Google is showering Velma with confetti and gay-pride flags after the longtime member of the “Scooby-Doo” crew has officially been confirmed as a lesbian.

In a new Easter egg that appeared Wednesday, Google Search queries for “Velma,” “Velma Scooby-Doo,” “Velma Dinkley” (the character’s full name) and even “Dinkley” yield a regular search-results page — along with a cascade of multicolored confetti and various LGBTQ flags. The Google Search page then pops up two buttons at the bottom of the page: one to replay the animation, and another to share the search result via Facebook, Twitter or email (along with a trio of gay pride flag icons).

Google Search is celebrating Velma’s coming out in the new animated movie “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!,” which shows her majorly crushing on Coco Diablo, the head of a costume crime syndicate. The scenes with Velma going gaga over Diablo confirmed fans’ long-held beliefs about Velma’s sexual identity.

“Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!” was released Oct. 4 on digital for rent or purchase and will be streaming on HBO Max starting Oct. 15. In the new movie, per its description, “menacing doppelgänger ghosts of the Scooby crew and favorite classic foes show up in Coolsville to threaten Halloween.”

Note that Google Search already featured an Easter egg that shows up on searches for “gay pride” or “LGBT pride”: click on the rainbow-colored heart, and you unleash a wave of confetti and a flag-waving parade along the bottom of the page.

The Velma gay-pride Easter egg in Google Search works on both mobile and desktop browsers:

It’s not the first time Google has hidden pop-culture Easter eggs in its search engine.

Earlier this year, it launched a special Batman bat-signal animation timed for the release of “The Batman” movie and one for K-pop superstars BTS, which unleashes purple balloons you can pop with a click or tap to unlock audio messages from band members. It also has Easter eggs for “Friends,” displaying special icons on searches for each of the lead characters — Chandler Bing, Phoebe Buffay, Monica Geller, Ross Geller, Rachel Green and Joey Tribbiani — that activate unique animations (e.g., Phoebe singing “Smelly Cat”).

Those are in addition to classic Google Search Easter eggs that have been tucked in there for years, such as those triggered when you search for “do a barrel roll,” “googly eyes” or “askew.” Meanwhile, when you query “is Google down?” the results return a terse “No.”

It would be reductive to say podcasts are having a moment right now. The industry, which is expected to generate $4 billion in revenue by 2024, can trace its roots back to the days of radio, when creators were making podcasts long before Ben Hammersley coined the name. But the format’s impact and moneymaking potential have arguably never been higher, as evidenced by the entry of new megawatt voices like Meghan Markle, whose Archetypes dominated the charts shortly after launch. For this year’s inaugural Podcast Power Players list, THR examined the medium’s current landscape, taking reach and influence into account to determine the leading dealmakers and front-facing creatives pushing the industry forward. — J. CLARA CHAN

Talent

WILL ARNETT, JASON BATEMAN, SEAN HAYES — SmartLess

Introduced at the height of the pandemic, SmartLess provided much-needed laughs thanks to the chop-busting banter of its hosts. The trio of famous funnymen had no trouble enlisting their equally famous friends to stop by, everyone from Will Ferrell to Paul McCartney to Jennifer Aniston. By June 2021, Amazon and Wondery bought SmartLess for $80 million. A live, six-city tour kicked off two months after that, and a slate of spinoffs is in the works.

MICHAEL BARBARO, SABRINA TAVERNISE — The Daily

The essential New York Times news program continues its multiyear streak as one of the top-charting podcasts in the space. This year, host Barbaro added a co-host, veteran reporter Tavernise.
PODCASTING IS THE IDEAL MEDIUM FOR … TAVERNISE “Really bringing people into the upside-down nature of a place in war. It captures the fear, and sometimes funniness, the strange, unbelievable situations middle class people find themselves suddenly in, and brings the listener right there to hear them trying to adjust to that new reality — it’s like time travel. And podcasting is perfect for hearing the voices puzzling through this.”

JAKE BRENNAN — Disgraceland

Drawing on Brennan’s lifelong love of music (he wrote the show’s theme song), Disgraceland weaves together pop history and true crime for an addictive 30-minute pod about musicians doing — or undergoing — very bad things.
THE PODCAST I WISH I’D CREATED? “Whatever podcast Martin Scorsese decides to eventually be a part of.”
PODCASTING IS THE IDEAL MEDIUM FOR … “Anyone alive in 2022.”

BRENÉ BROWN — Unlocking Us; Dare to Lead

With her two hit Spotify podcasts, created in 2020, best-selling author, social psychologist and management coach Brown has brought her message on the importance of vulnerability in the workplace and at home to an even wider audience.

EMMA CHAMBERLAIN — Anything Goes

Recording from her bed, the 21-year-old YouTuber (11 million subscribers), Louis Vuitton ambassador and all-around influencer goes long on hot topics ranging from relationships and style to philosophy and mental health.
PODCASTING IS THE IDEAL MEDIUM FOR… “Mimicking real life conversations, virtually.”
PODCASTING PET PEEVE? “When my neighbors start leaf-blowing while I’m recording.”

ALEX COOPER — Call Her Daddy

After inking a $60 million exclusive deal with Spotify, Cooper is the highest-paid female podcaster on the platform — and for good reason. The podcast star, who began her career offering brutally honest sex and dating advice and commentary, has become a highly sought-after interviewer, scoring sit-downs with Jamie Lynn Spears, Demi Lovato, Anna Delvey and Emma Chamberlain in her first year with Spotify. And the podcaster has a knack for eliciting viral moments — remember when Julia Fox’s “Uncah Jams” took over the internet?
THE FIRST PODCAST THAT HOOKED ME? “Call Her Daddy“
THE LAST PODCAST THAT HOOKED ME? “Call Her Daddy“
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT MY JOB? “Thank you for giving me the chance to clarify — I do not pay guests to appear on the pod and I do not allow guests to review questions before the interview. If you’re lucky, we’ll shoot you over a topic or two.” 

GLENNON DOYLE — We Can Do Hard Things

The Christian parenting blogger turned author of the blockbuster feminist memoir Untamed ventured into podcasting in 2021 with We Can Do Hard Things, in which she candidly discusses women’s issues with her sister Amanda and her wife Abby Wambach, as well as a smattering of experts and celebrity guests including Natalie Portman and Reese Witherspoon.
FIRST PODCAST THAT HOOKED YOU? “Krista Tippett’s On Being.”
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO BOOKING GUESTS? “My double terror of 1) calling anyone ever and 2) asking anyone for anything ever.”
PODCASTING IS THE IDEAL MEDIUM FOR … “Dangerous conversations.”

ASHLEY FLOWERS — Crime Junkie

Flowers launched her Crime Junkie podcast along with co-host Brit Prawat five years ago and quickly grew to dominate the well-populated true-crime genre. In the second quarter of 2022, Crime Junkie was the second-most-listened-to podcast, after only format king Joe Rogan. She also launched a production company, audiochuck — which has several other popular true-crime titles — as well as a nonprofit to fund DNA testing of cold cases.
PODCASTING PET PEEVE? “Weird mouth noises. You put a mic on that and then don’t clean it up in post and I’ll want to crawl out of my skin. But what is torture to me is ASMR to others so podcasting has something for everyone!”

ASHLEIGH KELLEY, ALAINA URQUHART — Morbid

Started in 2018 by an aunt-niece duo who call themselves “sisters” and share a taste for the macabre, the true-crime series Morbid now ranks among Apple Podcasts’ top podcasts across all categories in the U.S. Urquhart, an autopsy technician, and her niece, hairstylist Kelley, recently signed an exclusive ad sales deal with Wondery and Amazon Music, which allows them to release three episodes a week. Out this month, Urquhart’s debut novel, The Butcher and the Wren, was an instant New York Times best-seller.
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT MY JOB? KELLEY “The workload that goes into creating a podcast. While it is a great time, it’s also easily the most work I have ever put into a job.”
THE PODCAST I WISH I’D SIGNED? KELLEY “Parcast’s Your Magic, hosted by Michelle Tea is totally a show I wish we had on our Morbid Network. I’ve been able to collab with Michelle in the past and she’s such a genuinely cool person with great energy.”

GEORGIA HARDSTARK, KAREN KILGARIFF — My Favorite Murder

Among the medium’s first breakouts in 2016, My Favorite Murder (which hits 350 episodes in October) seamlessly blends true crime, comedy and, of late, business. Since forming Exactly Right Media in 2018, Hardstark and Kilgariff have become prolific podcast producers in addition to hosts. They now boast 15 titles, regularly launching new shows and acquiring existing ones, with Amazon Music and Wondery recently shelling out a reported $100 million for exclusive first-run rights.
LISTENING SPEED?
HARDSTARK “1.1x for regular listening, 0.9x for falling asleep.”
KILGARIFF “That’s between you and your god.”
THE PODCAST I WISH I’D CREATED?
HARDSTARK “Lemonada’s Raised by Ricki with Ricki Lake & Kalen Allen. Those two are a power couple!”
KILGARIFF “This Is Actually Happening hosted by Whit Missildine. It’s just perfect podcasting.”

JEMELE HILL — Jemele Hill Is Unbothered

Equally conversant in politics, pop culture and sports, the Atlantic magazine contributor and former ESPN host has delivered a new intimate, thought-provoking interview nearly every week since April 2019. Recent guests include NBA great Grant Hill, Idris Elba and The Woman King director Gina Prince-Bythewood. Last year, Hill inked a deal with Spotify to launch The Unbothered Network, focused on producing podcasts by and about Black women.
PODCASTING PET PEEVES? “Interviewers who want to talk more than their guests and interviewers who don’t listen, because it reflects in their lack of follow-up questions.”
DREAM GUEST? “Viola Davis. I recently finished her memoir. Her story is so extraordinary that it deserves its own biopic. Every time I hear her talk, I have to stop and listen.”

LEWIS HOWES — School of Greatness

After his father suffered a life-altering car accident — followed by an injury of his own that ended his football career — Howes didn’t know where to turn. That is, until he launched School of Greatness, an inspirational podcast spanning a wide range of topics, with more than 1,000 episodes and 100 million downloads.
FAVORITE GUEST? “Kobe Bryant. He really showed up in a big way and talked about things on his heart, not just things on his mind. He was so real and honest that I was impressed that someone with his life would be willing to share as much as he did.”

N.O.R.E., DJ EFN — Drink Champs

Rapper N.O.R.E and record label exec DJ EFN team up for boozy conversation and unfiltered storytelling with all-star guests like Kanye West, Dave Chappelle, Issa Rae and Mike Tyson.
FAVORITE GUEST? “The last time we sat with DMX. He was in such a great mind space, he was hilarious and very introspective.”
DREAM GUEST? “[President Barack] Obama.”

CONAN O’BRIEN — Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend; Team Coco

Since segueing from TV host to audio impresario, O’Brien has built Team Coco into a podcasting force — with series from Nicole Byer, Rob Lowe and J.B. Smoove contributing to a network total of 510 million downloads to date. Of course, O’Brien hosts its flagship. Once a side gig, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend is now a full-time job all its own. In addition to welcoming his comedy pals, the weekly drop is a veritable parade of A-listers including Hillary Clinton, Tom Hanks, Barack Obama and J.J. Abrams.
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT MY JOB? “People think I only work one hour per week when it’s closer to one hour and 20 minutes.”
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO BOOKING GUESTS? “Convincing people I’m Michelle Obama.” 

GUY RAZ — How I Built This

The 500-pound gorilla of business pods debuted in 2016 and has since launched its own convention — the annual How I Built This Summit in San Francisco — while making a star out of its smart and affable host, Raz. His accessible approach and A-list roster of CEOs has resulted in the world’s most essential, and totally free, business school education.
THE PODCAST I WISH I’D CREATED? “The French Deception. It’s so good. So smart and such a crisply written narrative.”
PODCASTING PET PEEVES? “If I had to pick one, it’s when I hear audio that sounds like it was recorded in an aquarium. Take five minutes to set up your recording in a room with a rug, maybe some books on the shelf, and with low ceilings! You don’t need fancy equipment or a professional studio (like mine.) You just need to pay attention to the environment you’re recording in.”
FAVORITE DICTION EXERCISE: “I do a series of long “Z’s” and “S’s.” I also do a version of what an old NPR host Robert Siegel used to do by repeating “Peter Piper prescribed some purple pills of Prozac.”

JOE ROGAN — The Joe Rogan Experience

Are you Experienced? At 11 million listeners per episode, it seems quite a few of you are — the comedian and MMA enthusiast’s audience eclipses legacy media platforms. Since jumping to Spotify in 2020 with a deal valued at over $100 million, Rogan has courted controversy — most notably with guest Dr. Robert Malone, whose criticism of mRNA COVID vaccines elicited backlash. And that was before resurfaced video showed the host repeatedly using the N-word. But, after pledging to “try harder,” Rogan appears to have weathered the storm — and continues to attract headline-making guests like Elon Musk, Bernie Sanders and Kanye West.

SAM SANDERS — Into It; Vibe Check

Named best podcast host by The Ambies in 2022, Sanders recently left his perch at NPR to launch Into It, the flagship culture podcast from Vox Media/Vulture. He is also a co-host of Vibe Check, a weekly podcast from Stitcher that focuses on news and culture from a Black and queer perspective.

JAY SHETTY — On Purpose With Jay Shetty

With more than 64 million downloads and 10 billion views across his video platform, former Hindu monk Shetty got hooked on podcasting after listening to Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday. The author has since interviewed the likes of Alicia Keys, Khloé Kardashian, Kobe Bryant, Jane Goodall and Oprah herself, in conversations about mental health, happiness and the art of living with purpose.
FAVORITE GUEST? “Kobe Bryant. I had the honor of speaking to him three months before his tragic passing and he was the most present and grounded guest I have ever interviewed. When he spoke, it was like time stood still.”
PODCASTING PET PEEVE? “Forgetting to switch the recorder on!”

BILL SIMMONS — The Bill Simmons Podcast; The Ringer

Spanning sports, entertainment, politics and media, The Ringer’s podcast network delivers more than 50 original titles and counting. Founder Simmons has significantly upped his audio commitment since 2020, when a blockbuster nine-figure Spotify acquisition solidified podcasting as the media company’s most valuable asset. In addition to running the operation and working within the larger Spotify sphere, Simmons still hosts his own wildly popular weekly podcast with a focus on the NBA, celebrity interviews and pretty much everything else.
THE PODCAST I WISH I’D SIGNED? “Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade“
PODCASTING PET PEEVE? “When a celeb is promoting something and their publicist books them on 18 different pods.”

KARA SWISHER — Pivot; On With Kara Swisher

The Silicon Valley journalist evolved into a podcast titan with her 2020 launch of Sway, which featured deep-dive interviews with powerful figures. Swisher’s buzzy sit-downs with names such as Elon Musk, Monica Lewinsky and Matthew McConaughey routinely made headlines. A few months back, Swisher made headlines all her own when she announced she’s leaving Sway — and her perch at The New York Times — to launch a new show, On With Kara Swisher, as part of a three-year deal with Vox Media. She also continues to co-host the popular Vox Media show Pivot with Scott Galloway.
THE PODCAST I WISH I’D CREATED? “A podcast about my love for Gladiator and Russell Crowe.”
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT MY JOB? “[That] it’s oppositional. I am trying to have smart conversations, not to battle with people I interview. That’s saved for my personal time.”

Executives

ACAST — Oskar Serrander, Veronika Taylor, Georgina Holt, Tiffany Ashitey

Primarily a hosting and monetization platform, Acast has attracted talent like Anna Faris and Brett Goldstein. Earlier this year, the company’s podcast team scored a coup by bringing O.G. podcaster Marc Maron over to the Acast network from SiriusXM and Stitcher.
THE PODCAST I WISH I’D SIGNED?
SERRANDER “SmartLess is the podcast that got away.”
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO DEVELOPING A GOOD PODCAST?
TAYLOR “Thinking through the why. Like any medium, audiences will only find and stick to listening to your podcast if there’s something in it for them. What’s the benefit to your listener? Why should they listen to your show over all of the other excellent choices?”
PODCASTING IS THE IDEAL MEDIUM FOR …
HOLT “…Brands to invest into. Advertising in podcasting is how you win in an attention economy.”
THE LAST PODCAST THAT HOOKED YOU
ASHITEY “Since I love a good scammer story, it’s actually a tie between The Lazarus Heist and The Missing Cryptoqueen, both produced by the BBC.”

AUDACY — J.D. Crowley

Crowley oversees Audacy’s podcast subsidiaries Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios. Last summer, he led an overarching deal with Major League Baseball for audio content, making Audacy the official podcast and audio partner for the organization.
PODCASTING IS THE IDEAL MEDIUM FOR … “KIDS! Podcast > Screen Time.”
LISTENING SPEED? “Normally 1.5X unless it’s a beautifully spun narrative, in which case it’s just wrong not to enjoy the way the creator intended.” 

AUDIBLE — Rachel Ghiazza, Zola Mashariki

The Amazon-owned audio company has been on a dealmaking spree of late, securing content partnerships with top talent like Kerry Washington, Issa Rae, George Clooney, LeBron James, Kevin Hart and Charlamagne tha God. And, oh yeah, the Obamas.
THE FIRST PODCAST THAT HOOKED ME?
GHIAZZA “The first season of Slow Burn. It took a story from history and made it feel like it was happening in real time.”
MASHARIKI “Serial. Does everybody say that?! It was such a seminal and thrilling podcast that really united so many of us around the audio storytelling “campfire”. It’s a story that continues to unfold and is back in the news even now.”

AUDIOBOOM — Stuart Last, Brendan Regan

Under studio chief Regan, the London-based company scored deals for shows like Leah Remini’s Fair Game and YouTube star Bailey Sarian’s Dark History. As CEO, Last has led the company to $40.9 million in revenue during the first half of the year and grown Audioboom’s ad tech business to handle more than 8,000 shows, including Casefile: True Crime and True Crime Obsessed.
PODCASTING IS THE IDEAL MEDIUM FOR…
LAST “Independent creators. I firmly believe that this is – and will continue to be – a creator led medium where great concepts, delivered by passionate creators that audiences can connect and engage with, will more than hold their own against glossier products by big publishers that lack authenticity.”
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO DEVELOPING A HIT PODCAST?
REGAN “Discoverability.”

CADENCE13 — Chris Corcoran

Corcoran is the man behind deals for hits like Glennon Doyle’s We Can Do Hard Things and Karina Longworth’s bingeworthy Hollywood history series You Must Remember This. Corcoran also serves as an EP for Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey’s first podcast, The Sunshine Place.
THE FIRST PODCAST THAT HOOKED ME? “Bill Simmons’ former ESPN podcast, The B.S. Report.”
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO DEVELOPING A HIT PODCAST? “Differentiating from what’s out there.”

CROOKED MEDIA — Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor

Founded by three former Obama White House staffers, Crooked’s slate of political titles (including Pod Save America and Pod Save the World) brings in more than 21 million monthly downloads.
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT OUR JOB?
VIETOR “People think we’re really friends.”
LOVETT “I think we’re really friends.”
FAVREAU “Tommy, Jesus.”

IHEART — Conal Byrne, Will Pearson

IHeartMedia’s podcast division, led by Byrne with COO Pearson, brought in $86 million in revenue during the latest quarter and has become the audio home for Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland Audio and Will Ferrell’s Big Money Players Network. Other major shows in the iHeartPodcasts network, under Pearson, include Stuff You Should Know, Drink Champs and Las Culturistas.
THE LAST PODCAST THAT HOOKED ME?
BYRNE “Operation Midnight Climax”
PEARSON “Ridiculous Crime“
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT MY JOB?
BYRNE “That it’s predictable.”
PEARSON “That it stays the same from one year to the next. The exciting and fascinating part about the job is how quickly the industry is expanding and changing. We always have to be thinking a couple steps ahead.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES — Sam Dolnick

A scion of the Times‘ Sulzberger family, Dolnick was once in line to be the publisher. Now, as deputy managing editor, he runs point on Hollywood, brokering a deal on Times-branded docs for FX on Hulu and overseeing the Modern Love column’s transformation into an Amazon series. Yet Dolnick carries the most weight as the force behind its juggernaut The Daily podcast, as well as an array of other agenda setters, including Still Processing and The Ezra Klein Show.

NPR — Anya Grundmann

Grundmann oversees NPR’s music and events offerings — the famed Tiny Desk Concerts are her domain. But it’s in the scope and reach of her podcast portfolio, including four of the top-rated in the U.S., that she’s perhaps most influential in shaping the cultural conversation, with shows like Planet Money, It’s Been a Minute, Code Switch and Pop Culture Happy Hour.
THE FIRST PODCAST THAT HOOKED ME? “All Songs Considered, NPR’s first podcast, launched in 2005!”
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT MY JOB? “That being in podcasting is only about podcasting. Building a world around podcasts means you’re in all kinds of spaces. This past year, it’s led us to creating a comic book, a TikTok channel, exploring format deals, presenting a musical and and hosting an auction on eBay!”

PINEAPPLE STREET STUDIOS — Jenna Weiss-Berman, Max Linsky

Pineapple Street boasts over 60 original shows under its banner. In addition to a slate of podcasts like Linsky’s 70 Over 70 and The Catch and Kill Podcast With Ronan Farrow, Pineapple Street regularly collaborates with HBO on companion pods for projects like Succession, Hacks, Winning Time and Chernobyl. It also has partnership podcasts with ESPN, Netflix and Apple TV+.
THE PODCAST I WISH I’D CREATED/SIGNED?
WEISS-BERMAN “Poog with Kate Berlant and Jacqueline Novak.”
PODCASTING PET PEEVE?
WEISS-BERMAN “Excessive scoring, particularly with marimbas.”

PUSHKIN — Jacob Weisberg

Co-founded by Weisberg and author Malcolm Gladwell in 2018, the company has launched hits like Gladwell’s Revisionist History, The Happiness Lab, Getting Even With Anita Hill and Be Antiracist with Ibram X. Kendi. Pushkin has recently acquired independent podcast company Transmitter Media and signed hip indie film studio A24 to a first-look deal.
THE PODCAST I WISH I’D CREATED? “Ariel Levy’s The Just Enough Family“
PODCASTING PET PEEVES? “Too much explanation, not enough expanation, pieces with beautiful audio and no point, The Daily exceeding 20 minutes.”

SIRIUSXM — Scott Greenstein, Daniel Osit (Stitcher)

Greenstein spearheaded the satellite radio giant’s $150 million acquisition of Team Coco, a major distribution and ad deal with Ashley Flowers’ audiochuck, and an exclusive original podcast deal with Marvel, among other coups. Over at Stitcher, a subsidiary of SXM, Osit has led deals for Lewis Howes’ The School of Greatness and Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitzky’s YMH Studios.
PODCASTING IS THE IDEAL MEDIUM FOR… “Connection. When done right, a good podcast can make you feel like you’re in the room with your favorite creator/actor/artist/etc. ” 
THE LAST PODCAST THAT HOOKED ME?
GREENSTEIN “Paul Pod. It’s a look back at Eminem’s career hosted by his longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg.”

SONY — Steve Ackerman, Emily Rasekh

The Sony team has locked down development deals with Campside Media, Adam McKay’s Hyperobject Industries and Marc Smerling’s Truth Media. In May, Rasekh, who leads the podcast business’ operations, oversaw the launch of Sony Music’s subscription channel for premium podcast content.
THE PODCASTER I WISH I’D SIGNED?
RASEKH “Ashley Flowers. She has built and continues to engage an amazing community of fans.”
IF YOU HAD A PODCAST, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHO WOULD BE YOUR DREAM GUEST?
ACKERMAN “I would completely abuse my position and make a show where Steve Ackerman gets to meet top West Ham (EPL) stars of today and yesterday. Our club’s nickname is The Hammers so I’d call the show, Let’s Get Hammered.”

SPOTIFY — Dawn Ostroff, Julie McNamara, Max Cutler

Spotify’s powerhouse podcast division is led by Ostroff and her deputies McNamara and Cutler, who are the architects behind multimillion-dollar exclusive talent deals with creators like Alex Cooper and Meghan Markle. Next up is the second season for the hit original fiction series Batman Unburied and a new true-crime series from Kim Kardashian, the latter of which launched this week.
IF YOU HAD A PODCAST, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
OSTROFF “Interviewing inspiring and innovative CEOs about how they built and pushed their companies to great heights — such as Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO, NVIDIA.”
LISTENING SPEED?
OSTROFF “1.5x.”
MCNAMARA “1x.”
CUTLER “2x.”

VOX MEDIA — Nishat Kurwa, Ray Chao

As Vox Media’s vp and executive producer of audio, Kurwa — who cut her teeth in public radio — works on both the business side, managing the network, and on the editorial side, making shows, like Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s Pivot. Chao, Vox’s general manager of audio, recently led the acquisitions of Criminal Productions and Preet Bharara’s Cafe Studios; strategic partnerships with Longform, Gastropod and MKBHD’s Waveform; and talent deals with Noel King, Sam Sanders and Ariel Helwani.
PODCASTING PET PEEVE?
KURWA “When ‘podcast’ is used as a verb. When names—especially easily searchable names like major cultural figures—are badly mispronounced. When narrative podcasters (no shade, ya’ll are my people) get all precious about their format being the only truly beautiful form of the art. “
CHAO “When someone wants to start a podcast because they think it’s a quick and easy way to make money and become famous.”

WNYC — Andrew Golis

As COO of the public radio powerhouse, Golis oversees a high-profile slate of shows including the venerable On the Media, The New Yorker Radio Hour, Radiolab, Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams’ 2 Dope Queens, and Alec Baldwin’s Here’s the Thing.

WONDERY — Jen Sargent, Marshall Lewy

Led by CEO Sargent, who oversees podcast strategy for both Wondery and Amazon Music, the Amazon-owned company has inked licensing and ad deals with shows like SmartLess and My Favorite Murder. Under Lewy, who leads original series, Wondery has produced numerous hits that have inspired Hollywood adaptations, including The Shrink Next Door, WeCrashed and Dr. Death.
PODCASTING IS THE IDEAL MEDIUM FOR …
SARGENT “Entertaining you while your kid is screaming, dinner is burning and the laundry needs to be folded. It’s all about pairing truly entertaining content with the mundane tasks at hand.”
PODCASTING PET PEEVE?
LEWY “When an investigative podcast opens with the host telling the story of how they first heard about the story they’re about to tell you. Extra pet peeve if they add that it was the most unbelievable story they’d ever heard and they couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

Agents

OREN ROSENBAUM (UTA)

UTA’s head of audio, Rosenbaum has helped major Hollywood players including Will Ferrell pivot into podcasting, and is behind Alex Cooper’s $60 million Spotify deal and the $100 million My Favorite Murder deal with Wondery.
THE FIRST PODCAST THAT HOOKED ME? “Serial”
THE LAST PODCAST THAT HOOKED ME? “Huberman Lab“
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT MY JOB? “That I spend all day listening to podcasts.”
LISTENING SPEED? “1x – anything else is blasphemous.”

JOSH LINDGREN + CAROLINE EDWARDS (CAA)

As CAA’s head of podcasts, Lindgren reps leading voices like NPR’s Ari Shapiro, Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal, and SmartLess, for which he did the Amazon/Wondery deal. Edwards, who joined CAA following its acquisition of ICM, has brokered deals for clients including John Stamos, Alan Cumming and Tig Notaro, and represents hot titles like Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers’ Pantsuit Politics.
THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT MY JOB?
LINDGREN “The idea that agents are motivated by money above all else. We need funding to get shows made, and we want to make sure our clients are paid their worth, but the ultimate goal should never be money for the sake of money. The truth is that finding the right partnership for a project creates a longer runway for success and contributes to a better creator ecosystem, and that’s not a decision that anyone should take lightly.”
EDWARDS “That it is not creative. When done right, agenting is a wonderful mix of creative & business.”

BEN DAVIS + MARISSA HURWITZ (WME)

Davis and Hurwitz represent leading podcasts and hosts such as Dax Shepard, Brené Brown, Glennon Doyle and Rob Lowe, while Hurwitz did Morbid‘s deal with Amazon/Wondery. The agents have helped reinvent IP for the podcast space (specifically with Spotify’s Batman Unburied) and helped expand the empires of brands such as Crooked Media.
LISTENING SPEED?
DAVIS “1.5x.”

Written by Seth Abramovitch, Gary Baum, J. Clara Chan, Evan Nicole Brown, Mia Galuppo, James Hibberd, Caitlin Huston, Mikey O’Connell and Sydney Odman.

This story first appeared in the Sept. 28 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Netflix executives have curtailed plans for its soapy drama, Firefly Lane, which will now end after two seasons. 

Though the show hadn’t been formally confirmed for a third run, it was expected that the drama would continue after its second season. The show had racked up 1.3 billion viewing minutes in just its first five days, according to Nielsen’s weekly look at the biggest shows on streaming services, which you’d imagine would set the show up for the long term. 

Instead, the streaming service has decided to end the show with season two, but a season two that will arrive, Ozark and Stranger Things style, in two parts. The season will comprise 16 episodes, with the first nine available to watch from December 2, and the second batch of seven episodes premiering sometime in 2023.

Firefly Lane stars Scrubs’ Sarah Chalke and one-time Greys’ Anatomy focal point Katherine Heigl. Based on the novel of the same name by Kristin Hannah, the show documents the 30-year-plus friendship between Heigl’s Tully Hart and Chalke’s Kate Mularkey. Friends since the age of 14, the pair have been through endless ups and downs, and loves and losses. 

Created by Maggie Friedman, whose credits include Dawson’s Creek and Witches of East End, the show co-starred Ben Lawson, Beau Garrett, Ali Skovbye, Roan Curtis and Yael Yurman, with India de Beaufort, Greg Germann, Jolene Purdy and Ignacio Serricchio joining the cast for season two. 

Analysis: a surprise move from Netflix?

Netflix‘s buzzier shows are big-budget affairs like Stranger Things, The Crown and Bridgerton, the tentpole productions that drive the push to attract new subscribers. The unsung heroes, meanwhile, are shows like Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias and the long-running Grace and Frankie, comfort-viewing shows with modest budgets and loyal fanbases. 

These shows return once a year, always returning slightly bigger audience viewers than the last run, and for every $200 million dollar miniseries, you need one or two such series. You can’t eat gourmet cooking every night – sometimes you just want a bowl of cereal. 

This makes the end of Firefly Lane all the more surprising. The show had the same cosy feel as Virgin River and Sweet Magnolias, and, though Chalke is recognizable from her roles in Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother, and Heigl is remembered for Knocked Up and 27 Dresses, they aren’t A-listers who would have commanded mega salaries. 

To us, this had the feel of a show that could run and run. It wouldn’t get the same fanfare as Netflix’s tentpoles, there’d be no panel at Comic Con, no splashy presence at Tudum, and no billboards, but it should have been a steady banker. 

None of the reports about the show’s demise have hinted at behind-the-scenes problems, such as ballooning budgets or script issues; this just appears to be a change of strategy from Netflix, and you can color us surprised. 

Jinkies! Brainy Scooby Gang member Velma is finally allowed to be gay in the new Warner Bros. Animated movie “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!” Some fans couldn’t be happier after James Gunn‘s attempt 20 years ago was shot down.

Clips from the upcoming movie, which hit digital on Tuesday, show Velma, voiced by Kate Micucci, swooning over costume designer Coco Diablo (Myrna Velasco of “DC Super Hero Girls”) — her glasses steam up — and getting an enormous, goofy grin when Coco touches her shoulder.

A Twitter user named Trin tweeted, in all caps: “OMG LESBIAN VELMA FINALLY CANON CANON IN THE MOVIES LETS GOOOOOO.”

James Gunn, who wrote the early 2000s’ live-action “Scooby-Doo” movies, which starred Linda Cardellini as Velma, tweeted in 2020 that he tried to make the character “explicitly gay,” but the studio wouldn’t go for it at the time. “In 2001 Velma was explicitly gay in my initial script,” he wrote. “But the studio just kept watering it down & watering it down, becoming ambiguous (the version shot), then nothing (the released version) & finally having a boyfriend (the sequel).”

He also said that scenes were shot where Velma “serenades” and kisses Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar), but they didn’t make the final cut.

Also in 2020,  Tony Cervone, the supervising producer on the “Mystery Incorporated” series, shared an Instagram post in which he wrote: “I’ve said this before, but Velma in ‘Mystery Incorporated’ is not bi. She’s gay. We always planned on Velma acting a little off and out of character when she was dating Shaggy because that relationship was wrong for her and she had unspoken difficulty with the why.”

Velma even had a love interest, Cervone explained: “I don’t think Marcie and Velma had time to act on their feelings during the main timeline, but post reset, they are a couple. You can not like it, but this was our intention.”

“Trick or Treat Scooby Doo!” is available on digital Tuesday, Oct. 4, and DVD on Tuesday, Oct. 18.