Deadline hosted a live episode of its "Comedy Means Business" podcast at Just For Laughs Montreal's ComedyPRO on 22 July 2026, gathering industry figures to discuss how comedy development is evolving. The discussion comes as stand-up continues to thrive on the back of creators building independent, digitally bootstrapped careers, while television comedy enjoys strong momentum but feature comedy still struggles to reassert itself as a viable theatrical draw. The conversation matters because it highlights a broader shift of power away from traditional gatekeepers, with performers increasingly using their own audiences as leverage when engaging with established studios and platforms.

Participants included Reg Tigerman, manager-producer behind the newly launched Laugh List, a survey of the year's best unproduced comedy screenplays run with JFL; Maureen Taran, former Just For Laughs VP now leading a new original content division at Helium; and comedian-writer Danny Jolles, creator of the special "What Happens in a Year," which premiered at the festival. Topics ranged from studio mandates and comedy clubs acting as incubators for new formats, to the blurring boundary between YouTube and Netflix, development frustrations, industry consolidation, and the mental-health pressures facing today's touring stand-up comedians.