On To the Point, we try to make sense of the policy debates and the political sideshows on the campaign trail.

Neither party's agenda really aligns with who its coalition is today.

It was the dumbest speech I have ever seen in my life of covering politics.

When people walk into a voting booth, at the end of the day, they do say,

I really should vote for someone smarter than me.

I'm Warren Alney. To the Point has you covered for the 2016 campaign. Find the To the Point

podcast on KCRW's iTunes page. From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Kim Masters, and this is the

business. Each time you have to say stories about women are relevant, stories about women connect to our lives,

and stories about women can be profitable.

That sort of repeat process, unfortunately, remains.

Director Todd Haynes has established himself as an indie filmmaker who creates memorable

roles for women, including with his newest film, Carol.

It stars Kate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, Oscar nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting

Actress.

Haynes and Carol producer Christine Vashon tell us that their past success didn't make it any easier for them to find money when financiers learned there would be no male leads in their movie.

But first on the news banter, a slave rebellion movie makes Sundance history, and the Motion Picture Academy has really stirred the pot with its answer to Oscars So White. Stay tuned, it's the

business from KCRW. I'm joined by my partner in banter, Matt Bellany of the Hollywood

reporter. Hello, Matt. Hi there. So, Matt, let's talk about Sundance first. Let's start. It was very, very, very cold.

I was glad I was not there. I chickened out this year. But still it was fun, right? There was a lot to talk about.

Yeah, definitely. I mean, the big, big news of the festival is that there was a film, Birth of a Nation that set a record. A $17.5 million deal with Fox Searchlight for worldwide rights, more than any film at any festival has ever gotten from a buyer.

That is astounding. It played incredibly well. This filmmaker, Nate Parker, who talked about a passion project, you know, really gave up everything to get this film made based on a slave rebellion led by Nat Turner, which is a thing that actually did happen.

And what is astonishing, not only is the $17 million price that was paid by Fox Searchlight, but a bidding war in which Netflix went to $20 million, and he turned that down.

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