Co-hosts Cynthia Littleton and Andrew Wallenstein look back at the year that was and ahead at what’s to come for the business of media and entertainment. The hosts share highlights from some of their favorite episodes of 2023, including interviews with Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz, HBO and Max content chief Casey Bloys, Nigerian entrepreneur Mo Abudu, South Korean producer Nah Yung Suk and Barstool Sports chief Erika Ayers.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to a special episode of Varieties Strictly Business podcast.
This is our twenty twenty three Year in Review Highlights reel.
I'm Cynthia Littleton, co editor in chief of Variety, and
I co host this podcast with my very good friend
and longtime colleague Andrew Wallenstein.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Good to be with you, Cynthia. I can't believe another
year has flown by.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's always fun to look through the episodes of the
past year. It's hard to pick our favorites, but we do.
The year that started with Jeremy Renner versus Snowplow and
thank goodness Renner One has ended with major drama circling
the House of Redstone as suitors approach, or maybe slowly
(00:52):
they're approaching, So it's of course it's in between all
of that. There was a very eventful year. And what
stood out to you as most significant or impactful in
this crazy year?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I don't know how the answer can be anything else
but the strikes. You spent the better part of this
year covering so assiduously. There's no question they paralyzed this
industry for most of twenty twenty three, forcing executives to
re examine the fundamentals of this business. And you know,
when you think about how they redefined this industry, it's
(01:29):
just amazing looking back at how dramatic the negotiations were.
When I think about one issue in particular that stood out,
it has to be generative AI, and selfishly, that was
something over at Variety Intelligence Platform we spent a load
of time on with so many white papers, six of
(01:50):
them over the past three years that even of course
proceeds the strike, we saw this coming a long way off,
and this is something that is still in just the
very early stages of transforming so many of the processes,
particularly in production, but even of course beyond that, beyond
this industry, and so we'll continue to follow that. I
(02:12):
was just curious, from your perspective, how large did AI
loom compared to so many of the other issues during
strike negotiations.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Dear listeners, I have two words for you. Audrey Schomer
s c Homeer. She covers AI for VIP. She does
amazing work, very deep dives. Has done some of the
smartest media eccentric work on AI that I have read.
And she's done great reports and she I hope she
(02:42):
got a rest because it's going to over the holiday
I hope Audrey got her rest over the holidays, because
it's going to be a very busy year from courtrooms
to boardrooms on AI. There is so much activity going
on there. AI was it was sort of the perfect
It was the perfect story of events as AI just
came on like wildfire in the culture. It also emerged
(03:06):
in the contract negotiations, and we had a number of
great stories by our terrific primary labor reporter Gene mattis
a hero of variety in twenty twenty three for his
incredible work covering that strike and as he has reported
and gotten people to admit they didn't when when the
(03:28):
negotiations began in the early part of the year, AI
was not even on their radar. And I'm sure lawyers,
I'm sure that people working on the fleets of lawyers
working on all kinds of AI litigation are looking at
the fine print in the SAG deal to see is
this a model? And conversely, the SAG people are looking
at all of the litigation to see, okay, where's the
(03:48):
cutting edge of protection of use of all of that.
And that's unusual to see the labor situation become part
of that larger big tech issue, but that's you know,
these are the times in which we live.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well closer to home of course here in Hollywood, though,
it's really the streaming services that probably loomed large, not
just in the strike negotiations but thereafter. If I think
anything is going to emerge as the defining story of
twenty twenty three, it's really I think this was the
year Netflix said we won. This was the year they
(04:25):
won the so called streaming wars, which isn't to say
that the wars are over. So the question here going
into twenty four is what's next. Do we see a
bundling strategy, for instance, in terms of how the other
services come together. I thought it was great when you,
for instance, brought Jason Keelar in for a guest column
(04:46):
and he had a memorable take about the others coming
together in some fashion to perhaps ban together and give
Netflix a run for their money. Do we see an
M and A strategy take shape that enables some of
the other players to scale up? How do you think
(05:07):
it's going to play out?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
I think that that. I think it's basically everything everywhere,
all at once. Some form of all of that is happening.
I think it was it was the kind of year
that everybody knew was coming, but nobody was quite ready
to articulate until David Zaslov and Bob Iger had to,
under the weight of sinking earnings had to articulate it
(05:28):
in terms of budget cuts and sadly, staff cuts that
really affected human beings. Even though that seven thousand is
a big number, that's a lot of people and that
definitely you felt that this year. So it did feel
and with the strikes, it really did feel like at
times the whole town was at war. It really did.
It was a there's no question it was a tough year.
(05:49):
I think you have to in the glass half full
with everything that's gone on, with the streaming and the
kind of contraction, you have to glass half full. Think
if we're getting back to fundamental principle than long term,
the fundamental business principles of earnings and cash flow, then
long term these businesses are going to be better off
(06:10):
just long term. A Warner Brothers discovery that is mindful
of the fact that, as David Zaslov likes to point out,
HBO used to make a billion dollars. Now it's losing
more than a billion dollars. Like something that's not sustainable.
So you know who wins long term. I think Netflix
for sure can can take that deserved victory lap. And
I thank you for mentioning the Jason Kylar column. And
(06:32):
I just want to say that was that I picked
up the phone and I do appreciate Jason bringing that
because it was. What we liked about that column was
it was perspective on how can streaming work for everybody?
And he made an interesting point about the middleman that
is so often criticized, actually was the vehicle that spread
the profits widely through Hollywood cable profits to Hollywood programmers
(06:57):
like Disney, like Paramount, like Warner Brothers. So very interesting.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I'll strike a more optimistic tone on this note, which
is I think if the biggest success story could be
noted for twenty twenty three, it's not Barbenheimer. It's Taylor Swift.
What she did not just in the concert business, which
was astonishing enough, but actually taking that to the box
(07:23):
office as well was simply astonishing. And I will say,
at least on the concert side, I don't think it's
a one off. I think what is going on and
this is bodes really well for Live Nation, which is
the biggest kahuna in that business. I think this is
something that's going to hold on for a number of years.
I think the concert business obviously a lot of attention
(07:46):
for both Taylor Swift and for Beyonce, they had great years.
But when you look at the numbers and we did
this ad variety intelligence this year, this was a much
broader based success than those I mean, those women deserve
all the credit that they deserve, but it was a
much broader based success. Then you might see at first
(08:08):
glance and that business is going to do very well
in the coming years with a lot of performers lined
up to do really well.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
You just have to give it to Taylor Swift and
their team. They are geniuses, even in the very creative
and innovative way that they cut the deal directly with
AMC Theaters, the nation's largest exhibition chain, to distribute the
concert movie directly in theaters. That put tens of millions
of dollars in more profit surely in the Swift camp.
And she just is there's just no question, and she
(08:39):
is one of the few things that can bring four
quadrants together. It's amazing. This is why we have been
friends for so long because we could start talking about
one thing and keep going. Why don't we we both
have a long list, why don't we do a quick
rapid fire and then on some things that we both
want to mention, and then we'll get into our clips.
So drafting off, Barbie, we're going to have a clip
(08:59):
of Cries your interview with the Mattel CEO. Very interesting
to see Mattel, a toymaker, come out bold with a
very media centric strategy, and boy, that first swing really
did hit a home run. Let's see what else stood
out to me this year. Another thing, another thing that
stood out to me big time is copyright rules changing.
(09:21):
That's why you saw that charming little movie called Winnie
the Pooh, Blood and Honey in theaters is because AA
Miln's creation is now fair game. Same thing with Mickey
Mouse in the public domain. That is definitely a new
world order late night. Big changes in late night, and
that I think is hurting, is going to hurt long
term the appeal of linear TV. But seeing James Corden
(09:45):
sign off, Trevor Noah sign off those late night gigs,
people would kill themselves to get the idea that somebody
would will for somebody that at that stage of their
careers would willfully walk away, says a lot, and it's
kind of sad. I think we no question that the
end was shocked in April when NBC Universal CEO Jeff
Schell was removed. It was a sign that the reckoning
(10:08):
of the me too era is not at all over.
The business dispute that hurt me to my core in
these last couple of weeks of the year is the
fight between Daryl Hall and John Oates. I really really
hope somebody, so please, please, somebody bring those two together,
because they belong together making music. Andy, what do you.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Got well, I'd say big show endings this year, Succession
the crown. I'm going to predict you will see both
of those ip come back in a matter of years.
You gotta let the field life fallow. The fans will
demand their return. I think you saw the untimely death
(10:51):
of our very first friend in Matthew Perry, and I
think that'll put the spotlight on the drug ketamine and
what that's doing in the field of depression and anxiety.
I think the change over at CNN is going to
be a major story. Chris licked out Mark Thompson coming
(11:12):
in He's got his work cut out for him there
and so much more at twenty twenty four. It gonna
be real interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
You know, we didn't talk about much in twenty three
three Andy NFTs and Web three.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
That is true.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
And what about that metaverse? When's that gonna happen?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
All right, Well, that's that's for another conversation. Now onto
the highlights. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with
twenty twenty three highlights from the Strictly Business podcast right
after this break.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
The thing I like to do most on Strictly Business
is have people tell stories about their work that you're
not hearing about elsewhere. There was one interview that I
think epitomized that approach. It was with Mittel CEO Enon
Cries Now naturally, Enon has been everywhere this year talking
about was probably one of the biggest success stories in
(12:13):
Hollywood in twenty twenty three, the Barbie movie. But what
he and I spent most of the time talking about
was pretty much everything else at Mattel that he was
excited to move on to because of the momentum Barbie
afforded him. As you can hear in this section.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
The idea the assets. The model is all there. We're
not inventing or creating a new innovative commercial approach. This
has been done before. It is about execution, and we
have been consistently systematically and methodically executing our strategy even
before the Barbie Movie came out and had multiple already successes.
(12:56):
Even on the digital gaming side, have a very successful
joint venture with Netties which is called Mattel one sixty
three that in a very short period of time just
with three games only became a meaningful player in mobile games.
And so we've had already important accomplishments along the way,
(13:17):
and the Barbie Movie clearly is a big milestone and
one that you can't not see and appreciate, but it's
it's it's a long, multi year strategy continue to do that.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
One of the more surreal interviews I conducted this year
on the podcast was with Rachel Abrams, not just because
she's co author with James Stewart of Unscripted, The Epic
Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy. Sure,
it's a book with plenty of surreal moments, but it's
also because she's a former colleague of mine here at
(13:53):
variety who I've known for ages since she was just
a young cub reporter. Naturally we got into it on
the craft of journalism, and there was no shortage of
insights she had to share on the journey she took
reporting out this terrific book.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I mean, Andy, you know this also being a journalist,
like whenever you report something, the question is always, well,
this is what I know? What don't I know? And
you know, I don't want really want to speculate about
the universe of how, you know, how big how many
women might be out there, because I you know, I
don't want to cast dis versions with information I haven't
confirmed myself, but I will say that, like I have
(14:30):
talked to people who are related to this story who
say there is no upside for me talking to you,
And I just want to emphasize what Jim said, which
is that, you know, frankly, as a woman covering some
of this stuff the last few years, one of the
I would argue kind of sexist criticisms for women coming
forward in these stories is well, they just want attention,
you know, the floodgates of open. People just want attention.
(14:52):
And I can tell you that like more often than not.
When I talk to somebody, they they see no upside
own best CBS are regardless. There's the response I get
is there is no upside for me talking to you.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
What do I get out of this?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
My career will be ruined, my children will find out,
you know, why would I want this out there? And
so I think if anybody thinks that that people are
everyone is eager and embraces calls for me or Jim
with open arms. I mean, that is really a misconception.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Having been doing strictly business for more than five years now,
certain people have been repeat guests because they bring a
little something extra to the table. Barstool Sports CEO Eric
Ayers is one of those people because she has a
tendency to say things that are speculation one day become
news months or even years later. First time she was
(15:43):
musing about sports gambling, for instance, next thing I know,
Barstool got into that business. So when she was talking
about televising live sports earlier this year, my ears perked up.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
You know, most companies that take a big flyer on
live sports live rights are taking a bath on the economics.
Now today, could we compete for you know, college football
rights obviously we're never getting NFL rights college basketball MBA,
probably not. But that's also you know, I think the
(16:18):
world in five years from now is going to look
really different. I also really believe, you know, I think
we're in an era of you know, if you think
about social media, it's.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
For you, right, you go to.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Twitter now, you used to go to Twitter, and now
you go for you and who you're following. When you
go to TikTok, it's personalized. Your discover page is algorithmically
personalized for you. I think sports will be somewhat of
the same thing. Right you see Amazon playing with playing
with this now, which is, Hey, I may want to
watch an NFL game, but I want to listen to
(16:54):
the mannings, right, I want to listen to the game
in Spanish with particular common comment why can't couldn't barstool
sports play in that world? And I think that's more
so where you're going to see things.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Go don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
clips and insights on twenty twenty three from Variety's Strictly
Business podcast. And we're back with more twenty twenty three
(17:27):
highlights from Variety's Strictly Business podcast. A new voice on
Strictly Business this year was Jennifer Mobbs, Variety's TV business writer,
who hosted several episodes. She brought insights into Disney's big
picture strategy on video gaming with her sit down in
December with Disney Gaming chief Sean Shoptalk. Here's a clip.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
How much you will work with other divisions, like if
we can get this in here organically and it ties
to park somehow or this, what can we do and
how much do you all talk about that?
Speaker 6 (17:58):
Yeah, that's another great question. Look, it's something we do.
We do focus on. We are constantly talking to partners
internally about our games, about things that are coming not
just in game, but to your point, things that are
happening elsewhere in the company, whether it's in theme parks
or the film division. And yes, we are certainly conscious
of where there's opportunity to bring things into our experiences
(18:19):
from other parts of the company. Obviously, we've done that
historically incredibly well as a company from a film perspective,
where we launch a great movie and then there's downstream
consumer products, there's games, there's books, there's other things. Games
is really hopefully for us starting to be another place
that we can see a lot of great things from
other parts of the company to your point, and something
(18:40):
that yes, we are consciously doing and something that we
get excited about when there's opportunity to bring other parts
of the company into our game experiences.
Speaker 7 (18:48):
It's certainly exciting.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Like Andy, I love doing this podcast because it's a
wonderful medium for long conversations about abstract issues. It's also
a great way to meet dynamic new people in the industry.
Nigerian entrepreneur Mo Abudu is certainly that, so are Adam
Borston and Matt Crowley, the leaders of Studio seventy one,
who are plowing away in the creator economy. Producer Nah
(19:14):
Yungsuk is one of South Korea's most successful entrepreneurs. We
spoke in August at the k Coon Fan convention in
downtown LA. Of course, at Variety we also have the
benefit of access to the top industry leaders, and there's
no programming executive more successful right now than Casey Bloy's
of HBO. Here are short clips from each of those episodes.
(19:37):
As you pitch, you know, everyone from BBC to Stars
to you know, major networks around the world and other
continents have what has been some of the education that
you've needed to do to because you are coming in
with a different message. We are Africans, we are ready
to tell our own stories. We are local for global.
Have you found mostly receptive ears? Has it taken Has
(19:59):
it taken time for people to understand people outside of
Africa to understand what the potential, what the marketplace is
there right now?
Speaker 8 (20:08):
I think it's like with all things, it's you have
to educate, you have to convince, you have to persuade positively,
you've got to share data, You've got to let them
understand that Africa is only six hours away from London.
You know, it's not like you're going to add a space, right.
(20:29):
I mean the other day I was on a plane
from New York to la and it was five and
a half hours. That's how long it takes to get
from London to Lagos, literally, So you know, we're not
that far away from where the world is. And it's
important for the world to understand that Africa is shaping
a lot of the culture around the world, when it
(20:50):
comes to music, when it comes to fashion, when it
comes to beauty, when it comes I mean, I believe
that Nigeria for example, has some of the best fashion designers,
has some of the best hairdressers, has some of the
best makeup artists that the world needs to discover, you know.
And so we have talent sitting there that needs to
(21:10):
be exported, that needs to be shared with the world.
So my message to those that are ready to listen,
because you know the challenges are some of them that
you're still not ready. Some of them are very risk
adverse to, Like, you know what, I'm just rather going
to do season hundred of this particular show because it
kind of works for me, and I'm not sure I
(21:31):
want to go and do another season one of a
show from Nigeria or Cape Town and Johannesburg. But then
you see data speaks for itself because what you find
is that a number of the shows that are on
Netflix or any of the other streamers, you find that
because data, they're so data driven, they share the numbers,
you know, on you can check these numbers online and
(21:53):
they can see that even when our shows are standing
shoulder to shoulder with international shows that probably get times
the budget that we get, we're still getting the numbers.
Now that tells you that there is an audience.
Speaker 9 (22:06):
We have a core set of talent. I would say
we try to keep the list intentionally as small as possible,
but it's around a thousand creators. And for that group
of talent, really we work with them in a variety
of different ways. For some of them, we help them
just distribute, so take their content from YouTube, you know,
edit it and put it on Facebook and Snapchat and
you know connected TVs. For other talent, we sell ads
(22:30):
and that's our big focus for that, you know, selling
media sales against their you know, you know, content on YouTube,
as well as brand integrations, which is like when talent
you know, shouts out different brands and gives different in
video promotions. And then for others we help them on
production support. You know, we have a big space in
Burbank that's our studio space. A lot of cut talent
come through.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
There, beautiful Downtown Bank.
Speaker 9 (22:52):
Yes, of course we're a lot of a lot of
digital videos get produced and we work with a lot
of great creators there. So again it's a wide variety
of services that we work on with different talent, but
we do have that core group that we work with
and again our goal is to really help them grow
across every different.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Platform do you have Is it set up somewhat like
a traditional studio and that you have content people and
ad sales people. I mean, do you have a lot
of this under the Studio seventy one roof in terms
of like distribution, help and advertising sales. Yeah.
Speaker 10 (23:24):
Absolutely, And in fact obviously it's all under one roof,
and it depends on really what the creator needs, right, So,
as Adam mentioned, we work with creators that already have
an existing audience on one platform and bringing those audiences
to different platforms, and then we insert those teams.
Speaker 9 (23:38):
So if we're looking to use distribution.
Speaker 10 (23:40):
As an outlet to grow an audience, we'll use the
We'll go to the distribution team. If we're looking to
gain more revenue and media sales, we'll go to the
media sales team and look for additional opportunities around their
existing channels and other ways to bring revenue streams in
from non traditional means. So that's a way that all
of our teams kind of collaborate to expand upon the creators,
(24:03):
you know, core businesses.
Speaker 9 (24:05):
Yeah, and to also touch on something you know, when
I came over to Studio seventy one, I had come
from the publisher space. So I was one of the
early employees at BuzzFeed. I was one of their first
LA employees who helped launch their video division and ran
business development and operations for their video division. And when
I was at BuzzFeed, I know, you know, Matt saw this.
On the studio side. It was this elaborate operation with
(24:28):
a team of analytics professionals, a team of editors, producers,
you know, people just focus on optimizing the thumbnails of
the art that you click on when you watch videos.
And I remember thinking, Wow, that's it's such an incredible
sort of apparatus that's been built. Imagine if that were
applied to the creator space, where essentially a lot of
(24:50):
talent are building audiences that are just as big as
any publisher, but they're making videos just in their basement.
So we wanted to sort of provide that infrastructure and
a full sort of studio set of you know, resources
across advertising and production and distribution to really help creators
grow and become their own media company.
Speaker 11 (25:09):
If Jesse said to me, I have got to do
a Tom and Greg spinoff, I can't, you know, like,
I've just got to It's what I I creatively, It's
I can't get out of my head and I have
to do it.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
The title is there, The Disgusting.
Speaker 11 (25:26):
Brothers, Yes, exactly. If Jesse wanted to do that, I
would follow his lead and say great. But he you know,
I think it was the right decision because there are
some I think there are some shows that naturally lead themselves,
a show like House of the Dragon coming out of
Game of Thrones. You know, George's universe is so huge.
I mean spans hundreds of years and many families, and
(25:48):
there's battles and civil wars and all of that stuff
that kind of lends itself more logically to spin offs
or trying again.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
This one.
Speaker 11 (25:59):
I think it's it's obviously fun to think about the combinations.
But if Jesse's not feeling it, I'm not you know,
I'm not going to go down that road. If he's
not feeling.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
It, I think, I hear you. I still think incredible discipline.
So many other places would have been you know, succession, Sydney,
wherever wherever it might go. When Jesse, I know you
you talked about, you know, Jesse, when Jesse came to
tell you that he felt like season four was the
(26:32):
time to end. Did you try to persuade him or so.
Speaker 11 (26:36):
I I kind of knew that we were that season four.
I knew about Logan, I knew that that was going
to happen, and so I think the sense was this
was probably it. The only the only kind of advice
I gave to Jesse was like, just you know, whatever
you want to do is what we'll do. Just think
(26:57):
about it, because you do have this amazing cast, and
it's an amazing you know, it's lightning in a bot.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
It quite a company.
Speaker 11 (27:03):
Yeah, but so so just really really be sure that
it's time to go. And I also knew Jesse is
an incredibly thoughtful writer, and I knew if I he
would naturally kind of go through that process of do
I see anything here? Do I not see anything here?
And so I knew we would end up in the
(27:24):
right place regardless. So and I know he went back
and forth, and I think he wanted to make sure
that he wasn't leaving anything on the table. But I
trust that he fully felt that that was the right thing.
And as I said, when I saw the finale, it
was the only way that Succession could end. It was
to me, it was kind of a perfect ending. So
(27:47):
I think it was again, if you're following the creator's lead,
probably a good place, a good place to go.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
That is the recurring theme. And since Casey is literally
one of the most successful development people of the last
twenty five years, I think that the follows the last
couple of years, so much content K drama, so much
K culture is going around the world and is becoming
popular in other markets. People in Japan, in the US
(28:18):
are seeing a lot more content. How does that does
that affect you as a producer? Does that make you
think differently about the kinds of shows that you want
to pursue?
Speaker 12 (28:31):
Oh well, is it to komand you know, Kean and underd.
Speaker 9 (29:09):
Such a region.
Speaker 7 (29:14):
Affects significantly, I would say, because as I mentioned earlier
during my panel session that I thought, at some point
I'm gonna have to retire, I'm gonna have to share,
you know, start doing this. But at the same time,
I saw potential, another huge potential out there because I
knew I found out that there's another group of people
(29:37):
outside of Korea, you know, borderless people who were taking
interest in who are watching it. So these overseas viewers
got me really excited, you know, got me really, you know,
gave us, gave me actual meaning to get going, get
further going. So it's opening up a new horizon and
new potential for me to you know, start off again.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Regular listeners of Strictly Business know that I really enjoy
producing what I call my in the field episodes. They
combine interviews with multiple people at conferences and festivals or
unusual opportunities that come my way. This year, I brought
my roving microphone to south By Southwest in Austin and
to VidCon in Anaheim. My favorite experience of the year, though,
(30:22):
was coming out of the Mipcom conference in cann in October.
I combine my love of trains with my passion for
podcasting by recording my reflections on the market while chugging
through the heart of France on a high speed train
headed for Paris. I was really sick at the time too,
but the experience is still a highlight of twenty twenty
(30:43):
three for me. Here's that clip. Unmistakably, the large European
players sense opportunity out there. They are very much watching
the turmoil in the US at the US majors between
the labor strikes that have handicapped production this year to
all of their restructuring, the streaming losses that the old
(31:05):
Guard studios have incurred as they try to make the
transition from linear to streaming. All of that is being
watched very carefully by very savvy European players. Every single
person I spoke with mentioned to me, you know that
there's such a lower price point for production in Europe.
You can just sense that there's going to be a
push to bring more production to Europe, arguing that there
(31:29):
is a ready talent pool that has become very skilled.
With the streaming boom, there is so much production all
over Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and that ensues and with
that comes a skilled talent pool that is looking for work.
Of course, they're watching to see the great contraction if
the streamers have less appetite than they have had in
(31:50):
the last couple of years. But the kind of European
and co production projects that are really kind of humming
are the kind of lower price point things that tamers want.
They may only appeal to a niche audience, but that
niche audience is going to love that costume drama from
Sweden or a ry satirical comedy coming out of Brazil
(32:13):
with subtitles. All of the producers I spoke with mentioned
that the tyranny of dealing with subtitles and dubbing is
over audiences in the US and other markets that had
been thought to be totally resistant to either subtitles or
dubbing is absolutely lifting, and certainly subtitles is winning for
many reasons. The US was a big holdout for that,
(32:33):
but all the much evidence shows that those fears are
definitely lifting, and that raises the hopes of many many producers,
and especially the labor strife, which is something Hollywood hasn't
had in a long time, and especially to this degree.
Europe is very well aware of general strikes in the
general sense of when there is a period of labor unrest,
(32:55):
and there is definite efforts to emphasize the appeal of
working with European talent in many ways.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Thank you so much for listening all year long. We
hope you enjoyed our trip down memory lane.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
You definitely don't want to miss next week's episode when Andy,
myself and other variety and VIP reporters will be on
the scene at CES in Las Vegas. We will try
to make sense of the big show for.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
You, and if you like what you're listening to, don't
forget to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. We love
hearing from our listeners.
Welcome to a special episode of Varieties Strictly Business podcast.
This is our twenty twenty three Year in Review Highlights reel.
I'm Cynthia Littleton, co editor in chief of Variety, and
I co host this podcast with my very good friend
and longtime colleague Andrew Wallenstein.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Good to be with you, Cynthia. I can't believe another
year has flown by.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
It's always fun to look through the episodes of the
past year. It's hard to pick our favorites, but we do.
The year that started with Jeremy Renner versus Snowplow and
thank goodness Renner One has ended with major drama circling
the House of Redstone as suitors approach, or maybe slowly
(00:52):
they're approaching, So it's of course it's in between all
of that. There was a very eventful year. And what
stood out to you as most significant or impactful in
this crazy year?
Speaker 2 (01:05):
I don't know how the answer can be anything else
but the strikes. You spent the better part of this
year covering so assiduously. There's no question they paralyzed this
industry for most of twenty twenty three, forcing executives to
re examine the fundamentals of this business. And you know,
when you think about how they redefined this industry, it's
(01:29):
just amazing looking back at how dramatic the negotiations were.
When I think about one issue in particular that stood out,
it has to be generative AI, and selfishly, that was
something over at Variety Intelligence Platform we spent a load
of time on with so many white papers, six of
(01:50):
them over the past three years that even of course
proceeds the strike, we saw this coming a long way off,
and this is something that is still in just the
very early stages of transforming so many of the processes,
particularly in production, but even of course beyond that, beyond
this industry, and so we'll continue to follow that. I
(02:12):
was just curious, from your perspective, how large did AI
loom compared to so many of the other issues during
strike negotiations.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Dear listeners, I have two words for you. Audrey Schomer
s c Homeer. She covers AI for VIP. She does
amazing work, very deep dives. Has done some of the
smartest media eccentric work on AI that I have read.
And she's done great reports and she I hope she
(02:42):
got a rest because it's going to over the holiday
I hope Audrey got her rest over the holidays, because
it's going to be a very busy year from courtrooms
to boardrooms on AI. There is so much activity going
on there. AI was it was sort of the perfect
It was the perfect story of events as AI just
came on like wildfire in the culture. It also emerged
(03:06):
in the contract negotiations, and we had a number of
great stories by our terrific primary labor reporter Gene mattis
a hero of variety in twenty twenty three for his
incredible work covering that strike and as he has reported
and gotten people to admit they didn't when when the
(03:28):
negotiations began in the early part of the year, AI
was not even on their radar. And I'm sure lawyers,
I'm sure that people working on the fleets of lawyers
working on all kinds of AI litigation are looking at
the fine print in the SAG deal to see is
this a model? And conversely, the SAG people are looking
at all of the litigation to see, okay, where's the
(03:48):
cutting edge of protection of use of all of that.
And that's unusual to see the labor situation become part
of that larger big tech issue, but that's you know,
these are the times in which we live.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
Well closer to home of course here in Hollywood, though,
it's really the streaming services that probably loomed large, not
just in the strike negotiations but thereafter. If I think
anything is going to emerge as the defining story of
twenty twenty three, it's really I think this was the
year Netflix said we won. This was the year they
(04:25):
won the so called streaming wars, which isn't to say
that the wars are over. So the question here going
into twenty four is what's next. Do we see a
bundling strategy, for instance, in terms of how the other
services come together. I thought it was great when you,
for instance, brought Jason Keelar in for a guest column
(04:46):
and he had a memorable take about the others coming
together in some fashion to perhaps ban together and give
Netflix a run for their money. Do we see an
M and A strategy take shape that enables some of
the other players to scale up? How do you think
(05:07):
it's going to play out?
Speaker 1 (05:08):
I think that that. I think it's basically everything everywhere,
all at once. Some form of all of that is happening.
I think it was it was the kind of year
that everybody knew was coming, but nobody was quite ready
to articulate until David Zaslov and Bob Iger had to,
under the weight of sinking earnings had to articulate it
(05:28):
in terms of budget cuts and sadly, staff cuts that
really affected human beings. Even though that seven thousand is
a big number, that's a lot of people and that
definitely you felt that this year. So it did feel
and with the strikes, it really did feel like at
times the whole town was at war. It really did.
It was a there's no question it was a tough year.
(05:49):
I think you have to in the glass half full
with everything that's gone on, with the streaming and the
kind of contraction, you have to glass half full. Think
if we're getting back to fundamental principle than long term,
the fundamental business principles of earnings and cash flow, then
long term these businesses are going to be better off
(06:10):
just long term. A Warner Brothers discovery that is mindful
of the fact that, as David Zaslov likes to point out,
HBO used to make a billion dollars. Now it's losing
more than a billion dollars. Like something that's not sustainable.
So you know who wins long term. I think Netflix
for sure can can take that deserved victory lap. And
I thank you for mentioning the Jason Kylar column. And
(06:32):
I just want to say that was that I picked
up the phone and I do appreciate Jason bringing that
because it was. What we liked about that column was
it was perspective on how can streaming work for everybody?
And he made an interesting point about the middleman that
is so often criticized, actually was the vehicle that spread
the profits widely through Hollywood cable profits to Hollywood programmers
(06:57):
like Disney, like Paramount, like Warner Brothers. So very interesting.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I'll strike a more optimistic tone on this note, which
is I think if the biggest success story could be
noted for twenty twenty three, it's not Barbenheimer. It's Taylor Swift.
What she did not just in the concert business, which
was astonishing enough, but actually taking that to the box
(07:23):
office as well was simply astonishing. And I will say,
at least on the concert side, I don't think it's
a one off. I think what is going on and
this is bodes really well for Live Nation, which is
the biggest kahuna in that business. I think this is
something that's going to hold on for a number of years.
I think the concert business obviously a lot of attention
(07:46):
for both Taylor Swift and for Beyonce, they had great years.
But when you look at the numbers and we did
this ad variety intelligence this year, this was a much
broader based success than those I mean, those women deserve
all the credit that they deserve, but it was a
much broader based success. Then you might see at first
(08:08):
glance and that business is going to do very well
in the coming years with a lot of performers lined
up to do really well.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
You just have to give it to Taylor Swift and
their team. They are geniuses, even in the very creative
and innovative way that they cut the deal directly with
AMC Theaters, the nation's largest exhibition chain, to distribute the
concert movie directly in theaters. That put tens of millions
of dollars in more profit surely in the Swift camp.
And she just is there's just no question, and she
(08:39):
is one of the few things that can bring four
quadrants together. It's amazing. This is why we have been
friends for so long because we could start talking about
one thing and keep going. Why don't we we both
have a long list, why don't we do a quick
rapid fire and then on some things that we both
want to mention, and then we'll get into our clips.
So drafting off, Barbie, we're going to have a clip
(08:59):
of Cries your interview with the Mattel CEO. Very interesting
to see Mattel, a toymaker, come out bold with a
very media centric strategy, and boy, that first swing really
did hit a home run. Let's see what else stood
out to me this year. Another thing, another thing that
stood out to me big time is copyright rules changing.
(09:21):
That's why you saw that charming little movie called Winnie
the Pooh, Blood and Honey in theaters is because AA
Miln's creation is now fair game. Same thing with Mickey
Mouse in the public domain. That is definitely a new
world order late night. Big changes in late night, and
that I think is hurting, is going to hurt long
term the appeal of linear TV. But seeing James Corden
(09:45):
sign off, Trevor Noah sign off those late night gigs,
people would kill themselves to get the idea that somebody
would will for somebody that at that stage of their
careers would willfully walk away, says a lot, and it's
kind of sad. I think we no question that the
end was shocked in April when NBC Universal CEO Jeff
Schell was removed. It was a sign that the reckoning
(10:08):
of the me too era is not at all over.
The business dispute that hurt me to my core in
these last couple of weeks of the year is the
fight between Daryl Hall and John Oates. I really really
hope somebody, so please, please, somebody bring those two together,
because they belong together making music. Andy, what do you.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Got well, I'd say big show endings this year, Succession
the crown. I'm going to predict you will see both
of those ip come back in a matter of years.
You gotta let the field life fallow. The fans will
demand their return. I think you saw the untimely death
(10:51):
of our very first friend in Matthew Perry, and I
think that'll put the spotlight on the drug ketamine and
what that's doing in the field of depression and anxiety.
I think the change over at CNN is going to
be a major story. Chris licked out Mark Thompson coming
(11:12):
in He's got his work cut out for him there
and so much more at twenty twenty four. It gonna
be real interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
You know, we didn't talk about much in twenty three
three Andy NFTs and Web three.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
That is true.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
And what about that metaverse? When's that gonna happen?
Speaker 1 (11:30):
All right, Well, that's that's for another conversation. Now onto
the highlights. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with
twenty twenty three highlights from the Strictly Business podcast right
after this break.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
The thing I like to do most on Strictly Business
is have people tell stories about their work that you're
not hearing about elsewhere. There was one interview that I
think epitomized that approach. It was with Mittel CEO Enon
Cries Now naturally, Enon has been everywhere this year talking
about was probably one of the biggest success stories in
(12:13):
Hollywood in twenty twenty three, the Barbie movie. But what
he and I spent most of the time talking about
was pretty much everything else at Mattel that he was
excited to move on to because of the momentum Barbie
afforded him. As you can hear in this section.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
The idea the assets. The model is all there. We're
not inventing or creating a new innovative commercial approach. This
has been done before. It is about execution, and we
have been consistently systematically and methodically executing our strategy even
before the Barbie Movie came out and had multiple already successes.
(12:56):
Even on the digital gaming side, have a very successful
joint venture with Netties which is called Mattel one sixty
three that in a very short period of time just
with three games only became a meaningful player in mobile games.
And so we've had already important accomplishments along the way,
(13:17):
and the Barbie Movie clearly is a big milestone and
one that you can't not see and appreciate, but it's
it's it's a long, multi year strategy continue to do that.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
One of the more surreal interviews I conducted this year
on the podcast was with Rachel Abrams, not just because
she's co author with James Stewart of Unscripted, The Epic
Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy. Sure,
it's a book with plenty of surreal moments, but it's
also because she's a former colleague of mine here at
(13:53):
variety who I've known for ages since she was just
a young cub reporter. Naturally we got into it on
the craft of journalism, and there was no shortage of
insights she had to share on the journey she took
reporting out this terrific book.
Speaker 3 (14:08):
I mean, Andy, you know this also being a journalist,
like whenever you report something, the question is always, well,
this is what I know? What don't I know? And
you know, I don't want really want to speculate about
the universe of how, you know, how big how many
women might be out there, because I you know, I
don't want to cast dis versions with information I haven't
confirmed myself, but I will say that, like I have
(14:30):
talked to people who are related to this story who
say there is no upside for me talking to you,
And I just want to emphasize what Jim said, which
is that, you know, frankly, as a woman covering some
of this stuff the last few years, one of the
I would argue kind of sexist criticisms for women coming
forward in these stories is well, they just want attention,
you know, the floodgates of open. People just want attention.
(14:52):
And I can tell you that like more often than not.
When I talk to somebody, they they see no upside
own best CBS are regardless. There's the response I get
is there is no upside for me talking to you.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
What do I get out of this?
Speaker 3 (15:07):
My career will be ruined, my children will find out,
you know, why would I want this out there? And
so I think if anybody thinks that that people are
everyone is eager and embraces calls for me or Jim
with open arms. I mean, that is really a misconception.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Having been doing strictly business for more than five years now,
certain people have been repeat guests because they bring a
little something extra to the table. Barstool Sports CEO Eric
Ayers is one of those people because she has a
tendency to say things that are speculation one day become
news months or even years later. First time she was
(15:43):
musing about sports gambling, for instance, next thing I know,
Barstool got into that business. So when she was talking
about televising live sports earlier this year, my ears perked up.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
You know, most companies that take a big flyer on
live sports live rights are taking a bath on the economics.
Now today, could we compete for you know, college football
rights obviously we're never getting NFL rights college basketball MBA,
probably not. But that's also you know, I think the
(16:18):
world in five years from now is going to look
really different. I also really believe, you know, I think
we're in an era of you know, if you think
about social media, it's.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
For you, right, you go to.
Speaker 5 (16:32):
Twitter now, you used to go to Twitter, and now
you go for you and who you're following. When you
go to TikTok, it's personalized. Your discover page is algorithmically
personalized for you. I think sports will be somewhat of
the same thing. Right you see Amazon playing with playing
with this now, which is, Hey, I may want to
watch an NFL game, but I want to listen to
(16:54):
the mannings, right, I want to listen to the game
in Spanish with particular common comment why can't couldn't barstool
sports play in that world? And I think that's more
so where you're going to see things.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Go don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
clips and insights on twenty twenty three from Variety's Strictly
Business podcast. And we're back with more twenty twenty three
(17:27):
highlights from Variety's Strictly Business podcast. A new voice on
Strictly Business this year was Jennifer Mobbs, Variety's TV business writer,
who hosted several episodes. She brought insights into Disney's big
picture strategy on video gaming with her sit down in
December with Disney Gaming chief Sean Shoptalk. Here's a clip.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
How much you will work with other divisions, like if
we can get this in here organically and it ties
to park somehow or this, what can we do and
how much do you all talk about that?
Speaker 6 (17:58):
Yeah, that's another great question. Look, it's something we do.
We do focus on. We are constantly talking to partners
internally about our games, about things that are coming not
just in game, but to your point, things that are
happening elsewhere in the company, whether it's in theme parks
or the film division. And yes, we are certainly conscious
of where there's opportunity to bring things into our experiences
(18:19):
from other parts of the company. Obviously, we've done that
historically incredibly well as a company from a film perspective,
where we launch a great movie and then there's downstream
consumer products, there's games, there's books, there's other things. Games
is really hopefully for us starting to be another place
that we can see a lot of great things from
other parts of the company to your point, and something
(18:40):
that yes, we are consciously doing and something that we
get excited about when there's opportunity to bring other parts
of the company into our game experiences.
Speaker 7 (18:48):
It's certainly exciting.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Like Andy, I love doing this podcast because it's a
wonderful medium for long conversations about abstract issues. It's also
a great way to meet dynamic new people in the industry.
Nigerian entrepreneur Mo Abudu is certainly that, so are Adam
Borston and Matt Crowley, the leaders of Studio seventy one,
who are plowing away in the creator economy. Producer Nah
(19:14):
Yungsuk is one of South Korea's most successful entrepreneurs. We
spoke in August at the k Coon Fan convention in
downtown LA. Of course, at Variety we also have the
benefit of access to the top industry leaders, and there's
no programming executive more successful right now than Casey Bloy's
of HBO. Here are short clips from each of those episodes.
(19:37):
As you pitch, you know, everyone from BBC to Stars
to you know, major networks around the world and other
continents have what has been some of the education that
you've needed to do to because you are coming in
with a different message. We are Africans, we are ready
to tell our own stories. We are local for global.
Have you found mostly receptive ears? Has it taken Has
(19:59):
it taken time for people to understand people outside of
Africa to understand what the potential, what the marketplace is
there right now?
Speaker 8 (20:08):
I think it's like with all things, it's you have
to educate, you have to convince, you have to persuade positively,
you've got to share data, You've got to let them
understand that Africa is only six hours away from London.
You know, it's not like you're going to add a space, right.
(20:29):
I mean the other day I was on a plane
from New York to la and it was five and
a half hours. That's how long it takes to get
from London to Lagos, literally, So you know, we're not
that far away from where the world is. And it's
important for the world to understand that Africa is shaping
a lot of the culture around the world, when it
(20:50):
comes to music, when it comes to fashion, when it
comes to beauty, when it comes I mean, I believe
that Nigeria for example, has some of the best fashion designers,
has some of the best hairdressers, has some of the
best makeup artists that the world needs to discover, you know.
And so we have talent sitting there that needs to
(21:10):
be exported, that needs to be shared with the world.
So my message to those that are ready to listen,
because you know the challenges are some of them that
you're still not ready. Some of them are very risk
adverse to, Like, you know what, I'm just rather going
to do season hundred of this particular show because it
kind of works for me, and I'm not sure I
(21:31):
want to go and do another season one of a
show from Nigeria or Cape Town and Johannesburg. But then
you see data speaks for itself because what you find
is that a number of the shows that are on
Netflix or any of the other streamers, you find that
because data, they're so data driven, they share the numbers,
you know, on you can check these numbers online and
(21:53):
they can see that even when our shows are standing
shoulder to shoulder with international shows that probably get times
the budget that we get, we're still getting the numbers.
Now that tells you that there is an audience.
Speaker 9 (22:06):
We have a core set of talent. I would say
we try to keep the list intentionally as small as possible,
but it's around a thousand creators. And for that group
of talent, really we work with them in a variety
of different ways. For some of them, we help them
just distribute, so take their content from YouTube, you know,
edit it and put it on Facebook and Snapchat and
you know connected TVs. For other talent, we sell ads
(22:30):
and that's our big focus for that, you know, selling
media sales against their you know, you know, content on YouTube,
as well as brand integrations, which is like when talent
you know, shouts out different brands and gives different in
video promotions. And then for others we help them on
production support. You know, we have a big space in
Burbank that's our studio space. A lot of cut talent
come through.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
There, beautiful Downtown Bank.
Speaker 9 (22:52):
Yes, of course we're a lot of a lot of
digital videos get produced and we work with a lot
of great creators there. So again it's a wide variety
of services that we work on with different talent, but
we do have that core group that we work with
and again our goal is to really help them grow
across every different.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Platform do you have Is it set up somewhat like
a traditional studio and that you have content people and
ad sales people. I mean, do you have a lot
of this under the Studio seventy one roof in terms
of like distribution, help and advertising sales. Yeah.
Speaker 10 (23:24):
Absolutely, And in fact obviously it's all under one roof,
and it depends on really what the creator needs, right, So,
as Adam mentioned, we work with creators that already have
an existing audience on one platform and bringing those audiences
to different platforms, and then we insert those teams.
Speaker 9 (23:38):
So if we're looking to use distribution.
Speaker 10 (23:40):
As an outlet to grow an audience, we'll use the
We'll go to the distribution team. If we're looking to
gain more revenue and media sales, we'll go to the
media sales team and look for additional opportunities around their
existing channels and other ways to bring revenue streams in
from non traditional means. So that's a way that all
of our teams kind of collaborate to expand upon the creators,
(24:03):
you know, core businesses.
Speaker 9 (24:05):
Yeah, and to also touch on something you know, when
I came over to Studio seventy one, I had come
from the publisher space. So I was one of the
early employees at BuzzFeed. I was one of their first
LA employees who helped launch their video division and ran
business development and operations for their video division. And when
I was at BuzzFeed, I know, you know, Matt saw this.
On the studio side. It was this elaborate operation with
(24:28):
a team of analytics professionals, a team of editors, producers,
you know, people just focus on optimizing the thumbnails of
the art that you click on when you watch videos.
And I remember thinking, Wow, that's it's such an incredible
sort of apparatus that's been built. Imagine if that were
applied to the creator space, where essentially a lot of
(24:50):
talent are building audiences that are just as big as
any publisher, but they're making videos just in their basement.
So we wanted to sort of provide that infrastructure and
a full sort of studio set of you know, resources
across advertising and production and distribution to really help creators
grow and become their own media company.
Speaker 11 (25:09):
If Jesse said to me, I have got to do
a Tom and Greg spinoff, I can't, you know, like,
I've just got to It's what I I creatively, It's
I can't get out of my head and I have
to do it.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
The title is there, The Disgusting.
Speaker 11 (25:26):
Brothers, Yes, exactly. If Jesse wanted to do that, I
would follow his lead and say great. But he you know,
I think it was the right decision because there are
some I think there are some shows that naturally lead themselves,
a show like House of the Dragon coming out of
Game of Thrones. You know, George's universe is so huge.
I mean spans hundreds of years and many families, and
(25:48):
there's battles and civil wars and all of that stuff
that kind of lends itself more logically to spin offs
or trying again.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
This one.
Speaker 11 (25:59):
I think it's it's obviously fun to think about the combinations.
But if Jesse's not feeling it, I'm not you know,
I'm not going to go down that road. If he's
not feeling.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
It, I think, I hear you. I still think incredible discipline.
So many other places would have been you know, succession, Sydney,
wherever wherever it might go. When Jesse, I know you
you talked about, you know, Jesse, when Jesse came to
tell you that he felt like season four was the
(26:32):
time to end. Did you try to persuade him or so.
Speaker 11 (26:36):
I I kind of knew that we were that season four.
I knew about Logan, I knew that that was going
to happen, and so I think the sense was this
was probably it. The only the only kind of advice
I gave to Jesse was like, just you know, whatever
you want to do is what we'll do. Just think
(26:57):
about it, because you do have this amazing cast, and
it's an amazing you know, it's lightning in a bot.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
It quite a company.
Speaker 11 (27:03):
Yeah, but so so just really really be sure that
it's time to go. And I also knew Jesse is
an incredibly thoughtful writer, and I knew if I he
would naturally kind of go through that process of do
I see anything here? Do I not see anything here?
And so I knew we would end up in the
(27:24):
right place regardless. So and I know he went back
and forth, and I think he wanted to make sure
that he wasn't leaving anything on the table. But I
trust that he fully felt that that was the right thing.
And as I said, when I saw the finale, it
was the only way that Succession could end. It was
to me, it was kind of a perfect ending. So
(27:47):
I think it was again, if you're following the creator's lead,
probably a good place, a good place to go.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
That is the recurring theme. And since Casey is literally
one of the most successful development people of the last
twenty five years, I think that the follows the last
couple of years, so much content K drama, so much
K culture is going around the world and is becoming
popular in other markets. People in Japan, in the US
(28:18):
are seeing a lot more content. How does that does
that affect you as a producer? Does that make you
think differently about the kinds of shows that you want
to pursue?
Speaker 12 (28:31):
Oh well, is it to komand you know, Kean and underd.
Speaker 9 (29:09):
Such a region.
Speaker 7 (29:14):
Affects significantly, I would say, because as I mentioned earlier
during my panel session that I thought, at some point
I'm gonna have to retire, I'm gonna have to share,
you know, start doing this. But at the same time,
I saw potential, another huge potential out there because I
knew I found out that there's another group of people
(29:37):
outside of Korea, you know, borderless people who were taking
interest in who are watching it. So these overseas viewers
got me really excited, you know, got me really, you know,
gave us, gave me actual meaning to get going, get
further going. So it's opening up a new horizon and
new potential for me to you know, start off again.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Regular listeners of Strictly Business know that I really enjoy
producing what I call my in the field episodes. They
combine interviews with multiple people at conferences and festivals or
unusual opportunities that come my way. This year, I brought
my roving microphone to south By Southwest in Austin and
to VidCon in Anaheim. My favorite experience of the year, though,
(30:22):
was coming out of the Mipcom conference in cann in October.
I combine my love of trains with my passion for
podcasting by recording my reflections on the market while chugging
through the heart of France on a high speed train
headed for Paris. I was really sick at the time too,
but the experience is still a highlight of twenty twenty
(30:43):
three for me. Here's that clip. Unmistakably, the large European
players sense opportunity out there. They are very much watching
the turmoil in the US at the US majors between
the labor strikes that have handicapped production this year to
all of their restructuring, the streaming losses that the old
(31:05):
Guard studios have incurred as they try to make the
transition from linear to streaming. All of that is being
watched very carefully by very savvy European players. Every single
person I spoke with mentioned to me, you know that
there's such a lower price point for production in Europe.
You can just sense that there's going to be a
push to bring more production to Europe, arguing that there
(31:29):
is a ready talent pool that has become very skilled.
With the streaming boom, there is so much production all
over Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and that ensues and with
that comes a skilled talent pool that is looking for work.
Of course, they're watching to see the great contraction if
the streamers have less appetite than they have had in
(31:50):
the last couple of years. But the kind of European
and co production projects that are really kind of humming
are the kind of lower price point things that tamers want.
They may only appeal to a niche audience, but that
niche audience is going to love that costume drama from
Sweden or a ry satirical comedy coming out of Brazil
(32:13):
with subtitles. All of the producers I spoke with mentioned
that the tyranny of dealing with subtitles and dubbing is
over audiences in the US and other markets that had
been thought to be totally resistant to either subtitles or
dubbing is absolutely lifting, and certainly subtitles is winning for
many reasons. The US was a big holdout for that,
(32:33):
but all the much evidence shows that those fears are
definitely lifting, and that raises the hopes of many many producers,
and especially the labor strife, which is something Hollywood hasn't
had in a long time, and especially to this degree.
Europe is very well aware of general strikes in the
general sense of when there is a period of labor unrest,
(32:55):
and there is definite efforts to emphasize the appeal of
working with European talent in many ways.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Thank you so much for listening all year long. We
hope you enjoyed our trip down memory lane.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
You definitely don't want to miss next week's episode when Andy,
myself and other variety and VIP reporters will be on
the scene at CES in Las Vegas. We will try
to make sense of the big show for.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
You, and if you like what you're listening to, don't
forget to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. We love
hearing from our listeners.
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