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Podcast Summary: Today, Explained - "One Nepo Baby to Rule Them All"
Episode Overview In this episode of *Today, Explained*, host Sean Rameswaram delves into the significant acquisition of Warner Brothers by David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance. The episode discusses the implications of this mega merger for the entertainment industry, the challenges faced by employees, and the broader impact on consumers and creatives.
Key Contributors
- Hosts: Sean Rameswaram
- Guests: Joe Adalian (West Coast editor for Vulture)
- Producers: Kelli Wessinger, Avishay Artsy
- Engineers: Patrick Boyd, David Tatasciore
Main Themes
The Acquisition of Warner Brothers
- David Ellison, son of tech mogul Larry Ellison, has acquired Warner Brothers, adding to his portfolio which already includes Paramount.
- The acquisition is part of a trend of consolidation in Hollywood, with implications that may affect both the industry and viewers negatively.
Impact on Employees and Creative Freedom
- Layoffs and Consolidation: There is a concern about layoffs and the consolidation of power in Hollywood, as creative roles may diminish with fewer independent voices in decision-making.
- Less Competition: The merger reduces competition for projects, leading to potentially lower budgets and less variety in film productions.
Consumer Effects
- Short-term Gains vs. Long-term Losses: While consumers might find it easier to access content through consolidated platforms, the quality and quantity of new productions may decrease.
- Netflix's Position: Interestingly, Netflix stands to benefit from this merger, having received nearly $3 billion as part of the deal and gaining insight into Warner Brothers' operations.
The Future of HBO and CNN
- The episode touches upon concerns regarding HBO's identity and future as Warner Brothers integrates under Ellison's leadership.
- Similar worries extend to CNN, with potential shifts towards a more centrist or right-leaning position under new management.
David Ellison
The "Nepo Baby"
- The discussion includes Ellison's background, highlighting his journey from an aspiring actor to a powerful Hollywood executive, leveraging his father's wealth.
- His mixed track record of films raises questions about his qualifications to lead two major studios.
Key Takeaways
- Consolidation Concerns: The merger is likely to result in a leaner Hollywood with fewer opportunities for creatives, diminishing the diversity of projects and potentially lowering the quality of content.
- Financial Implications: The acquisition may lead to reduced budgets and less competition in the film industry, impacting how movies are made and who gets the opportunity to make them.
- Consumer Experience: While some short-term benefits exist for consumers, the long-term landscape of entertainment could become less rich and varied.
- David Ellison's Role: Ellison's influence is growing rapidly, and while his financial backing has been a boon for Hollywood, his actual capabilities as a creative leader remain debated.
Conclusion The episode paints a complex picture of the future of Hollywood in the wake of powerful mergers and acquisitions. As industries consolidate, many question who truly benefits from these changes and at what cost to both creatives and consumers alike.
For more insights and detailed discussions, listen to the full episode of *Today, Explained*.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Impact of Mergers on Warner Brothers
1:58 to 3:39
Discussion on the implications of the merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers and the potential job losses.
“Joe Adalian is the West Coast editor for Vulture, where his piece on the mega deal between Paramount and Warner Brothers was titled, Paramount Wins, Everybody Loses.”
Consolidation Effects on the Film Industry
3:39 to 6:04
An exploration of how studio consolidation affects the competition and the quality of films produced.
“People who are creatives, people who write and produce and direct TV shows and movies will be losers too because there's one less independent voice deciding whether their project can get made.”
The Future of HBO and CNN
6:04 to 8:07
Insights into the future of HBO and CNN amidst corporate changes and the public's reaction.
“Not for the reason that everyone thinks because Netflix doesn't want to do movies.”
Winners and Consumers in Mergers
8:07 to 9:56
Discussion on how consumers may benefit from the consolidation in the media industry.
“David Ellison actually does like movies.”
Legal Uncertainties and the Merger's Future
9:56 to 12:23
Analysis of potential legal challenges to the merger and the implications for the Ellison family.
“But surely there are some winners here, right?”
Introduction to David Ellison
15:32 to 16:39
Explore the background of David Ellison as a prominent 'nepo baby' in Hollywood.
“My name is Reeves Weidemann, and I am a features writer at New York Meg.”
David's Early Career in Film
16:39 to 17:59
Understand David Ellison's early attempts in Hollywood and his transition to a producer.
“And initially he was trying to kind of do any and everything.”
Starting Skydance and Paramount Deal
17:59 to 19:16
Learn how David Ellison founded Skydance and secured a deal with Paramount.
“Basically, he sort of got this notion that many people get when they get into Hollywood, especially when they have a little bit of money behind them, is I'm going to start a production company.”
Blockbusters and Mixed Success
19:16 to 20:32
Discuss the successes and failures of David's film projects, including 'Top Gun Maverick'.
“And some of those movies were great, big blockbusters.”
David’s Ambitions with Paramount
20:32 to 21:54
Analyze David Ellison's ambitions and the challenges he faced with Paramount.
“Inarguably, sort of one of the best, maybe the best critical and commercial film of, you know, the last few decades, Top Gun Maverick.”
Show all 12 chapters
Controversies and Industry Reactions
21:54 to 24:59
Examine the controversies surrounding David's political ties and industry responses.
“of him started to change was in the year between 2024 into 2025, between when the deal was announced and when it actually went through, a lot of things happened during that point.”
Reeves Weideman's Profiles on Ellison
24:59 to 25:33
Discover the insights from two profiles of David Ellison by Reeves Weideman.
“Because I think that at the end of the day, everyone in this business is in it to make movies, TV shows, and to make money.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00David Ellison:Alright, what's the craziest thing your daddy ever bought you? For David Ellison, son of Ora Clary, the answer would be Warner Brothers. Not the actual brothers. Larry Ellison bought his best boy, David, the studio. Larry had already bought David Paramount the studio, and Paramount the studio just beat Netflix out in a long, drawn-out saga to acquire... The WB! The debt-ridden studio that owns Batman, Bugs, Harry, Carrie, Mad Max, The Matrix, Tony, Tyrion, all six friends, the Lego Cinematic Universe, and the Lassan Al-Gaib. Lassan Al-Gaib! Oh, and CNN, you just bought Wolf Blitzer.
0:49Sean Rameswaram:Blitzer.
0:49David Ellison:The biggest night in Hollywood is around the corner, but we're going to talk about the biggest deal in Hollywood and why it's probably going to be bad for you on Today Explained. When you want your spring break to feel like... And your kid's pool day to feel like... And your hotel bed to feel like... Ooh, and room service to feel like... Because at Hilton, hospitality feels like... Your cabana's ready. Would you like fresh towels? It matters where you stay. Book now at Hilton.com. Hilton. For this day.
1:30Sean Rameswaram:An all-new season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. MomTalk has just been blowing up. Whitney and Jen are on Dancing with the Stars. Taylor is a bachelorette. Saying that out loud is crazy. Like, that is huge. But all the cool opportunities could pull us apart. It's causing issues in everyone's marriage. My whole world is falling apart right now. It's chaos. Watch the Hulu original series, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. For bonus subscribers, terms apply.
2:03David Ellison:Joe Adalian is the West Coast editor for Vulture, where his piece on the mega deal between Paramount and Warner Brothers was titled, Paramount Wins, Everybody Loses.
2:14Sean Rameswaram:I think the Ellisons sort of went for this in the short term. But even then, I do think you can break down the whole sort of idea that in the end, everybody could lose. Because people who are at Warner Brothers now are going to go through yet another merger, the third in about a decade.
2:31David Ellison:We are going to move now to this breaking news from Washington. A federal judge there has approved without any conditions the$85 billion merger of AT &T and Time Warner. Meanwhile, AT &T just announced a multi-billion dollar deal that combines its media unit, which is Warner Media, with Discovery Communications.
2:50Sean Rameswaram:Which means another round of layoffs, another round of divisions getting consolidated into other divisions. It means what was already in operation there, as so many places in Hollywood are now much leaner than they were 10 years ago, gets even leaner.
3:05David Ellison:We are continuing to monitor some of those layoffs coming out of Warner Brothers Discovery. Paramount Skydance is laying off more than 1 ,000 employees as the entertainment industry continues to struggle.
3:16Sean Rameswaram:It means that for the next year, year and a half or so, rather than just focusing on making shows, people are going to be distracted about new bosses, new ways of doing things, colleagues going away, new colleagues coming in to take their place or to do their jobs. So Warner Brothers sort of loses. So employees at Warner Brothers right out the gate looking straight down the barrel of layoffs. Right. People who are creatives, people who write and produce and direct TV shows and movies will be losers too because there's one less independent voice deciding whether their project can get made. You know, you can't have a bidding war now against Warner Brothers and Paramount for the same project.
3:57Sean Rameswaram:You know, Paramount Plus and HBO Max, for the most part, don't actually compete right now for shows. But it means that for big movies, you know, there is less of a battle that could go on. And even though Ellison has said that he will continue to do a full, robust supply of big feature films for both studios, as many as 30 a year, almost nobody believes them. and even if they make that same number of movies, they're going to pay talent a lot less because they can, right? There's less competition. So that means big things might not get made or if they do get made, people will make a lot less money of it.
4:36Sean Rameswaram:So from that sense, consolidation is bad. When people think of Warner Brothers,
4:43David Ellison:they probably think about movies. They probably think about Batman. I'm Batman. They probably think of Sinners.
4:49Sean Rameswaram:These are hate.
4:51David Ellison:They're vampires. And One Battle After Another from last year. I've had a few. A few what? A few small beers. Why is it, despite Ellison's promises here, you say that we won't be getting as many movies as we previously did?
5:08Sean Rameswaram:Because they simply don't need to fill the pipeline as much as they did. They don't need to compete as much. Right now, you know, the studios compete against each other for every weekend, and they want to have the movie that's going to win. and that doesn't mean that you can't have Disney. Sometimes we'll have two movies in the marketplace. It does happen, but it means that you don't, you know, you're not going to take as much risks because you're not, you're, you're, you're not going to want to cannibalize your bigger picture, your bigger project. So it, it just, it, it, and you can only movie making, you only need so much to fill your pipeline too, because, you know, one of the reasons studios make movies is to, to, to fill their television pipeline.
5:49Sean Rameswaram:So Warner Brothers now is making movies with the eye on what's going to play on HBO Max and what they can sell in the secondary market. Paramount for Paramount Plus, when you have one consolidated platform, you probably don't need as many movies. And had this deal gone to Netflix, by the way, there also would have been fewer movies. Not for the reason that everyone thinks because Netflix doesn't want to do movies. I think Netflix would have continued, would have gotten into the theatrical business. I really do. but they probably would have made fewer Netflix original movies that were really expensive.
6:18Sean Rameswaram:A movie like The Rip, for example, with Affleck and Damon. Hey, what's in this attic, Desi? What's up there? Don't know, never been. I already told you, I don't have any drugs. Dog doesn't alert for drugs, it alerts for money. You know, do you really need to spend$200 million to get that sort of blockbuster feel? If Warner Brothers is already doing that kind of movie and you can monetize it in theaters, you maybe don't need to do, you can make your Netflix original films more like The Kissing Booth.
6:43David Ellison:Truth be told, I've never kissed anyone before.
6:46Sean Rameswaram:Something that costs$20 or$30 million and still does a big audience, or K-pop Demon Hunters. An acquisition that becomes the biggest movie Netflix has ever had.
6:55David Ellison:It's funny how a conversation about the movies invariably leads to conversations about streaming, because of course, so many people are experiencing movies through their streaming services. people directly associate Warner Brothers with HBO. What's going to happen to what used to be like the marquee premium cable service HBO? Is it going to have a name change again, Joe?
7:19Sean Rameswaram:Well, look, in fairness, and I've covered this before, HBO has always been HBO and is still HBO and never changed, right? But the bigger point is, does HBO survive? Is that I feel confident in saying some form of HBO is we know what it will. The HBO that has a team that does shows like The White Lotus. Piper, no! Which I know you love, Sean. Who told you that? And a little birdie. I just guessed.
7:43David Ellison:I'm more sad about Chris Fleming, like, live at the palace, personally. I recently disgraced myself in front of Lin-Manuel Miranda.
7:51Sean Rameswaram:This new company needs a premium brand, and they're going to get the godfather of all premium brands, no pun intended, with HBO. And if HBO can survive the barbarians at the gate of AT &T and David Zaslav from Discovery Networks, I think they can probably survive Paramount. David Ellison actually does like movies.
8:10David Ellison:Okay, so don't worry so much about your HBO, but what about if you love CNN? Should you be worried that CNN's about to get CBS'd, if you know what I mean? CBS News, America's newest place to see BS news. Yeah.
8:26Sean Rameswaram:I mean, well, look, if you love CNN as it is, you probably like really mainstream centrist news. I'm just going to say it. Because it's certainly over the last couple of years under David Zaslav, who was also in his own way and with his own master's sort of tried to, his corporate master's has tried to make CNN more middle of the road and a little more MAGA friendly. Democrats, they are for things. Illegal aliens. You're for boys and girls sports. I do think there's some reason for concern, yes, at least in the short term. There have been reports, credible reports, that people close to Paramount have assured the White House that we are going to change up CNN and make it better for you.
9:03Sean Rameswaram:How much of that is simply the messaging that now has to go on with so many of these big companies? Once the deal closes, they're less beholden to the government because, at least on the CNN side, because CNN is cable and the FCC doesn't directly control cable. The real worry is who runs this combined, almost certain to be combined news operation of CBS and CNN. If it's Barry Weiss, the woman who is now in charge of CBS News, then, yeah, there's probably reason for some people to be afraid of CNN going the way of CBS News and tilting further rightward, not just centrist, but center right.
9:44David Ellison:Marco Rubio, we salute you. You're the ultimate Florida man. Okay, so to review here, we've got a lot of losers, potentially all of us because we're getting less stuff. But surely there are some winners here, right? Because a bunch of people just made a ton of money.
10:02Sean Rameswaram:Well, you know, let's talk about the consumer part of it. In the short term, though, there are some wins for consumers because let's face it, people are frustrated as it is now of trying to find the shows they want across multiple platforms and keeping track of too much TV and what's it on and when. And if you get the consolidation where by themselves, Paramount Plus and HBO Max are sort of second rate services. But if what Ellison wants to do works, if he thinks that by getting this sort of big scale, he can more effectively compete at the level of Netflix, at the level of Disney plus Hulu. There is some win for consumer in that, you know, you will be able to more easily access the shows you want.
10:48Sean Rameswaram:You might be able to keep track of them. And maybe in the short term, you might even pay a little bit less, depending upon what you already subscribe to. Other winners, in the short term, oddly enough, Netflix. Even though Netflix lost this deal, in a way, they've won. Because as part of losing the deal, David Ellison has paid Netflix almost$3 billion, sort of as a consolation prize. And they've also gotten a look inside Warner Brothers books. They've sort of gotten a better sense of how Warner Brothers' businesses worked. It's certainly an ego loss for them. But in terms of long term, investors like the fact that they didn't get burdened by future debt and this big company.
11:30Sean Rameswaram:And, you know, they can sort of also be there if the merger fails in five years. Maybe they pick up Warner Brothers for cheaper. OK, with all that said, Joe, with the winners, with the losers, it feels like this is a done deal, but it isn't, right? No, it's not. I mean, it's doubtful the Trump administration is going to throw up many roadblocks at this unless they think of some new ways to sort of extort something out of the Ellison family. But they're pretty close. But there are scenarios where the California attorney general and other attorneys general team up and file a lawsuit against this, which they would possibly lose, maybe win.
12:11Sean Rameswaram:But even if they lose, they could call for some changes to the deal or some guarantees. We don't know. So, again, likely to close, yes. Guaranteed, not at all.
12:29David Ellison:If this deal goes through, David Ellison becomes the king of the Nepo babies. Who is the man that might be in charge of what feels like half of our American media when Today Explained is back?
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14:40Sean Rameswaram:Hey everybody, Estet Herndon here. I wanted to let you know that Vox Media is returning to South by Southwest in Austin for live tapings of your favorite podcasts. Join us from March 13th through March 15th for live tapings of Pivot, Teffy Talks, Professor G's Markets, Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel, and the special live taping of Today Explained, hosted by yours truly. The Vox Media Podcast stage will also feature sessions from Brene Brown and Adam Grant, Marcus Brownlee, Keith Lee, Vivian Tu, Robin Arzon, and more. Visit voxmedia.com slash southbysouthwest to pre-register.
15:19David Ellison:and get a special discount on your South by Southwest innovation badge. That's voxmedia.com slash South by Southwest. Hope to see you there. We come to this place. Today explained. My name is Reeves Weidemann, and I am a features writer at New York Meg. Great. And lately you've been writing features about one individual. Is it fair to say said individual is like maybe the biggest Nepo baby on earth at the moment, at least? Well, the only credit I'll give David Ellison in the scheme of Nepo babies is he did go into a completely different industry than his dad. He took his dad's money, maybe more money than any Nepo baby has taken, tens of billions of dollars at this point of tech money and is now pouring it into Hollywood.
16:14David Ellison:He talks about how as a kid, he loved the movies like many kids do. He went to the movies with his mom every weekend, did sort of movie marathons. And he actually went to college for business, but quickly figured out that was actually not what he wanted to do. He wanted to go to film school, went to film school at USC. And initially he was trying to kind of do any and everything. He was interested in acting, interested in writing, directing maybe. And his first foray into Hollywood was acting in a movie, a World War I movie starring James Franco. Where are we going? I don't know.
Read the full transcript
16:59Sean Rameswaram:Let's just fly around a little.
17:00David Ellison:Have some fun. And the way that David Ellison got this role was his dad's money. And basically, to put it bluntly, I mean, David had gotten a connection to these people making this movie. Larry had contributed a lot of the money for the budget. And lo and behold, David got a role in the film. And so I don't think moguldom was necessarily in the cards at the very beginning. But from his earliest days, David did want to be in Hollywood in some way. How was his big debut in Flyboys? Was it well received? It was not great.
17:37Sean Rameswaram:This is a veritable roll call of war movie cliches.
17:40David Ellison:He's not a natural actor. He's not a naturally charismatic person, which I think has sort of carried over into his business life a little bit. So I think thankfully for him, he realized pretty early on the acting thing was not exactly going to take and he was going to have to figure out some other way to make it in the business. And so he becomes a money man. Basically, he sort of got this notion that many people get when they get into Hollywood, especially when they have a little bit of money behind them, is I'm going to start a production company. And he actually initially went around, tried to sort of find some investors to pour some money into this company that would make various movies, primarily sort of focused on the kinds of movies David liked, which were sort of action adventure movies.
18:25David Ellison:Movies with planes, apparently. Movies with planes was kind of, there has been a running joke that David, who was a pilot himself when he was younger, sort of a stunt pilot doing like 360 barrel rolls, those kinds of things. That if you put a plane in a movie that David was going to be into it. Explosions, those kinds of things. Ultimately, he got basically all of the money for the company came from his dad. And the company is Skydance. The company's called Skydance, and what they were able to do very early on is they got a deal with Paramount. And Paramount at the time was kind of a struggling movie studio.
19:01David Ellison:It's one of the legendary movie studios in Hollywood. But at the time, it was sort of being mismanaged and not that successful. And they were happy to have David come in with some money to help them finance and make some movies. And in exchange for doing that, David was allowed to participate in, as they put it in Hollywood, some of the big franchises that Paramount has. What's done is done.
19:26Sean Rameswaram:And what we say is done.
19:29David Ellison:You don't just protect the Bay. You are the Bay. My name is Khan. And some of those movies were great, big blockbusters. A lot of them, David, you know, didn't have a ton to do with. And then eventually he, he eventually started kind of trying to make movies on his own. Some of them were based on kind of original ideas that he and others had. And then he also had this longstanding goal of making a Terminator movie. Terminator and Terminator 2 were two of the movies he loved as a kid. Your foster parents are dead. And he made a version of the movie Terminator Genisys. I've been waiting for you.
20:11David Ellison:Also not great. And so he had this kind of mixed track record of making these big action movies. Generally, the ones with Tom Cruise were pretty good. What are you waiting for? I'm jumping out a window! Generally, the ones without Tom Cruise, based on kind of original ideas, not so good. And then he makes a really good movie with Tom Cruise. Inarguably, sort of one of the best, maybe the best critical and commercial film of, you know, the last few decades, Top Gun Maverick. Come on, Dick, you can do it. Don't think. Just do it.
20:47David Ellison:Does that change how Hollywood sees him? Does he become less of a Nepo baby, scion, and more of a legitimate player? I think it was really good timing because that movie came out, did incredibly well. Everyone in Hollywood loved it. Tom Cruise is here to save the movies. David Ellison is, you know, the one who's supporting him. Maybe he's not so bad. And right at that moment was when David had started his pursuit of Paramount. It became public at the end of 2023 that he was interested in buying it. The Redstone family was going to sell the company. And so there was this real moment where, you know, Hollywood, like many industries, but maybe Hollywood in particular, is going through this real period of disruption.
21:32David Ellison:Spending was down. Money was down. COVID sort of changed the movie business in particular. And so I think there was this feeling, at least at that moment, that, you know, if not the savior of Hollywood, that David was maybe the best possible person you could have to take over a studio like Paramount. I think where the opinion of him started to change was in the year between 2024 into 2025, between when the deal was announced and when it actually went through, a lot of things happened during that point. And the biggest was that Donald Trump was elected president. And Paramount is not just a movie studio.
22:13David Ellison:Paramount owns CBS, most notably. And people will, I'm sure, remember all of the drama that surrounded 60 Minutes and Trump's lawsuit against 60 Minutes. And David spent a good portion of that year basically catering to the Trump administration needs and wants and desires in order to get this deal approved. So David, who had up to that point, barely been involved in politics at all, he was not someone who was even really a big donor to politicians prior to 2024, you know, really became tied to the Trump administration in ways that made people uncomfortable in all kinds of ways. Then once he took over the studio, and particularly once he started to pursue Warner Brothers, I think people also started to take a closer look at his record at making movies and start to realize, wait a second, a lot of these movies are not very good.
23:12David Ellison:Is this the guy that we actually want running? Not just one studio, but potentially two of the biggest studios in Hollywood.
23:23David Ellison:And you've done a bunch of interviews. You've spoken with anonymous Hollywood executives. it sounds like, are they feeling more hopeful in a moment like this where there's been a bunch of consolidation, but also a ton of money infused into the industry? Or are they terrified that this is all going to implode? I did not get any inklings of hope, I don't think. And some of that, unfortunately, you know, I think there's a certain realism that people have, you know, consolidation was going to happen, which we all know the history of that in any business is just things tend to get smaller. Combined with the politics, the fact that David has catered so much to the Trump administration and whether that's going to continue.
24:11David Ellison:And then thirdly, yeah, his taste and his abilities as an executive. He is now, as one Hollywood person pointed out to me, you know, he kind of went from being a midshipman to being the captain of the Titanic, literally, because he now owns the movie Titanic, which was a Paramount movie.
24:31David Ellison:There's a lot of people kind of talking about, and I heard about this from some big name filmmakers, directors, producers, who are just kind of like, you know what? Life is short. I don't want to deal with this guy. I don't want to deal with Paramount. They're in bed with the Trump administration. That is just not what I want to be involved with. We'll see what happens when Paramount and or Warner Brothers offers them more money than Netflix does for their next movie. Will people's morals stand up to that? Because I think that at the end of the day, everyone in this business is in it to make movies, TV shows, and to make money.
25:09David Ellison:And David Ellison has a lot of money and he is going to be making a lot of the movies and TV shows that we get to watch.
25:23David Ellison:Reeves Weideman wrote the two definitive profile-y pieces about David Ellison. They're called One Nepo to Rule Them All and The Sun King of Hollywood. And you can find them both along with the writings of our guy Joe from earlier in the show at Vulture.com.
25:41David Ellison:And the Academy Award for Achievement in Casting goes to... Today Explained.
26:14David Ellison:Instead, her, no, I'm not, don't play me off. No, I'm not going to stop. Miranda Kennedy and Noel King, who makes all this possible. Breakmaster Cylinder, the Bops. I'm Sean Ramos from Today Explained. It's distributed by WNYC, the show of the Vox Media Podcast Network. For more Oscar-winning podcasts, go to podcast.voxmedia.com. You can listen ad-free by going to vox.com slash members. Thanks, Mom.
26:48Blitzer.
From the publisher
David Ellison’s daddy won him Warner Brothers. The rest of us are probably losing.
This episode was produced by Kelli Wessinger and Avishay Artsy, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Andrea Lopez-Cruzado, engineered by Patrick Boyd and David Tatasciore, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison. Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images.
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