream Still Alive? Jan 26, 2023

Show notes

Live from Sundance, Matt is joined by entertainment dealmaker, lawyer, and media advisor John Sloss. John and his company, Cinetic Media, have been involved in some of the biggest sales in the festival's history. He and Matt discuss Sundance’s return to in-person programming for the first time in three years and how the market has changed over the years, as well as John’s concerns about the independent scripted drama, the future of arthouse movies, and how the age of streaming affects the world of independent cinema.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: John Sloss

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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How the Shocking Andrea Riseborough Oscar Nomination Happened Jan 25, 2023

Show notes

Matt is joined by Dani Weinstein, a veteran communications executive and marketer, to break down the savvy marketing campaign behind Andrea Riseborough’s surprise Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in the movie ‘To Leslie.’ Dani has been in the trenches of Oscar campaigns for years and helps detail how Riseborough’s unique campaign contributed to a nomination. They discuss how social media has changed the modern Oscar campaign and speculate if Riseborough’s nomination playbook has forever changed the strategy of the Oscar campaign.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Dani Weinstein

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Inside the Netflix Executive Shake-up Jan 23, 2023

Show notes

Matt is joined by Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw to go inside Netflix’s announcement that cofounder and co-CEO Reed Hastings will be stepping down, with COO Greg Peters joining Ted Sarandos as co-CEOs moving forward. They discuss why Reed chose to leave right now, other C-suite restructuring within the company, and what this means for the future of Netflix.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Lucas Shaw

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Making Movie Stars Younger With AI Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

Matt is joined by VFX executive Matt Panousis to discuss Hollywood’s open secret of de-aging actors, a new tool called Vanity AI, and when we’ll see dead stars resurrected convincingly on our screens.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Matt Panousis

Producer: Devon Manze

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Should Disney Be Afraid of Nelson Peltz? Jan 17, 2023

Show notes

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss Disney’s proxy battle against activist shareholder Nelson Peltz, his plan (or lack thereof) to “restore the magic” at the company, and where other shareholders might fall between Peltz, Marvel’s Ike Perlmutter, and CEO Bob Iger.

Email us your thoughts at thetown@spotify.com.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Lucas Shaw

Producer: Devon Manze

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Around the World With Netflix’s Head of TV Jan 13, 2023

Show notes

Matt is joined by Rachel Syme to talk about her latest ‘New Yorker’ profile on Bela Bejaria, the global head of television at Netflix. Rachel talks about her months spent with Bela traveling to Netflix offices all over the world. She talks about Netflix’s evolved identity as a tastemaker, how quantity seems to be prioritized over quality, their strategy to globalize content, and more.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Rachel Syme

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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‘M3GAN,' and How to Market a Movie to Young People Jan 11, 2023

Show notes

Matt is joined by Michael Moses, the chief marketing officer at Universal Pictures, to discuss their latest hit, the horror film ‘M3GAN,’ and why it brought so many young people to the theater. Matt and Michael discuss how the viral marketing campaign led to nearly half of the movie's audience coming from people under 25 years old, why Universal’s batting average is so high with horror films, and how marketing can completely change the success of a film.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Michael Moses

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Vince McMahon’s Return and the WWE’s Most Intriguing Suitors Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss Vince McMahon’s unceremonious return to the WWE, his plan to help facilitate a sale before agreeing to a new TV rights deal, and the front-runners most likely to make a bid to acquire the live wrestling juggernaut.

Email us your thoughts at thetown@spotify.com

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Lucas Shaw

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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The New Black List and the Original Screenwriting Recession Jan 05, 2023

Show notes

Matt is joined by Franklin Leonard, a film executive and the founder of the Black List, a yearly publication featuring Hollywood's most popular unproduced screenplays, to discuss the market for original screenwriting, the value a good script still holds in Hollywood, why comedies have disappeared, how the Black List helps anoint the next generation of writers, the potential writers strike this spring, and how AI could affect the careers of screenwriters.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Franklin Leonard

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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Why Audiences Have Given Up on Awards Movies Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

Awards season is in full swing, and besides 'Avatar,' the critically acclaimed movies are more or less tanking. Today Matt is joined by Kevin Goetz—founder and CEO of Screen Engine/ASI, a leader in content research in the entertainment industry—to discuss the holiday box office slump, the disappearance of the adult drama target audience, and what the data says about the

ongoing moviegoing crisis.

Host: Matt Belloni

Guest: Kevin Goetz

Producer: Craig Horlbeck

Theme Song: Devon Renaldo

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