BIG Announcement Inside
Making my film-nerd dreams come true🎥🍿
Dear Sips & Motion Pics Community,
I’m thrilled to announce the official collaboration between Sips & Motion Pics and The Ankler’s early-career group, The Ladder.
I’ve been a big fan of The Ankler’s entertainment business coverage for years. I’ve long admired their interesting angles, thoughtful analysis, and deep dive reporting into the business of entertainment. The Ankler reports on interesting trends like Hollywood’s rom-com shopping spree, has a series on salary confessions, and asks guests what they’d assign for homework in the Hollywood Syllabus.
I heard about The Ladder when it launched last fall, and while I’m pushing the “early-career” demographic, I love a networking community. I even wrote about it in an earlier newsletter. I’m honored to team up with The Ladder for this special September Networking Mixer and look forward to meeting you all there.
Read below to hear from The Ankler’s head of audience development and social media strategist, Abby Barr, and our upcoming event.
~Morgan Prouse, Co-founder
SIPS & MOTION PICS x THE LADDER
September Networking Mixer
Join us for a special September Networking Mixer at The Mayfly! This event is welcome to all Sips & Motion Pics community members and The Ladder’s “laddie members.” Mix and mingle with folks across the entertainment industry and stay for a very special raffle!
Wednesday, September 17 | 7:00pm - 9:00pm
The Mayfly | 269 E Houston St. New York, NY 10002
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
How The Ankler Built a Community
Hi! I’m Abby Barr. I head up Audience Development and Social Media Strategy at The Ankler, a publication on Substack covering the business of entertainment through wide-ranging newsletters, podcasts, and live events. I’ve wanted to work in entertainment my whole life: I started my marketing career putting up Facebook events for my college theater department at Oberlin and then began working in social media for many of your favorite podcasts, streaming services, and live event companies. I’m also a comedy writer who trained at UCB with short and longform comedy from sketches and viral videos to half hour pilots under my belt. I live on the Lower East Side with my husband and cavapoo, Muppet.
I was drawn to working at The Ankler because I admired their startup alternative to entertainment trades. They led important coverage of the dual writer and actor strikes and their writers are all fun, funny, passionate, and intelligent. The Ankler is a very “if you know, you know” brand meaning that they’ve only been around for a few years and while lots of Hollywood bigwigs read it, I wanted to bring The Ankler to more young people. It’s such an important resource for anyone trying to navigate the business, from writers to indie film producers, to entertainment lawyers. I also suspected that The Ankler’s combination of personality and authentic, authoritative journalism would appeal to millennials and Gen Zs, who have gotten used to either influencers with strong POVs but less experience in their field or journalist outlets that have “just the facts” without audiences getting to know their reporters.
So when I joined The Ankler full time we began The Ladder, which is our program for entertainment industry professionals in the first decade of their careers. Members get access to curated content from The Ankler, the ability to meet and connect with others in the entertainment community, in-person mixers, panels with industry professionals, access to a private Substack chat, merch, a private job board, monthly Zoom AMAs with Ankler staff and more. To apply to The Ladder, go here. I’m so excited to team up with Morgan to find more ways for this community to grow and connect with each other.
Call me, beep me, if you wanna reach me:
Email: abby@theankler.com | Social media: @1abbyroad | LinkedIn | abbybarr.com
NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL
It’s September, which means we can’t forget one of the biggest NYC film events of the year — the New York Film Festival kicking off on September 26! Opening Night is After The Hunt, which I personally am very excited for. Other titles playing throughout the festival include Sentimental Value (that trailer is stunning), Jay Kelly, Blue Moon, and many, many more. Pre-sale started earlier this week, and the general public sale starts September 18. Check out the full lineup and ticket roll out below.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
Reminder to fill out this Sips & Motion Pics demographic survey to better understand this community, our diversity, and how to keep this in mind for future planning and programming. If you have a few minutes, please fill out this survey and shape the future of Sips & Motion Pics.
CHECK IT OUT
More Info on The Ladder
The Ladder is a members-only community for entertainment professionals in the first decade of their careers by The Ankler, the digital publication covering the entertainment industry. Benefits include one discounted annual subscription for access to curated content from The Ankler, the ability to meet and connect with others in the entertainment community, in-person mixers, panels with industry professionals, a private Substack chat, merch, a private job board, monthly Zoom AMAs with Ankler staff and special guests and more. Membership costs $49 a year.