I love movies and television and it's nice to have a partner in crime to watch them all with. My girlfriend has good taste in TV. For the most part. She zones out and watches HSN on a loop for hours like she's using the CALM app. Apparently, air fryers encourage tranquility. She doesn’t gravitate toward the dark and dystopian stuff that I do (BLACK MIRROR, WESTWORLD). She’ll watch it. She’ll end up liking it. And then complain that I “made” her watch it. I'm still in the doghouse for suggesting she watch NETFLIX's YOU ("the worst thing" she watched for 10 hours). Same with most disturbing documentaries (WHERE'S MY ROY COHN?). She likes comedy (I'M SORRY). She uses media to uplift her spirits. A pleasant escape. She’s not mentally destructive in her media habits like me. I was working on REDEF in the living room on SATURDAY and I heard loud laughter from the bedroom. She was watching PEN15 on HULU. A show by our friends at AWESOMENESSTV. I joined in. The show follows two 7th grade girls in 2000. If you’re a woman of any age, how many movies and TV shows have you sat through that were totally dominated by a male point of view? Infinite. From teenage comedies to coming of age films. The female characters are targets, bridges for, vessels for the male character. Society is very much shaped by the media we consume. We suffer ignorance because some stories aren't told. So when watching this show, I was really moved. This is from the young girls' point of view. All the teenage angst but from the other side. Friendship, puberty, boys, parties, divorce, sexual awakening, family and more. The format is familiar, but the POV is mostly new to me. This is the kind of show that makes you feel that with all the overdue upheaval related to gender inequality, HOLLYWOOD is starting to listen. For me, it was a fun, racy, and wacky insight that I hadn’t seen before. And uncomfortable. And I loved every minute of it. For women, I gather, something honest and familiar but rarely delivered by the mainstream media. Not sure this is for kids. Depends on age. Watch first. It’s a tender, hilarious, and poignant show about girls growing up and learning about themselves. The two leads, MAYA ERSKINE & ANNA KONKLE, are awkward and amazing. I can’t even imagine what this show would be if set in the age of social media. It was hard enough in 2000 with AOL INSTANT MESSENGER. Check it out… Oh, look! ESQUIRE MAGAZINE reminds us it’s BLACK HISTORY MONTH. I couldn’t take my eyes off of this one and its timing… I read a lot for myself. And even more for you guys. There is no question that the zeitgeist of the last 20 years has been led by the techies. And with the disruption of business and distribution models, the media industry was often written off as dying (sometimes fairly, sometimes not). I still see it a lot even as media is rising from its supposed death. Especially from the tech press. They may love a movie, but they don't dig some of the execs or companies. But I like reinvention. The forthcoming service QUIBI was interesting to me because my friend JEFFREY KATZENBERG made his bones in the film business but never wanted to make one again. He's bet on hi-quality short-form programming from an exhaustive list of A-list actors, producers, and companies. Recently, THE INFORMATION (a site I read daily), ran a piece titled "Katzenberg's Quibi Faces Quandary: Meeting Ambitious Content Goal" questioning whether the startup could meet its content launch goals. I spend my weeks writing and meeting with all aspect of the media and tech business just to learn. From what I can tell, there isn't one major media company or major talent agency not working with the service on programming. The deals they offer are talent favorable in terms of budget and ownership. From what I've read and heard over coffee, deals are closed or pending with JASON BLUM, ANTOINE FUQUA, CHRIS ROCK, GUILLERMO DEL TORO, CATHERINE HARDWICKE, DOUG LIMAN, ZAC EFRON, TYLER PERRY, LENA WAITHE, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, LORNE MICHAELS, VAN TOFFLER's GUNPOWDER & SKY. MGM, FOX, SONY, CBS, NBC all in the mix. My theory is that Katzenberg will get a huge number of major talent to do at least one project. Some of the team are friends (fair to call me biased), but still, I have a hard time believing they won't make their launch number. More realistic questions center around any SVOD service launch. Distribution, audience funnels, price points, defensible positioning of short form. But not content... I love the new INSTAGRAM sharing options that NETFLIX has added. Allows you to share full video art and links. So I made a playlist of about 30 things I've watched for my followers. My niece LILY was concerned... IRVING AND SHELLI AZOFF single-handedly saving my cheat day burgers and deli... Happy Birthday to TOM ANDRUS, GIL KAUFMAN, TIM WESLEY, ROBERT BUZIAK, ERIK TORENBERG, EZRA KUCHARZ, ALISON LOCKER, SCOTT PARDO, BRUCE B. FRIEND, and ALEXIS D'AMECOURT.