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SHOWBIZ
THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY'S TOON TRADE SINCE 1930
SPORTSPOLITICSLIFESTYLEPODCASTSREVIEWSREPORTERS
ABOUT SHOWBIZ

Hollywood is strange. We cover it like a business.

SHOWBIZ is an independent entertainment trade covering the studios, performers, crews, technology, politics, sports and culture that move the industry — human and Toon alike.

FOUNDED 1930LOS ANGELESINDEPENDENT TRADE JOURNALISMHUMANS + TOONS

What we cover

SHOWBIZ began as a studio-town trade sheet and grew with the business it covers. Our reporters follow the deals behind the pictures, the people in front of the camera, the crews below the line, and the increasingly complicated line between entertainment and everything else.

That means box office and streaming, contracts and residuals, labor and legislation, technology and digital likeness, awards, reviews, celebrity, sports, real estate, insurance, and — when the story demands it — why anyone is still manufacturing anvils by the ton.

We write for people who work in entertainment, people who make decisions about it, and readers who know that in this town a punch line can become a product line before lunch.

Our history

Ninety-six years of covering a business where formats change, stars reinvent themselves and the laws of physics remain subject to negotiation.

1930

The first issue

SHOWBIZ launches in Los Angeles as a four-page weekly for studio executives, theater bookers, radio people and the rapidly expanding animation business. Early editions are passed around lots until the ink comes off on somebody’s glove.

1937

Radio, gossip & the Woodland circuit

As entertainment reporting becomes entertainment itself, SHOWBIZ expands its gossip, criticism and broadcast coverage. Walter Finchell and the paper’s early columnists become defining voices of its personality-driven era.

1957

Stars become franchises

The Bugs Bunny–Daffy Duck stage rivalry captures a larger shift: cartoon performers are no longer anonymous studio assets but durable public figures with billing, contracts and careers worth covering. SHOWBIZ follows the money backstage.

1990–1994

The Acme generation

Television news, campus media and a younger Toon generation reshape the newsroom. Mary Hartless and Dan Anchorman bring SHOWBIZ into a faster, more visual news cycle.

1996

A critic gets a desk

After his television run as New York’s most beleaguered film critic comes to an end, Jay Sherman joins SHOWBIZ as chief film critic, bringing sharp reviews, encyclopedic movie knowledge and very little patience for mediocrity.

1997

The reporter leaves the desk

After nearly a decade covering New York from the field, April O’Neil joins SHOWBIZ as reporting becomes faster, more visual and increasingly inseparable from the story itself. Her beat eventually expands into politics and policy, where entertainment and government collide.

2021

Culture becomes a beat

After years as a writer, biographer and essayist, Diane Nguyen joins SHOWBIZ as culture coverage expands beyond premieres and celebrity into media, identity, fandom and the lives people build around entertainment.

2022

Sports becomes business

The Tune Squad’s professional era turns Toon athletics into a year-round industry beat. Babs Bunny joins SHOWBIZ to cover the leagues, players, ownership and culture around the games.

2026

A trade for the whole industry

SHOWBIZ is digital-first and still based in Los Angeles, covering studios and streamers alongside AI, digital replicas, labor, politics, sports, culture and every new business that grows around them.

The newsroom

Our correspondents specialize by beat, but stories move across desks. Meet the current SHOWBIZ newsroom below, then open a reporter’s profile for background and current coverage.

The staff deliberately mixes generations of entertainment journalism: old-school trade reporting, broadcast news, criticism, long-form culture writing and modern specialty beats. The result is a newsroom that can cover an antitrust filing in the morning and a sold-out Monstars rematch by tipoff.

JUMP TO A REPORTERMary HartlessWalter FinchellApril O’NeilDiane NguyenJay ShermanDan AnchormanBabs Bunny
Mary Hartless

Mary Hartless

Senior Entertainment Correspondent

Breaking entertainment news, major industry figures, awards and the stories that become the record of a career.

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Walter Finchell

Walter Finchell

Senior Business & Investigations Correspondent

Studios, money, corporate strategy and the sort of paperwork people hope nobody reads all the way through.

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April O’Neil

April O’Neil

Politics & Policy Correspondent

Campaigns, regulation, public policy and the places where government collides with the entertainment business.

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Diane Nguyen

Diane Nguyen

Culture & Features Correspondent

Culture, media, celebrity and the way entertainment shapes the people making it and the audiences living around it.

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Jay Sherman

Jay Sherman

Chief Film Critic & Columnist

Movies, reviews, Hollywood personalities and the industry’s stranger rituals — with a critic’s eye and very little patience for mediocrity.

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Dan Anchorman

Television & Broadcast Correspondent

Television, broadcast, late-night and live desk coverage — from studio politics to the strange machinery of modern TV.

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Babs Bunny

Babs Bunny

Sports & Athletics Correspondent

Professional Toon sports, ownership, players and the culture around competition — with a particular eye on the league Bugs Bunny helped create.

VIEW PROFILE →

How we work

Trade journalism only works if readers know what kind of story they are reading. SHOWBIZ separates reported news from criticism, commentary and sponsored material.

News & reporting

Reported stories distinguish verified facts from allegations, analysis and industry spin. Subjects are given a fair opportunity to respond when coverage raises significant questions about their conduct.

Reviews & columns

Reviews and columns are clearly labeled and represent the judgment of the named critic or columnist, not the institutional position of the newsroom.

Corrections & disclosures

Material errors are corrected transparently. Personal or professional relationships relevant to a story are disclosed when they could reasonably matter to readers.

Editorial independence: SHOWBIZ is not owned by Warner Bros., ACME, Max Holdings, the Tune Squad, any studio, league, campaign or company it covers. Advertising and sponsorship do not determine newsroom coverage.
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