The Screen Podcast

In this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, our team is at the Series Mania festival, which has seen leading execs from the European TV drama sector descend on Lille this week.

Screen’s Europe editor Tim Dams and French correspondent Rebecca Leffler join host Wendy Mitchell to discuss the challenges faced by European drama producers in the post-‘peak TV’ era and why co-producing is now key.

The team also discusses continued consolidation amongst Europe’s big players, how Europe is now luring Hollywood talent, and picks out some of the hottest new dramas at this year’s festival.

In this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, the team breaks down the Oscars ceremony and chats to two of the filmmakers who found themselves in a rare tie for an Academy Award.

Host Wendy Mitchell is joined by Screen’s Americas editor Jeremy Kay, who attended the ceremony, and box office and awards editor Charles Gant, to break down the 98th Academy Awards.

They discuss what worked at the ceremony and what fell flat, who got the biggest cheers, and the food that was served at the afterparty.

Then, Mitchell talks to Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh who directed Two People Exchanging Saliva - one of the two films to win the Oscar for best live-action short this year, which was just the seventh tied award ever in the history of the Oscars.

They explain how it felt to experience the strange situation in real time, and having a “moment with Jay-Z” at his afterparty.

In this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, our team of critics picks out some hidden gems from the Sundance and Berlin film festivals.

Host Wendy Mitchell is first joined by Screen’s reviews editor Nikki Baughan and senior international critic Wendy Ide.

Titles highlighted include Sundance doc Seized and Berlinale Perspectives debut The Red Hangar by Chilean director Juan Pablo Sallato.

Then, Mitchell catches up with Screen’s senior US critic Tim Grierson to discuss his favourites from Sundance which includes the “divisive” romantic drama Carousel starring Chris Pine and Jenny Slate.

In this week’s episode of The Screen Podcast, we analyse three huge film industry stories from the past week: the future of the Berlin film festival and its director Tricia Tuttle, Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, and the continued fallout from the Bafta Film Awards ceremony.

Screen’s contributing editor Wendy Mitchell is joined by editor-in-chief Matt Mueller and deputy editor Louise Tutt to analyse the developments.

Starting with the Berlinale, they look at the outpouring of industry support for Tricia and whether open letters are helpful.

The team discusses the continued fallout from the Tourettes incident at the Baftas, and what questions need to be asked by the comprehensive review launched by the arts charity.

Finally, the podcast team gives their initial reaction to David Ellison and Paramount Skydance winning the battle for Warner Bros Discovery after Netflix dropped out, and what could happen next.

The Screen Podcast is produced and edited by Ellie Calnan, with Wendy Mitchell serving as editorial director. New episodes every Thursday.

Rising UK actors David Jonsson and Tom Blyth discuss their new film Wasteman and share their insights into the state of the UK film industry.

Jonsson and Blyth talk to Screen reporter and video producer Ellie Calnan about working with debut director Cal McMau on the Bafta-nominated prison thriller, distributed by Lionsgate UK.

Jonsson, a former Screen Star of Tomorrow, executive-produced the project and went on to set up his own production company, greyarea, with Wasteman producer Sophia Gibber.

The duo also discusses how they balance working in the UK and the US, the challenges facing young actors today and whether they worry about AI.