Episodes

When Melanie Griffith and Tippi Hedren spent five years filming a wild-animal epic gone violently wrong

Years after "Rebel Without a Cause," he took a teaching gig... and taught by making a film

In 1970 Warner Brothers had a surprise hit on its hands when they released the documentary/concert film Woodstock. Though the studio spent less than a million dollars on it, the film would eventually gross $50 million at the box office. …

When I met my wife, I only knew one thing about her home country

But Superman IV spawned Morgan Freeman's career

Wrestling, rock and fake gold: What could go wrong?

John Barry won an Oscar for Star Wars – then worked on a disaster

In 1971 actor Elliott Gould was on top of world. Then he started A Glimpse of Tiger, a new movie that he was starring and producing. What followed was a tumultuous five day production that would see Gould fire his …

When Israeli filmmaker Menahem Golan wanted to break into Hollywood he went all in on an over the top disco musical. Unfortunately by 1980, when his movie was released, disco was dead and the reaction to his flashy new film …

Slow, melancholy, and the true meaning of Christmas. It might sound more like a December mass at a local church but it's actually commonly used description of a beloved holiday classic: A Charlie Brown Christmas. In this bonus episode we …

Patrick Read Johnson first wrapped on his autobiographical film 5-25-77 back in 2004. The title refers to the day Star Wars was released and how it changed his life. In the years since then he's be working to get the …

Director Michael Cimino has a complicated history. As Oscar and Razzie winner who only made seven films, Cimino frequently found himself struggling with producers to get his vision out. When the producers of The Sicilian felt his version was too …

Jamaa Fanaka was the most prolific college filmmaker of all time. Once he left college he found Hollywood to not be so inclusive. He decided to fight the industry with a series of lawsuits that would ultimately cost him his …

On paper it was a great idea. Bringing the iconic character of The Lone Ranger to the silver screen should have brought with it good feelings of classic television, Americana, and just plain ole nostalgia. However, when producers decided to …

The James Bond series has been going for over 50 years. In that time the MI:6 agent has fought many villains. However, for many fans of the series, 007's greatest villain might have been off screen. Producer Kevin McClory helped …

In the 1970's actor Tom Laughlin helped change the industry with his advertising and distribution ideas for his Billy Jack series. In the 1980's he planned a comeback movie and another potential industry game changer, this time for home video. …

Robertino Yanzanny was just a teenager in Puerto Rico when he fell in love with the movies and developed an admiration for super producer Dino De Laurentiis.De Laurentiis left a huge impression in The Industry. Big successes and big flops …

Jackie Gleason is an entertainment legend. He's one guy who truly did it all. Movies, Broadway, conducted his own orchestra (!), and most of all television. He was The Great One, after all. That doesn't mean the guy didn't make …

A new season of The Industry is coming this summer, with more lesser known stories of Hollywood history. Check out season one at http://theindustrypodcast.com.

The Dukes of Hazzard was a top ten show heading into its fifth season. That's when a report came out revealing just how much the show had earned in merchandising. And that's when the stars of that show realized how …

Aliens, mountain men, and Jesus were the stars of the day for Sunn Classic Pictures. Throughout the 1970s, Sunn Classic proved to be a highly successful independent movie studio, cranking out pseudo-documentaries and G rated nature themed movies like it …

Mister Dugan had the potential to be a hit show. It was a topical series about a recently elected idealistic black congressman who has to contend with his less than helpful staff. Norman Lear was producing, Cleavon Little was the …

In this bonus episode we take a look at how in the 1980s Cannon Films signed a major star to the biggest deal in entertainment history and still didn't get the movie made. LaBrava was to be an adaptation of …

The fall season for NBC in the 1978-79 season was a disaster. It was such a wreck that virtually of their fall debuts were gone by the time January rolled around. However, hope was on the horizon. For the last …