Deadline’s Strike Talk Podcast: Billy Ray, John Ptak, and Marc Evans discuss how fear, tentpole chasing, and Netflix’s volume game have neutralized the studio quality controls that produced great films

In the 26th episode of Deadline Strike Talk — which for some of the hosts means six months without a paycheck that doesn’t come from Uber fares or waiting tables — host Billy Ray touches on a zeitgeist topic often voiced by people who just feel like it. on Keeping Company isn’t nearly as exciting or as fun as it was before the folly its signatories fell into when they made Netflix the premier streamer. The result left virtually all other streamers in a position to lose money, put pressure on the economy, hasten the demise of these conglomerates’ traditional networks, and more.

Ray begins by addressing the fear that underlies so many movements in Hollywood and which is an anxiety about great creative work. He is joined by two Hollywood veterans, John Ptak and Marc Evans. Although successful in different fields, both were drawn to the business by the sheer love of big movies. Working as a theater manager and film programmer at UCLA, Ptak found his way to agents. First at the International Famous Agency, then at WMA and CAA, where he represented elite filmmakers and writers as a partner. He stopped running Arsenal in 2006 and used his experience to help production companies and financiers put pictures together. His credits include let me in, The way back and many others.

Evans began his rise by programming films in theaters outside of Chicago. He began working for producers Julia Chasman and then Laura Ziskin when she produced the Spider-Man films directed by Sam Raimi. He moved to Paramount, where he worked his way up the ladder and oversaw many of the studio’s big-budget hits under Sherry Lansing and then Brad Gray. He is now a producer and has achieved the following achievements, among others: The old guard, immediate family And Like a boss.

Wondering why so many photos are memorable? Well, here the trio analyzes the impact of the abolition of the filter system used in film development and the denigration of producers and mid-range films as studios chase the global four-quadrant cinema.

Listen below.