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Revel in the Genius and Ignominy of Deadline Comments (and Maybe Help This Substack While You're At It)
Deadline comments are a window into the soul of this industry. Sometimes that's terrifying. Sometimes it's sublime. Help me catalog both. Or just take a…
Jun 24
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Ken Basin
1
What Good Looks Like (Episode 101): How the Best in the Business Give and Respond to Creative Notes
If you're as fascinated and inspired by true excellence in any professional craft as I am — or if you want to see one small example of what makes HBO…
Jun 18
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Ken Basin
3
1
1
The Things No One Teaches You (Episode 101): You Could Just Ask
Two showrunners have completely opposite preferences when it comes to studio notes. Neither is wrong. So why do execs try to guess — or worse, impose…
Jun 16
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Ken Basin
3
1
April 2026
The Other AI Training Problem
AI may not take over all of our jobs for a while — but the jobs it's already taking are the ones we use to teach newcomers the business. Do we have a…
Apr 27
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Ken Basin
2
2
How Indie Studios Use the Streamers' Own Money to Outbid Them
The licensing model that built the streaming era ends up costing platforms more to rent IP than they were willing to pay to own it. What, if anything…
Apr 21
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Ken Basin
5
1
2
Ask the Author (Episode 101): No-Longer-Anonymous Business Affairs Exec Responds to Still-Mostly-Anonymous Internet Comments
For the debut of my Ask the Author series, I do exactly what you'd expect: respond publicly to anonymous Internet comments on an article I published…
Apr 13
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Ken Basin
2
1
Confessions of a (No Longer Anonymous) Business Affairs Executive
If you really want to appreciate this weekend's announcement of an early WGA-AMPTP deal, take a moment to remind yourself just how badly the whole…
Apr 10
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Ken Basin
1
1
Five Early Reactions to the WGA's New Deal
We don't know much about what's in the WGA's new deal with the AMPTP — but what does the simple fact that it's already done tell us?
Apr 6
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Ken Basin
6
2
1
The Business Model of TV's Future Is Being Built With the Dealmaking Tools of Film's Past
The "indie TV" business may be new, but the dealmaking tools needed to make it work are not.
Apr 2
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Ken Basin
2
1
March 2026
A Dealmaking Default Fit for a Playground
As complex as it may seem at first glance, the indie film world's "50/50 Pools Waterfall" gets its power and flexibility by capturing a childlike sense…
Mar 30
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Ken Basin
4
1
Doing the Job (Episode 101): The 50/50 Pools Waterfall
Drafting the 50/50 pools waterfall into a contract doesn't require a 30-page exhibit. Here are some definitions you can consider and adapt for your own…
Mar 26
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Ken Basin
3
1
One Waterfall to Rule Them All
Discover a classic revenue sharing structure from the independent film world that might prove essential to the future of television dealmaking.
Mar 23
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Ken Basin
6
4
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