Madelyn (00:06) Hey, and welcome to the Unscripted Files. This is our Monday mini sode with none other than Unscripted Industry Expert, Emily Wilson. Welcome, Emily. Emily Wilson (00:15) Thank you for having me. Madelyn (00:17) Big news at the top of our day. We've been covering this for months. The Paramount Warner Brothers merger. Talk to me about the latest, and it's closing tomorrow, right? Emily Wilson (00:28) I mean, we're not even gonna be saying Paramount or Warner Brothers anymore because they have chosen to gone with Skydance as the official name for that merger. Madelyn (00:38) It makes me so sad to know that these legacy studio names are going to be no more. That is such a bummer. But obviously this news came with a lot of other updates Emily Wilson (00:49) There is they are keeping Paramount Plus and HBO Max as two separate streaming services instead of merging them as one. Madelyn (00:58) Yeah, it looks like they're going to bundle these two, which is really interesting. And then yeah, a lot of people exiting, a lot of new leadership coming in, co CEO came over from Mattel with a you know, just a cool thirty one and a half million signing bonus, Emily. So happy for him. Emily Wilson (01:15) Yeah, so Inoncrees is coming over from Mattel and I guess alongside with that we had the announcement that Mario Cimpaolo is moving into Mattel as well. So shifts over there as a result. Madelyn (01:31) I mean this is this was is such massive news in the industry. It's such a shift. This family will own such a huge piece of the pie under scripted, unscripted news. It is i it's quite massive and the past couple of months we've been following this. It's come with so much opposition, so much government opposition, threats to leave California and go to Texas or Tennessee. And now it's all of a sudden finally falling into place and certainly is going to be a major shakeup for our industry. So we'll continue to keep everyone updated on what this looks like and specifically on the unscripted side. Emily Wilson (02:08) Yeah, I think we will see a lot more news coming out of this. with all of those networks and all of the homes that we speak about constantly. It will be interesting to see how commissioning changes, how internationally it changes as well. Madelyn (02:21) Yeah, absolutely. a little Netflix news, a couple of things happening over there. The beloved YouTube series Chicken Shop Date. the host Amelia announced that this was going to be her last season. And I kind of predicted that that would look like it was going to be on a major streamer. And I was right, looks like Chicken Shop Date has come to Netflix. Emily Wilson (02:41) Yeah, I think it's interesting she spoke about previously it was not something she ever wanted brands involved in or advertisers involved in. So to be ending it and then putting it on a bigger platform is no surprise. But I am sad to see this one go. Madelyn (02:57) Absolutely. I can't tell you how many meetings I'm in that reference chicken shop date and hot ones specifically. What is our hot ones? What is our chicken shop date? I believe that she really changed the game when it came to interviews, what's allowed, what's brand safe, what the new press stop is. So much respect for her, excited to see this last season and also see what's next. I mean, is it her forming her own media company and creating an incubator? I think there's a lot of different possibilities here. But these are some of my favorite things to watch. I mean, it is what is replacing late night TV. It's it's these types of shows with with creators. So we'll be really fascinated to see what comes next. and then it looks like Netflix commissioned a really interesting social experiment based off of a really well-known psychological experiment here. Can you talk to me about the Stanford Prison Experiment series? Emily Wilson (03:48) Yes, so it's called the New Stamford Prison Experiment with thirty willing participants entering a real prison and randomly assigned as guards or prisoners. Madelyn (03:58) I think the central thesis is does power corrupt, certainly a very timely show at the moment. as we specifically in America, as we look at our relationship with authority, with the prison industrial complex and with people in power. So definitely excited to see how they pull this one off. and love a love a TV show that has a basis in academia. I thought we were taught done talking about anything, OJ Simpson, Emily. And I know that you are not like f from the States, but this person is so pervasive in the mythology of crime in America. And the Bronco chase that occurred during like i i this entire saga was so was such a moment in media and such a moment in in true crime specifically and and what we are attracted to as an audience. it it doesn't surprise me that they continue to sort of like squeeze the orange here. Well, my god, I didn't even mean to like I didn't even mean to say squeeze the OJ, but like it actually like they Emily Wilson (05:01) Yeah. Madelyn (05:01) just keep they just keep going with these stories. and so it talked to me about what is it on Peacock, OJ's Accomplice. Emily Wilson (05:09) Okay, so we have a new two part documentary on Peacock from Ample Entertainment, which is OJ's accomplice, and examines whether he could have committed this murder with an accomplice and it features exclusive interviews with Nicole Brown's friend and her sister, alongside never heard accounts from eyewitnesses. Madelyn (05:31) Hmm. Interesting. Yeah, this was such a this is again such a huge case in in pop culture in general. It doesn't surprise me that we're still covering it, I feel for the families of the victims so much. maybe there's answers that lie here. I don't know. D is that it? I mean I mean I I say that, but it's like we had this major the the paramount Warner Brothers news was kind of the major story of the past couple of months and and it feels like it's all falling together. Emily Wilson (05:58) Yeah, I think there's so much uncertainty right now. We're seeing it over here with the Banijay All3 media merger where people who have worked at these companies for decades are now trying to find the next big thing. So yeah, we will see what happens. Madelyn (06:16) Yeah, I think we're just ha gonna have to continue to hang on and hope that this is positive for the industry and leads to more commissions and more stories and and more stories that need to be told and a diversity of stories that need to be told. And I'm hoping that even though we have only a few key companies controlling those commissionings, that we can continue to push good storytelling forward, So thank you so much, Emily. You can always follow Emily on LinkedIn where every single Friday she posts the top unscripted news or she can bring it directly to your inbox at unscripted TV news. Thank you, Emily. Emily Wilson (06:50) Thank you.