The Business

There's been a surge in Iraq and a surge of Iraq movies here at home. It might be working in Baghdad but it's tanking at the local cineplex. We talk to the director of In the Valley of Elah, Paul Haggis. Plus, the strike promises a not-very-happy new year or winter or spring for Hollywood.

A new report paints a bleak picture for Hollywood if it doesn't quit spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave. We speak with Roger R. Smith, the author of Do Movies Make Money?

What's it like to negotiate during a strike? We talk with the man who led talks for employees during the acrimonious 1994 supermarket walkout. Plus, will the writers' strike be another nail in the coffin of once wildly profitable daytime soap operas?Note: This edition of The Business will not air live at its usual time slot on KCRW as it will be pre-empted by special holiday programming. It will air at 7pm.

To understand the current writers' strike, you need to understand the long and contentious relationship between screenwriters and the people who write their checks. This week, Part II of our conversation with Oscar-winning scribe Marc Norman about his new book, What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting. Plus, while the writers strike, video games rock on - literally.

To understand the current writers' strike, you need to understand the long and contentious relationship between screenwriters and the people who write their checks. We put that relationship in the therapist's chair with Oscar-winning scribe Marc Norman, author of a fascinating new book called What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting.

The writers' strike will effect everyone in Hollywood, but it's broadcast television that has the most to fear. We get strike analysis from executives who lived through the last one.

What does a producer do? We talk to two producers-turned-studio-execs about what they did then and what they do now. Plus, a chat with Hollywood's man in Washington, MPAA CEO Dan Glickman.

The musical Wicked is a global phenomenon that's made scary profits for Universal Studios. We talk to producer Marc Platt about Hollywood's all-time most successful film--that isn't yet a film.

The UPN and the WB lived but a short decade, but they changed television forever. Now, the former president of entertainment at the WB and a veteran TV journalist have written a compelling and cautionary tale for anyone thinking about starting a new network. Plus, get out your calculators—it's the tax-incentive derby.

Ang Lee turned a gay cowboy movie into Oscar gold and box-office green, but can his new film overcome a rating of NC-17? Plus, the high-risk gamble of self-distributing a low-budget film.