The Town with Matthew Belloni

Is California's $750 Million Bet on Hollywood Working?

Matt is joined by Colleen Bell, the director of the California Film Commission, to check in on the state of film and TV production in California following the cap increase to $750M about a year ago. T...

2026-07-11

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Inside the Internet IP Gold Rush Sweeping Hollywood

Matt is joined by producer Scott Glassgold to discuss internet IP and the short-story boom that has taken over Hollywood after major successes in ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’, whether this is a micro o...

2026-07-09

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The Biggest Winners and Losers of 2026 So Far

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to select their winners and losers in the entertainment industry so far this year, from actors with surprise hits, studio heads with embarrassing flops, CEOs o...

2026-07-07

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Why Attendance Tells a Better Story Than Box Office

Matt is joined by Steve Buck, chief strategy officer at EntTelligence to discuss how many people are actually going to the movies and clarify the difference between admission versus box office. Steve ...

2026-07-02

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Will the Comcast-NBCU Split Lead to Another Huge Hollywood Deal?

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the news that NBCUniversal is splitting off from Comcast into a standalone company, the details of the deal, why this is happening now, and whether ...

2026-06-30

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How Larry Ellison’s Trump Bromance Is Helping WarnerMount

Matt is joined by WSJ reporter Emily Glazer to discuss her fascinating new piece highlighting Larry Ellison’s private friendship with Donald Trump and the impact it had on the Paramount M&A saga. Emil...

2026-06-26

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Amazon Won’t Release Its Sam Altman Movie. Will Anyone?

Matt is joined by Keach Hagey, a journalist at The Wall Street Journal and author of 'The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future,' to discuss Amazon abandoning Luca Guadagnino...

2026-06-23

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The Secret Industry That Makes Movies Go Viral

Matt is joined by journalist Lane Brown from New York Magazine to discuss his latest article digging into the insidious world of online clipping and narrative campaigning. Lane explains how virality a...

2026-06-19

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Have Platforms Unseated Content as King in Hollywood?

Matt is joined by John Mass, president of Content Partners, to discuss the massive value of owning distribution in modern Hollywood in comparison to years past, when content seemed to be the most impo...

2026-06-17

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Fox Is Buying Roku for $22B. Is It Now a Streaming Power Player?

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss Fox’s $22 billion acquisition of Roku, why this happened, how connected TV devices are the secret gatekeepers to streaming, how this will affect the...

2026-06-16

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Bonus Episode! Matt Risks His Life Eating Wings With Sean Evans of ‘Hot Ones.’

Live from Hollywood, Matt turns the tables on 'Hot Ones' host Sean Evans. Matt eats hot wings and risks his intestinal fortitude while interviewing Sean at the 'Hot Ones' FYC event. Yes, he tries Da B...

2026-06-14

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The ‘Obsession’ Windfall and How Indie Hits Pay Out

Matt is joined by film producer Mynette Louie, a cohead of creative producing and assistant professor at Columbia University, to explain how the money is distributed when an indie film is a big hit. T...

2026-06-12

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The Gen Z Box Office Boom and What They Think of Spielberg, Marvel, and Star Wars

Matt is joined by founder and CEO of Screen Engine/ASI, Kevin Goetz, to talk about his new survey of Gen Z moviegoers to explain the Gen Z box office boom, how Hollywood can better appeal to the new w...

2026-06-11

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Is the ‘60 Minutes’ Blowup a Threat to Ellison’s Empire?

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss the ongoing disruption at ‘60 Minutes,’ most recently the hiring of Nick Bilton as EP, and the firing of correspondent Scott Pelley. They dig into w...

2026-06-09

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'Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons on Bursting into Hollywood, Internet Fandom, and Old IP

Matt is joined by Kane Parsons, the 20-year-old director of ‘Backrooms,’ to discuss becoming the youngest filmmaker to open a movie no. 1 at the box office, his experience transitioning from YouTube t...

2026-06-04

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Is This Hollywood’s First Practical Solution to Control AI?

Matt is joined by RSL Media Founder Nikki Hexum to discuss her non-profit founded with actress Cate Blanchett that aims to protect artists against AI by requiring a consent framework for name, image, ...

2026-06-03

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The Right and Wrong Lessons From ‘Backrooms’ and ‘Obsession’

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss what movie studios should learn from the remarkable weekend at the box office, whether this is really like the '70s all over again in Hollywood, the...

2026-06-02

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Peter Chernin on ‘Backrooms’ and Where the Smart Money Is Going in Hollywood

Matt is joined by Peter Chernin, founder of North Road and the Chernin Group, to discuss the production of the new horror film ‘Backrooms,’ the biggest problems in Hollywood, whether the content reces...

2026-05-30

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IMAX Suitors and Why Netflix Put Fincher in Theaters

Matt is joined by Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw to discuss who might buy IMAX after news broke last week that it is exploring a sale, and they get into the details behind how IMAX works as a business. They a...

2026-05-27

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Spencer Pratt, Karen Bass, and Why California Politicians Suddenly Love Hollywood

Matt is joined by Puck’s political journalist Peter Hamby to discuss the gubernatorial and mayoral races in California and Los Angeles and how it might impact the future of Hollywood (02:34). They dis...

2026-05-21

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The Town with Matthew Belloni

Episodes (645 episodes)

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