Podcast · Film & TV

The Business

<p>Lively banter about entertainment industry news and in-depth interviews with directors, producers, writers and actors, hosted by award-winning journalist Kim Masters of The Hollywood Reporter.</p>

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 30 min
Latest: 9 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026 · 31 min

Van Dyke Parks on Brian Wilson, Hollywood, and the authority of failure

This week, Van Dyke Parks sits down with The Business showrunner Joshua Farnham to look back at a career that stretches from childhood acting to collaborating with Brian Wilson, and scoring films for Jack Nicholson. He also recalls his first arranging job, The Bare Necessities for Disney’s The Jungle Book , and how Harry Nilsson talked him into spending five months in Malta for Robert Altman’s Popeye . Plus, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni sort through who’s in and who’s out at Skydance. They discuss the unceremonious dismissal of Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

2 Oct 2026 · 30 min
Malcolm McDowell on the director who changed his life
This week, Kim Masters speaks with actor Malcolm McDowell about his six-decade career and the long journey to finally making his latest film, the western Last Train to Fortune . McDowell reflects on his friendship with mentor and director Lindsay Anderson, shares stories from the set of Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange , and looks back at the chaotic production of Caligula , including how Penthouse founder Bob Guccione took control of the film and added unsimulated material in post production. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni share the latest WarnerMount updates, including former…
25 Sep 2026 · 30 min
Sharon Horgan finds the comedy in 'Youth'
This week, Kim Masters speaks with Sharon Horgan about her HBO series Youth . The writer, actor and producer reflects on taking control of her career by creating her own material, building the production company Merman , and working across broadcast networks and streaming platforms. Horgan also explains why she returned to the idea for Youth after years spent making Bad Sisters, and how a brief pitch to HBO quickly turned into a green light. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni process California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s decision to settle the antitrust suit involving Paramount Skydance.…
18 Sep 2026 · 30 min
Hollywood goes to Washington for a tax break
This week, Kim Masters reports on the newly formed U.S. Film and Television Production Coalition and its push for a federal tax incentive to stem the loss of production overseas. Members representing studios, producers and unions lay out the industry’s unusually unified campaign, the backing of President Donald Trump, and the details that still have to survive Congress. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni give a brief update on the rollout of Bari Weiss’s new 60 Minutes. Spoiler: the early ratings are not good. The banter partners also turn to a pair of surprises from the documentary…
11 Sep 2026 · 30 min
How new will the new ‘60 Minutes’ feel?
As CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss prepares to unveil a new era of 60 Minutes , questions are mounting over what America’s most-watched news program will look like under her leadership. Following the exits and firings of several correspondents and senior producers since Weiss arrived at the network, newly installed executive producer Nick Bilton faces the challenge of reshaping the show without alienating its loyal audience. Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw examine what the next chapter could look like for the CBS News institution. Plus, we revisit a conversation between Kim Masters and…
4 Sep 2026 · 30 min
Lilly Wachowski remembers 30 years of ‘Bound’
This week, Kim Masters talks to Lilly Wachowski about making Bound, the directorial debut she co-directed with sister Lana. Wachowski recalls the wild experience of working with legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis, and how she and Lana went from living paycheck to paycheck as carpenters to having producer Joel Silver beg them to sell him The Matrix. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni dig into a newly unveiled bill that would create a federal production tax incentive, and what it could mean for the industry if passed. The banter partners also turn to some good news at the box office , where…
28 Aug 2026 · 30 min
After ‘Tiger King,’ Eric Goode goes deeper into the reptile world
This week, Kim sits down with filmmaker Eric Goode to talk about his HBO documentary series, Monsters of God. Goode discusses how he pivoted from a successful career in New York’s hospitality world to making documentaries about the extinction crisis, exotic reptile smuggling, and eventually, a little project called Tiger King. He also talks about self-financing his animal-conservation projects rather than waiting around for a studio, and he has a few things to say about Netflix. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni break down another busy week in the Warnermount saga, beginning with the…
21 Aug 2026 · 30 min
Desi Lydic ‘Foxsplains’ her rise to the top of fake news
Eric Deggans speaks with Desi Lydic, a longtime correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show . She talks about how a pandemic-era segment satirizing Fox News evolved into her Emmy-nominated digital series Desi Lydic Foxplains . Lydic also shares how The Daily Show’s post-Trevor Noah rotation of hosts has opened the door for more voices, and jokes about how her conservative parents once envisioned her as either a Fox News journalist or a Hallmark movie star. Plus, Cinema United, the largest movie theater trade organization, has changed course after opposing the…
14 Aug 2026 · 30 min
How Hannah Einbinder hacked it out in Hollywood
Kim Masters talks to Hannah Einbinder, who is up for another supporting actress Emmy for Hacks . But her role in the new film Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma takes her far from the lavish Las Vegas home of Deborah Vance, to a weird and gory place. Einbinder tells Masters about coming-of-age as the child of two show business professionals, making the segue from stand-up comedy into acting, and her belief that fame obligates her to speak up on behalf of the oppressed. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni discuss Paramount hinting they will move out of California if their proposed merger with…
7 Aug 2026 · 30 min
Lilly Wachowski reimagines the studio system (Pt 1)
Kim Masters talks to Lilly Wachowski, co-creator of The Matrix movie franchise, about her new artist-owned, non-profit studio. They discuss how Lilly juggled multiple international film and TV productions while she was transitioning, why she stepped away from the business, and how she’s working to launch the studio, Anarchists United, to showcase marginalized talent. [ In part two of the interview, which will air in a few weeks, Lilly will share behind-the-scenes tales of The Matrix movies, and Bound, the first movie she co-directed with her sister Lana. ] Plus, Masters and Matt…
31 Jul 2026 · 30 min
The quirky alchemy of Widow’s Bay
Eric Deggans talks to Hiro Murai, lead director and executive producer of the Apple TV horror-comedy series Widow’s Bay . They discuss how Murai helped maintain the tricky tone of the Emmy-nominated series, his work with Donald Glover on the FX series Atlanta , and how he keeps the initial spark of creativity alive when dealing with the realities of TV production. Plus, Kim Masters and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw discuss last week’s halt to the Paramount-Warner merger. What the Ellison family once considered a done deal may be a little less certain at the moment.
24 Jul 2026 · 30 min
Hunting for the next hit YouTube IP
Kim Masters talks to Kori Adelson, whose company produced Backrooms , and Roy Lee, producer of Weapons , about the hunt for the next hit YouTube IP. Adelson and Lee share their observations about the effect movies like Backrooms , Obsession , and Iron Lung have had on what studios are looking for; the filmmakers behind those three had large followings on YouTube. Adelson and Lee also explain how those same studios need to embrace creative risks–at the smaller budgets those films operated under– while taking care to understand the Gen Z audience. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni…
17 Jul 2026 · 30 min
Documentary filmmakers facing the threat of litigation
Kim Masters talks to Dale Cohen, special counsel to PBS's Frontline , and director of UCLA Law School's Documentary Film Legal Clinic, about the threat of litigation filmmakers face from the wealthy and powerful people they choose to cover, such as Donald Trump. Cohen laments that so few investigative films are being produced right now, a situation that wasn’t helped when Disney and CBS paid up to settle dubious lawsuits from Trump. Cohen is hoping that Disney’s recent willingness to do battle with the FCC signals a growing realization that appeasement doesn’t work. Plus,…
10 Jul 2026 · 30 min
Emmy nominations surprises and predictions
Kim Masters talks to LA Times Awards Columnist Glenn Whipp about the Emmy nominations announced this week. Whipp thinks this was not a stellar year in television, meaning that top nominees, The Pitt and Hacks, are likely to feast at September’s Emmys. But Whipp is pleased that stand-out new shows, Widow’s Bay and Pluribus, got some nods. And he says give Harrison Ford an Emmy already! Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni discuss the UK possibly intervening in the Paramount-WBD merger, and CAA’s criticism of Meta’s opt-out policy for AI images.
3 Jul 2026 · 30 min
Alexandria Stapleton on chronicling the rise and reckoning of Sean Combs
This week, an encore presentation of Kim Masters’ interview with Alexandria Stapleton, the DGA Award nominated director of Sean Combs: The Reckoning . The Netflix docuseries examines the rise and fall of the hip hop mogul. Stapleton discusses partnering with executive producer 50 Cent, her approach to telling the story without turning it into a hit piece, and the care required when working with the alleged victims of Combs. She also explains why Netflix proved to be the ideal partner for this project, and how its legal team vetted controversial pre-arrest footage that Combs had…
26 Jun 2026 · 30 min
John Carney on pop stars, movie stars, and Power Ballad
Kim Masters talks to John Carney, who after his 2006 indie breakout film Once , has made a career of making movies about musicians making music. Generally, the ones who never got famous. His new film, Power Ballad , stars Paul Rudd as a wedding singer alongside Nick Jonas, who plays a flawed former pop star. Carney discusses his struggles to raise money for his films, and reveals what he says to - or maybe shouts at - buskers in Dublin who have their amps cranked up to 11. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni discuss why Amazon dropped out of distributing Artificial , a movie critical of Open AI.…
19 Jun 2026 · 30 min
David Koepp on trying to ‘not screw up’ Disclosure Day
Kim Masters talks to screenwriter David Koepp about Disclosure Day , his latest collaboration with director Steven Spielberg. After Spielberg sent Koepp a 40 page treatment for the movie, which Koepp gave notes on, Spielberg emailed him back that “it’s your problem now.” Koepp also reveals the downside of his early success, which included writing the Jurassic Park screenplay when he was just 29. He also explains why he’s not that scared AI will replace him, and offers his very dark pitch for one final Tom Cruise-led Mission Impossible movie (Koepp wrote the original…
12 Jun 2026 · 30 min
Former FTC Commissioner wants to stop the Paramount-Warner merger
This week, Kim Masters talks to Alvaro Bedoya, a former FTC Commissioner, about why he objects to the Paramount-Warner Brothers merger. Bedoya says it will mean fewer jobs, higher subscription fees for consumers, and more censorship when the Ellison family - who own Paramount Skydance - control both CBS News and CNN. Bedoya also addresses a surprising accusation from Paramount’s Chief Counsel against some who oppose the merger. [Editor’s note: this episode first aired before the Department of Justice announced on Friday afternoon that they would not challenge the Paramount-Warner…
5 Jun 2026 · 30 min
Eric Kripke responds to critics of the ‘The Boys’ finale
This week, Eric Deggans talks to Eric Kripke, creator of the Amazon Prime series The Boys , about criticism of the show’s final season. Elon Musk went online to trash the finale of the politically provocative superhero satire, and some of the show’s less wealthy fans also didn’t care for it either. Kripke also talks about how The Boys managed to be pretty prescient about the current state of the country, and whether the franchise–with its multiple spinoffs–is actually becoming like the superhero genre it mocks. Plus, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni discuss the…
29 May 2026 · 30 min
Jack Thorne on ‘Adolescence,’ ‘Lord of the Flies,’ and his autism
This week, Kim Masters talks to Jack Thorne, who won all the prizes for writing the Netflix series Adolescence , about his new series, an adaptation of the novel Lord of the Flies . They also discuss how Adolescence revealed Netflix’s stunning global reach, and why series star Stephen Graham has a co-writing credit, even though Graham doesn’t actually write. Thorne also tells Kim about being diagnosed as autistic in his mid-40s. Plus, Kim and Matt Belloni discuss the major shakeup at CBS’ 60 Minutes . Bari Weiss, the controversial head of the network’s news division,…
22 May 2026 · 30 min
Courtney Kemp on Netflix series ‘Nemesis’ and diversity in Hollywood
This week, Eric Deggans talks to Courtney Kemp, co-creator of the Netflix crime drama Nemesis, about the changing TV landscape, and whether she sees Hollywood standing by diversity initiatives despite the pushback from the Trump administration. She also explains how some executives who give her notes don’t necessarily grasp what matters to her audience. After signing an overall deal with Netflix in 2021, Kemp developed Nemesis , a Los Angeles-set crime story built around ambition, class, and power. [ Editor’s note: this segment was taped before it was announced that Kemp had…
15 May 2026 · 31 min
William Shatner & Neil deGrasse Tyson think ‘The Universe is Absurd’ (Part Two)
Kim Masters wraps up her two-part conversation with legendary actor William Shatner and famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Shatner reflects on his deeply emotional journey to space at age 90 and Tyson shares why he isn’t picky about the show biz gigs he takes. The pair also reflect on technological disruption, including how the rise of AI inspired Shatner to record a heavy metal album about the Industrial Revolution. Their two-night live event, The Universe is Absurd , will be at The Saban Theatre May 19-20. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni break down the strength of the new AI…
8 May 2026 · 30 min
William Shatner & Neil deGrasse Tyson think ‘The Universe is Absurd’
This week, Kim Masters speaks with legendary actor William Shatner and famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about their upcoming two-night live event, The Universe is Absurd . In the first installment of a sprawling two-part conversation, the pair reflect on how syndication helped solidify Star Trek as a cultural phenomenon, why studio executives don’t know what they’re doing, and they wrestle over the universe’s biggest questions. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni break down the seismic shift at Netflix following the company’s decision to give Greta Gerwig’s…
1 May 2026 · 30 min
Kirk Jones and Robert Aramayo on the making of ‘I Swear’
This week, Kim Masters speaks with director Kirk Jones and actor Robert Aramayo about I Swear , the BAFTA winning film about Tourette’s advocate John Davidson. Jones talks about using his own life savings to self-finance the project after potential backers pushed him to tone down the film’s language, and how that decision allowed him to cast Aramayo in the lead without studio oversight. Aramayo discusses the physical and emotional demands of portraying Davidson, a role that required extensive preparation and ultimately earned him a BAFTA. They also reflect on the widely…
24 Apr 2026 · 30 min
Ben McKenzie’s Crypto Warning: ‘Everyone Is Lying to You for Money’
This week, Kim Masters speaks with Ben McKenzie about his documentary Everyone Is Lying to You for Money , which examines fraud in the cryptocurrency world. The actor discusses leaning into his popularity as Ryan on The OC as a narrative device in the film—one that helped get him in the room for a cringe-inducing interview with now-convicted crypto figure Sam Bankman-Fried. McKenzie also explains how he bet against crypto to help finance the project and shares some thoughts on the celebrities who profited from crypto endorsements. Plus, as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner…
17 Apr 2026 · 30 min
Riz Ahmed on bringing 'Hamlet' into the modern world
This week, Kim Masters speaks with Riz Ahmed about his modern retelling of Hamlet . The actor and producer discusses the decade-long journey of adapting the Shakespeare classic and how the project evolved from a planned Netflix streaming release to securing theatrical distribution with Focus Features. He also jokes about family members misinterpreting the significance of his Oscar-nominated performance in Sound of Metal and traces the origins of the “Riz Test,” a Bechdel-adjacent measure of Muslim representation in storytelling. Plus, as theater owners and studio executives share…
10 Apr 2026 · 30 min
Drew Goddard shoots for the stars with ‘Project Hail Mary’
This week, Kim Masters sits down with Drew Goddard to discuss adapting Andy Weir’s novel Project Hail Mary for the big screen. He reflects on how his early days writing on Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Alias , and Lost trained him to move fast, as he did when he was tasked with turning around the script for Cloverfield after Paramount greenlit the project from an outline. He also talks about being brought in to rescue World War Z , and shares the advice he gave Andy Weir about a potential Project Hail Mary sequel . Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni dig into the fallout from Jeff…
3 Apr 2026 · 30 min
Oscar winners victory lap: Autumn Durald Arkapaw & Joachim Trier
The Academy Awards are behind us, but we’re sharing unheard stories from Kim Masters’ interviews with some of the recently minted Oscar winners. That includes director Joachim Trier, who shares how he landed on casting Elle Fanning in his Best International Feature winner, Sentimental Value. Trier also talks about getting to a place where he can cast well-known actors who sign on to his films without reading a script, just because it’s him. And we hear more from Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. She breaks down the…
27 Mar 2026 · 30 min
A demanding first week for Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro
And just like that, Josh D'Amaro’s first week as CEO of The Walt Disney Company proved challenging, to say the least. From a brewing Bachelorette scandal to the abrupt cancellation of Sora by OpenAI, and fresh turmoil at Epic Games amid layoffs, Matt Belloni and Lucas Shaw unpack the challenges facing Disney’s new chief. Plus, we revisit our conversation with Daryl Hannah, who joined Masters last year to discuss her Neil Young concert film Coastal , which had a limited theatrical run in 2025. Hannah reflects on her years of acting and activism, pursued alongside figures like…
20 Mar 2026 · 30 min
A human conversation with the producers of ‘The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist’
This week, Kim talks to Diane Becker and Ted Tremper about The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist. The producers discuss how they managed to land big names in machine learning, including the CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic. Becker and Tremper also explain how they nearly got Elon Musk—until, surprisingly, he ghosted. They also share how they kept their brains from melting while tackling a subject as overwhelming as AI. Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni break down the first week of Disney’s new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, who outlined his goals for the company in a memo to employees…

About The Business

<p>Lively banter about entertainment industry news and in-depth interviews with directors, producers, writers and actors, hosted by award-winning journalist Kim Masters of The Hollywood Reporter.</p>

The Business is a English film & tv podcast from KCRW. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: KCRW
Language: English
Category: Film & TV
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 30 min
Latest episode: 9 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id73330606
Rights: KCRW 2024

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