Saturday, September 26, 2026

Let's Talk About Hollywood Turns 1! Mergers, L.A. Industry Memories & The Forgotten Audience


Thanks for all of your support and for subscribing! Being a part of your podcast routine is an honor!

 

I'm celebrating the one-year anniversary of Let's Talk About Hollywood, thanks to you! Looking at major industry shifts like the potential Paramount-Warner Bros. merger through a personal, empathetic and experienced lens, I'll give you my thoughts on L.A.'s past industry cycles with support for the creatives, technical, crafts and talented people like you, worldwide, who can and will get through another potential industry contraction when Hollywood already feels at a standstill.

Audiences make the creative world go round. This is for you and for all of you who serve audiences with your talents whether past, present or future-tense. 

Thanks for a great first year of 48 episodes! 

Written and read by Karl Gibson.

💖 Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! ðŸ’–
This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can help protect our independence:

  • Donate to the Podcast: Any amount, no matter how small, fuels the engine! Drop a tip here: letstalkabouthollywood.com/support
  • My Hollywood Reset GoFundMe: Help me rewrite the rules! This podcast will always be free and very dollar or social media share means the world: GoFundMe Link  https://gofund.me/9fa60a3b2

Check out this episode!

Let's Talk About Hollywood Turns 1! Mergers, L.A. Industry Memories & The Forgotten Audience


Thanks for all of your support and for subscribing! Being a part of your podcast routine is an honor!

 

I'm celebrating the one-year anniversary of Let's Talk About Hollywood, thanks to you! Looking at major industry shifts like the potential Paramount-Warner Bros. merger through a personal, empathetic and experienced lens, I'll give you my thoughts on L.A.'s past industry cycles with support for the creatives, technical, crafts and talented people like you, worldwide, who can and will get through another potential industry contraction when Hollywood already feels at a standstill.

Audiences make the creative world go round. This is for you and for all of you who serve audiences with your talents whether past, present or future-tense. 

Thanks for a great first year of 48 episodes! 

Written and read by Karl Gibson.

💖 Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! ðŸ’–
This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can help protect our independence:

  • Donate to the Podcast: Any amount, no matter how small, fuels the engine! Drop a tip here: letstalkabouthollywood.com/support
  • My Hollywood Reset GoFundMe: Help me rewrite the rules! This podcast will always be free and very dollar or social media share means the world: GoFundMe Link  https://gofund.me/9fa60a3b2

Check out this episode!

Thursday, September 10, 2026

I Know the Mood of Hollywood Every Day


What did Hollywood really feel like from inside the newsroom in 2002 when Hollywood had an average of 100 industry-related parties a week in L.A. County alone?

In this episode of Let’s Talk About Hollywood, I return to October 2002, when a promotion at The Hollywood Reporter suddenly put me closer to the suits, publicists, agents, directors, stars, aspiring stars and everyday intrigue that kept the town running.

I was learning the business of Hollywood, and how to budget millions, while Hollywood was also learning who I was.

There’s a disastrous industry party, an increasingly ridiculous fight over press coverage, a $600 newsroom telephone I told the publisher will “pay for itself in exclusives,” (it did), and an invitation to a rooftop book party with Margaret Cho, Mark Wahlberg and Courtney Love on the guest list.

But outside the Hollywood machinery, real life keeps moving. Bebbles and I worry about the terrifying sniper shootings back home in Maryland, industry realities - both petty and grand - (my em dashes!) and one very ordinary conversation about buying a car reminds me that balancing millions of dollars at work is sometimes easier than balancing thousands, feelings and a marriage at home.

Thanks for all of your support and for subscribing! Being a part of your podcast routine is an honor!

Written and read by Karl Gibson.

💖 Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! ðŸ’–
This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can help protect our independence:

  • Donate to the Podcast: Any amount, no matter how small, fuels the engine! Drop a tip here: letstalkabouthollywood.com/support
  • My Hollywood Reset GoFundMe: Help me rewrite the rules! This podcast will always be free and very dollar or social media share means the world: GoFundMe Link  https://gofund.me/9fa60a3b2

Check out this episode!

I Know the Mood of Hollywood Every Day


What did Hollywood really feel like from inside the newsroom in 2002 when Hollywood had an average of 100 industry-related parties a week in L.A. County alone?

In this episode of Let’s Talk About Hollywood, I return to October 2002, when a promotion at The Hollywood Reporter suddenly put me closer to the suits, publicists, agents, directors, stars, aspiring stars and everyday intrigue that kept the town running.

I was learning the business of Hollywood, and how to budget millions, while Hollywood was also learning who I was.

There’s a disastrous industry party, an increasingly ridiculous fight over press coverage, a $600 newsroom telephone I told the publisher will “pay for itself in exclusives,” (it did), and an invitation to a rooftop book party with Margaret Cho, Mark Wahlberg and Courtney Love on the guest list.

But outside the Hollywood machinery, real life keeps moving. Bebbles and I worry about the terrifying sniper shootings back home in Maryland, industry realities - both petty and grand - (my em dashes!) and one very ordinary conversation about buying a car reminds me that balancing millions of dollars at work is sometimes easier than balancing thousands, feelings and a marriage at home.

Thanks for all of your support and for subscribing! Being a part of your podcast routine is an honor!

Written and read by Karl Gibson.

💖 Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! ðŸ’–
This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can help protect our independence:

  • Donate to the Podcast: Any amount, no matter how small, fuels the engine! Drop a tip here: letstalkabouthollywood.com/support
  • My Hollywood Reset GoFundMe: Help me rewrite the rules! This podcast will always be free and very dollar or social media share means the world: GoFundMe Link  https://gofund.me/9fa60a3b2

Check out this episode!

Saturday, September 5, 2026

23 Months Later, I Landed. You Can Too.


I'm back with news about my nearly two-year job search and, more than that, my appreciation to you - my audience and listeners in the United States and around the world! Next week will be a journals episode, yet for this one I wanted to share my sincere thanks for your support, your community, and for making this podcast so incredibly meaningful and special. There's no podcast without you and I sincerely appreciate you!  

Thanks for all of your support and for subscribing! Being a part of your podcast routine is an honor!

Written and read by Karl Gibson.

💖 Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! ðŸ’–
This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can help protect our independence:


Check out this episode!

23 Months Later, I Landed. You Can Too.


I'm back with news about my nearly two-year job search and, more than that, my appreciation to you - my audience and listeners in the United States and around the world! Next week will be a journals episode, yet for this one I wanted to share my sincere thanks for your support, your community, and for making this podcast so incredibly meaningful and special. There's no podcast without you and I sincerely appreciate you!  

Thanks for all of your support and for subscribing! Being a part of your podcast routine is an honor!

Written and read by Karl Gibson.

💖 Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! ðŸ’–
This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can help protect our independence:


Check out this episode!

Saturday, August 8, 2026

This Week in 2002: The Bangles, Rita Wilson, Anna Nicole, Bruce Springsteen & More!


For this week's episode, we're going back to this week in August of 2002 where we see pop culture markers - and my recollections from the vaults for: The Bangles, Vin Diesel, Britney Spears, Anna Nicole, Jay Roach, Rita Wilson, The Oscar Slap, Jada Pinkett Smith, Demi Moore, and more!

Thanks for all of your support and for subscribing! Being a part of your podcast routine is an honor!

Written and read by Karl Gibson.

💖 Let's Keep Talking About Hollywood! ðŸ’–
This podcast is a labor of love, funded entirely by incredible listeners across the globe. If you love the intimacy and honesty of these stories, you can help protect our independence:

  • Donate to the Podcast: Any amount, no matter how small, fuels the engine! Drop a tip here: letstalkabouthollywood.com/support
  • My Hollywood Reset GoFundMe: Help me rewrite the rules! We are officially 37% of the way to our goal—every dollar or social media share means the world: GoFundMe Link  https://gofund.me/9fa60a3b2
  • Rate This on Your App & Share: If you 

Check out this episode!

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