What an Oscar-winner realized was the key to her success

🎬 Welcome to The Reelarc Rundown 🎬

🔸 The mega-merger dies & Hollywood thrives
🔸 What you need to know about breakout tv hit Tracker
🔸 Oppenheimer dominates the Oscars (but we’re still all talking about Ken)

All that and more on this week’s Rundown ⤵️

Industry News

Oppenheimer’s Oscars

Hollywood’s biggest night was dominated by Oppenheimer which took home 7 trophies in total. Emma Stone was an upset with her Best Actress win for Poor Things while front-runner Da’Vine Joy Randolph won Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers. The Oppenheimer men (Cillian Murphy & Robert Downey Jr.) nabbed both male acting trophies. But we all know who had the true best performance of the night- Ryan Gosling.

For more final Oscars roundups, check out AV Club’s superlatives of the night or The Guardian’s best quotes from the broadcast. In a night filled with A+ sound bites, one of our favoritess came from Randolph’s acceptance speech-

“For so long I have always wanted to be different. And now I realize, I just have to be myself.”

Monopolies are for family game night *only*

First Disney bought Pixar. Then Marvel. Then Lucasfilm. Then 20th Century Fox. Then Hulu. It’s…a lot.

And they’re not the only media mega-corp that’s been snatching up intellectual property, production studios, and distribution arenas left and right. After fallout from the Warner Brothers/Discovery merger, the government has finally said enough is enough. This is bad for business. A few companies owning all the content, means of production, and distribution means less choice for the public and less work for Hollywood. With new court victories on their hands, regulatory bodies are hopeful to create a fairer marketplace that gives back power to creators and their ability to negotiate.

From Abbott Elementary to SVU- TV is back

Many worried the strike would end up spelling disaster for network tv. Would audiences ever truly come back after the 6 month hiatus? The answer, thankfully, is a resounding yes. Both newcomers like Abbott Elementary and stalwarts like NBC’s Chicago universe & SVU have either held steady or gained viewership. The future of ratings is bright across genre, format, and network.

Box Office Numbers

1. Kung Fu Panda 4 - 58 Mil

2. Dune: Part Two - 46.2 Mil (157.2 gross)

3. Imaginary - 9.9 Mil

4. Cabrini - 7.2 Mil

5. Bob Marley: One Love - 4.1 Mil (89.3 gross)

Behind the Screens

Here we highlight important behind the scenes players while breaking down their popular projects. Understanding who’s who in casting, directing, and showrunning is vital to navigating your career path with confidence and agility. With that in mind, let’s look at this season’s biggest new broadcast hit- Tracker.

Tracker stars Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw, a skilled survivalist (and tracker- duh) who assists law enforcement & citizens in exchange for reward money. The show is produced by 20th Television & films mostly in British Columbia in and around Vancouver Film Studios.

Tracker follows a typical procedural style that’s proved incredibly comfortable and rewarding to viewers for decades. This means:

• 44 minute episodes

• shot single cam style

• in which you can expect to completely “solve a case” by the credits

• minimal plot lines that transfer week to week

• in general you can hop into any episode and understand its world pretty quickly

• think Dick Wolf shows (creator of the Law & Order and Chicago universes)

The series (which was recently renewed for a 2nd season) was created by Ben H. Winters. Winters serves as showrunner along with Hilary Weisman Graham. Graham has previous procedural experience with her work as a writer on Bones. Winters has previously written for tv series Legion as well as the upcoming Manhunt for Apple TV+. Winters is also an award-winning author who has written over 10 novels. Check out Graham’s notes on writing and showrunning in a Q&A here.

Tracker has several casting directors, including Tiffany Little Canfield (Only Murders in the Building, And Just Like That…, The Greatest Showman) and Josh Einsohn (This Is Us, Love Victor, Community).

Check out Casting Networks’ Q&A with Tiffany whose upcoming projects include Kiss of the Spider Woman, Wicked, and The Idea of You. And listen to Einsohn’s episode on the In the Moment podcast where he discusses self-tapes as well as general auditioning dos and don’ts.

Both Einsohn & Little Canfield work at Telsey, a powerhouse industry casting agency.

Reelarc Casting Board

NYC
male, 25-35, any ethnicity
female, 20-30, any ethnicity
female, 35-45, any ethnicity

LA
male, 13-18, African-American
male, 20-40, any ethnicity

Quiz Time

In honor of Awards Season wrapping up, can you match the ceremony with the usual month it’s held? (Some had different timing this year due to the strikes!)

Trends on your FYP

As expected, the most memorable (and meme-able) Oscar moments have been dominating our feeds. Here are some of our faves-

What We’re Watching This Weekend

🎥 For Big Little Lies fans - the premiere episode of Apples Never Fall (based on another best seller by Liane Moriarty) on Peacock

🎥 For all Millennials hoping for a Lindsay Lohan comeback - Irish Wish on Netflix

🎥 For your girls’ trip weekend binge - Season 3 of Girls5eva now streaming on Netflix

🎥 For fans of The Flight Attendant - Season 1 of The Girls on the Bus streaming on Max

🎥 For your historical thriller fix - Manhunt on Apple TV+

Quiz Answers: 1E, 2C, 3D, 4B, 5A
(P.S.- Have a story or industry info you think should be featured on the Rundown? Let us know - [email protected]!)