Author: rb809rb

Daniel Burman, a key player in a period known as the New Argentine Cinema, has been appointed head of original content for Disney+ LATAM. He’ll begin the role on March 25 and report to Eric Schrier, president Disney Television Studios & Global Original Television Strategy.

Burman, who has directed a dozen feature films, will lead the streamer’s original content strategy across Latin America. His focus will be to strengthen the quality and ambition of Disney LATAM’s original productions in the region, “deepening alignment with the company’s global content strategy, and identifying stories that connect powerfully with audiences both within the region and worldwide,” per Disney+.

He’s a pretty good man for the job: Burman has four International Emmy Award nominations to his name.

“Daniel’s career reflects an extraordinary combination of artistic excellence and strategic vision,” said Schrier. “He has a proven ability to tell deeply local stories that travel globally.  His experience building creative organizations and delivering internationally recognized productions uniquely positions him to grow our local slate and elevate our original content in Latin America in ways that complement our global portfolio.”

“The region is rich with compelling stories, and Daniel is the right leader to bring them to audiences around the world. He has a strong track record of creating local content and positioning it for success on the global stage,” said Martín Iraola, president of The Walt Disney Company, LATAM. 

Burman joined The Mediapro Studio in 2017 when it teamed up with his own production label, Oficina Burman, on a string of high-end dramas. With Mediapro, Burman created Victoria Small, Yosi, the Regretful Spy, and the feature film Transmitzvah.

“I am deeply excited about this opportunity. Working alongside the teams at The Walt Disney Company, where storytelling has always been a distinguishing feature, is hugely inspiring, and I hope to promote opportunities for the creative community in Latin America to develop vibrant, relevant stories that are an authentic reflection of our region,” Burman added.

Burman is a founding partner of BD Cine, one of Argentina’s most successful independent production companies.

Crunchyroll is bringing anime to Austin.

The anime giant on Tuesday unveiled its lineup for SXSW 2026, taking place in the Texas town next month. 

The schedule includes panels on topics revolving around how anime became so big around the world, including design, fandom and how to immerse your brand in the anime community, featuring experts and leaders from the worlds of entertainment, tech, sports and culture.

In addition, there will be an interactive activation focusing on the hit series Sentenced to Be a Hero, and an exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming series Sekiro: No Defeat, featuring a Q&A with the director and music composer.

“SXSW has always been a vital convergence point for the forces shaping modern culture across tech, music, film, television, gaming and art; it’s where the most important pop culture conversations come together,” said Mitchel Berger, executive vp global commerce at Crunchyroll. “With anime undeniably having a major cultural moment right now, it feels especially meaningful for Crunchyroll to fuel the conversation around anime, its creators and its passionate fandom on the ground in Austin.” 

Crunchyroll is North America’s leading distributor of anime films as well as a global licensing and merchandising operation, an anime fandom events business and an emerging hub for music and games. It’s an independently operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan’s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.

See below for Crunchyroll’s SXSW lineup and official descriptions (all times CT)*:

Sentenced to Be a Hero: Teoritta Doll Activation

Public activation
March 14-18
Omni Hotel Lobby Atrium

Sentenced to Be a Hero is a dark fantasy where condemned criminals are forced into service as Heroes, fighting a demon king’s army in a relentless war with no escape. At the center of this world is Teoritta, a goddess who fights alongside the Heroes, offering guidance, judgment, and moments of quiet humanity amid the conflict. To celebrate the series’ debut on Crunchyroll, SXSW will host an industry-first Teoritta Doll installation that brings the anime’s story into the real world. The Teoritta Doll leverages cutting-edge animatronics technology to deliver lifelike expressions and interactive responses when guests gently pat her head. Designed as a story-driven experience, the installation offers fans a rare in-person encounter with the emotional core of the series and invites new audiences to step directly into Teoritta’s world. No badge required. (Watch a new promo for the series below.)

Toys and Games of Today and the Future of Play

Panel
10 a.m. March 15
Marriott Downtown Austin

For generations, play has shaped how we imagine, connect, and create. Today it spans toys, gaming, anime, sports, and emerging tech, blending physical and digital worlds into shared experiences. As new technologies, platforms, and global fandoms accelerate, play is being redefined in real time.  Play is no longer confined to a toy aisle, a console, or a screen; it now unfolds across worlds, driven by creativity, community, and connection.  Join industry innovators exploring how breakthrough technologies, powerhouse partnerships, and mixed-world experiences are shaping the future of play, creativity, and culture.

How Anime Became a Worldwide Cultural Force

Panel
2:30 p.m. March 16
Omni Hotel

Anime isn’t niche; it’s the fastest-growing global fandom in entertainment. Among Gen Z, 54% say they “like” or “love” it, placing anime’s cultural relevance alongside major sports and global icons. Its emotional power runs deep: 48% of fans have had a crush on a character, showing anime’s ability to build emotional worlds and deep connections. For Gen Z, it’s identity and community; for Gen X, nostalgia. With leaders from Crunchyroll, Twitch, and anime community voice Lena Lemon joining us, this panel explores anime’s rise and future.

Crafting Sekiro: No Defeat: Hand-Drawn Animation & Original Score

Sneak peek first look
4 p.m. March 16
Omni Hotel 

FromSoftware’s Sekiro is being reimagined as a hand-drawn anime built with an analog-first (hand drawn) philosophy,  prioritizing craftsmanship, motion, and texture over shortcuts. Join director Kenichi Kutsuna, composer Shuta Hasunuma, and Crunchyroll’s Associate Creative Director and Host Lauren Moore, for a behind-the-scenes look at how Studio Qzil.la is bringing Sengoku Japan to life: from research and concept, to action choreography, background art and sound.

The Anime Advantage: Brand Strategy Meets Cultural Power

Panel
2:30 p.m. March 17
Austin Marriott Downtown

Anime is no longer a niche! It’s one of today’s most powerful tools for extending franchises, reimagining IP, and reaching global audiences. This panel explores how talent, brands, and creators are using anime as both a narrative and business engine to fuel next-gen storytelling. For musicians, athletes, game studios, and fashion labels, anime offers a dynamic, fan-forward way to build immersive worlds, show up meaningfully in pop culture, and engage loyal audiences that drive long-term brand equity.

Designing for Fandom: Where Brand Meets Belonging

Panel
2:30 p.m. March 18
Austin Marriott Downtown

Fandoms aren’t audiences; they’re communities. And communities thrive on meaning, identity, and emotion. This panel explores how brands use design to speak the language of fans and build deep cultural connections. From anime to gaming to pop culture collabs, motion mnemonics, and type systems inspired by subculture, we’ll unpack how visual identity becomes a tool for trust, transformation, and belonging. When done right, design doesn’t just sell, it unites.

*Details subject to change

When new material comes his way, Max Minghella‘s first instinct is resistance. “Normally the way it goes for me is, I get sent a script and immediately think, ‘I don’t want to see myself in this,’ ” he says. “And then I go on this journey of having to admit there is some part of myself there, as much as I don’t want to make the connection.”

That reflex served him well for eight seasons on The Handmaid’s Tale, where he played Nick Blaine, the broody Gilead commander whose loyalties were as compromised as the morally corrupt regime he served. But Industry season four offered him something else entirely. As tech founder Whitney Halberstram, he’s not morally ambiguous so much as openly predatory: a financial criminal who uses an escort service to blackmail his competitors, a man fluent in rapid-fire finance-speak and allergic to shame.

Minghella waited for the familiar moment when the character’s flaws would start to look uncomfortably familiar. It never happened. “I eventually realized,” he says, “that I can’t see any of myself in this person.”

He dove into the part anyway.

Minghella grew up on movie sets — the son of the late Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella — raised in Hampstead and surrounded early on by cameras and call sheets. Acting, he says, felt less like a choice than inevitability. “I really couldn’t do anything else,” he says.

As a teenager he had a small, uncredited role in his father’s Cold Mountain, where he became friends with actor Charlie Hunnam. Soon after, he followed Hunnam to Los Angeles, where he began to audition and try his luck. His early screen work included a small part as George Clooney’s teenage son in Syriana. He later spent time at (but did not graduate from) Columbia University before returning to acting full time, landing his breakout role as Divya Narendra, one of the Harvard students who sued Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network.

“I never really meant to build a life outside of London — or in L.A. — but because I’m an only child, I’m a real found-family person,” he says. “All my friends were here, and I felt safe around them. Now, 20 years later, I don’t feel as married to that, but it’s become like a retreat I can return to after filming in more exciting places.”

He was in Toronto, wrapping the final season of The Handmaid’s Tale, when Industry‘s co-creators reached out. They were looking for someone enigmatic — a description that tends to follow Minghella, partly because he rarely works in his native accent. “Everybody is surprised that I’m British — but not in a pleasant way,” he says with a laugh. “I had this fantasy growing up that Americans are enamored by a British accent, and maybe I’m the anomaly, but people are often disappointed when they meet me. And I’ve seen stuff online that people much prefer me acting in an American accent.”

He knew he would need something substantial to follow eight years in Gilead, but he wasn’t gaming out a strategy. “I’m not good at that, and my career has just been reacting to whatever people sent my way,” he says. “But it’s not like I’m Brad Pitt; I’m not like, ‘Oh, should I do the Tarantino movie or the PTA movie?’ “

Industry‘s eight-episode commitment appealed to Minghella. The script’s dense, finance-heavy dialogue less so. The actor describes the job as “athletic” and found himself doing three to four hours of homework each night — learning how to say things like, “Add complexity to the jurisdictional fog of who audits us plus the media smokescreen of a turbo bullish headline,” without breaking into a sweat.

To help build his character’s inner isolation, he also decided to separate himself from the rest of the cast while living in Wales, where the series is shot. “I’m not a Method actor at all, but I chose to live in a different neighborhood because there was something alien about the character that I was trying to bring in,” he says. The distance helped him focus.

Working with a mostly Gen Z cast, Minghella, who turned 40 shortly after wrapping, also became newly aware of his age. “I felt old, and I’ve never experienced that on set before,” he says, laughing. But the milestone seems to have shifted something. Being photographed, standing in front of crowds — aspects of the job that once rattled him — feel somehow easier now.

“I had this idea that as an actor, it’s my job to be submissive or subservient, and now I’ve become less polite,” he says. “And I have to say, that’s comfortable.”

This story appeared in the Feb. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

The honorees for this year’s Lexus Uptown Honors Hollywood awards have been announced.

Mario Van Peebles will receive the Icon of Achievement Award, recognizing his nearly 60-year career in Hollywood, from his first screen appearance in the daytime soap opera One Live to Live in 1968 to his feature directorial debut with the 1991 classic New Jack City and the 2003 biographical drama Baadasssss! which he co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in, portraying his father, legendary independent filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles.

Taye Diggs will receive the Impact and Excellence Award in honor of his decadeslong acting career across film, television and theater, from How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Best Man, Chicago and The Wood, to Rent, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Private Practice and All American.

One Battle After Another star Wood Harris will receive the Fearless Trailblazer Award, recognizing his performances in TV and film, from HBO’s The Wire Remember the Titans, and the Creed movies, to his latest role in Mara Brock Akil’s breakout Netflix series Forever.

Finally, Omar Benson Miller will receive the Amplified Impact Award, also in recognition of his screen performances, from 8 Mile to Miracle at St. Anna and HBO’s Ballers, as well as his latest turn as Cornbread in Ryan Coogler’s Oscar record-breaking horror film Sinners.

“For over 16 years, Uptown has been committed to elevating or celebrating Black excellence in Hollywood because our stories and images deserve to be seen, valued and celebrated with intention,” Len Burnett, founder of Uptown magazine, said in a news release. “This Oscar Week event was created to address the ongoing gap in recognition by honoring Black creatives and executives — both in front of and behind the camera — whose work shapes the industry and culture at large. This year, we proudly spotlight Black men whose vision, influence and leadership are building lasting legacies for future generations.”

Lexus Uptown Honors Hollywood will be held on March 11 in Los Angeles. Actor, comedian, writer and producer Chris Spencer and media personality Tai Beauchamp will serve as hosts.

Dave Burd — or Lil Dicky, as he’s known in music circles — would prefer we not refer to his latest project as a podcast.

“It’s not that it’s not a podcast,” explains his wife and co-host, Kristin Batalucco, “it’s that it’s a podcast and more.”

Friends Keep Secrets, which is the title of the non-podcast podcast, is a collaboration with Batalucco and Burd’s other best friend and Dave co-star, Benny Blanco. As they explain it, they’ve rigged Burd and Batalucco’s home with a dizzying number of cameras, and the trio and their weekly guest — a rotation of bold-faced names like Ed Sheeran, Gwyneth Paltrow and Paul Rudd — will move through the space as wide-ranging conversations occur. In the case of Sheeran, for instance, new music is made in one room, while discussions of parenting amid fame, his former legal battles and his personal collection of famous movie props (i.e. the hands from Edward Scissorhands) take place in others. 

The multimedia show, which dropped its first episode Tuesday, marks the first public outing for Batalucco, whose background is in advertising and production. She married the viral rapper-turned-FX star in 2025 but has remained strictly behind the scenes until now. “I’ve always been fearful of putting myself out there,” she says in her first-ever interview. “So this is me doing exactly the thing I’ve always been scared of, and it’s been an interesting exercise in just letting go.”

Friends Keep Secrets is produced in partnership with Jay Shetty’s newly launched media network, Perfect Strangers, and is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and, well, anywhere podcasts are found. Blanco, an acclaimed music producer/songwriter and husband to Selena Gomez, is hopeful that people will watch as well as listen. They all jumped on a Zoom in mid-February to discuss the new foray along with their other projects, their desire to start families and, ideally, to move culture.

Let’s start with the genesis of this project. What did you want to do and say with it?

BURD I think we’ve all had independent thoughts as time has gone on about entertainment and what we love doing, and one of those things is just hanging out with each other and joking around. Those are the best times in my life. And the whole origin of me even wanting to be an entertainer started with me just being the guy who was entertaining his friends when we were hanging out on a Friday night. The only reason I had the confidence to even go for [the career that I have now is] because my friend group laughed at my dumb jokes. 

BLANCO And for all the Andrew Tates and terrible people in this world, I saw an opening because I love hanging out with my friends, and it just so happens that my two best friends are the funniest people that I know and maybe the funniest people in the world. I was just like, “Why isn’t there something like this that you can have on in the background or in the foreground, instead of some dude talking about taking steroids and being a shitty guy to women?” And we have such an eclectic group of friends, so sometimes the person that we’re talking to is going to be my mother and sometimes it’s going to be Selena Gomez. Or we might be talking to a guy that’s at the forefront of A.I. and then talking to a man who created the fart machine.

Highs and lows.

BLANCO Yeah, and Chuck [Editor’s note: for those who didn’t watch Dave, Blanco often refers to Burd as Chuck], what’s the thing you say every time about sitcoms?

BURD [Hesitates.] Look, I don’t want you to think that I’m saying we’re making the next Seinfeld. But I think in today’s day and age, for a show about a group of friends that’s kind of living in a show about nothing, to have the same cultural impact that those sitcoms of the nineties had, I really honestly feel like it might be better served in this new multimedia format than even a show like Dave. Kristin talks all the time about reaching people, so I’ll let her say it…

BATALUCCO I just feel like I spend more time on TikTok or the Internet, and I really crave authenticity from people, and I think that there’s such an appetite for people being more real and themselves, even if it is celebrities. And we saw that as an opening for us because we love to just hang out and laugh and not take ourselves seriously and it’s good to put that stuff out there.

What’s your allergy to the word “podcast,” Dave?

BURD As an individual, I’ve never really consumed podcasts, so for me to go all in on something that is something I’m not even necessarily listening to or absorbing on my own [doesn’t make sense]. Also, when I think of the word “podcast,” I really think of audio. I know that it’s transformed over time…

BLANCO And you think of the thing that you didn’t want — you’re in front of a microphone with headphones on.

BATALUCCO Yeah, you expect to see two people sitting across from each other with microphones, and this whole idea was more like, one, how do we make people, including ourselves, feel comfortable in a space where everybody’s used to letting their guard down? And then two, how do we invite people in, not just the guests, who are participants in this world, but how do we invite an audience in to feel that relaxed vibe?

BLANCO And yeah, most of these people are our friends, but occasionally there are people who aren’t our friends, and by the end of the interview, we’re, like, dinner with them. We become friends with these people, and so I really think it’s going to be just as fun for us as it is for the listener. I look at Dave and Kristin at the end of every week and I’m like, “This is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.”

BURD By far the most fun thing I’ve ever done in my career. Also, a lot of the stuff that I’ve done takes a ton of planning, just such disciplined execution, the opposite of living in the moment, whereas this is living in the moment with my two favorite people on earth, and inviting other people to come and share this space. So, I don’t think it’s necessarily that I have an allergy to the word “podcast” or really anything against podcasts at all; I just think that what we’re doing is kind of…

BLANCO Better.

BURD I’m not saying that.

BLANCO I’m saying it. And you know why I’m saying it? Because I think every industry needs a moment where it gets shaken up, and I really think that what we’re doing. And if we do it right and everyone agrees with us, this will be the new standard of how these things are put out and shot.

BATALUCCO It just seems obvious to us. You can get so much more creative with how you show up for people on video, and the most energizing and exciting part to us was how do we take this thing that people really do connect with and make it more dynamic for the video platform.

How do you ideally want people to consume or experience it?

BLANCO I’ll take audio, but video is where we shine because it’s something that I feel like hasn’t been done. We’re kind of blurring the line of, is it streaming? Is it a podcast? Is it an interview series? Is it a TV show? Is it NPR’s Tiny Desk? You see Ed [Sheeran] come on and we’re making a song from scratch. 

BURD For me, the thing that I love maybe the most about it is that it really can be consumed wherever people consume media. For example, I said that I don’t listen to podcasts, but let me tell you, I’m sure as hell on Instagram and TikTok all the time, consuming bite-size pieces of content the same way that every single human being age, like, 13 to 50 is consuming media, and half those clips that I’m seeing are from podcasts.

I’m curious to hear what role you think you each play here?

BLANCO In my life and in Dave’s, we’re put in situations that a lot of people aren’t put in. It’s like, I was hanging out with the Obamas the other day. That just doesn’t happen. But what I love about Kristin is sometimes someone really famous will be about to come over and Kristin’s like, “Do you think they’re going to like me?”  She brings the most human element to this show because it’s like she is in the rooms and she does know these people but sometimes it feels like she’s where the listener is in that moment.

She’s the audience proxy?

BLANCO Yeah, and it just feels so magical to me. But if we’re having on a guy who’s a monk, I’m not scared to be the one who’s like, “Do you have to be bald to be a monk?” “And if you’re not bald, do you have to shave your head?” “And are you allowed to masturbate?” There’s so many things I want to know, and I’m not afraid to sound completely [absurd].

BURD For me, 75 percent of the podcasts that I’ve been a guest on, I’m being asked the same questions and telling the same origin story over and over again. So, I’m not particularly interested in the origin story. We haven’t had Mark Zuckerberg on yet, but I’d be interested in just seeing how Mark Zuckerberg leans on a counter and then talking about that choice of leaning. Of course, we’ll get into other stuff too. But I also don’t want to look up a lot about the guest before.

BLANCO Yeah, I don’t care where the person grew up, unless it has a great story that naturally comes up.

I’ve only seen a rough cut of the Ed Sheeran episode, which was an hour and 45 minutes. Obviously, that’s not what listeners are going to hear, so I’m curious, in the editing process, which will you lean into: the making of music together or the discussions about things like film and fame? Which one speaks more to what you want to do with this?

BURD You saw the unfinished version, but the finished version is not going to go from an hour 45 to, like, 50 minutes. It’s probably going to end up being…

BLANCO Like, an hour 42.

BURD Yeah. And not every episode. Some episodes are best served [shorter], which we’re learning as we’re making this. I just don’t want people ever to feel bored.

What’s the pitch to guests? 

BURD We probably each have different pitches.

BLANCO I send out a lot of things to friends and these are my exact words. Dave might not like this, but I say, “We’re making a podcast,” and then I say, “I’m embarrassed to even call it a podcast because it’s so much more.” Then I usually say, “We rigged up Dave and Kristin’s home with like a gajillion cameras, and you’re not going to be asked any of the questions you’d normally be asked — you’re just coming to hang out with us and everyone else is going to have a fly-on-the-wall experience of how it actually is to hang out with you.” Like, I’m not sure anyone’s ever seen Selena Gomez get on the ground and have her back cracked during an interview. So, I usually just pitch it like that and then I end every single one by saying, “No pressure, we don’t want anyone to feel like they’re coming on because they have to. I only want people to come on that want to have a fun time with us because the only way it’s going to work is if you come on and let go.” And only one person I asked was noncommittal, but I’m not going to tell you who it was. Everyone else said yes.

Dave, is your pitch different?

BURD My pitch varies per individual. But I don’t think this is the type of thing where people are going to come on and talk about the book that they’re putting out that week. I don’t think we’re even going to let people dictate necessarily where [the episode] comes out in the order.

BATALUCCO It’s not really set up as a place to stop on your PR thing. Not that it can’t be. 

Ideally, your guests will forget the cameras are there and open up. What happens if and when they come back to you, asking you to cut whatever it is that they just revealed?

BURD We would say, “Absolutely, we’ll cut it. No problem.”

BATALUCCO I feel like one thing that’s important about our [show] is we’re really not out to get, I don’t know what the word is…

BURD Clicks for drama?

BATALUCCO Yeah.

You’ve had a who’s who of major stars come through already. What’s been the biggest surprise thus far?

BATALUCCO I would say the connection after.

BURD But I’m not surprised by that. Honestly. I’ve felt this way my whole life, and I’m sure you and Benny have too. We’re such natural connectors with people. Our whole lives, the feedback we’ve always gotten has been like, “Wow, you’re so warm and sweet and fun to be with.” So when I meet someone, I’m used to them having a positive experience.

BLANCO The biggest surprise to me is that I forget that there are cameras, and we have a lot of cameras. They literally have to blink a light to tell us we’ve been going for too long. But it’s so fun and interesting because you’re sitting there, mostly with people who are our friends, but you get to ask them questions you normally wouldn’t ask. I’m not normally sitting with Ed asking, like, “Hey Ed, would you say that raising children as a famous person is hard?” Or with Gwyneth Paltrow, I was like, “What’s it like waking up when you’re 20-something and you look to your right and Brad Pitt is in bed with you?” I mean, we’re all thinking the same thing…

But this is a format in which you can ask that.

BLANCO Yeah. The last time I went out to dinner with Gwyneth Paltrow, we were at sushi with her husband. I’m not like, “Hey, so, when you were 20, what were you thinking about Brad Pitt?”

Who’s left on the list of dream guests?

BURD All three of us want the Obamas.

Well, Benny’s been hanging with them…

BLANO I have not been hanging. It was one time. One very short experience. It probably felt so minimal to them but it felt very maximal to me.

In one of the episodes I watched, you talked about the freedom you’re afforded when you’re making something like this outside the system. That said, if a Netflix or a Hulu or FX came to you and said this is something they’d want to air as a TV show, would that be appealing?  

BURD I think entertainment is shifting so rapidly that this is the type of stuff that Netflix is going to end up wanting to put on their platform, and so I fully anticipate all of those companies coming to us at some point and talking to us, and I look forward to it. 

Outside of this, what’s left on your collective bucket lists?

BURD I think all three of us have individual bucket lists and often there’s overlaps where we can work together. For example, I think on my bucket list and Kristin’s is children at some point, and I think, even though independently it’s on our bucket list, the overlap will work out beautifully.

It would be awkward if it didn’t.

BURD It would be awkward. But for me, there are so many things that I want to do creatively that I’ve had the chance to start doing, like movies. I’ve got several different movies in the works right now. One of them is that hard R comedy that I talked about on the Ed Sheeran episode. That is my baby amongst all babies. And then musically, I feel like, honestly, I’ve only scratched the surface and I’ve got more music to release than I’ve ever had in my entire career and then there are also other TV shows that I’m working on and there’s the DreamWorks animated movie.

BATALUCCO I don’t know if I’m allowed to say where, but I have a show in development. And I’m hoping this opens more doors.

How about you, Benny?

BLANCO I feel like I’ve been so lucky to accomplish all these things that I’ve gotten to in my life, and honestly I feel like I’ve just stumbled into all of them. I’m not necessarily good at anything, so I’m just hoping nobody pulls the veil off anytime soon. But, yeah, for me, the thing I definitely want to achieve the most is having a family. I guess mine are more like the normalcy moments. But I’m also just stoked to be alive and in the conversation.

Before I lose you three, you’d asked Ed Sheeran to come up with an ideal headline for his career. So, I’m asking you, what’s your ideal headline for this story?

BURD I think this is just a tremendous question.

So, give it to me…

BURD You’re putting me on the spot.

BATALUCCO I feel like this is where you shine, Dave.

BURD Well, here’s what I’m thinking about: I know when I’m bullish how it can read in text. Sometimes I read the articles back and I just can tell how it looks, so that’s always on my mind whenever I do any interview. Especially when I’m asked to provide the headline. What do you think the headline should be?

I’m not there yet, and I’m much more interested in your take.

BLANCO I don’t know if it’s the headline, but I want this [show] to come out and move culture in a really cool, interesting way and I want people my mother’s age to be talking about it, and I also want 13-year-old kids at school being like, “Oh my God, I can’t believe they did that thing last week.” I want it to have an impact.

BATALUCCO Maybe the headline could just be, “We like them!”

BURD Who’s we? The Hollywood Reporter?

BLANCO That’s a pretty cool headline. “We like them.” Do you think that’s going to be the headline?

I don’t know yet, you guys.

BLANCO I got stung by a bee and my leg is a little swollen, maybe that could be part of the headline? I don’t know.

BURD I should have said this earlier but what’s also really fun about this is that it comes back every week. It’s consistent. A lot of my passion projects like the movie or my show or an album, these things take years to come to fruition and it can be hard. I started my career being a child of the Internet and every week I was coming back and building a connection with people. And then once I made it, the tasks at hand required so much of my bandwidth that I wasn’t able to do that anymore and I think my hardcore fans would be like, “I love him, but he disappears for years.”  

BATALUCCO Yeah, this is a much more consistent world.

BLANCO “Brutal consistency.” Maybe that’s the headline. 

BURD That doesn’t make sense. 

BATALUCCO Or maybe it’s I — like, from you — “I Love Them.”

BLANCO I like “We love them.” Or what about “We Love We”? Or just, “Big?” 

BURD Okay. Bye guys.