Opinion
Koppelman: Talent agents rarely do anything tangibly positive for a career
“It's been rare over the course of my career that I can tangibly point to things that agents have done that were really incredibly, just clearly positive.”
Insight
Koppelman: No founder who creates an entire sector is psychologically balanced
“No one who wills an entire sector into being is in a balanced place.”
Opinion
Koppelman: The Wolf of Wall Street does not glorify Jordan Belfort
“Over time, you're gonna understand that Wolf of Wall Street's not glorifying Jordan Belfort.
Like, you just are.
In the moment, people might be taken with Leonardo DiCaprio, right?
In the moment, people might think that this guy is a master of the universe.
Bu…”
Disclosure
Koppelman: Super Pumped relied strictly on Mike Isaac's book, not Gurley
“Well, we didn't talk to the people in the show for the show, meaning I told Bill because I'm responsible person in that way. I said to Bill, Mike Isaac sent me his book. We're gonna go tell this story. Anything I may have heard from any conversation that I had…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Koppelman: Mike Isaac brought off-the-record Uber sources into the writers' room
“And then he was reading every script and giving us notes, and what was great in the room is we'd be in the room and we'd go, what do we really think happened in that room? What's your sourcing? And he would go, and he wouldn't reveal his sources, but he would …”
Disclosure
Koppelman: Being close friends with both Marc Andreessen and Bill Gurley
“This is gonna sound odd, but I'm very friendly with Marc Andreessen and Bill Gurley. There can't, there's like five of us, I think, in the world.”
Disclosure
Koppelman: Knowing "Runner Runner" was a horrible movie every day of production
“I knew it was a horrible movie every day that I was working on it, and we couldn't get it better, and Ben and us tried our best, and Justin tried his best, and it was just one of those things.”
Assertion Partly supported
Koppelman: Rounders bombed theatrically before making hundreds of millions on DVD
“You know, the movie was a bomb in the theaters, but now it's, you know, obviously a movie that people not only like, but are obsessed with, and you know, it did hundreds of millions on DVD later, and it's a movie I get asked to do a sequel to every day of my l…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Koppelman: NYT reporter Mike Isaac attended 94 of 100 writers' room days
“As a co-executive producer, he didn't write any episodes, but yeah, Joe, he was in the room. I would say if we did a hundred days in the room, Mike was there for 94 of the hundred days.”
