This week’s episode of the “Daily Variety” podcast traveled the world for three Cinephia favorite film festivals (Venice, Telluride and Toronto) about 5,000 miles apart.
Variety’s executive editor Bren Lang also broke the box office revenue for the summer of 2025, looking back at the overall tally of key frames. He also points to unexpected hits from the season that could indicate changes and evolution of film fans’ preferences. Meanwhile, Chief correspondent Daniel Daddario discussed this week’s cover story report on actor Channing Tatum and director Derek Cianfrance. Jem Aswad, executive editor of music variety, reflected on his conversation with David Byrne about his profile, which was featured in this week’s print edition ahead of the musician’s new album, “Who Is The Sky?”
The podcast also interviewed Eric Sandler, Chief Strategy Officer of Audio Studio Pushkin Industries on Thursday to discuss the state of Audio Entertainment Sector and Pushkin’s busy fall slate, as Cynthia Littleton, host of “Daily Variety” is the Chief’s co-editor.
This is a daily breakdown of this week’s “Daily Variety” episode. “Daily Variety” brings showbiz news and analysis tailored for entertainment insiders from journalists of various leaders and industry leaders. The episode will be released between Monday through Thursday from 11am and runs for less than 20 minutes. Click here to subscribe to Daily Variety. Listen!
Thursday, September 4
In today’s episode, we’ll talk to Eric Sandler, Chief Strategy Officer at Pushkin Industries, a podcast and audiobook company. He discusses the state of the medium, including Malcolm Gladwell, Michael Lewis and Lydia Jean Cott, and the company’s upcoming projects. I later heard from Jem Aswad that he interviewed David Byrne about the legendary musician’s latest album, “Who Is The Sky?” It will be released on September 5th.
Wednesday September 3
In today’s episode, Daniel Daddario discusses his cover story about actors Channing Tatum and Derek Cianfrance. He then ended the week with Elsa Quesrasy, an international editor of variety, at the Venice Film Festival, sharing audience reactions to anticipated films such as “Smashing Machine,” “Bagonia,” “After the Hunt,” and “The Wizard of the Kremlin.”
Tuesday, September. 2
In today’s episode, Brent Lang reviews the box office revenue for the summer of 2025, with the season approaching its end. Overall, the numbers were on par with the summer of 2024, but not ideal, especially considering the number of franchise films released this year. However, if you have a silver lining, it may be the unexpected success of the “weapon.” We also look back at his week at the Telluride Film Festival, a film inspired by Scott Cooper’s “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Anywhere” and the topic of Yorgos Lantimos’ “Bagonia,” and hear from variety chief film critic Peter DeBraj.
(Photo: “After the Hunt” star of Venice’s Julia Roberts and Ayo Edebili and director Luca Guadanino)
The “Daily Variety” podcast is news and analysis for entertainment insiders from variety and industry guest journalists. The episode will be released between Monday through Thursday from 11am and runs for less than 20 minutes. Click here to subscribe. Click here to subscribe to our Variety Podcasts YouTube channel.
