Substacks recommended by Jen Topping

Recommended by Jen Topping

FRIDAY'S ESPRESSO

By Axel M. Fiacco

Weekly newsletter about formats, markets and trends all around the world

Axel is a must read for anyone wanting to know the latest in the TV formats market.

- Jen Topping

Marcus on AI

By Gary Marcus

"Marcus has become one of our few indispensable public intellectuals. The more people read him, the better our actions in shaping Al will be." - Kim Stanley Robinson, author of Ministry for the Future

BIG by Matt Stoller

The history and politics of monopoly power.

Open Gardens

Open Gardens delves into the intersection of Hollywood and the creator economy, offering insights from a seasoned producer on how storytelling, fandom, and community-driven content are transforming the future of media for insiders and disruptors alike.

A great substack exploring the crashing together of traditional media with social, tech and talent.

- Jen Topping

Stat Significant

By Daniel Parris

Data-centric essays about movies, music, TV, and more.

Dealmakers with Alex Segal

Alex Segal, Managing Director of major UK talent agency InterTalent, offers insight into the job of a talent agent. He also shares advice and lessons to keep you ahead of the game.

Future Media

By Ricky Sutton

Reporting on the collision of Big Tech and Big Media...

Prof G Media

By Scott Galloway

Uncompromising analysis of the forces transforming business, power, and society. All data, zero filter. Go paid for exclusive content from Scott Galloway and the Prof G crew — and skip the ads for good.

After Babel

By Jon Haidt

A free weekly newsletter where Jon Haidt and his team make sense of how technology is reshaping society — and offer practical guidance on how we can respond.

Always Be Watching

By Dan Barrett @ ABW

Your daily guide to the TV news stories that matter.

The Mediator

By Doug Shapiro

The Mediator explores the structural changes reshaping the media industry and what they mean for the media business, culture, and society. I try to get at the why, not just the what.

Doug's deep, considered and nuanced analysis is the must read for anyone who cares about the future of content.

- Jen Topping

Cultural Capital

By James Marriott

A newsletter about ideas, literature and the arts

Dad Shows

By Liam Mathews

TV for the dad-minded

Further&Better

By Steven Hindes

Essential Intelligence for the Global Screen Industry

You only need one aggregator of the latest news in the world's TV, film and content markets - and this one is it.

- Jen Topping

The Industry

Daily Film & TV News Direct to You.

Charting Gen AI

By Graham Lovelace

The global newsletter that keeps you informed on generative AI’s impacts on creators and human-made media, the ethics and behaviour of the AI companies, the future of copyright in the AI era, and the evolving AI policy landscape.

The Creators Blueprint

By The Creator's Blueprint

Discover how top creators, celebrities, and CPG entrepreneurs build real wealth through brand ownership, strategic partnerships, and blueprint-worthy business moves. Subscribe for FREE now!

The Streaming Lab

By Yann Colleter

Analysis of the global streaming media business, with a unique focus on MENA. Delivered twice a week to your inbox.

The Kids StreamerSphere

By Emily Horgan

Welcome to The Kids StreamerSphere, a weekly newsletter if you're interested in the business of kids tv and film. Each paid edition looks at the latest news, deals and performance data for kids content within the context of global streaming.

If you want to understand the kids TV and streaming market then this is the most essential publication in the world.

- Jen Topping

The News Angle

By Nigel Dacre

Thoughts about the business of TV News, broadcast journalism, and digital media.

Understanding AI

By Timothy B. Lee

Exploring how AI works and how it's changing our world.

The Pitch Newsletter : Stories Of Modern Sport

By Pitch

A weekly newsletter bringing you sports stories you may not have heard plus occasional opinion pieces and sports book recommendations.

Simon Owens's Media Newsletter

A newsletter about how publishers create, distribute, and monetize their digital content. This newsletter is free to subscribe to.

Simon's skill is being the best magpie out there - constantly spotting interesting nuggets and developments across a really broad range of media, and then sharing them with his own insights.

- Jen Topping

The Outside Scoop

By Scott Mendelson

Daily entertainment news, punditry, and box office analysis from one of the foremost experts in the theatrical distribution arena. Pop in, subscribe and learn about macro-sized Hollywood trends years before they become accepted conventional wisdom.

The Ruffian

By Ian Leslie

Ian Leslie picks out the most important, interesting and beautiful signals from the noise.

The Entertainment Strategy Guy

The best writing on entertainment strategy including a weekly "Streaming Ratings Report", unpacking what shows and films are winning the streaming wars.

If I could have only one paid subscription, it would be Entertainment Strategy Guy. Worth its weight in gold.

- Jen Topping

The FASTMaster

By Gavin Bridge

The home of the FAST industry's favorite analyst

Odds and Ends of History

By James O'Malley

Why that thing you retweeted is probably wrong.

Inside Li'l Toughy Studio

By Emily Brundige

Join Emily Brundige, aka "Li’l Toughy," on her scrappy creative adventures - and pick up fearless, rebel hacks along the way.

Big Technology

By Alex Kantrowitz

A newsletter about big tech and society by independent journalist Alex Kantrowitz.

Signals & Strategies — AI, Media & Platform Economics

By Maureen Kerr

Tracking the shifts in media, tech, and business with clarity and edge.

Series Business (fka Strikegeist)

By Richard Rushfield

A newsletter about the TV industry

Hub Intel: Entertainment Explained

By HUB Intel

Data, not drama. Where media insiders go for the latest industry truths and trends.

Streaming Made Easy

By Marion Ranchet

Your 5-min read to get a European take on the Global Streaming Video Business

The Medium from Andrew Rosen

By Andrew A. Rosen

AI broke the rules for owning creative work. I track who writes the new ones.

Manori Ravindran

London Correspondent at The Ankler

Often I end up vaguely pondering some issue, and then lo and behold Manori drops an insightfully written piece on the subject - usually with great interviews from the leading players in the TV market. A must read.

- Jen Topping

Hope For Film

By Ted Hope

Exploring how we make good movies—and good creative lives—possible... for ever and ever and ever.

Ted Hope is the standard bearer and cheerleader in chief for the independent film movement. Hope For Film is the university for anyone with film making coursing through their veins.

- Jen Topping

Across the Movie Aisle

By Sonny Bunch

Here's the elevator pitch: It's "Left, Right, and Center" meets "Siskel and Ebert." Three friends from different ideological perspectives discuss the movies and controversies (or nontroversies!) about them. New episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays!

The Indie Hustle

Smart insight for a fast-changing TV, digital & content world

Too Much TV Newsletter

By Rick Ellis

Your Daily TV Talking Points. A free daily rundown of all the television and streaming news you need to know today.

Tepper Talks

By tepper

If you're not a nepo baby or from generational wealth but want to work in the film/tv industry- welcome! I'll be sharing my screenwriting journey and industry musings along with best practices I've learned in assistant life + as a film marketer.

How Not to be a TV Writer

By Jon Stahl

Jon is a TV Writer who worked in the writers’ rooms of Veep (HBO) and HouseBroken (FOX). HNTBATVW is a guide to navigating a creative career in entertainment, warts and all.

Podcast Strategy Weekly

By Chris Stone

Helping you increase your influence, grow an audience and create revenue through podcasting.

The Business of Television Max(+)

By Ken Basin (The Business of Television Max(+))

The digital subscription companion to The Business of Television, the leading reference guide to the TV/streaming industry for aspiring and working entertainment professionals.

Ken Basin gets under the hood of all the emerging deal structures and trends as Hollywood and beyond goes through a major transformation.

- Jen Topping

The Media Mix

By Claire Atkinson

I report on global entertainment business trends. I'm also the author of a major new biography on Rupert Murdoch for Grand Central Publishing. Regular guest on The BBC Media Show. Find me in: New York> London>France

Brands To Fans

By Will Harrison

An IP management newsletter for the entertainment industry

If you want to understand brands and managing franchises, then this is a must read from someone with an acre of direct experience with IP like Harry Potter.

- Jen Topping

Dan’s Media & AI Sandwich

By Dan Taylor-Watt

Exploring the evolution of AI and its impacts on media and society

Ad-verse Reactions by Omar Oakes

Most industry coverage reads like a press release in disguise. Ad-verse Reactions analyses media and advertising, focusing on the gap between what the industry says and what it actually does.

Joe's Journal

By Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Writing and RECording what’s on my mind, regularly: media, technology, creativity, the end of civilization as we know it, credible reasons for optimism, etc.. 🔴

StephenFollows.com - Using data to explain the film industry

By Stephen Follows

I use data to understand how the film industry works and then share that to help filmmakers get their films funded, shot and seen.