{"podcast":{"title":"Big Shot","slug":"big-shot-6247527","podcast_index_feed_id":6247527,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/dbe3e564/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://bigshot.show","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/production/podcast_uploaded_nologo/36791457/36791457-1678042683199-a685533b9321b.jpg","author":"Big Shot","episode_count":40,"summary":"If the walls of Kosher delis could speak, they would (schm)ooze invaluable wisdom and endless laughs. Harley Finkelstein (Shopify) and David Segal (DAVIDsTEA) are Jewish entrepreneurs influenced by the greats who came before them. But, they realized no one was archiving the best behind-the-scenes stories ever told. Before time was up, they set out on a passion project to preserve the memories, mishaps, and wins of the people who have seen it all. Big Shot tells the stories of the people that shaped an entire generation.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-12T02:17:07.115182+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-shot-6247527"},"episode":{"title":"The Coney Island Kid Who Made Rocky, Goodfellas, and Raging Bull | Irwin Winkler","slug":"the-coney-island-kid-who-made-rocky-goodfellas-and-raging-bull-irwin-winkler","published_at":"2026-06-11T12:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-shot-6247527/the-coney-island-kid-who-made-rocky-goodfellas-and-raging-bull-irwin-winkler","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-shot-6247527","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/big-shot-show/episodes/The-Coney-Island-Kid-Who-Made-Rocky--Goodfellas--and-Raging-Bull--Irwin-Winkler-e3k2pnc","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/dbe3e564/podcast/play/120726700/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-29%2F425138310-44100-2-6f420ec443e77.mp3","summary":"Irwin Winkler has spent more than six decades in Hollywood, producing films that have earned 52 Academy Award nominations and helped define generations of moviegoers. His credits include Rocky, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Right Stuff , and The Irishman , but the path that led to those films was anything but predictable. In this episode of Big Shot , hosts Harley Finkelstein and David Segal sit down with Irwin to look back on the twists, turns, relationships, and moments of good fortune that shaped his remarkable career. From the William Morris mailroom to launching an agency with Robert Chartoff, from representing Julie Christie to hearing Sylvester Stallone pitch Rocky, Irwin shares the stories behind a life spent at the center of the movie business. Along the way, he reflects on the people who changed his life, the opportunities he almost missed, and the unexpected chain of events that led from a kid growing up in Brooklyn to one of the most successful producers in Hollywood history. — In This Episode We Cover: (00:00) Intro (03:13) Growing up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (07:11) Moving to the Sea Gate in Coney Island (08:26) Irwin's first attempt at NYU (10:22) Why he enlisted in the Army (10:55) Back to NYU after the Army (12:00) How he got interested in working for a talent agency (14:20) From summer mailroom gig at William Morris to full-time job (18:45) Climbing the ranks at William Morris (23:18) Leaving William Morris to work with Bob Chartoff (29:14) How Julie Christie helped launch his producing career (39:47) Meeting Sylvester Stallone and hearing the Rocky pitch (48:53) Rocky's reception and the reshoot that saved the film (51:48) How he started working with Martin Scorsese (53:54) Managing productions and safeguarding creatives (57:01) How Rocky II helped g…","meta_description":"Irwin Winkler has spent more than six decades in Hollywood, producing films that have earned 52 Academy Award nominations and helped define generations of…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4653,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/big-shot-6247527/episodes/the-coney-island-kid-who-made-rocky-goodfellas-and-raging-bull-irwin-winkler/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-shot-6247527/the-coney-island-kid-who-made-rocky-goodfellas-and-raging-bull-irwin-winkler.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}