John Carney on pop stars, movie stars, and Power Ballad

The Business

John Carney on pop stars, movie stars, and Power Ballad

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Published on Jun 26, 2026, 6:00:00 AM
Total time: 00:28:33

Episode Description

Kim Masters talks to John Carney, who after his 2006 indie breakout film Once, has made a career of making movies about musicians making music. Generally, the ones who never got famous. His new film, Power Ballad, stars Paul Rudd as a wedding singer alongside Nick Jonas, who plays a flawed former pop star. Carney discusses his struggles to raise money for his films, and reveals what he says to - or maybe shouts at -  buskers in Dublin who have their amps cranked up to 11.

 

Plus, Masters and Matt Belloni discuss why Amazon dropped out of distributing Artificial, a movie critical of Open AI. Although initial reactions to a cut of it have been lukewarm, there may be other reasons why Amazon pulled out.

 

More about The Business

Lively banter about entertainment industry news and in-depth interviews with directors, producers, writers and actors, hosted by award-winning journalist Kim Masters of The Hollywood Reporter.