The Town with Matthew Belloni – “The Townies, Part 2: Who Won the Year in Hollywood?”

Date: December 23, 2025
Host: Matthew Belloni (A)
Guests: Lucas Shaw (C), Craig Horlbeck (B)

Episode Overview

The second part of The Townies presents the tongue-in-cheek, irreverent industry “awards” created by Matthew Belloni and his team. They use their signature insider banter and sharp wit to break down Hollywood’s major hits, flops, fiascos, and power moves of 2025. This episode is focused on awarding the “winners and losers” of the year across key categories, analyzing who came out on top, who embarrassed themselves, and what it all means for the business. The tone is sharp, funny, and occasionally biting, with an explicit focus on major Hollywood moves, personalities, and behind-the-scenes drama.

Key Segments & Insights

[01:28] Kicking Off: The Townies Award “Show”

• Joking about moving the Townies to YouTube, noting the saturation of YouTube award shows.
• Immediate jump to analyzing the ongoing decline of "once-dominant filmmakers" — namely Barry Levinson (“Alto Knights”) and James L. Brooks (“Ella McKay”) — with the “Megalopolis Award” for biggest embarrassment.
• “Alto Knights grossed $10 million worldwide. Big international release. ‘Ella McKay’ is at what, like, three and counting?” (A, 01:55)
• Belloni and Shaw agree the rout is more embarrassing for Brooks, given his history of quality over quantity compared to Levinson’s long list of late-career clunkers.

[04:01] Executive Fail of the Year

• Immediate discussion of the “Executive Fail of the Year.”

Winner: John Branca, Executor of the Michael Jackson Estate

• Allowed the shooting of an entire Michael Jackson biopic before realizing a legal clause blocked dramatization of one accuser’s story—requiring a costly reshoot.
• “It’s costing tens of millions of dollars and it all comes down...it is on him.” (A, 05:06)

Runner up: The “Colbert Cancellation” at Paramount/CBS

• Mishandled timing and communications fueled political conspiracy theories about Stephen Colbert’s late-night show cancellation.
• “They canceled it at a time and announced it in a way to make it look as bad as humanly possible.” (C, 06:05)
• “There had to be a better way of doing it.” (A, 07:47)

[07:54] Biggest Self-Inflicted Wound

Winner: Carla Sofia Gascon’s Oscar Fall

• Gascon’s likely Best Actress victory and her film’s Best Picture chances were torpedoed by resurfaced Islamophobic tweets.
• “Boom, it’s over and the movie doesn't win Best Picture and she doesn't win Best Actress.” (A, 08:06)

Runner up: Diddy’s Ill-Advised Self-Documenting

• Diddy allowed footage of himself in compromising situations to be used in a documentary, making for “the clear own goal” after his arrest.

[10:13] Dairy Queen Award (“Milking the Fans”)

Winner: Taylor Swift

• For releasing “40 different versions” of her album “Life of a Showgirl” across every platform and format to manipulate the charts.
• “She wanted to again and again and again and again. Well, she was gonna be—no, no, it wasn’t that. She wanted to be number one. She wanted to break the Adele record.” (C, 10:47)
• Runners-up: Netflix’s extended “Stranger Things” release; unnecessary blockbusters/sequels; perennial NFL games throughout the holidays.
• “We might have to name the category the NFL Dairy Queen award for milking its fans.” (A, 12:17)

[12:44] PR Fail of the Year

Winner: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Venice Speech

• His teary Venice festival speech about being misunderstood backfired, given his huge, self-crafted action-star career: “Now in ‘The Smashing Machine,’ he is finally able to be the actor he has always wanted to be.” (A, 13:22)
• “There was a narrative that was better crafted around him. He could have been Brendan Fraser...” (A, 13:59)

Runner-up: Brendan Carr’s Kimmel Scandal

• FCC Commissioner Carr’s mess over threatening ABC/Disney to yank Jimmy Kimmel, handing Kimmel a heroic narrative and sparking free speech backlash.

Special Mention: Ben Stiller’s Emmy Campaign

• Aggressive, “everywhere” efforts for “Severance” turned voters off due to overexposure and reputation.

[17:08] Savviest PR Move of the Year

Winner: Director Ryan Coogler’s Aspect Ratio Video for “Sinners”

• “It was cool. It told people what the movie was. It made it seem special.” (A, 17:12)

Runners-up:

• Barry Diller’s New York Magazine memoir excerpt
• David Ellison’s all-inclusive press conference for the Paramount deal
• Jason Blum on “The Town” podcast, authentically discussing a flop: “It was a good...people were in awe. And it’s not something that his own PR people would recommend.” (A, 19:25)

[21:36] Mea Culpa (“I Was Wrong”) and “Suck It, Haters” (“I Was Right”) Awards

• Mea Culpa: Belloni admits he underestimated “Stranger Things 5” ratings; Shaw admits he was wrong that chaos in the Trump admin would curb deal-making (“you have seen a healthy uptick in deal making” (C, 22:38)).
• Suck It, Haters:
  • Shaw was right that YouTube would get the Oscars rights.
  • Belloni defends his stance that Glen Powell is not a star, citing “Running Man”’s poor performance (“He’s not getting another big budget action movie where he is the star.” (A, 23:49))

[24:46] Craziest Executive Move of the Year

• Nominees:
  • Disney yanking Kimmel from air (“To not project out how that would go down...was shocking.” (A, 24:59))
  • David Ellison buying the Free Press
  • Tom Rothman at Sony greenlighting four simultaneous Beatles movies

[27:56] Most Erratic Talent Move

• Winner: Katy Perry going to space: “Gotta be right. I mean, in what world does she think that’s gonna go over well?” (A, 28:18)
• Special mention to the orbits around Jeff Bezos’ celebrity wedding (Leonardo DiCaprio showing up).

[29:44] Final Two-Part Closer: Who Won the Year?

Executive of the Year

• Winner: David Zaslav (Warner Bros. Discovery/Netflix deal)
  • "He split the company up to make it more attractive to Netflix...he does get credit for that. But to pay himself...$600 million for that, absolutely insane." (A, 30:11)
• Runners-up: Mike and Pam for career survivability; Neil Mohan (YouTube CEO) for Oscars deal and leading the platform’s TV dominance.
  • “They are now known generally among the general public...as the dominant TV platform.” (A, 31:53)

Talent of the Year

• Winner: Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”
  • "For his generation, is like, the guy...He hasn’t missed. And, you know, he’s done mostly IP stuff, but this was the big test, and he definitely passed." (A, 33:52)
• Notable Nominees: Lil Allen, Rosalía, South Park creators, Timothée Chalamet, Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift (for the “Masters” moment), Taylor gets dinged for “mounting backlash” from overexposure/manipulation.
• “The Dylan movie is what his fans wanted. It was packed with music, him looking cool, riding a motorcycle, being Bob Dylan. The Springsteen movie was like him in therapy.” (A, 36:06)

Notable Quotes

• On streaming-era career comebacks:
  “There was a narrative that was better crafted around him. He could have been Brendan Fraser.” – Matthew Belloni [13:59]
• On industry self-inflicted wounds:
  “That one, I think, was the clear own goal.” – Lucas Shaw [09:30]
• On PR authenticity:
  “People were in awe. And it's not something that his own PR people would recommend. I guarantee you, no fancy PR firm would say, oh, you had a bomb. Why don't you go on the podcast and have everybody talk about how you had a bomb?” – Matthew Belloni [19:25]
• On YouTube’s Oscars deal:
  “I mean, you've been reporting about this for a long time. I've been reporting about how Netflix is like, about how YouTube is basically TV now...YouTube did a campaign this year to put Neil out there a lot more.” – Matthew Belloni [31:53]
• On Coogler’s ascendence:
  “Ryan Coogler...for his generation, is like, the guy. He hasn't missed.” — Matthew Belloni [33:52]

Funniest/Memorable Moments

• Imagining an “awards show in tuxedos” – admits, “I just took off my sweater because it's warm in here.” (C, 03:51)
• Joke about the “NFL always” milking its fans, and Belloni’s sincere sympathy for producer Craig for having to work through the holidays. (A, 12:17)

Final Segment: Marty Supreme’s Box Office Prospects & Chalamet’s Star Power ([37:00]-[43:27])

• Leads into a discussion of the big holiday box office opening of “Marty Supreme” starring Timothée Chalamet, comparing projected numbers for Marty Supreme and the Anaconda remake.
• Belloni and Craig debate what would be a “success” for Marty Supreme given expectations and industry standards. Both agree it needs a strong opening and robust holiday performance to justify its budget.
• “A24 is now in this like mid budget range movie where they tried it with Smashing Machine and it failed...but this movie needs to gross like $200 million worldwide to be considered a full-oriented success.” (A, 40:03)
• Belloni is “taking the over” on the tracking projection, banking on Chalamet’s dedicated fanbase.

Timestamps of Important Segments

• [01:28] — Start of Townies Awards: most embarrassing director/project
• [04:01] — Executive Fail of the Year (Michael Jackson Estate, Colbert)
• [07:54] — Self-Inflicted Wound of the Year (Gascon, Diddy)
• [10:13] — Dairy Queen Award (Taylor Swift, Netflix, NFL)
• [12:44] — PR Fail of the Year (The Rock, Brendan Carr, Ben Stiller)
• [17:08] — Savviest PR Move of the Year (Coogler, Diller, Ellison, Blum)
• [21:36] — Mea Culpa/I Was Right (Stranger Things, YouTube/Oscars, Glen Powell)
• [24:46] — Craziest Executive Move (Kimmel, Beatles movies, Ellison)
• [27:56] — Most Erratic Talent Move (Katy Perry to space, celebs at Bezos’ wedding)
• [29:44] — Who Won the Year (Zaslav, Mohan, Mike & Pam, Coogler, Chalamet, Taylor)
• [37:00] — Marty Supreme’s box office tracking and Chalamet’s campaign

Episode Takeaways

• Biggest Winner: David Zaslav (for his business luck, not leadership style); YouTube as the new TV king; Ryan Coogler, cementing himself as a new blockbuster auteur.
• Biggest Loser: Mishandled legacy projects/directors; executive fumbles (legal and PR); over-milking of fans (Taylor Swift, Netflix).
• Year’s Tone: The industry is more unpredictable, PR-driven than ever, and nobody is safe from instant backlash—except, perhaps, Timothée Chalamet’s fanbase.

For fans of inside baseball in entertainment, the 2025 Townies deliver snark, sharp judgment, and a snapshot of Hollywood’s rapidly evolving culture—full of blunders and savvy maneuvers in equal measure.