Filmmaker; Actor & Producer Mark Duplass at Bloomberg Screentime

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks

Episode: Filmmaker, Actor & Producer Mark Duplass at Bloomberg Screentime

Date: October 9, 2025
Guest: Mark Duplass (Duplass Brothers Productions)
Host: Bloomberg, Co-Host

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Episode Overview

This episode features award-winning filmmaker, actor, and producer Mark Duplass in a live conversation at Bloomberg Screentime. The discussion delves into Duplass’s career path—from indie filmmaking roots to major television sets—and addresses the seismic changes rippling through Hollywood and the broader entertainment industry. Duplass shares hard-earned insights about adapting to a rapidly evolving ecosystem, the realities of distribution and monetization, and his enduring affection for creative collaboration, all while expressing deep concern for film workers squeezed by industry upheaval.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Appeal and Balance of Multihyphenate Work

• Blending Roles (00:47–01:26)
  • Duplass emphasizes his love for balancing producing, directing, and acting, originating from his indie beginnings making "$3 movies in my kitchen with my brother."
    • Quote:
      “I do like the blending of all the things. And I come from the independent sector… So I'm no stranger to doing it all.”
      — Mark Duplass [00:47]
  • Contrast between the scrappy, hands-on feel of indie projects (“hanging lights with my friends and sweating”) versus the luxury of well-resourced productions (“my burrito brought to me in the trailer”) such as The Morning Show.

Changing Technology and Democratization (01:31–02:31)

• Accessibility and Its Limits

  • Duplass highlights the “democratization” of filmmaking tools—how today’s creators have unprecedented access but face tougher odds in distribution.
    • Quote:
      “You can make anything you want now so much more cheaply… but you have it way worse than I had it in 2005… distribution channels are not there.”
      — Mark Duplass [01:42]

• Shifting Distribution Landscape

  • The move from traditional channels to “hacking a new road of direct to consumer distribution.”
  • Describes the current industry as “the wild west,” where his team sometimes creates shows independently and sells them post-production.

Opportunities and Challenges of Modern Distribution (02:31–03:53)

• YouTube & Niche Streamers

  • Recognition that “YouTube is certainly exciting because you can put it up, it can catch fire,” but the hurdles of monetization and sustainability are real.
  • Niche platforms, like Dropout TV (comedy) and Shudder (horror), represent hopeful “low cost” models.

• Evolution of the Indie Model

  • Nostalgia for the old indie film system—low upfront costs, profit-sharing, and surprise successes at festivals.
    • Quote:
      “It was creative communism and then you get points. We could take them to Sundance… the sound Guy would make $50,000 and buy a home. It was a beautiful time.”
      — Mark Duplass [03:25]
  • Acknowledges it’s “not quite that easy anymore,” but believes in adapting aspects of that model for today.

The Human Cost of Industry Upheaval (03:53–04:39)

• Anecdotes From the Field

  • Host shares that even “award-winning casting directors” are now walking dogs to make ends meet—Duplass affirms the reality and gravity of that situation.
    • Quote:
      “No, it’s real. I live in the valley… below the line union heads were able buy their homes... that was under the sort of unspoken promise that this industry would continue to boom.”
      — Mark Duplass [04:02]

• The End of the Streaming ‘Arms Race’

  • The unsustainable “streaming wars” (an “arms race” to see “who could choke somebody out”) have ended, leaving industry uncertainty.
  • Points out the uncertainty of industry consolidation, e.g., potential mergers between giants like Netflix and Apple [04:24–04:39].

Historical and Future Perspectives (04:41–05:13)

• Industry’s Ongoing Evolution
  • Every era has its boom: 80s VHS, 90s DVDs, 2000s streaming. Now, no one quite knows what’s next.
    • Quote:
      “It’s going to change. We don’t know which way it’s going, but we got to be vigilant.”
      — Mark Duplass [04:41]

Personal Motivation and Concerns (05:13–05:32)

• Responsibility and Resilience
  • Duplass loves creativity, but feels a “deep responsibility” to fellow industry workers being “choked out by this business.”
    • Quote:
      “I don’t say I’m having fun all the time. I feel a deep responsibility for, like, my brothers and sisters in L. A and in New York and everywhere who are just getting choked out by this business.”
      — Mark Duplass [05:13]
  • Pursues “outlier interesting content, but at the right price that makes sense and sustains us”—but admits, “I don't have all the answers for that.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Modern Filmmaking:
  “You have it a lot better than me on that front, but you have it way worse than I had it in 2005... the distribution channels are not there.”
  — Mark Duplass [01:42]

• On the Indie Spirit:
  “It was creative communism... the sound Guy would make $50,000 and buy a home. It was a beautiful time.”
  — Mark Duplass [03:25]

• On Current Industry Hardship:
  “No, it’s real... award winning casting directors walking dogs on Rover to make ends meet.”
  — Mark Duplass [04:02]

• On the Future:
  “It’s going to change. We don’t know which way it’s going, but we got to be vigilant.”
  — Mark Duplass [04:41]

• On Personal Motivation:
  “I feel a deep responsibility for... my brothers and sisters... who are just getting choked out by this business.”
  — Mark Duplass [05:13]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:47 – Duplass discusses blending creative roles and indie roots
• 01:42 – Democratization of filmmaking: pros and cons
• 02:47 – Hopes and obstacles with YouTube, niche streaming
• 03:25 – Nostalgia for creative communism of indie film
• 04:02 – Acknowledgement of industry-wide hardship
• 04:24 – Streaming wars end and speculation on mergers
• 04:41 – Need to stay “vigilant” through change
• 05:13 – Duplass’s responsibility to peers and search for sustainability

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Summary

This episode provides a candid, insightful view into the mind of Mark Duplass as he navigates the shifting landscape of entertainment. Reverent for his scrappy indie origins yet realistic about the harsh new economic realities, Duplass blends wit, humility, and a sense of duty—not just for artistic vitality but for the welfare of industry peers. The conversation will resonate with anyone grappling with disruption, precariousness, or evolving creative ambition in today’s media world.

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Transcript

[Interviewer]

Indiana University is shaping the future of healthcare. Advancing discoveries that become treatments for Alzheimer's, obesity and cancer and training the providers trusted to deliver them. See how IU solves what's next iu Edu Impact Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts, Radio news. Well, let's get to someone who's definitely a triple threat. We're talking about Mark Duplass. He is award winning actor, filmmaker, producer. His company, Duplass Brothers Production joins us here live at Screen Time. How are you?

[Mark Duplass]

I'm great.

[Interviewer]

How are you guys doing okay. Doing okay. I'm a big fan of the Morning show. But you do it all. Is there one that I'm sure you get this a million times that you like more than most in terms of doing, producing, directing, or do you love how everything kind of helps the other thing?

[Mark Duplass]

I do like the blending of all the things. And I come from the independent sector. You know, I came into this business making $3 movies in my kitchen with my brother on our parents video camera. So I'm no stranger to doing it all. But that said, I think that as I've been fortunate enough to do indie projects and also be on a show like the Morning show, which, you know, one day's catering on that show is more expensive than most of the work I make. I like the, I like the balance. You know, I like hanging lights with my friends and sweating on my indie projects. But then I like when my burritos brought to me in the trailer of the Morning show and I'm taking care of. So these are the things someone who.

[Co-Host]

Likes when his burrito is doesn't like a burrito delivery. Also a trailer. Pretty nice.

[Mark Duplass]

Yeah.

[Co-Host]

I'm wondering about if you were getting into the business right now and how that would be different. It's like you're making movies in your kitchen with your brother, but maybe you'd be using an iPhone, you'd be editing it using AI.

[Mark Duplass]

I think the headline is the democratization of the technology has made it so wonderful that you can make anything you want now so much more cheaply than I had it. So you have it a lot better than me on that front, but you have it way worse than I had it in 2005 when I came in. Because you talk about that, but the distribution channels are not there. Right. And so we're now experiencing sort of the death of the hyperbolic television movement. Right. And we staffed up and we got all ready for it and here we are and then it just dried up on us. So now we're going to have to start hacking a new road of direct to consumer distribution. You know, we're working in so many different models now. We're making television series completely independently and taking them out and selling them afterwards because it is the wild west.

[Interviewer]

Well, you know, it's funny that you say that because I think about something like YouTube and how much I watch YouTube and specific channels and like anybody can put anything up there. When you think about distribute distribution channels, what seems to provide the most opportunities for you? Especially since you say you play a bit more in the indie world.

[Mark Duplass]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, I'm very, very fortunate that I've been doing this for 20 years. So, you know, I at least have somewhat of a name that people are interested in working with us. But I think YouTube is certainly exciting because you can put it up, it can catch fire. But the monetization of that and sustainability is really questionable in my opinion. But then you have these smaller substreamer services, like you look at dropout TV and what they're doing in comedy and you look at sh. You know, they become the home of horror fans as a subsidiary under amc, you know, and they're doing things in a low cost model. So I think the future here is going to be figuring out how to make things relatively cheaply. Cutting your big producer fees, cutting a lot of everybody's fee across the board. And then when you're in a position to be on top and power, really share that back end with people. And that's how I came up in independent film, we would make movies for $150,000. Everybody would make 100 bucks a day. It was creative communism and then you get points. We could take them to Sundance and sell them for a couple million bucks and the sound Guy would make $50,000 and buy a home. It was a beautiful time. It's not quite that easy anymore. But there's something in that model that will still work.

[Co-Host]

I talked to somebody who lives out here. He's in the industry, he's been doing.

[Mark Duplass]

This for 30 years.

[Co-Host]

And he was like, I've got award winning casting directors walking dogs on Rover to make ends meet.

[Mark Duplass]

No, it's real.

[Co-Host]

Is it that bad?

[Mark Duplass]

I mean, I live in the valley, which is the place where basically below the line union heads were able buy their homes, you know, and, and that was under the sort of unspoken promise that this industry would continue to boom, strikes, fires. But not just that. The death of the streaming wars, which were unsustainable from the. That was just an arms race to see. So Netflix one who could choke somebody out. Right?

[Co-Host]

Netflix and Apple are the winners.

[Mark Duplass]

I mean, tbd because we could see a merger happen in five minutes after this. That changes everything. And there are. I won't, I won't go that far. But yes, there are certain people that have interest in those mergers and don't have interest. So, so does.

[Co-Host]

Do you see the industry?

[Mark Duplass]

I think the industry is going to change. Look, I've been in this for 20 years. I know people who are been in this for much longer than me. And there are times when, oh, my God, it was the 1980s. If you had a movie that had, you know, a gun and blood and some fighting in it, you could take it to VHS and you'd make your money. And it was a killer. In the 90s, it was that for DVDs in the 2000s, the streamers came in and I got to make all these cool movies for Netflix and tv. But it's going to change. We don't know which way it's going, but we got to be vigilant.

[Interviewer]

You know, it's. We've seen it in the media industry and we still like being in it. It's incredible to be 30 seconds still having fun. You like it?

[Mark Duplass]

I love it. I don't say I'm having fun all the time. I feel a deep responsibility for, like, my brothers and sisters in L. A and in New York and everywhere who are just getting choked out by this business. So I'm trying to find what is that thin lane that I still want to make outlier interesting content, but at the right price that makes sense and sustains us. And I don't have all the answers for that.

[Interviewer]

So appreciate you joining us. I know you're going up on a panel. Looking forward to hearing that as well, Mark. Thank you so much.

[Mark Duplass]

Cheers, guys.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, take Mark Duplass joining us right here, of course, on Bloomberg businessweek Daily.

[Akshat Ratty]

There are two kinds of people in the world. People who think about climate change and people who are doing something about it. On the Zero podcast, we talk to both kinds of people. People you've heard of, like Bill Gates.

[Mark Duplass]

I'm looking at what the world has to do to get to zero. Not using climate as a moral crusade.

[Akshat Ratty]

And the creative minds you haven't heard of yet. It is serious stuff, but never doom and gloom. I am Akshat Ratty. Listen to Zero every Thursday from Bloomberg Podcasts on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else you get your podcasts.