KCRW's Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Without warning, and with no time to develop alternative approaches, funding just stopped. People are dying.

Mega-producer Will Packer never shies away from talking about his grassroots beginnings in the business. From putting up flyers for the independent film Trois himself, to making films that would go on to gross over $1 billion — Packer always finds creative ways to tell interesting stories on screen and solve problems on set. Some of the blockbuster comedies on his resume include Girls Trip, Ride Along, and Night School … also on that resume is the 2022 Academy Awards (aka the year of “the slap”). In his new book Who Better Than You? The Art of Healthy Arrogance & Dreaming Big, Packer reflects on his humble beginnings and the highs and lows along his journey to success. Packer tells The Treatment about the incredible family history that informed his life today, helping to turn Atlanta into the film production hub that it is today, and why it’s okay to not entirely know where your true passions lie when you’re first starting out.

Director, writer, and actor Eli Roth is best known for his work in horror — directing so-called “splatter” films including Hostel, Cabin Fever, and Thanksgiving. He also memorably starred in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film Inglourious Basterds. However, beneath the love of gore lies a passionate cinephile who is a champion of mostly forgotten films… and their soundtracks(!). His latest project allows him to celebrate both. It’s a double album of music, sourced primarily from 1970s and ‘80s Italian sex comedies, called Eli Roth’s Red Light Disco. Roth tells The Treatment about the joy of finding songs from films that aren’t well known, his love of both high and low brow Italian cinema, and his new venture that will allow fans to become investors in future films.

Spring is usually peak poppy season for Southern California, but limited winter showers dampened the flower species’ chances.

In Hollywood’s latest changing of the guards, Jeremy Zimmer has announced that he will be shifting from his post as CEO of United Talent Agency to executive board member. What’s behind the shuffle? Plus, longtime Warner Bros partner, Village Roadshow recently filed for bankruptcy — even as arbitration continues over alleged financial losses from the WB’s decision to release the Village Roadshow backed The Matrix Resurrections (2021) simultaneously in movie theaters and on Max. Kim Masters and Matt Belloni are here to unpack. Retired for cause? A “ forced exit ” for United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer is causing quite the stir around town, leading some (including our own Matt Belloni) to use the “f-word… fired.” In an industry where no one in the C-suite is ever “fired,” what is it about Zimmer that has pundits willing to draw this distinction in his case? “ Jeremy and his partners built a very credible business with a lot of good clients,” Masters notes, “but Jeremy was [not] always the easiest personality in my experience. If you asked me at any time during my entire tenure covering this town, ‘Which agency is the most difficult to deal with?’ I would have said, ‘UTA.’” Marcia, Marcia, Marcia? With United Talent Agency’s CEO reins being handed over to its current president David Kramer — whose approach has been described as far more “diplomatic” than Zimmer’s — are they facing a real opportunity to make a reputational leap? “They've always had this kind of middle child syndrome,” says Belloni. “I call it the Jan Brady syndrome, where they're looking at the big guys, and they don't quite have the goods to be there, but they want to be there. When you're the private equity investors in UTA, you are looking at those businesses and CAA has just been going nuts on signing; they got a $7 billion valuation when the TPG stake was sold .” Let’s get this show on the road? Film production/financing company Village Roadshow recently filed for bankruptcy, but the ongoing legal battle with their longtime partner Warner Bros keeps proving to be a roadblock. “That relationship had deteriorated for a while, and now with bankruptcy, they have an asset,” Belloni explains. “They already have a bidder of $365 million for that library. It's very valuable, but no one wants to do a deal with them until they resolve this arbitration with Warner Brothers over The Matrix and many more movies.”

Oscar winning documentarian Alex Gibney has a long track record of making films on hot-button topics. In these troubling times, he has some sobering and powerful words for filmmakers and journalists who may feel increasingly threatened by the Trump administration's actions: “The danger is that we huddle and hide,” says Gibney. “I used to say this about making films about Scientology, the catholic church, or indeed — US torture policy. To some extent, there is protection in being out front. It's harder to hide your detention in Guantanamo… and if there are a lot of us, it's hard to put everybody there.” Gibney joins Kim Masters to discuss his upcoming (but-yet-to-be-officially-announced) HBO project The Dark Money Game. The filmmaker also talks about his very busy slate that includes projects on college culture wars, Luigi Mangione, and Elon Musk.

The latest film releases include The Alto Knights, Snow White, Misericordia and Ash. Weighing in are Alison Willmore, film critic for NY Magazine and Vulture, and Tim Grierson, senior U.S. critic for Screen International and author of This Is How You Make a Movie.

Did President Trump defy court orders with deportation flights? Can Democrats recover from historically low polling? Plus, KCRW examines The Kennedy Center culture wars.

“Severance” on Apple TV+ mirrors the experience of medical procedures done on split-brain patients, which was first developed in the 1960s at Caltech.

Erin McIntosh is a nurse practitioner at Riverside Community Hospital. She recorded a series of audio diaries five years ago at the height of the pandemic.

This week, journalist and author of The Explorers Gene:Why We Seek Big Challenges, New Flavors, and the Blank Spots on the Map,” Alex Hutchinson tackles something athletes and sports enthusiasts think about all the time; how to break through physical barriers. Hutchinson suggests that athletic milestones, and he uses the example of Roger Bannister breaking the 4-minute mile, often have little to do with physical ability and skill, but what holds us back is a lack of belief.

Amid the Trump administration’s ramped-up efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to strengthen protections for children whose parents are at risk of being deported.

Philosopher Owen Flanagan talks about life as an alcoholic and offers insights into the brain science and complexities that lead to addiction.

Data suggests that barriers may exist with adults being aware of this option for care at the end of life.

Actor André Holland’s latest role might not seem like much of a stretch at first glance. He plays an actor with amnesia in 1950s Ohio in Duke Johnson’s The Actor. But the role proved challenging for Holland nonetheless, given the character’s inability to gain a solid grip on his identity. Holland also stars in the upcoming film The Dutchman, which is adapted from the 1964 play Dutchman by Amiri Baraka. Holland tells The Treatment that one of the things that drew him to The Actor was the fact that many of the film’s performers would be playing multiple roles. He talks about why he is drawn to characters grappling with identity, and he discusses approaching the final part of The Dutchman as poetry… as opposed to approaching it as a monologue.

Coming from a family lineage rich in Hollywood history, it's no surprise that Jack Huston has showbiz in his blood. His grandfather was the iconic actor-director John Huston, and the Oscar-winner Anjelica Huston is his aunt. But he’s managed to carve out an industry niche that’s all his own. You might recognize him from playing gangster Richard Harrow in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, or from his roles in American Hustle and The Irishman. Now, he’s stepping into a new spotlight as a director with his latest project, the drama Day of the Fight. More: Jack Huston on his directorial debut Day of the Fight (The Treatment, 2025) For his Treat, Huston dives into his fascination with Hilma af Klint, a Swedish artist-turned-mystic whose story is as intriguing as her art. After a series of séances with four other women artists, Klint retreated into isolation, dedicating all of her time to painting. But her will stipulated that her work — likely among the earliest Western examples of the once nascent abstract art movement — not be shown until years after her death. She maintained that the world simply wasn’t ready to fully grasp her visionary art. This segment has been edited and condensed for clarity. Something I've been fascinated by recently, or someone, I should say, was an artist called Hilma af Klint. She was a Swedish painter who was more of a portrait, sort of landscape artist. She got into something, into these seánces, and she and these other four women called themselves the “five”. Hilma af Klint, Primordial Chaos, No. 16, The WU/ROSEN Series. Grupp 1, 1906-07. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons They went really deep, so deep that at a certain point they said, ‘Hilma, you're going too far. You're contacting some dark entities.’ Hilma af Klint then goes into reclusion. She lives away, off the grid. Nobody sees her; nobody hears from her. All this time while she's secluded, she's painting, she's painting, and she's contacting this higher entity … no one's allowed to see these paintings. Her nephew was invited, and I think only one critic, one person, came to the house and saw the paintings or saw a very, very small amount of the work she was doing because she was doing some crazy work. She wrote in her will that her work must be hidden from public view because they were not ready for them. Hilma af Klint, De tio största, nr 3, Ynglingaåldern, grupp IV, 1907. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons I think there's something fascinating that, as an artist, what are you doing but presenting your work? The idea of saying, ‘I can't show you my work because you're not ready’. That's zero ego because it's after death; you will never know what will happen. So there must be something much deeper going on, if that's what you're saying. And I was like, ‘God, that's a real story.’ And I think this work is miraculous. They're huge paintings, abstractions, colors that you've never seen… and you realize she was doing this stuff earlier than all the guys.

Yiddish, the historic language of Jews in Europe, was once spoken by tens of thousands of Jews in Los Angeles before largely fading away. Now it’s making a comeback.

To help raise money for California’s Wildfire Recovery Fund , Fritz Colema is performing “Unassisted Residency” on March 30 at the El Portal in North Hollywood.

The arrest of a student protester raises questions on free speech. Is the White House picking which speech is illegal, or are they enforcing anti-discrimination laws?

Disney is dialing back the rollout of its upcoming, live action Snow White remake starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot. Why is the studio pulling its talent from red carpet press appearances at the film’s US premiere? Kim Masters and Matt Belloni investigate. Poisoned by politics? Following Rachel Zegler’s comments criticizing aspects of the original 1937 animated film , Disney has decided to reel back its talent from press opportunities at the upcoming Snow White premiere on March 15. “In these very charged times where people use these comments as flames for the culture wars, she has become one of those politicized figures,” says Belloni. “Disney, I think, mistakenly canceled this press line, because now all the headlines about this movie are about the fact that they're scared of it, which is not what they wanted.” Fearing to tread? In addition to the stifled Snow White premiere, Disney's knee jerk reaction to the current presidential administration includes rolling back DEI initiative and pulling a transgender storyline from a Pixar series. “They're certainly responding to what they see as changes in the culture and in the new administration,” Belloni explains. “They are just so terrified of becoming part of the culture war, and what that brand issue might be for the company with parts of the country that believe in this movement. They are walking on eggshells here.”