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"Bundling, even with would-be competitors, is not a new idea and is a tactic multiple streamers have explored as they look, in part, to grow subscriber value and reduce churn and marketing expenses." "Who is best served to deliver streaming bundles is still somewhat a point of debate in the ecosystem, where WBD sees benefits in cutting out the middleman in some cases." "Zaslav acknowledged positive results from the Verizon-offered Max-Netflix bundle, saying it’s “doing much better than expected” and provides another example of “more strength together,” with the strategy behind bundles driven by the need for change in consumer experience in a very crowded streaming space. With Disney and WBD working together, he noted the companies get all of the data, can work directly with consumers and enhance that experience, as it’s already doing for Max." "A key theme emphasized throughout the call, is WBD’s belief that amid a crowded and fragmented streaming and TV viewing ecosystem where viewers are burdened by numerous options and rising prices, consumers will follow great content." #svod #ott #video #streaming #tv #bundle #content

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Fallout on Prime Video & Amazon Studios: A boost for the decades-old franchise Just finished Season 1 of Fallout on Amazon Prime? If you're left thinking, "That was a bleak vision of the future, but also… man, that was good," you're not alone. The show achieved the highest viewership ever for an Amazon Prime Video title in a single week. 📺 📈 My personal connection to this franchise is strong. I vividly remember playing the original games on our family PC in the late '90s and have spent countless hours wandering the post-apocalyptic landscape in every game since. 🎮🕹️ The Show’s Impact The game franchise has been quiet since the 2015 release of Fallout 4, however, the show’s release has revitalized interest. Fallout 4 saw its daily player count on Steam surge from ~25,000 in March to over 180,000 in April. Even Fallout: New Vegas, nearly 15 years old, experienced a surge to ~45,000 daily players. April 2024 became the busiest month ever for Fallout 4 modding, with 33.2 million mods installed. 📈🚀 Capitalizing on the Popularity Surge Bethesda Game Studios and Amazon are leveraging this newfound interest. Starting May 9, Amazon Prime members received free access to Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition via Prime Gaming. Bethesda also released a 'next-gen' update for Fallout 4 across all platforms, though it faced backlash due to incompatibility with existing mods. Additionally, Bethesda partnered with Wizards of the Coast to create a line of Magic: The Gathering cards set in the Fallout universe, which quickly sold out and saw resale prices soar. Missed Opportunity? While Bethesda has successfully introduced Fallout to a new wave of fans and enjoyed a revenue surge, they are not in a position to fully capitalize on this momentum. Fallout 5 is still 5-6 years away. Fans will have to satisfy their Fallout fix with Season 2 (already announced due to Season 1's success) and periodically revisit the updated Fallout 4. It makes me wonder what might have been if this excitement had been channeled into a new game release. That being said, I loved seeing one of my favorite games come to life on the screen and hope you did too. #Fallout #AmazonPrime #GamingIndustry #Bethesda #MagicTheGathering #VideoGames #GamingCommunity

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And so it begins. Cable 2.0 is here.

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Tip of the Week: Control the things you can, find someone else for the things you can't. It is not uncommon in the film industry to find producers who want to control everything, every tiny little detail... In common jobs this is called micro managing. The film industry is a collaborative industry, it has to be with the amount of jobs on a film set. the problem is too many people think that is where it stays, you should be collaborating at every stage not just filming. Find people who can do the things you cannot and let them do their thing.

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Growing A Creative Economy Through Collaboration! A few thoughts fresh from attending the exceptional Georgia Entertainment event last night! ►"Life happens at intersections". ►Five years ago our state operated via 'silos' of film/tv, music, gaming, fashion, classic arts, live events. Now these creative industries are collaborating physically, digitally, and culturally. ► Randy Davidson, Jezlan Moyet and team continue to do an amazing job currating community and generating awareness around this "Creative Economy". What legislators once saw as "Film & TV" they now appreciate as being so much more broader and larger economically and culturally. Industry leaders & creatives are embracing collaboration and community-building. ► You can't grow what you don't define and measure. Thanks to David Sutherland for putting structure around "Creative Economy". It isn't fuzzy. It has a definition and includes specific industry segments and contributes over $2 Trillion globally, and $23.8 billion to Georgia annually. ► You can't grow what you don't train for. Thanks to C Scott Votaw and Georgia Film Academy for continuing to train for the broad set of Creative Industries, with a vision of accessibility across the entire state. ► You can't grow if you are not resilient. We are in a disruptive time of technology, business models, and consumer entertainment consumption habits. Silos are frail. Cross-disciplinary communities are robust. The Creative Economy future in Georgia is strong. And appreciative that that Skillshot Media and Ghost Gaming are one part of the collaborate creative community on display last night!

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Having long been on the FCP side of the "which software" debate, the availability and uptake of AI tools within the different video editing softwares has given me reason to question this as of late. I must admit that I've started to view the others with envious eyes.... This article from fxguide breaks down what I mean by this: https://lnkd.in/ev65F_G8 p.s. the generative AI banner could have done with a second look. #videoediting #software #AI

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I'm happy to announce that my original TV pilot screenplay, PROSPERITY, was awarded a semi-finalist spot in Filmmatic's drama competition! PROSPERITY is now listed in the top 5% of all projects on Coverfly. Jen Grisanti, a writing coach and story consultant was pivotal early on in the process. Writing on the side and continuing to find inspiration, while being a full-time business owner, especially in the age of AI, is not easy. But I continue to do it for the love of bringing forth my vision. When you truly love what you're doing, while you're doing it, and realize it as what it is, a Divine gift, nothing can stand between you and your vision. No matter how easy it gets to seemingly create via AI (and will continue to get easier), there's always room for your human vision to influence it. After all, it was trained on human creation and human intelligence. Even in a new coming world filled with instantly prompted niche movies, people will crave something human-centric. Something they can empathize with, identify with, and feel inspired by the journey they're taken on by a human-centric hero. I truly believe nothing will replace human creativity. As long as humans are watching, reading and paying attention to a hero's journey, nothing will replace that human-centric story. #screenwriting #screenwriter #entrepreneur #marketing #storyteller

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It's NOT. But what this really is about is a call-to-action and reaction to the industry earthquakes of the past year or so. One thing's clear: It's never going to be same again. And to be honest, things will probably be worse for a while longer before they get better - if they even do get better. But we have to change. We have to adapt. That's just the way it is, folks. #animation #cartoons #cartoonnetwork https://lnkd.in/gn3T-9fP

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MARTIN GROVE'S FILM FLASHBACK: STAR WARS EPISODE 1 - THE PHANTOM MENACE - 25TH ANNIVERSARY REISSUE OPENS 5/3/2024 -- If you saw STAR WARS in 1977, you likely were jolted a bit 22 years later when it suddenly became the series' fourth episode. That renumbering came when George Lucas answered fans' calls for more STAR WARS movies. Instead of new sequels, he gave them a prequel trilogy -- starting with STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE, which opened May 19, 1999 via 20th Century-Fox and, most recently, had a 25th anniversary reissue May 3, 2024. Written & directed by Lucas, MENACE's stars include Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor & Natalie Portman. Its story precedes the original trilogy by 32 years. Lucas had realized while writing STAR WARS that he had far more story material than would fit into one movie. After his first episode became a global boxoffice phenomenon with $775.4M in ticket sales, Lucas moved forward with two sequels that he didn't want to direct. THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980), directed by Irvin Kirschner & written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, did $538.4M globally. RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983), directed by Richard Marquand & written by Lawrence Kasdan and Lucas, did $475.1M globally. For the next 22 years, that was the entire STAR WARS movie universe. By the 1990s, advances in computer generated imagery (CGI) caught Lucas's attention because now visual effects were possible that he couldn't do for  the earlier episodes. It also helped that Lucas could now spend whatever it took to achieve his vision on screen. His first three episodes' budgets reportedly were $11M, $18M and $32.5M while reports put MENACE's budget at $115M. News of the prequels surfaced in October 1993 as Lucas was writing MENACE. Years earlier he'd developed enough backstories to make prequels work, which accelerated his writing. Lucas hadn't wanted to write or direct the prequels, but he wasn't able to bring others on board. He asked Kasdan to return to write MENACE, but Kasdan said Lucas, himself, should now resume full creative control of his STAR WARS films. Lucas reportedly also failed to get Frank Darabont (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) to write the script or to hire Carrie Fisher as the project's  script doctor. Lucas also went after directors, including Ron Howard, who recalled  in November 2015 that he, Robert Zemeckis & Steven Spielberg were all offered to direct MENACE. They all told Lucas he should do it, himself. Fortunately for Lucas, he took their good advice. MENACE grossed $1.03B worldwide. STAR WARS: EPISODE II - ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002), which Lucas directed & co-wrote (with Jonathan Hales), grossed $653.8M globally. And STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH (2005), which Lucas directed & wrote, did $868.4M worldwide. #movies #martingrove #starwars  

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O P T I M I S T I C ! ! ”Los Angeles Film and TV Production Sees Sluggish Rebound From Strikes, but There’s Optimism” according to a report from FilmLA which notes an anemic return to filming in the region but that jobs appeared to return in full force in March. Filming in Los Angeles has been slow to bounce back after production in the region was decimated by Hollywood’s historic season of strikes.  The main reason for the sluggish rebound: A double-digit drop in television shoots compared to the same period last year.  Also playing a factor in the decline were reductions in content spend across most major studios, series cancellations and runaway production.  While the difference was steep in January (30.6 percent fewer jobs, totaling 2,282), it was modest in February (5.1 percent fewer jobs, totaling 3,061) and nearly unnoticeable by the end of March (a 0.4 percent increase, totaling 3,274 jobs).  There’s optimism in production levels for feature films. The category rose slightly in the quarter, picking up 634 shoot days to finish an estimated 7 percent ahead of the same months last year. Movies in production included Beverly Hills Cop 4, Atlas, and Lurker, all of which are getting tax credits to film in California.  FilmLA also flagged the loss of commercial production — which slipped nearly 10 percent year-over-year and more than 33 percent below the five-year average — to other jurisdictions as a concern. Filming for smaller, lower-cost shoots, such as documentaries, music videos and still photography, similarly fell by roughly 5 percent. Entertainment Partners https://lnkd.in/g5veEE6R https://lnkd.in/gjhbnQdG

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MARTIN GROVE'S HOLLYWOOD REPORT FOR 6/9/24: BAD put exhibitors in a good mood with a turbo-charged $56M launch that left theatrical naysayers in the dust.   Hollywood handicappers originally buzzed that the R rated Sony/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' BAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE would drive off with $40-50M and then upped it to $45-50M -- and mid-weekend went to $53M! Sony lowballed expectations with a $30M estimate.   Driven by BAD, the weekend marketplace totaled $103.5M, per Comscore, up 54% from the prior weekend and down 38% vs. this time last year. Comscore's year to date tally has 2024 at $2.83B, down 26% from $3.81B in 2023. Last weekend, 2024 was down 24% vs. 2023.   BAD hammers home that people haven't stopped moviegoing. When  there's something playing they want to see, they show up -- despite high ticket costs, oversized concession prices and inflated related costs like transport, babysitters and dinners out.   This bummer summer reflects the retreads, prequels and worn out IP Hollywood tried to get away with. The coming summer weeks should sizzle with Disney/Pixar's INSIDE OUT 2 (6/14), Universal/Illumination Entertainment's DESPICABLE ME 4 (7/3) and Disney/Marvel's DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (7/26).   Meanwhile, back at the multiplexes: BAD, which reportedly cost $100M to produce, opened to a wildly overperforming $56M at 3,885 theatres ($14,414). Internationally, per Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian, it debuted to "$48.6M for a global opening of $104.6M."   BAD's tracking for first choice is best with men over 25 (16 points over norm) and next best with under-25 men (15 points over norm). Women over 25 are 11 points over norm and women under 25 are five points over norm. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes are a blah 64%, but audiences are cheering at 97%.   WB/NL's PG-13 horror thriller THE WATCHERS opened #4 to $7M at 3,351 theatres ($2,089). It's the feature directorial debut for Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night Shyamalan, whose thriller TRAP, starring his daughter Saleka Shyamalan, opens 8/9 via WB. WATCHERS' first choice tracking is below norm for all demos. RT critics hate it at 29% and audiences are a scary 52%. WATCHERS did $4.7M internationally for a global cume of $11.7M.   Sony/Alcon Entertainment's PG animated family appeal THE GARFIELD MOVIE was #2 in weekend three with $10M (-29%) at 3,959 theatres ($2,526). It reportedly cost just $60M and has done $68.6M domestic and $192.7M worldwide.   As for next weekend: Disney/Pixar's PG animated "INSIDE OUT 2" is opening at about 4,200 theatres. Some pundits see an $85-95M debut. It's tracking best for first choice with women under 25 (20 points above norm) and next best with over-25 women (eight points over norm).   Roadside Attractions' R rated historical drama "FIREBRAND" is opening in limited release. RT critics are executing it at 52%.   #movies #boxoffice #martingrove #badboys    

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“Apple Music is rolling out a new ‘premium’ data analytics toolkit for its record label and distributor partners. The new ‘Apple Music Partner Program’ features various tools for Apple Music’s partners to track trends on its streaming service as well as global radio plays using Shazam technology. According to the landing page for the platform, it offers “access [to] more tools to break the next talent, spot emerging trends, and uncover new insights about your content”. “Apple Music already runs another analytics platform in Apple Music For Artists, which was made available for every artist on Apple Music in August 2019. Apple Music For Artists allows artists to monitor the volume of their streaming plays on Apple Music, all within a data set that updates daily. Spotify launched its own Spotify For Artists app in 2017 (an evolution of the ‘Fan Insights’ tool it introduced two years earlier) to provide artists and their teams with information pertaining to their popularity on the service. Like Spotify for Artists, the Apple Music For Artists service is available as both a desktop interface and a standalone mobile app.” #Apple #AppleMusic #Artists #RecordLabels #Spotify #Fans #Fandom #Streaming #StreamingRoyalties #Royalties #RecordedMusic #StreamingServices #StreamingMedia #MusicTracks #MusicStreams #Music #MusicBusiness #Musica #MusicIndustry #Musique #Musik #MusicBiz

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ARE THREE C.E.O.s BETTER THAN ONE? In the midst of a complex media landscape and in the middle of negotiations for the sale of Shari Redstone's controlling stake in Paramount, the company announces a change in management. A new "Office of the CEO", with not one, not two, but three CEOs. When I heard this, I recalled a Freakonomics podcast where they investigated the question, "Are Two CEO's Better Than One?". So when I heard there would be an office of the CEO with now three leaders of company, the obvious question is, will this work? Now, despite tensions between Redstone and departing CEO Bob Bakish, the board expresses confidence in the leadership team's ability to execute a new strategic plan. The Office of the CEO at Paramount comprises business executives tasked with accelerating growth, streamlining operations, and optimizing streaming strategy. Meanwhile, potential suitors like Skydance Media, Sony, and Apollo are considering bids. It's an exciting time, that's for sure! Can a global brand and media company be run with three CEOs? The Freakonomics podcast effectively boils down to a "yes". But it's a qualified yes, that's for sure. It looks only at situations where there have been two CEOs let alone three. The ability to leverage specific skills, time, and personalities, is all on the table. Will it work or this a three-body problem? A likely possibility is that when the M&A activity finds its footing the dust will settle and the CEO question will be resolved.

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The reason ARwall's ARFX won AI Product of the Year at NAB Show is because it's an XR/AI filmmaking software suite that promises: 1. A business strategy that doesn't involve stealing or coercing filmmakers out of their hard work, allowing us to promise that we'll never steal that data, 2. Allowing filmmakers to train their own model for their own film, in an intuitive process, 3. Making that data private, even to ARwall, 4. Making that data portable/downloadable, meaning we have to continue delivering value, or you can take your training data and go elsewhere, 5. And we're owned and operated by filmmakers, and have served filmmakers for 8+ years pioneering XRVP. Beta sign up is here, for those interested in learning more: https://lnkd.in/g9rWK8jd *** Here's the part that I'm advised not to put in an official press release, but for the tech nerds, provides more guidance on our rationale and strategy: What do I mean by #1? What "business strategy"? Major legacy software corps are attempting to use the "compute cost to SaaS subs" ratio model perfected on cloud here in genAI. But they will fail, because unlike cloud there's no persistent distributed network needed for genAI, symmetrical hardware constraints for model-building are loosening, and it's a near certainty that people will be able to homebrew their models more effectively than on-prem compute was at replacing cloud compute. With those considerations, here's the theory we're taking a gamble on: generative AI models are content, not products themselves, and the ability to generate them should be shared with creators of content. With current processing hardware innovations, we can return to a more equitable model like envisioned in the early 90s, ditching the mainframe and terminal paradigm, and bringing the data and compute onto your desk and keeping it there. That means this moment is NOT a crisis for labor and indie, as has been claimed, but the greatest opportunity to reclaim ownership. Seeing the opportunity this way requires some anachronistic assumptions about computing, but this is our conclusion: we want to propagate true creator ownership of these tools and processes. Not just because that's how we correct for some of the industry missteps that have been made, but because it's good for filmmakers and good for business. https://lnkd.in/gNfGNUC2

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SUB MERGE Can a sinking ship pick up speed? In a race to the bottom, it seems so. “The first quarter was the worst ever for pay TV subscriber losses. Even YouTube TV, the only real ‘winner’ thus far in linear video’s dismantling, posted its first-ever quarterly sub loss.” - Craig Moffett, MoffettNathanson LLC https://lnkd.in/eEHrrc7J In Q1 2024, YouTube found out what every other MVPD already knew - the Pay TV biz sucks eggs. As soon as the NFL season ended, a stadium full of YouTube subs (150K) who had bundled NFL Sunday Ticket with YouTube TV, headed for the exits. The MVPD/vMVPD ecosystem lost 12.3% of its customers in Q1. In his report, Craig describes a "Doom Cycle" for MVPDs, in which programming, subscribers, and ad dollars all continue to drain out via the of #PayTV ecosystem, leaving little else but the hull. Sure, NFL Sunday Ticket subs will return to YouTube TV - temporarily, anyway. BUT, with more and more sports headed for streaming (National Basketball Association (NBA), WWE, National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB)) it's very likely cable’s plummet will pick up speed. And (in my own version of Doom Cycle Theory) as those subs swim away to streaming, they will watch and discover less content in overall, which will force a bloody fight over seats on the TV lifeboats for programmers and platforms. Discovery USED to be one of the key benefits of the cable bundle for programmers and audiences. Having run small cable channels and produced small cable shows like Portlandia and Please Like Me, I promise you that discovery has eroded in the latter years of this new streaming-focused era. This is one of the major contributors to a more macro trend - audiences are actually cutting back on the amount of media they use - reducing their total media consumption by 30 minutes per day across video, audio, social, and gaming from 2022 to 2023. https://lnkd.in/egpe9D9f But, hey, at least the band plays on!

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Resource Management Applications that deliver our video platforms to consumers are truly only as good as the people who build and run them. Case in point, Joe Daniel, Seven.One Entertainment Group. Joe oversees an array of applications for seven.one, across digital and legacy media, delivering everything from news to sports. However, as important as their tech stack is to their operation, Joe and I spent a good deal of time on the human resources needed to make the app trains run on time. In the daily disruption cycle that is modern entertainment, it takes high quality human resources to truly compete. The direct correlation between the right number of highly talented people and the ability to stay ahead of the streaming curve and deliver products that satisfy consumer need, is not something most folks in the C-Suite grok. Joe and I talked about the need for talent, the complications of managing a team that lives both in and out of house, and his very high expectations for the partners he brings on board. When we discussed when to BUILD vs when to BUY certain services for app development, we did NOT get into the nitty gritty of workflow, but rather, Joe focussed on the importance of TRUST. He reminded me that your investment in tech often doesn't matter, if you don't make equivalent investment in the humans who do the work. Thanks so much to Applicaster for empowering this series and shining a spotlight on the people in it. Catch a clip below. Watch the whole episode here: https://lnkd.in/emwKSEww #Apps #applications #streaming

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