Screamers, show consulting, Stanford, seniority, status, and Stalin’s chair. These concepts are all linked, in this parable on power in the entertainment business. Listen and hear how.

This week, Rob give his notes on network notes.

Rob — who has run a few shows in his time— has some words of encouragement and yes, advice for those people who find themselves in precarious employment situations. And in the process, talks himself out of a job.

As the entertainment business slowly becomes a form of television and everyone slowly realizing that the television business depends on the management skills and personal discipline of…writers, some show runners are finding themselves replaced at alarming rates. Rob — who has run a few shows in his time— has some words of encouragement and yes, […]

In Hollywood, everyone is an artist. And as artists, they often feel they are entitled to a certain amount of eccentricity and perfectionism, including but not limited to having their cake and eating it too (metaphorically speaking).

Rob explains why managing “the talent” —which includes anyone who interacts with studio management— sometimes calls for techniques that are more commonly associated with calming infants.

In Los Angeles, everyone’s in show business. Everyone.

There’s only one phrase a scriptwriter dreads more than “we love it, but we have some notes”: “we love it and have no notes.”

Rob discovers a WWII era psyops spy manual and realizes it is the perfect guide for disrupting the business practices of modern content companies. But —as a New Year’s resolution— he vows not to use the manual’s power for evil. For now.

Rob gives a master class in the unnecessarily complicated etiquette of wishing friends and family “Merry Chr…”, er, “Seasons Gree…”; uh, “Happy Holi…”. Well, you know what we’re trying to say.