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Matt Belloni, the former Hollywood Reporter editor turned Puck insider and host of The Town, and I sat down this week to chat on the current state of the Industry, and where the opportunity is for the next generation.
We first met in January when he had me on The Town to answer the simple question: Is Hollywood Assistant Life Still Insane? (obviously yes)
But today we flip the script as I ask him… is Hollywood in general just insane?
The one and only… Matt Belloni.
Our conversation is below:
How did you get your start in the industry, and what drew you to the kind of stories you cover?
Belloni: I started in the most boring way possible: as a lawyer. I worked at a law firm that did entertainment litigation. But one nice thing about then is it taught me how money is actually made in Hollywood, that informs a lot of what I cover now. I’ve always been interested in following the money.
What made you walk away from the machine of The Hollywood Reporter to build something entirely new with Puck?
Belloni: It was a mutual decision. I didn’t agree with the management at the time, and at same time I was itching to something more entrepreneurial. I didn’t think I’d be writing but when we were starting Puck it just made the most sense for me to be the first writer.
As legacy media consolidates, and the influence of personality-driven outlets like Puck rise, how has that reshaped the way stories are told and who controls the narrative in Hollywood?
Belloni: The narrative is increasingly controlled by the talent because they have the social platforms and the ability to tell their own stories without intermediaries like newspapers or magazines. But also I have the ability to both compete with legacy outlets and also do something new and different because I am not weighed down with all the infrastructure and brand expectation comets with a legacy brand. There’s no way I could do what I do at a legacy brand.
When people look back on this era of Hollywood: the strikes, the streamer wars, the AI panic, what do you think will actually define it?
Belloni: The consolidation. Hollywood existed as a collection of 6 to 8 dominant studios for 100 years but the internet has democratized content so it is in the process of realigning around that and reshaping itself.
Who actually runs Hollywood right now?
Belloni: Big Tech.
You call your podcast The Town, but lately it feels more like The Wild West right now. Is Hollywood broken or just being rebuilt?
Belloni: I think both. The old models are broken, but we haven’t quite replaced them yet with what the professionally produced content business will look like. I’d give it 10 years.
If you were starting out today, what would you do differently?
Belloni:
I’d probably go right into media and not go to law school… but I do use my legal training a lot, and it helped me with a base group of sources when I started out in media.
For young people trying to break into the industry right now, where’s the real opportunity right now?
Belloni: I think we are still in early days of creator/influence led businesses where talent can own more of their output.
Shameless plug: go check out my episode on The Town to hear him try and pry crazy assistant stories out of me.
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