Description
Ankler Media is an American digital media company owned by the Ankler Media Group. In 2021, its Hollywood newsletter, The Ankler, was listed as one of the top three business publications on Substack and has been nominated for two Webby Awards.
History
In February 2017, Richard Rushfield founded The Ankler, a Hollywood newsletter about the entertainment industry, which he then moved to the Substack platform two years later.
In January 2022, Janice Min, former co-president of Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter, joined the company to form Ankler Media. Min joined as co-owner and CEO, with Richard Rushfield taking the role of editorial director. In June 2022, the company raised $1.5 million at a $20 million valuation through Y Combinator. In 2024, The Ankler signed a radio deal with NPR's LAist.
In 2024, Min expanded Ankler Media's live events including the "Documentary Spotlight with Raoul Peck" at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) as well as "The Ankler x Pure Nonfiction's Documentary Spotlight" which featured panelists and keynote speakers, Andrew Jarecki, James Carville, and Matt Tyrnauer, among others, in Los Angeles.
The Ankler was nominated for a Webby Award for "Best Independent Publisher" for "Websites and Mobile Sites" in 2023 and 2024. Subscribers have included David Zaslav, Patrick Whitesell, Kathleen Kennedy, Donna Langley, and Maureen Dowd.
The New York Times stated, "A focus of Ankler Media's coverage will be the clashes between the tech executives now making big decisions in Hollywood and the ones who have been around since moviegoers waited in line to buy tickets."
