Kevin Goetz explains the art of test screening; A big holiday at the box office

The Business

KCRW

Tv & Film

4.6 • 676 Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the Trump administration moves to slash NPR’s federal funding, the network and three Colorado stations have fired back with a First Amendment lawsuit. Meanwhile, Hollywood’s theatrical business is booming. Memorial Day weekend raked in $326 million — up from $132 million last year — thanks to a packed release slate. Who was the biggest box office winner over the holiday weekend? Kim Masters and Matt Belloni dive in.

Plus, Masters talks to veteran film analyst Kevin Goetz about pivoting from a steady career in acting to a decades long journey in entertainment research. Goetz sheds light on the science and art behind audience testing, and he and Masters swap stories from some infamous test screenings over the years.

Transcript

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0:00.0	From KCRW, I'm Kim Masters, and this is The Business.
0:05.7	Veteran film strategist Kevin Getz has conducted many test screenings in his 40 years in the industry.
0:12.0	But if people ask him how certain test screenings went, he takes his vow of silence very seriously.
0:18.2	A look at me and go, so Kevin, what about that movie?
0:20.5	And I just look at them with a very, very blank stare and say, you know better.
0:26.4	Or I'll say, great.
0:28.9	Ask me how your movie is.
0:30.4	Great.
0:31.3	Because if I don't do that, I'm giving away something.
0:34.5	And I don't even do that.
0:36.1	Kevin Gets shares why he pivoted from a steady
0:38.6	career in acting to embark on a decades-long journey in entertainment research. The veteran analyst
0:44.6	sheds light on the science and art behind audience testing, and he and I swap some stories from
0:50.2	some infamous test screenings over the years. But first we banter, stick around.
0:55.4	It's the business from KCRW.
0:58.8	I am joined by my colleague in banter.
1:01.2	Matt Bellany.
1:01.8	Hello, Matt.
1:02.5	Hi there.
1:03.4	So acknowledging up front that KCRW is public radio,
1:07.1	you know that Donald Trump and the GOP has been complaining about public radio, NPR, and so forth,
1:14.6	as allegedly biased and not deserving any federal funding. Not that they are getting such a huge
	...

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