Let's Talk About Hollywood - Ep.7: Enter The Hollywood Reporter

Karl starts at The Hollywood Reporter for a two-month assignment that ultimately becomes a 7-year full-time role, from one day in the mailroom to the newsroom for good. 

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Let's Talk About Hollywood - Ep.6: Workable Beefcake

Episode 6: Workable Beefcake

In this episode, a nearly month-long gig at UCLA Westwood comes to a close, Karl and Nigel from Hawthorne go to Vegas,  a couple of news items bring back memories in the recap, and The Hollywood Reporter experience is just days away. Karl shares memories of working with Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, Christopher Lloyd, Marilu Henner, Carol Kane, Jeff Conaway, Milos Forman and an onset hairstylist who almost blows the whole thing! 

💛 To support the podcast and help keep it independent:  
https://donorbox.org/please-support-the-let-s-talk-about-hollywood-podcast-series

Listen, connect or subscribe at: letstalkabouthollywood.com

 

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Let's Talk About Hollywood - Episode 5: 2001: Cheap Shoes

In Episode 5 of Let’s Talk About Hollywood™, we rewind to the summer of 2001, before my first big break at The Hollywood Reporter. In this episode, one job is about to end and Bebbles Stone and Karl, together for two years, hit a wall.  

For transcripts and extras, visit letstalkabouthollywood.com

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Let's Talk About Hollywood, Ep. 2: 2001: You Don't Need A Job?

In Episode 2 of Let’s Talk About Hollywood™, we rewind to the summer of 2001, before my first big break at The Hollywood Reporter. I had just quit my job of four years and found myself staring down the side‑eyes of temp agency managers while trying to rebound fast. This episode is about the resilience it takes to bet on yourself, the messy reality behind “breaking in,” and how those early choices shaped my Hollywood journey.

letstalkabouthollywood.com

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Let's Talk About Hollywood - Ep.4: 2001: My TV Pilot Audition

In Episode 4 of Let’s Talk About Hollywood™, we rewind to the summer of 2001, before my first big break at The Hollywood Reporter. I had just quit my job of four years and found myself staring down the side‑eyes of temp agency managers while trying to rebound fast. This episode is about my spontaneous one-day notice to audition for a TV pilot that the producers called a "gay Sex and the City." For transcripts and extras, visit letstalkabouthollywood.com

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Let's Talk About Hollywood - Episode 1 - Welcome to the podcast!

Episode 1: Welcome to Let’s Talk About Hollywood™

In this debut episode, Karl Gibson, writer, host, and veteran of legacy studios, streaming startups, Netflix, and seven seasons at The Hollywood Reporter back when it was a daily magazine, introduces himself and shares what’s to come. From journal excerpts and career takeaways to real talk and the start of a community, this episode sets the tone for a podcast that’s personal, reflective, and audience-first.

Next up: the journals begin, starting in 2001, when Karl quit his day job and, over one pivotal summer, landed his first A-list branded big break.

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He

HE  
by Karl Gibson

He
 didn't like splitting poles
  said they separated you forever
    I'd walk back around if I forgot
      not because I believed
        I found it 
          poignant
            somehow
              that
               steel in cement could 
                 be thought to part
                  unbreakable unions

He
 said he'd been a former slave
   who rebelled and was killed
     rather than be subjugated
       to unbearable
         docile
            insanity
              not even for survival
                And now
                  he was back
                    in a world
                      that could 
                        and would 
                          have to
                            bear 
                             him

He
 became risible at the jocular slap
   on the sole of the foot
      It ends someone's life
        he said 
          and I laughed
            but I did it
               less and less
               of course
                 and found other ways
                   to show
                     contentedness

He 
  said people prematurely
     end their own lives
       becoming sick
         and shut in

Later
  he didn't want to take
    pictures of me
       four years before
         social media
           on my way to work
             in clothes that competed
               with A-list 
                  personages 
                    whose clothes
                      cost more 
                        yet you couldn't tell
                           After all
                             he'd said before
                                   Hollywood
                                  ends at our front door 
                                    And that's great
                                      but it's all I 
                                        know 
                                           in this 
                                             sad 
                                               and vaguely
                                                 ominous
                                                   time
                                                     70 hours 
                                                       a 
                                                         week

He 
  said 
     give me the camera then
       agitated
        annoyed
          and I 
           sensing 
             the unintended imposition
              took my Nikon back
                impudently
                 angry
                   hurt
                    You used to love to take pictures
                     of me
                       but now
                         not so much
                           An ending near
                             I didn't see
                               my two selfies
                                 filtered by fate 
                                   and not knowing
                                     blurred
                                      in triplicate

He
  told me that I didn't 
    sign up for this
      I told him of course I 
        did
          Until death do we part 
             and it's not coming anytime soon
               The husky 
                 warm
                   laugh 
                     from 
                       a
                         telephone
                           in the Valley
                             never to be heard
                               again

He
 visits me sometimes
   in dreams
     sometimes lost
         for directions
           yet looking
              in a San Francisco
                we never saw
                    together

He 
  is immaculately dressed
    big boys can dress right
      and smell terrific
        He asks me what I want
          and he'll be right back

He 
  is 
   busy
     Always busy
       and I ask him
          actually
            implore him
              can we just be
                take a
                   nap
                    with me
                       just 
                         for a little
                            while

He 
  disappears
     and we both know
       intuitively
        that I cannot follow
          but I know
            he is
              well
                and I am
                  haunted
                    no more