# The Data Scientists Quietly Powering Hollywood’s Greenlight Machine

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-town-with-matthew-belloni-5195688/the-data-scientists-quietly-powering-hollywood-s-greenlight-machine
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-town-with-matthew-belloni-5195688/the-data-scientists-quietly-powering-hollywood-s-greenlight-machine.md
Podcast: [The Town with Matthew Belloni](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-town-with-matthew-belloni-5195688)
Published: 2026-07-17T00:29:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT8972336012.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT8972336012.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-town-with-matthew-belloni-5195688/episodes/the-data-scientists-quietly-powering-hollywood-s-greenlight-machine
Duration seconds: 2247

## Resource

Matt is joined by professor Violaine Roussel, a professor of sociology at Paris 8 University, to discuss her new book 'Data Driven Hollywood: The New Data Professionals in the Age of Streaming,' which polls 75 data scientists employed at streamers and studios to explain how modern studios use data to inform what they greenlight, what the data departments look like inside these streamers, how Netflix uses things like “taste clusters,” and how creative choices have been reinvented over the last 15 years (02:43). Matt finishes the show with an opening weekend box office prediction for Christopher Nolan’s new film ‘ The Odyssey’ (29:23). Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Violaine Roussel Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Jessie Lopez, and Stefano Sanchez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo This episode is brought to you by AMC+. Start your free trial today at join.amcplus.com This episode is brought to you by Accenture. https://Accenture.com/Spotify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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## Transcript

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