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Speaker 1: Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and

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Speaker 1: analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Tuesday, November eleventh, twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Littleton. I am co

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Speaker 1: editor and chief for Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in

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Speaker 1: la He's in New York, and Bridy has reporters around

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Speaker 1: the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,

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Speaker 1: we'll talk with Variety's Matt Donnelly about the swirl of

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Speaker 1: activity and speculation going on in the industry around Paramount,

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Speaker 1: Warner Brothers, Discovery and basically the future of film and television.

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Speaker 1: And after all that, we'll have a just for Variety

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Speaker 1: red carpet rundown from Mark Malkin. Catherine Zaida Jones has

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Speaker 1: some thoughts about future casting for her Netflix series Wednesday.

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Speaker 1: But before we get to that, here are a few

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Speaker 1: headlines just in this morning that you need to know.

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Speaker 1: Pope Leo wants to talk movies and TV. The Chicago

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Speaker 1: born pontiff will hold a special audience at the Vatican's

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Speaker 1: Apostolic Palace on Saturday morning, to be attended by numerous

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Speaker 1: boldface name including Cate Blanchette, Chris Pine, Vigo Mortensen, Alison Breed,

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Speaker 1: Dave Franco, Monica Bealucci, Spike Lee, George Miller, and Gus

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Speaker 1: Van Sant, to name a few. According to the Vatican,

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Speaker 1: the Pope has quote expressed his desire to deepen a

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Speaker 1: dialogue with the world of cinema, exploring the possibilities that

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Speaker 1: artistic creativity offers to the mission of the Church and

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Speaker 1: the promotion of human values. The pit is going to TNT.

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Speaker 1: Warner Brothers Discovery plans to air the Emmy winning HBO

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Speaker 1: Max series Unedited on the TNT linear cable channel. In December,

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Speaker 1: my colleague Joe Otterson broke the story that DC Studios

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Speaker 1: is developing a TV series take on the v for

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Speaker 1: Vendetta franchise for HBO. Pete Jackson, not to be confused

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Speaker 1: with Peter Jackson, is on board as writer and finally,

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Speaker 1: for sure, Breaking Bad fans don't miss the new promotional

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Speaker 1: spot for Vince Gilligan's Apple TV series Pluribus starring Better

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Speaker 1: Call Saul Alum Ray Seahorn. It's a mini Breaking Bad

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Speaker 1: reunion with Bob Odenkirk, Bran Cranston, Aaron Paul and Moore,

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Speaker 1: actors from the Walter White universe interacting with Seahorns pluribus character.

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Speaker 1: It's fun. All of these stories in so much more

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Speaker 1: can be found on Variety dot Com Right now. Now

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Speaker 1: it's time for conversations with Varridy journalists about news and

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Speaker 1: trends and showbiz. We'll hear from Matt Donnelly, Vardy's senior

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Speaker 1: entertainment writer about how the industry is reacting to David

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Speaker 1: Ellison's whirlwind of activity around Paramount. The New Model Studio

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Speaker 1: had its first earnings call with Wall Street analysts on Monday.

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Speaker 1: After the bell, Wall Street basically liked what it's heard.

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Speaker 1: The company's stock price went up six percent and after

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Speaker 1: hours trading on Monday, and it's up so far. This morning,

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Speaker 1: Matt joins me to talk about what he's hearing about

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Speaker 1: Paramount and its pursuit of Warner Brothers Discovery, Paramount's big

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Speaker 1: investment in UFCA rights, and we talk about how the

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Speaker 1: rest of the town is watching the New Regimes every move.

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Speaker 1: Matt Donnelly, thank you for joining me.

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Speaker 2: I'm my pleasure.

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Speaker 1: As always, you have been very busy of late, so

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Speaker 1: I do appreciate you carving out this time for me.

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Speaker 1: On Monday, we got the new Paramount Skuide Dance's first

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Speaker 1: earnings report since the studio changed hands in August, and

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Speaker 1: David Ellison and Jeff Shall and the new regime are

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Speaker 1: firmly in charge. They led their first call into their credit.

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Speaker 1: They took a lot of questions. You were one of

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Speaker 1: the three that worked on our terrific, terrific cover story

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Speaker 1: about David Ellison's first hundred days or so at the studio.

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Speaker 1: So after listening to that call and really trying to

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Speaker 1: listen for the pointers to what's important and what the

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Speaker 1: strategy is, I wanted to talk to you just generally.

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Speaker 1: How is David Ellison being received in town? What are

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Speaker 1: they saying about David Ellison in private?

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Speaker 2: It's a great question because I think for such a

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Speaker 2: long time we knew that David had the larger ambitions

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Speaker 2: and obviously the purse to take him there. But I

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Speaker 2: think what you've watched in the past at least one

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Speaker 2: hundred days in service of this merger. But also I

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Speaker 2: think in the year leading up to his mad dash

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Speaker 2: try to close the deal for Paramount, is that he's

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Speaker 2: introducing us to David the millennial mogul. He's being a

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Speaker 2: little more hard charging. I think that he does have

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Speaker 2: a really big ambition to fill the shoes, and I

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Speaker 2: don't know that some to Redstone could ever be replaced,

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Speaker 2: but he's definitely gotten a little bit more aggressive. That's

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Speaker 2: one thing that people have noted. David has been likened

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Speaker 2: to a choir boy many times in this industry over

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Speaker 2: the past ten years, but now I think it's a

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Speaker 2: whole different kind of him. One thing we mentioned in

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Speaker 2: our cover story is that he's directly taking talent to

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Speaker 2: fancy lunches, landing his plane in their backyards, just being

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Speaker 2: really aggressive and not letting the accountants or the triggerman

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Speaker 2: or even his creative executives do it for him. He's

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Speaker 2: the front and center. Obviously, he's not afraid to spend

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Speaker 2: big for things that he thinks will be valuable long term,

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Speaker 2: like UFC Cindy, I can't even imagine how that would

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Speaker 2: have to amortize out to be a lucrative exclusive for them.

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Speaker 1: It's seven billion over seven years on the UFC. They

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Speaker 1: did point out that it is year round sports programming

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Speaker 1: and CBS in particular CBS. You know, they do have

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Speaker 1: a great NFL contract that's a few months of the

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Speaker 1: year in the fall and winter. They also have NCAA.

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Speaker 1: The truth of the CBS doesn't have a ton of sports.

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Speaker 1: I think with this gang in town, CBS is about

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Speaker 1: to have a whole lot more sports, and UFC is

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Speaker 1: year round, so it's not clustered around a certain time

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Speaker 1: of year, which Jeff Schell pointed out is a legit

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Speaker 1: point that is really going to help CBS so they'll

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Speaker 1: be able to spread it out. Let me ask you,

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Speaker 1: when Paramount came out days after the merger being done

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Speaker 1: with the UFC deal, how was that received in Hollywood?

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Speaker 1: Where people like, oh my god, they're going to spend

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Speaker 1: all their money on MMA.

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Speaker 2: From the DTC perspective, I think a lot of people

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Speaker 2: were mind blown that a sport like UFC, which have

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Speaker 2: been so long guarded by a pay per view wall,

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Speaker 2: would now just be accessible for the price of a

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Speaker 2: monthly subscription. So I think that a lot of people

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Speaker 2: still are very curious to see what juice is Paramount

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Speaker 2: Plus or even CBS's linear ratings when that actually comes out.

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Speaker 2: I think it's a huge test for everyone involved. And

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Speaker 2: I also think what's interesting is David Ellison is very

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Speaker 2: close with our Emmanuel, who is the invisible hands behind

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Speaker 2: both the UFC and all the talent that is now

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Speaker 2: pouring into paramounts. For so long, people were rooting for

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Speaker 2: David to acquire paramounts so he could try to save

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Speaker 2: a legacy player. But the second he took the keys,

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Speaker 2: I really noticed a total shift from the C suites

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Speaker 2: at other companies, particularly the streaming companies, where they're getting

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Speaker 2: a little agitated or because for so long the tech

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Speaker 2: giants have had the power of the purse, and now

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Speaker 2: here comes David who wants to invest in legacy theatrical

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Speaker 2: distribution into the linear networks. But he's got as much money,

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Speaker 2: if not more, and more security over time than they do.

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Speaker 1: On the call, he was very animated and sounded very

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Speaker 1: confident and knowledgeable when he was talking about improving the

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Speaker 1: company's tech stack and talking about the three pillars of

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Speaker 1: their streaming are on three different stacks, and you could

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Speaker 1: hear the touch of an engineer's like, oh my god,

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Speaker 1: this is so inefficient. Probably he's wired with that in

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Speaker 1: his DNA as the son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison,

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Speaker 1: so he was very conversant with that, and goodness knows

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Speaker 1: it with AI poised to change a lot about everything

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Speaker 1: we do have, not everything we do. Having those skills

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Speaker 1: certainly does not.

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Speaker 2: Hurt David's forward facing sermon to the town as how

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Speaker 2: much he loves cinema and how much he loves storytelling.

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Speaker 2: But I have never seen someone with a boarding school

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Speaker 2: poker face like his just light up when he talks

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Speaker 2: about tech.

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Speaker 1: What are you hearing in the world about the chances

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Speaker 1: that paramount Warner Brothers come together. It's during the earnings

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Speaker 1: call because there's just such a choreographed tap dance. They've

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Speaker 1: downplayed the needle, there's no must have things. But then

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Speaker 1: spoke another three minutes, making it very clear that they

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Speaker 1: have an appetite for Inna. They have the balance sheet

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Speaker 1: for it. It's no secret that they have been out

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Speaker 1: there swinging for Warner Brothers.

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Speaker 2: I think that Warner Brothers came out and had to

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Speaker 2: basically acknowledge that they are now in the process of

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Speaker 2: looking for a suitable buyer. I think reality is set

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Speaker 2: in in a big way across especially the content divisions.

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Speaker 2: We were here, Cynthia, how many years ago when Disney

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Speaker 2: finally stepped up to absorb twentieth Century Fox's entertainment assets,

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Speaker 2: and I think that then there was definitely a mourning

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Speaker 2: about what stood to be lost by losing an autonomous

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Speaker 2: studio player. And I think now even the notion something

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Speaker 2: like Warner Brothers, which I really believe is the envy

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Speaker 2: of the town when it comes to the diversity and

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Speaker 2: the history of its film library, and it's incredibly prolific

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Speaker 2: and successful TV content production and linear businesses.

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Speaker 1: It is really true. I mean, Warner's has been a cornerstone.

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Speaker 1: They were kind of one of the first conglomerates, like

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Speaker 1: Paramount was a collection of labels before it really congealed

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Speaker 1: into Paramount, and Warner Brothers bought First National, they bought

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Speaker 1: the talkie technology from Vitaphone. So a fascinating history. And

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Speaker 1: then going into the eighties and nineties when Time Ink

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Speaker 1: and Warner Brothers became the world's biggest media company, and

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Speaker 1: it was just this big moment of conglomeration. And to

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Speaker 1: see it now slowly over these last ten years or more,

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Speaker 1: be just dismantled piece by piece. Wow, these are changing

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Speaker 1: times for the business. There's a feeling of a very

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Speaker 1: generational shift.

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Speaker 2: Can I ask you a question, sure, go ahead, The

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Speaker 2: party line coming from inside the c suite of Paramount

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Speaker 2: is that they want more content, not less. So there's

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Speaker 2: a pledge that they would keep Warner Brothers Pictures, let's say,

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Speaker 2: absolutely fully operational, with its own marketing teams, its own

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Speaker 2: distribution teams, its own fifteen minimum per year film slate.

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Speaker 2: But from your perspective, who has again seen all these

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Speaker 2: headwinds before, how long do you really think one company

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Speaker 2: would operate two totally identical, you know, legacy studio outfits

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Speaker 2: without sharing resources.

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Speaker 1: I think you have to look at weird that theatrical

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Speaker 1: film business is right now. I think there's a world

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Speaker 1: that that could happen if there were really clear distinction

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Speaker 1: and specialization among each Maybe one is very much kind

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Speaker 1: of like a genre house and a franchise house, and

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Speaker 1: maybe one is a little bit more the spoke and

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Speaker 1: the adult drama. I think that could happen. But yes,

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Speaker 1: that would fly in the face of all of the

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Speaker 1: streamlining and efficiencies the new regime of Paramount has that

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Speaker 1: been shy. They work were pretty critical, especially the film

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Speaker 1: management of Paramount. They're taking a big, a five hundred

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Speaker 1: million dollar right down in the fourth quarter. I mean

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Speaker 1: for such a big transaction. None of this is shocking,

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Speaker 1: but it's the granular, step by step of a regime change.

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Speaker 1: People I talked to at Paramount like their heads are

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Speaker 1: still reeling. It is going to be a long process

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Speaker 1: of restructuring it. We know that there's still probably more

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Speaker 1: cuts to come, so it is a hard time. And

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Speaker 1: then you layer on the Warner Brothers speculation. It's a

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Speaker 1: lot going into the holidays. I don't have a crystal

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Speaker 1: ball on the Warner Brothers bidding situation, but I don't

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Speaker 1: think it's going to be fast. People are talking about

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Speaker 1: end of the year. I think once the holidays come,

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Speaker 1: I think this definitely bleeds into next year. But you know,

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Speaker 1: time will tell. What do you think.

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Speaker 2: I think that for this team, especially with how fraud

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Speaker 2: and frankly the tortured process of getting Paramount out of

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Speaker 2: the hands of its previous stewards, it was just such

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Speaker 2: a saga and the look out ray Ryan Murphy style

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Speaker 2: boardroom adaptation of that in ten years. But I can

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Speaker 2: see that this team probably wants to hit the gas

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Speaker 2: and throw everything they have at this. But I, like

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Speaker 2: you said, I just don't know. There's so many optics

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Speaker 2: and so much handholding. It's going to have to happen.

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Speaker 2: It's not only to get the town comfortable, but also

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Speaker 2: Lord knows what's going to happen with the regulatory environment

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Speaker 2: as we moved past the shutdown exact.

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Speaker 1: There's no question that to your earlier point about people

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Speaker 1: being really really fascinated by David Ellison, nobody has a

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Speaker 1: bigger bank roll and nobody has more political capital in

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Speaker 1: this Washington d c. Than they Ellison. So once again,

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Speaker 1: thank you for all your labors. We know one thing,

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Speaker 1: it's going to be a long road now.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much.

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Speaker 1: And now here's Mark Malcolm with a Just for Variety

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Speaker 1: red carpet rundown.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Cynthia Wednesday. Stars Jenna Ortega, Caffin, Zada Jones, and

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Speaker 3: Luis Guzman walk the red carpet on Sunday night at

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Speaker 3: Netflix FYC event for the hit Adam's Family series at

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Speaker 3: the Tadomb Theater in Hollywood. I caught up with Zeta Jones,

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Speaker 3: who were called having to keep Lady Gaga's appearance on

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Speaker 3: season two a well guarded secret, so much so she

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Speaker 3: did didn't even tell her husband, Michael Douglas, or even

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Speaker 3: their kids about the surprise cameo. Because I'm a good girl.

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Speaker 4: I don't tell anybody, so I had to deal with

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Speaker 4: the fat of when it did get released. My family

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Speaker 4: looked at me and said, I can't believe you that

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Speaker 4: we're the last people to know pop pack up?

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Speaker 3: So who else should guest star on the show? Zada

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Speaker 3: Jones says she has an idea.

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Speaker 5: I don't know how Danny Deffido hasn't been cast already

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Speaker 5: because Danny, my husband was roommates with Danny. I was

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Speaker 5: with him for our birthday in September, and I was like,

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Speaker 5: why isn't Danny DeVito in Wednesday?

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Speaker 3: It just seems that, you know, who do you want

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Speaker 3: me to fight?

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Speaker 5: I don't know, cousin it he's gonna kill me, but

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Speaker 5: that he's like, yeah, okay, we're gonna cast.

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Speaker 3: Me important like hair all over my face. Banks For

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Speaker 3: suggested that Gallant Wednesday Season two is available on Netflix.

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Speaker 1: As we close out today's episode, here's a few things

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Speaker 1: we're watching. Women's volleyball is getting a boost on TV.

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Speaker 1: Script Sports has cut a deal with Major League Volleyball

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Speaker 1: to bring its semi finals and championship games to the

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Speaker 1: Ion Network, as well as script streaming platforms. The games

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Speaker 1: will be held on May seventh and May ninth, so

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Speaker 1: mark your calendars. Variety will host its annual Business Manager's

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Speaker 1: Breakfast on Thursday in West Hollywood. We're honoring Phil Sarna

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Speaker 1: of PS Business Management. I'm looking forward to holding a

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Speaker 1: conversation with Focused Features Chairman Peter Kajowski as part of

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Speaker 1: the event. Two interesting TV series to watch out for.

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Speaker 1: Season two of Palm Royal drops on Apple TV on Wednesday,

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Speaker 1: and the docuseries Tiffany Hattish Goes Off arrives on Peacock

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Speaker 1: on Thursday. Before we go on this Veterans Day, please

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Speaker 1: let's all take a moment to respect America's military veterans.

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Speaker 1: On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the

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Speaker 1: eleventh month, at the end of World War One, this

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Speaker 1: day was set aside to remember those who protect our

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Speaker 1: security and insure our freedom. At this fraught political moment

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Speaker 1: for our country, it's more important than ever to hail

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Speaker 1: our military for its proud tradition of being utterly non partisan.

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Speaker 1: For military professionals, their work is about service to country,

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Speaker 1: not politicking. To underscore this, there's a great ABC News

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Speaker 1: special airing tonight called Call to serve. It tells a

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Speaker 1: truly touching story how a former Army combat engineer found

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Speaker 1: his way after leaving the military by volunteering with the

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Speaker 1: veteran led non profit Team Rubicon, which responds to natural disasters.

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Speaker 1: This special offers a really interesting perspective on what service

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Speaker 1: really means in so many forms. Thanks for listening. This

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Speaker 1: episode was written and reported by me Cynthia Littleton, with

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Speaker 1: contributions from Matt Donnelly and Mark Malkin styx Nick's hick Picks.

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Speaker 1: Please leave us a review at the podcast platform of

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Speaker 1: your choice, and please tune in tomorrow for another episode

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Speaker 1: of Daily Varie.

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Speaker 3: He