Sonny Bunch hosts The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood, a new podcast featuring interviews with folks who have their finger on the pulse of the entertainment industry during this dynamic—and difficult—time.
54 Subscribers
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© 2022 The Bulwark
The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood
54 Subscribers
Reviews
IKnowATon
1 out of 5 stars
Daily Wire for neck beards
What a thorough slacker
JayDeeChase
5 out of 5 stars
I’ve reviewed this podcast in the past.
Sonny’s interviewing style has developed to a point now where nobody can dispute he is one of the very best. I just now listened to his discussion with Ken Auletta, and there are no flaws in this discussion. Perfectly done. I learned so much. FYI, I wrote this on my own without encouragement. Sonny has no clue who I am. Just found his website through the intercession of 2 goofy priests. Hopefully he will never grow tired of what he’s doing!
Philip Heard
5 out of 5 stars
Informative and Entertaining
Sonny Bunch does a great job.
jewls317
5 out of 5 stars
Netflix doesn’t need to apologize
Don’t agree with your guest.
mikemtgy
5 out of 5 stars
Nobody better at this than Sonny Bunch
I always turn to Sonny for the best listening, viewing suggestions. He is also appropriately intelligent and snarky (in a good way).
GoHatters
5 out of 5 stars
Interesting and engaging
Covering a wide range of topics in the movie business this is a great listen
speedone
5 out of 5 stars
Sonny = Right
Long time fan from other shows, this one gets to the inner workings of the business with people on the inside that I don’t think we would normally hear from. Fascinating guests and insight!
Goddesslibrarian
5 out of 5 stars
Sonny does it again
I was a fan of ATMA & of course the SubBeacon pod, so it’s not at all surprising to have yet another top notch podcast from Sonny Bunch. I love the interview format. As someone who enjoys movies but knows very little about how they are actually made, I’m learning a lot. The 3D ep was fantastic!
iHeartzachSnyder
5 out of 5 stars
Helping sonny
Good
JoeR Ursine
5 out of 5 stars
Unvarnished Sonny Movie Biz Nerd
It is like the SubBeacon, without the latent pedophilia and dishwasher reviews! What more could you want?
alohalarsen
5 out of 5 stars
Incredibly Interesting
Very interesting peek behind the curtain of the movie business by someone who loves movies.
NJ Pete
5 out of 5 stars
with David Guglielmo
Great podcast if you are interested in the movie making business. Learned a ton about casting, distributing and financing a film.
Ny pizza 99
5 out of 5 stars
TENET
As a true Bunchhead, I follow Sonny to whatever new podcast he’s hosting. He’s a bright light in a dark world.
Sub610Bourbon
5 out of 5 stars
Great show!
The Bulwark continues to improve on the important space they’re building. Sonny’s a very skillful interviewer and always is knowledgeable on background. Common format, but top shelf execution. 👍
Junction24
5 out of 5 stars
Sonny at his best.
So great to listen to Sonny do what he does best: analyze the business and cultural impact of Hollywood. Fascinating stuff.
Gobbly Dragon
5 out of 5 stars
3D Podcast Bulwark goes to Hollywood
Fascinating discussion on the art and business of 3D movies. If this sounds dry wait till you hear Tony Davis spin tales. Great to listen to Sonny Bunch’s excitement as he realizes he has podcast gold. Sonny unchained in these podcasts is an informative / entertaining host
Kodiak1221
5 out of 5 stars
It’s Sonny Bunch is the platonic ideal of movie critic
The internet should be all Sonny Bunch all the time.
bomble
5 out of 5 stars
The world demands more Sonny
In a world.... where the host is always right. Hollywood and America are changing forever, there is one man to guide us through this uncertainty and get us through to the the other side. I'm so glad Sonny is back on the podcast horse! I listen every week!
woodfinish
5 out of 5 stars
In-depth & intelligent
The interview with Tony Davis on 3D cinema was one of the most interesting, well-focused podcast episodes I’ve heard in years.
Pod94960
5 out of 5 stars
Bulwark Goes to Hollywood
Love it!
laceltris
5 out of 5 stars
Sonny is always right
This is my favorite non-Sub-Beacon Sonny Bunch podcast (currently active). While it is still yet to be seen whether it will ultimately beat Hacks on Hacks in my Bunchy podcast ranking, it really is a great listen if you are interested in cinema. FIVE STARS.
EBB007
5 out of 5 stars
Very Informative and Interesting
The episodes so far offer interesting insight into topics about Hollywood you don’t typically find in the daily coverage. Very much worth a listen!
BalderRomey
5 out of 5 stars
Great podcast for movie lovers!
I've really enjoyed Sonny's analysis on the movies, and this podcast is an awesome deep-dive into the nuts and bolts of this industry that is being ravaged in 2020.
Pablo 79261736
5 out of 5 stars
Sonny rules
Bunch is a great analyst and a focused interviewer, he’s an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to keep up with Hollywood
JakeVanks
5 out of 5 stars
A Rarity Among All the Film Podcasts
There are a lot of podcasts about film...like, a lot. What sets “The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood” apart from the rest is that it focuses on the business side of the film business. It’s both insightful and interesting about an industry is changing faster than we can keep up.
datdudepch
5 out of 5 stars
Yes honey
Sonny: subscribe to another podcast starring me, Sonny Bunch Me: Yes, honey
c_haberman
5 out of 5 stars
More Sonny on movies? Yes, please
Glad for Sonny to be back on the air with this new podcast. Is immediately a top 5 podcast. No, top 3.
LB Cards Fan
5 out of 5 stars
Welcome Back!
Was bummed when across the movie aisle stopped. Love Richard Rushfield and Sonny! Great show.
Kurskqyd
5 out of 5 stars
Great conversation
This was very informative. I really enjoyed it.
Robert Henry Holtz
5 out of 5 stars
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Six stars when Sonny becomes a Catholic!!!
Jon Hammock
5 out of 5 stars
Sonny is the Michael Fassbender of Hollywood
He bends to the left but he’s always right.
Tom the Cop
5 out of 5 stars
Vic guest spots
Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeene!!!!!
Bob the gameplayer
5 out of 5 stars
The Return of the King
Sonny Bunch is gd American treasure.
gideonluck
5 out of 5 stars
The best opinions
Glad to see sonny back in the two podcasts game. Hope to hear from the former ATMA crew on the new show.
kevin0.05
5 out of 5 stars
Hits all the quadrants...
And I’m sure it’s fine
The Flash's Dad
5 out of 5 stars
Hollywood is screwed
And Sonny is here to explain how and why. Every single week. Because he’s always right.
jthoya
5 out of 5 stars
Sonny is the best!
Hits all the quadrants! It is 2020 and everything is terrible, but at least there is more Sonny.
SpacedSeed
5 out of 5 stars
Sonny’s very good
Nobody has more interesting insight into the business side of Hollywood than Sonny Bunch. As Hollywood transitions into strange, uncharted territory Sonny is the perfect man to guide us through the madness. Disclosure: Sonny gave me a t shirt last month but that won’t cloud my impartiality.
Steven Filippi
5 out of 5 stars
About to listen but...
I’m sure it’s fine?
Podcast information
- Amount of episodes
- 138
- Subscribers
- 54
- Verified
- No
- Website
- Explicit content
- No
- Episode type
- episodic
- Podcast link
- https://podvine.com/link/..
- Last upload date
- June 3, 2023
- Last fetch date
- June 5, 2023 9:58 AM
- Upload range
- WEEKLY
- Author
- Sonny Bunch
- Copyright
- © 2022 The Bulwark
susbcribers
- Tribeca and the Evolution of the Film FestivalThis week I’m joined by Cara Cusumano, Festival Director and VP of Programming at the Tribeca Festival, for a wide-ranging chat about the nature of the modern film festival, how a festival’s sense of place can coexist with efforts to make the festival’s programming available to people around the world, and how Tribeca has expanded beyond film into a multimedia extravaganza. We also talked about a subject near and dear to my own heart, as a parent of younger children: What can festivals do to get families more involved and encourage the next generation’s love of film? Tickets for a number of the events Cara and I discussed today are still available at TribecaFilm.com. And if you enjoyed this episode, I hope you share it with a friend!0 comments0
- The Data that Determines What We WatchOn this week’s episode, I’m joined by the Entertainment Strategy Guy to talk about the state of streaming data. What do we know? What don’t we know? Do movies fare better on streaming after getting a theatrical run? How does the data help determine what we watch? What is the “binge curve”? All that and more on this week’s episode. If you found it illuminating, make sure to sign up for his Substack! And if you enjoyed this episode make sure to share it with a friend!0 comments0
- The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood May 20 · 37m How Much Free Work Do Writers Do to Get Paid Work?I am pleased to be joined this week by screenwriter Colby Day to discuss all the unapid work that goes into getting paid work. I loved reading Colby’s diaries of annual pitch meetings and the such for 2021 and 2022, and thought I might share them, and him, with you as a way to help you understand some of the frustrations that writers have with the current state of Hollywood. How many pitches does a writer have to make to land one paying gig? Why does it take an endless amount of time to get paid after drafts have been submitted? How could the strike help alleviate some of these problems? All that and more on this week’s episode. If you enjoyed it, please share with a friend!0 comments0
- Is the Superhero Boom Officially Over?This week I’m rejoined by Scott Mendelson of The Wrap to talk about the state of the box office. Is the comic book boom over? What should we be looking for from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 if we want to assess the health of Disney’s cash cow? What did Scott make of The Flash at Cinemacon? When will the mid-level movie recover? Why is 2017 a better comparison point than 2019? All that and more on this week’s show! If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend!0 comments0
- How Do You Bring the (Fake) Real Pete Davidson to Life?This week I’m joined by Judah Miller, showrunner of the new Peacock dramedy Bupkis, to talk about bringing Pete Davidson’s life to the small screen. Bupkis is fascinatingly hard to describe in shorthand, given the way it mixes tones and genres, and also the manner in which it blends Pete Davidson’s ripped-from-the-headlines life with a fictionalized version of his family and day-to-day existence. The first season is streaming in its entirety now on Peacock, and I strongly recommend checking it out: it’s a fascinating portrait of fame in the age of social media and also the business of showbiz. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend!0 comments0
- What's to Come in 'The Streaming Wars'This week I’m joined by Matthew Ball, CEO of Epyllion, former global head of strategy for Amazon Studios, and the author of The Metaverse and “The Streaming Book,” which you can read at that link there. And you should read it if you want to understand how we got where we are in the streaming wars, why it’s early yet in the contest between the companies vying for your attention, and where we’re headed as consolidation occurs.0 comments0
- Going to the Movies: Still the Best Value AroundThis week I’m rejoined by David Herrin of The Quorum—a must-visit site for any amateur or professional box office nerd—to talk about a new study The Quorum put together in partnership with The Cinema Foundation about the value proposition of going to the movies. We talked all sorts of stuff on this episode: why audiences are three times more excited to return to theaters now than they were at the same time last year; how going to the movies stacks up against going to concerts and other out-of-the-home events; the percentage of consumers who get concessions; and why Barbie’s surprisingly high unaided awareness might still be a cause for concern. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend!0 comments0
- Summer Box Office PreviewI’m rejoined this week by Frank Pallotta, formerly of CNN, to preview the summer box office. Have we already seen the year’s biggest movie debut with The Super Mario Bros. Movie? Will audiences show up for big-budget blockbusters like the new Mission: Impossible and Guardians of the Galaxy? Will adults ready for raunchier fare come out for Jennifer Lawrence’s new romcom? Who’s going to win the Battle of July 21, when Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie debut? All that and more on this week’s episode! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend!0 comments0
- The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood Apr 8 · 43m Will the WWE-UFC Merger Amp Up the Streaming Arms Race?This week I’m joined by Sean McNulty of The Ankler to talk about the week’s biggest entertainment news: the merger of the WWE and UFC into a $21 billion sports-entertainment company. But this move is just a piece of the puzzle if you want to understand the complex dance between sports leagues, streaming companies, and cable bundles. Are sports leagues the ultimate “arms dealers” in the streaming wars, moving from company to company as these services try to find content that makes sense for viewers and advertisers alike? Or are teams with revenue tied to regional sports network deals kind of … well, screwed? All this and more—including a chat about the actual king of televised sports; and no, I’m not talking about the NFL—on this week’s show!0 comments0
- Are Video Games the New Comic Books?This week I’m joined by Gene Park, video game reporter at the Washington Post, to talk about the oncoming video game boom and how our current moment feels reminiscent of 2008, when the comic book boom kicked off for real. Yes, there had been comic book successes before that, your Batmans and your Spider-Mans. But 2008 saw the release of The Dark Knight (which smashed opening weekend records) and Iron Man (which inaugurated the single most successful franchise of all time, the Marvel Cinematic Universe), recalibrating how Hollywood thought of superhero cinema. Between The Last of Us’s popularity with critics and audiences alike and projections that The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be one of the highest-grossing movies of the year, it feels like we’re hitting a similar inflection point with video game adaptations.0 comments0
- How Theatrical Exhibition Helps Stave Off PiracyOn this week’s episode, I’m joined by Cinema Foundation President Jackie Brenneman to discuss the group’s new report on the state of the cinema industry. Among the many topics discussed this week are the ways in which theatrical exhibition help tamp down piracy by keeping pristine copies off the pirating sites, the success of National Cinema Day, how the ongoing domestic box office recovery is tied to increases in wide releases, and the slightly complicated way average ticket prices are calculated. (Exciting news: We now have a new average ticket price, after a couple of years of using 2019 averages! Now all the inflation scolds have new data to deploy.) If you enjoyed the episode, please share it with a friend! Bulwark+ members can comment on the show here.0 comments0
- Can the Drive-In Survive?On this week’s episode, I’m joined by April Wright, director of Back to the Drive-In. We discuss the ways in which drive-in theaters kinda-thrived during the pandemic, but also have been hit by some of the same problems plaguing every industry in the post-pandemic era: labor shortages, supply chain issues, and nonsensical mandates from local governments. Make sure to check out Back to the Drive-In, which is on VOD now. And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend!0 comments0
- The Best Stunts of 2022, RewardedOn this week’s episode, I’m joined by Bilge Ebiri and Brandon Streussnig to talk about Vulture’s enormous feature on the best stunts of 2022. Part celebration of the year in action, part plea for the Oscars to finally recognize stunt performers and performances as a category worthy of notice, the inaugural Stunt Awards is a feast for any lover of action (and action-adjacent) cinema. Among the issues discussed this week are why some professionals think an Oscar for stunts is a bad—even potentially dangerous—idea, how to think about rewarding these performers, and the sad fact that some of the best, most kinetic action you’ll find never makes it to theaters at all. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it with a friend!0 comments0
- The Drama Behind Hollywood's Biggest NightThis week, I’m joined by Michael Schulman to discuss his new book, Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears. What were some of the ulterior motives for making the Oscars? How did the ceremony help break the blacklist? And was Rob Lowe’s duet with Snow White really the worst thing that’s ever happened on the show? Or, you know, in the history of existence? All that and more on this week’s episode. If you enjoyed our chat, make sure to pick up his book and share this episode with a friend!0 comments0
- The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood Feb 25 · 33m Will the WGA Strike? Can It Afford Not To?This week I’m rejoined by Richard Rushfield—fresh off a nice little profile in Vanity Fair—to talk about the oncoming train of a WGA strike. Seventy days out, Richard put the odds of a work stoppage at 65 percent. What are the two sides looking for? How might the industry change? And is the fate of civilization itself at stake? All that and more on this week’s episode. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it with a friend!0 comments0
- David Thomson on the Magic of ActingOn this week’s episode, Sonny is pleased to welcome David Thomson back to the show to discuss his new book, Acting Naturally: The Magic in Great Performances. In this episode we discuss the difficulty of describing what, precisely, actors do onscreen; the trickiness of writing about appearances; why Method Acting was the biggest thing since the advent of sound; and why audiences feel uncomfortable when they find out a filmmaker is less-than-perfect in their personal lives. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out Mr. Thomson’s previous appearance to discuss his history of movie directors. And make sure to share the show with a friend!0 comments0
- Theater: You Can Get Rich, But Making a Living Is HardI was very excited to get Julian Schlossberg on the show this week to talk about his new book, Try Not to Hold it Against Me: A Producer’s Life, in large part because he is intimately involved with a part of showbiz that I do not understand at all, at least financially: Broadway and live theater. But Julian’s career stretches beyond the stage: he booked theaters in New York City where he helped Warren Beatty save McCabe and Mrs. Miller from obscurity; he had a radio show that brought him into the orbit of George C. Scott, among others; and he did some time at Paramount, one of his more frustrating experiences in his career. After you listen, make sure to check out his book; Elaine May, the director of Mikey and Nicky and a comedic power, wrote a very nice (and funny!) introduction for it. And, as always, share this episode with a friend!0 comments0
- Shawn Ryan on Past WGA Negotiations and the Evolving BusinessWhen I saw that Shawn Ryan—the creator of The Shield,* the hit CBS show S.W.A.T., and the forthcoming Netflix show The Night Agent—had penned a letter to the editor in The Ankler disputing an agent’s characterizations of past Writers Guild of America negotiations with producers, I knew I had to get him on the show. Ryan, who in addition to running and writing some fantastic TV was also on the WGA negotiating committees in 2007, 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2020, shared his thoughts on the state of the business and made a very important point at the end of this interview: It’s not the writers who are saying there’s going to be a strike. This is a must-listen episode if you want to understand some of the fundamentals of the most important business story in Hollywood in 2023. If you found it illuminating, please share with a friend! *I feel like you can make a very convincing case that The Shield is roughly as important to the business and artistry of prestige TV as The Sopranos for a whole host of reasons, but that’s a newsletter for another time.0 comments0
- Producer Dean Devlin Goes (Back) to SpaceThis week I’m pretty excited to be joined by Dean Devlin, whose work in movies like Universal Soldier, Stargate, and Independence Day I grew up loving. He works mostly in television now on series like The Librarians and Leverage, and has a new one out on SyFy debuting February 3: The Ark. We talk about his new show, how the business has evolved these last 30 years, and more on this week’s episode. If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend! And make sure to check out The Ark, new episodes which will also hit Peacock a day after debuting on SyFy.0 comments0
- PaleyFest's Secret Weapon: LoveThis week I’m rejoined by Rene Reyes, Vice President of Public Programming and Festivals at the Paley Center, to talk about PaleyFest 2023. It’s the year’s most entertaining celebration of television, from prestige cable hits to broadcast mainstays to the wild world of streaming. Tickets are on sale now for this year’s festival, and some of the highlights look great; I’d kill to be able to attend the opening night celebration of The Mandalorian, and I imagine the Yellowstone tickets will go quick if they haven’t disappeared already.0 comments0
- The Bulwark Goes to Hollywood Jan 14 · 51m Scientifically Measuring Movie LoveKevin Goetz, author of the must-read book Audience-ology, joins me this week to talk about the science of getting audiences to theaters. Can marketing help teach audiences “how” to watch a movie? Why might studios get excited about something as simple as a reply ratio to a free screening before even a single frame of film has unspooled? And how can you measure … movie love? I mentioned this on the show, but I don’t really listen to a ton of podcasts because I don’t have time, what with all the podcasts I’m doing. But one I do carve out time for is Kevin’s, which is called Don’t Kill the Messenger. A good introductory point is his episode with Jason Blum, I guarantee you’ll learn a lot. Subscribe to it, leave a rating and a review if you have time: it should be far more popular than it is. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend! And if you’d prefer to listen on Apple or another podcast service, click here and find your favorite.0 comments0
- The Science of High Frame Rate, ExplainedThis week, I’m rejoined by Tony Davis of Tessive to talk about the science behind some of the movie magic in James Cameron’s return to Pandora. What is high frame rate? How did we settled on 24 frames per second as the “standard” frame rate? Why do European audiences notice the effect less? And why have exhibitors made it so difficult to know which format Avatar: The Way of Water is showing in and which screens it is showing on? All this and more discussed on this week’s episode; if you enjoyed it or learned something, please share it with a friend!0 comments0
- The Ten Biggest Hollywood Fiascoes of 2022This week, I'm rejoined by Ryan Faughnder of the Los Angeles Times to discuss his newsletter highlighting the ten biggest Hollywood business fiascoes of the year. From Neil Young's war on Spotify to The Slap to the shift of focus on streaming profitability, it's been a wild year for businesses trying to navigate difficult business and political waters.0 comments0
- How Spider-Man Conquered HollywoodOn this week’s episode I talk to Sean O’Connell, the author of With Great Power: How Spider-Man Conquered Hollywood during the Golden Age of Comic Book Blockbusters, about the webslinger’s long and winding path to the big screen, early box office dominance, middle-aged faltering, and renewed success under the aegis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We also discuss the rise of fan culture and the balancing act studios have to play between making movies that work for the masses and movies that work for the hardcore fans. If you have a Spider-fan in your life, send them this episode or pick up Sean’s book as a stocking stuffer!0 comments0
- Disney's Parks Make Tons of Money — But Are They in Trouble?This week I talked to Robbie Whelan of the Wall Street Journal about the not-so-secret cash cow of the Walt Disney empire: the parks. For years now, the joke about Disney has been that it’s a parks and TV company with a movie studio attached to it; as the theatrical business continues to struggle, cord-cutting continues apace, and the streaming side of the business racks up huge losses, the parks are more important than ever. But as Robbie reported, cracks are beginning to show in that fiscal bulwark, and unhappiness over the state of the parks—from investors and, more interestingly, super-fans—is one of several reasons that CEO Bob Chapek was forced out.0 comments0
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© 2022 The Bulwark
