Explaining the Business of Entertainment
This week’s column started out as an extended essay on the future of TV and Film production in the age of coronavirus. It went long, so expect it early next week. (Next week’s article already written? Check!) Before we get to the news, a quick set of housekeeping. On Twitter,
One of my big frustrations with the “debate” over Netflix is how little we know. That’s a gripe I share with a lot of folks. One of my big frustrations with coverage of Netflix is how seldom folks try to step into the gap and estimate data points for Netflix.
You can tell we’ve hit peak coronavirus coverage when you see the headline “Did Disney predict the virus?” Because the film Tangled features a “quarantined” character in a town called “Corona”. Yep. In more serious coverage, the predictions that coronavirus is “no big deal” have shifted to “we’ll be in
Sometimes, you really don’t need to overthink your weekly column. Thank you, Disney, and really Bob Iger, for making this easy. Most Important Story of the Week – Bob Iger Steps Down Bob Iger stepped down from his role as CEO of Disney on Tuesday, but will remain as the
Star Wars did so well in TV this year, that virtually everyone knew which character was the “symbol” for 2020: Baby Yoda! We know Baby Yoda conquered the social landscape, but how does that translate to Lucasfilm/Disney’s bottom line? Well that’s my topic for today. If you missed it, read
The Los Angeles region, and the entire basketball universe, is reeling from the death of Kobe Bryant, the legendary Lakers basketball player. If you’re looking for the “Hollywood” connection, I have two. First, the Lakers and “showtime” basketball have always been an influential part of the entertainment ecosystem in Los
With that, the final major entrant of the streaming wars has called their shot. (Besides SuperCBS. Is holding on to CBS All-Access and Showtime really their entire plan?) So we didn’t have to go very far to find our… Most Important Story of the Week – Peacock Announces Their Plan
Last December, I unveiled my theory for how big organizations use PR. Big entities—be they corporations, governments, non-profits, even news outlets—share their good information and actively hide bad information. It’s like the iceberg principle on steroids. Especially with digital companies like Netflix: (By the way, in government, the CIA is
Welcome back to my weekly column. My attempt, usually, to select the story in the business of entertainment that will end up being the “most important” for leaders, strategists and companies. Not the story that is the most buzzy or interesting—though it usually is—but the story that will have true
Since 2019 started, there has been a debate among the entertainment biz literati (you know who they are): Should you keep releasing your films in theaters, or go straight to streaming? I first saw this in January when some folks on Twitter argued Disney should release Star Wars films straight-to-streaming