Welcome to the Actor's Guide to the End of the World Podcast, Episode 70! Hollywood just got a whole lot smaller. The Paramount-Warner Bros.-Netflix drama is coming to a close with a stunning ending, and one company is about to own DC, Harry Potter, CNN, SpongeBob, the Sopranos, Game of Thrones, and countless other titles. E-Kan and Rían break down what a Paramount universe will actually means for actors, creators, and beyond.

It's not a rosy picture for everyone- Stephen Colbert, who's ending his show this year under CBS, just got forced to pull an interview by his own network's lawyers. Susan Sarandon says she hasn't been working after being fired by her agents for speaking out about Palestine, and Melissa Barrera got fired from Scream 7 for a social media post. Politics is in the building — and it's affecting careers.

And then there's Markiplier. A YouTuber with 38 million followers spent three years making a $3 million indie film, and on his own distribution, got it into 2,500 theaters around the world in counting. Its made $50 million in month. This was a true lesson in perserverance, dreaming big, building trust with your audience, and the cavalry isn't coming- so make it yourself.

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@ekansoong @riansheehykelly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ7Pz_59A

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/17/media/colbert-talarico-cbs-trump-fcc

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/mark-ruffalo-james-cameron-paramount-netflix-warner-bros-1236511611/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/susan-sarandon-banned-hollywood-gaza-ceasefire-comments-1236518699/

https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/scream-7-rewrites-neve-campbell-salary-melissa-barrera-firing-1236671347/

https://archive.is/20260216170652/https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/02/iron-lung-markiplier-youtuber-movie-review/686020/

Hidden Gems:

Train Dreams Netflix

CIACLA Film Festival - https://ciacla.com/film/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23580600435&gbraid=0AAAAABxFSeZsETFMqzSx8Oe6Mx9NAMX59&gclid=CjwKCAiAqprNBhB6EiwAMe3yhjNXOGCXDFtYK--V4wYnmgrK1tllssMKzdfun7dii8_IahanZFdXgxoCRhYQAvD_BwE

Time Stamps:

(00:00) Intro

(01:26) Paramount WB Merger

(04:18) Politics getting involved

(06:04) Colbert forced to pull an interview

(09:30) James Cameron vs Mark Ruffalo

(11:30) Scream 7 falls flat

(14:50) Markiplier YouTube creator sells out movie theaters

(19:30) We need more theaters, this is disrespectful

(27:30) The power of in real life connection

(28:18) Hidden Gems