The Town with Matthew Belloni

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss a slew of topics from around town, including the biggest narratives around this year's Emmy Awards, a new report offering skepticism about this summer's huge box office, the chances of a federal tax credit passing, and whether the changes to ‘60 Minutes’ are a good idea (00:00). Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Lucas Shaw Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo SAP GROW. AI cloud ERP for any size business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Film USA cofounders Tony Armer and Katie Pryor to discuss President Trump’s public endorsement of a federal tax credit for film production in the United States, how this could reshape filmmaking in America, how it could transform the filmmaking industry, how the tax credit would work, the odds of this passing, what needs to happen next, and more (02:08). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘By Any Means,’ starring Mark Wahlberg (26:57). Host: Matt Belloni Guests: Tony Armer and Katie Pryor Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo SAP GROW. AI cloud ERP for any size business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by the hosts of the Acquired podcast, Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, to discuss their two-part series on the history of The Walt Disney Company; what surprised them the most during their deep research; Disney's most precarious investments, biggest missteps, and best acquisitions; where Disney is today; and how it's positioned for the future (02:08). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for 'Coyote vs. Acme' (34:57). Host: Matt Belloni Guests: Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Nominated for 26 Emmy Awards, including OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES. Bob Iger, James Cameron, Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau and More Featured in New Disney+ Documentary ‘Disney Worldbuilders.’ Now Streaming on Disney+. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss Rob Bonta canceling the scheduled talks between Paramount and California over the Warner Bros. merger, the strategy behind this cancellation, and whether California is overplaying its hand. They also discuss the 'Dune 3' ticketing debacle that outraged fans after ticketing apps for IMAX 70 mm showings of 'Dune: Part Three' crashed (02:11). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about a celebrity starting their own talk show (25:05). Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Lucas Shaw Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Nominated for 26 Emmy Awards, including OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES. Nominated for 7 Emmy Awards, ALL HER FAULT is streaming on Peacock. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by David George, the CEO of ITV America, to dive into the massive success of 'Love Island,' how it became one of the biggest brands in unscripted TV, why they sold the show to Peacock, the market for selling reality shows nowadays, how much the show is really worth, sharing Fiji hotels with ‘Survivor,’ and more (02:31). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for 'Insidious: Out of the Further' (30:36). Host: Matt Belloni Gust: David George Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Nominated for 26 Emmy Awards, including OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES. Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show. For Your Emmy Consideration in Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by producer Basil Iwanyk (John Wick, The Town, Sicario, The Expendables) to discuss the struggling state of the action movie market in America, why most studios have abandoned the original action movie business, casting an action star, and more (02:28). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for ‘The End of Oak Street’ (32:05). Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Basil Iwanyk Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Nominated for 25 Emmy Awards, including OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES. Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The Final Show. For Your Emmy Consideration in Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss why Fox is refusing to renegotiate their media rights deal with the NFL until their current deal expires after the 2029 season, the impact of the FCC repealing the local television ownership cap, and David Ellison’s contractual pledge with theater owners to release at least 30 movies per year under WarnerMount (02:30). We finish the show by announcing a slate of live events for The Town this fall (31:18). Host: Matt Belloni Gust: Lucas Shaw Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Get your tickets to ELECTION introduced by Matt Belloni on Friday, August 21st here: https://www.americancinematheque.com/now-showing/the-town-presents-election-08-21-2026/ Nominated for 25 Emmy Awards, including OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES. The Dog Stars only in theaters and IMAX August 28. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Puck’s Eriq Gardner to discuss the March 2027 trial date that has been set for the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery antitrust case and what it means for the likelihood of this merger going through. They highlight the $650 million per quarter ticking fee Paramount has to pay in the meantime, how the November midterm elections could play a factor, who has the best leverage, whether Netflix could end up back in the mix, David Ellison’s New York Times column, and the other major legal issues at play (02:03). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about Season 4 of 'Ted Lasso' (30:08). Host: Matt Belloni Gust: Eriq Gardner Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Nominated for 25 Emmy Awards, including OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES. This episode is brought to you by Accenture. https://Accenture.com/Spotify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw finish The Town’s first Future Blockbusters Draft by filling the remaining five slots on their teams (01:12). Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Lucas Shaw Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo This episode is brought to you by AMC+. Start your free trial today at join.amcplus.com This episode is brought to you by Accenture. https://Accenture.com/Spotify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt is joined by Sean Diffley, head of media and entertainment as well as cable and telecom research at Morgan Stanley to discuss a new system for stock picking called the MS Media Matrix, which ranks publicly traded entertainment companies based on audience and engagement, their interactivity, urgency of the content, pricing power, IP, and AI positioning, and then compares these strengths and weaknesses to the companies’ relative share price. They discuss the importance of ownership within these companies, AI's role in content creation and the future of leisure time, and AI's impact on content consumption (02:56). Matt finishes the show with a prediction on what will be the second weekend drop of ‘The Odyssey’ (30:33). Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Sean Diffley Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo This episode is brought to you by AMC+. Start your free trial today at join.amcplus.com This episode is brought to you by Accenture. https://Accenture.com/Spotify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices