Nikki Finke (2015)

I've known Matt Drudge for seemingly forever. He was one of the true online pioneers. What's amazing about Drudge is his reach into every facet of power in every field. He truly has clout. Media outlets like The New York Times beg him to pick up their stories. He and I both are finding the Trump phenom right now very stimulating and interesting for the media - if it lasts.

Well, I scooped the world about Ronald Reagan's final weekend and death. And I used to report on U.S.-Russian strategic arms talks and summits between leaders. But when Benghazi broke out, and an anti-Muslim movie was blamed, I kept reorting on what was true and what wasn't. Plus, I scooped that Oprah was leaving her syndicated show - and that was pretty earth-shattering, LOL. I couldn't believe what a big deal that was.

But let's face it: every Presidential political candidate comes to Hollywood with their hands out looking for campaign cash.

When I was a young journalist, I found that the older journalists hated me. They threw shade because they knew I was working harder than they were and scooping them which made them look bad to their editors. (No journo likes to hear, "Why didn't you have that story?" from their editors.) It took me a few years to ignore that. As a journalist, you must have balls of steel to go with a thick skin. The only thing that matters is working your sources and getting as close to the truth as possible. Who cares if no one likes you for it? Isn't that why people get dogs? In recent years I'm so used to getting bad press about how I "bullied" Hollywood that I was shocked when anybody had anything nice to say about me. I think a lot of people are very relieved I'm not in journalism now.

It was cataclysmic. Made more so because she and her people didn't comment on my scoop for two weeks. And other journalists spent that time trying to knock down my story. But of course I was right and my story was true. Even CBS which owned Oprah's syndicated show didn't know if she was leaving or not. I did.

I hate writing books. Period. I do have a non-fiction manuscript about Hollywood about to be published, however. But lock me in a closet and don't let me come out if I ever decide to do another non-fiction book again. However publishers are coming to me now wanting to do books with my fiction. So we'll see.

Thank god I've never done celebrity gossip in my long career. I have zero interest in it. I believe everyone is entitled to a private personal life. I don't and won't go there. But from a professional standpoint, Ben Affleck was one of the most humble actors/directors/producers I ever came to know in Hollywood. And that's saying a lot. I remember the night he won the Best Picture Oscar for 'Argo', he called me from his car as he was leaving the ceremony. And even though everyone knew he was going to win, he was still gobsmacked about it, almost in shock.

I got my scoops for Deadline from everywhere and everybody! Moguls, top executives, big and little agents and managers, even several times from my seatmates in First Class on planes. Plus, if you get people angry enough, they start telling you the truth.

It's fiction about the entertainment industry at HollywoodDementia.com. But all art is based on reality and fiction is based on real-life. However, I make the contributors sign a Contributors Agreement specifying that these are not real people or real events they're writing about.

I think what's key is that the people and events in all the stories I'm publishing and writing at HollywoodDementia.com, could exist. It's a matter of capturing the uniqueness of Hollywood: how people talk, act, eff up.

All the studios basically report box office the same: within the confines of their publicity machines. You can see a movie doing badly - say there are major stars and yet the first weekend can't pass $20M - and TPTB will still tell the trades that the movie is "meeting expectations". Which is a crock, of course. My job was to get below that and find out what went wrong.

OK, I shouldn't wimp out. Based on experience, Sony has been the worst for refusing to recognize when their movies tank, followed by Fox and Warners equally. Disney hasn't had a movie tank since 'John Carter', and Paramount is the most honest about its failures.

I've never had an "inspiration", per se. To be honest, I always look for the warts in people, not the beauty. That's why I became a journalist. I know that sucks, but it's how I'm wired.

I am prevented by a settlement from commenting specifically about Deadline. However, I think Hollywood gets the trades it desires. All of journalism is too dependent on advertising, not just entertainment media outlets. Look at Buzzfeed, they started yanking stories off their site when those stories were critical of advertisers. It's happened for decades and will continue for decades. Which is why the blogosphere has changed that.

Oh my. That's an incredibly long list. The producer Scott Rudin probably is #1 followed close behind by studio chief Harvey Weinstein. I recall one time when the two of them were fighting: it was like Godzilla vs King Kong. I made one of them promise to give a donation to a charity if what I was reporting was wrong: it wasn't, but they never made the donation, dammit.

I'd have to add Ryan Kavanaugh to that list. But since his company is going belly up (bankruptcy), he may not be around much longer. Which is a shame because who will Hollywood have to kick around now? He was a laughingstock, or should have been.

Unfortunately, that trait also makes me a giant pain in the ass.

Great question. I love the current environment where everything is instantaneous. It removes a lot of impediments to getting the free flow of honest as-it-happens news out there. I remember the days when each article had to be vetted by a dozern editors. (Who didn't mprove anything, by the way.) The only difference is that consumers need to know whom to trust to deliver their news: trained journalists or I-think it-therefore-it-must-be-true bloggers or I'll-write anything-for-followers Tweets.

Yes, totally true. It started because some well-known political journalists began tweeting that I should bring my no-holds-barred style of truthful reporting and commentary from Hollywood to DC. Then The Washington Post did an article about "What would happen if Nikki came here" (without calling me for comment, by the way). Next thing I knew, I received an amazing offer to write a Jack Anderson-style column from Politico. It was very tempting! But at my age, to start all over again, and to compete with journos who've been covering politics for 20-30-40 years, was daunting. Plus I would have had to move to DC and I have a very nice set-up here in Hollywood. Not to mention my life and friends.

Yes. There are almost no photos of me as a child. And one of them, taken when I was three, shows me miserably looking into the camera and trying to hide. Aren't there native people who believe the camera robs them of their inner spirit? It was painful for me to recently have a new photo taken to update the one from 10 years ago. I called the photographer, she came over, I gave her 10 minutes to do a candid shot, and I released it.

My answers:
1) I'd say Hollywood enjoyed it immensely when I was eviscerating someone, anyone, other than them. But they realzed I was an equal opportunity basher: everyone would get his or her turn. So there was fairness in that. And they appreciated it. Plus, there was a grudging acceptance that I was right all the time.

2) A settlement prevents me from commenting on PMC.

3) I agreed not to compete. It was my decision to do this, not some enforceable or non-enforceable contract provision or California law. I take full responsibility for my decision to leave Hollywood journalism as of August 2014. And, while it made headlines, I have zero regrets. I accomplished everything I ever wanted in journalism thanks to a long and satisfying career as a national newswoman, foreign correspondent, Washington DC correspondent, and Hollywood columnist, not to mention starting an entertainment news website from nothing and building it into an internationally known franchise that's still thriving without me. Plus, I became financially rich in the process. I am one happy camper.

And now I've started a new website at HollywoodDementia.com for short fiction about the entertainment industry. It's amazing...

Very kind words.

It's an interesting question. I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but Washington DC doesn't think Hollywood is important enough to get involved. Oh, the feds will get involved in issues of piracy because of the well-financed lobbying by the Motion Picture Association repping the studios. But they won't concern themselves with the little guys who are getting ripped off by the 'fatal subtraction' of creative studio accounting. It sucks. Especially when you consider that Hollywood is America's most influential cultural export for the world.

I've been thinking and analyzing this issue for decades. The fact is people are watching entertainment like never before: they're just not watching it consistently on traditional platforms like television sets or in movie theaters. There are so many places now where they can watch. The key for these entertainment companies is developing and distributing the content as widely and as vertically/horizontally as they can. The advantage of this new order for the entertainment moguls is that they can work on controlling every aspect of their content up and down and across. They won't need cable or satellite or phone company subscriptions: everything will be delivered directly by them to the consumers. Direct delivery is what's happening now.

1. The American-made movies and television programs shown in these countries tell of a criminally corrupt and overly privileged and ridiculously moronic society where crime and guns and sex are rampant. Who WOULDN'T hate America based on the content? They think there's a meth lab on every street corner.

I stopped reporting on Hollywood as of August 2014. The Sony hacking happened after that. My own opinion is that North Korea had little to do with it and an internal studio personnel dispute had a lot. But what I am saying here is not based on reporting. What I can't believe is why Sony greenlighted The Interview in the first place. It was horrible!

I wrote earlier in this Reddit that I believe in keeping personal lives private. I believe religions fall under that. I think people should be free to worship anything and any way they choose, even if it's a crackpot religion that borders on cultism. I will never condemn anybody or any organization for religious beliefs. This country was founded on religious freedom. Personally, I'm an agnostic even though I'm culturally Jewish.

OK, on that note, I'm done. Thanks for reading and participating in this. And check out my HollywoodDementia.com for showbiz short fiction written by insiders. It's a very cool site!