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Speaker 1: Welcome to a special bonus episode of Variety's podcast Strictly Business.

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Speaker 1: I'm Cynthia Lyttleton, co editor in chief of Variety. Variety

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Speaker 1: held its annual Entertainment and Technology Summit in West Hollywood

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Speaker 1: on September twenty sixth. It was sro. It was a

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Speaker 1: day full of great interviews about where the business of

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Speaker 1: media and entertainment is going. The summit concluded with a

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Speaker 1: live Strictly Business podcast taping that we tried to have

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Speaker 1: some fun with. Call it a wonky Tonight's show. We

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Speaker 1: even had a couch. Andrew Wallenstein is my colleague of

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Speaker 1: more than twenty years and my co host since this

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Speaker 1: podcast began in twenty eighteen. He and I started off

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Speaker 1: by talking about the major themes that arose during the day.

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Speaker 1: Then we brought up our first guest, Laura Martin, senior

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Speaker 1: entertainment and Internet analyst for Needeman Company. She never has

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Speaker 1: a shortage of opinions of about the state of big

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Speaker 1: media and big tech. And then joining Laura was Ernan Lopez.

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Speaker 1: Ernan's an industry veteran who had a long run at Fox.

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Speaker 1: He then founded the wildly successful podcast network Wondery, now

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Speaker 1: owned by Amazon. His latest venture is OWL and Co,

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Speaker 1: a consulting firm that advises companies on how to understand

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Speaker 1: the new economics of streaming. It's a good conversation, we

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Speaker 1: don't agree on everything. After that, we have a selection

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Speaker 1: of clips from five of the day's sessions. You'll hear

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Speaker 1: from AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aarron, Scope Ly Chief Revenue Officer,

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Speaker 1: Tim O'Brien, Warner Brothers TV Group Chairman Channing Dungee, and

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Speaker 1: DC Studios co chair and co CEO Peter Saffron.

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Speaker 2: We close with some.

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Speaker 1: Funny thoughts on serious matters from a group of actors

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Speaker 1: who also host podcasts, including Whitney Cummings, Lamore and Morris

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Speaker 1: and Eliza Slessinger. It's an action pack bonus episode this week,

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Speaker 1: and it's all coming up after the break. We're grateful

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Speaker 1: to our presenting sponsor, City National Bank and premier sponsor

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Speaker 1: Amazon Ads for their support of Varieties Entertainment and Technology Summit.

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Speaker 1: Thank you everyone, Thanks for sticking around. I know it's

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Speaker 1: been a long day. We really appreciate you sticking with

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Speaker 1: us and making this such a robust conversation we've both had.

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Speaker 2: We've had great panels up here. We've had great.

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Speaker 1: Hallway discussions, the hallmark of a great conference, and we

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Speaker 1: are as I hope you all know, we are the

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Speaker 1: co hosts since twenty eighteen of Strictly Business, which is

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Speaker 1: a labor of love, Thank you, thank you, thunderous applause,

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Speaker 1: a true labor of love podcast that we do. It's

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Speaker 1: a weekly interview and we as we bill every episode

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Speaker 1: leaders in the industry of media and entertainment, and that

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Speaker 1: is exactly what we have here today. This whole day

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Speaker 1: has been just a delight, a treat for both of

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Speaker 1: us love to geek out on the future of entertainment

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Speaker 1: and the nitty gritty. And that's what I love about

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Speaker 1: our events is we really dig into it. So we

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Speaker 1: have a so we're taping this. This will be a

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Speaker 1: bonus episode. If I do my job right when I

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Speaker 1: get home, it'll be out tomorrow afternoon. We're very excited

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Speaker 1: about a quick turnaround, and we just wanted to start

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Speaker 1: here by Andy and I chopping it up. This is

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Speaker 1: what we do in the office, and now we do

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Speaker 1: it for fun on podcasts. But we're just going to

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Speaker 1: chop it up a little bit on some of the

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Speaker 1: stuff we've heard today, we have some very very special guests,

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Speaker 1: and we have a couch, so we figured we're going

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Speaker 1: to do a Tonight's show thing and bring some folks

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Speaker 1: up and have a conversation.

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Speaker 2: But for right now, let's just get right into it.

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Speaker 2: Andy and I will start with start.

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Speaker 1: I'll start where the day started with Adam Aaron, the

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Speaker 1: CEO of AMC Things.

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Speaker 3: Shy retiring Wallflower CEO type.

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Speaker 1: Now, he has obviously been through a roller coaster with

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Speaker 1: AMC and the stock I think everybody we all know

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Speaker 1: about the AMC stock dramas. He's certainly a very confident

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Speaker 1: He projected a great confidence about his company and the

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Speaker 1: future of moviegoing. I obviously, you know movies is a

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Speaker 1: core a variety and we are absolutely rooting for that

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Speaker 1: very important medium to thrive. But I have to admit it,

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Speaker 1: I was a touch skeptical. What did you think about

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Speaker 1: what Adam had to say?

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Speaker 3: Well, I think it's right for him to lean into

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Speaker 3: the fact that the movies right now have come roaring back,

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Speaker 3: and that is good for his business and others. It's

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Speaker 3: been remarkable when you compare the data from say the

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Speaker 3: first quarter of the year, which was I mean flatline

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Speaker 3: where people were like, the movie business is not going

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Speaker 3: to exist much longer. And then the summer came and

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Speaker 3: there was a few false starts, but it's been smooth

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Speaker 3: sailing ever since. And here we are in.

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Speaker 2: Fall beetled h beatle. Jew's doing great.

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Speaker 3: So I can understand if Adam Aaron comes out here

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Speaker 3: with some confidence, but I still, perhaps like yourself, feel

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Speaker 3: like there are some long term issues here where I'm

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Speaker 3: not so sure AMC is not going to be out

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Speaker 3: of the basement anytime soon.

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Speaker 1: Stockwise, you know, we looked in there about about four

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Speaker 1: point fifty and that you know, that's a that's a

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Speaker 1: that's a very low market cap for a company that

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Speaker 1: has the reach and the footprint that they do. So

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Speaker 1: it was very good to hear that their debt, you know,

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Speaker 1: he sounded he projected a great confidence about the debt,

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Speaker 1: which was a huge issue, and I think that it

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Speaker 1: was another good sign that, you know, you either file

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Speaker 1: for bankruptcy or you don't, and speculation sometimes to the contrary,

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Speaker 1: you know, speculation about it obviously can be very harmful

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Speaker 1: for a company. I always, I always take note for

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Speaker 1: those kinds of things when you hear from CEOs, but

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Speaker 1: he sounded very proud to have escaped the chapter eleven

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Speaker 1: that the you know, the the trauma of going through

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Speaker 1: even a reorganization, you know. But I think he projected

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Speaker 1: a confidence about movie going coming back. I think it's

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Speaker 1: certainly as a summer thing, but in terms of in

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Speaker 1: terms of is it a you know, as a twelve

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Speaker 1: month a year business, I think it is still.

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Speaker 2: Not entirely out of the woods.

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Speaker 1: But I did feel, like so many people we heard

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Speaker 1: from Peter Saffron other people, there is so much energy

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Speaker 1: and creativity and a sense that things It would have

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Speaker 1: been hard for us to believe five years ago about

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Speaker 1: will there be a future of moviegoing At the same time,

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Speaker 1: you and I wouldn't you know, you and I would

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Speaker 1: have been surprised ten years ago to be talking about

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Speaker 1: where the cable business is, the cable business that used

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Speaker 1: to be the envy of television with its famous dual

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Speaker 1: revenue streams.

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Speaker 2: So how far we have dropped change? Things can change.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, Although I found I found Peter Saffron to be

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Speaker 3: really interesting. D C, of course has been in Marvel's

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Speaker 3: shadow for such a long time. But here we are

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Speaker 3: a week or two removed from the successful launch of

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Speaker 3: the Penguin, and I'm feeling good about the hand that

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Speaker 3: Peter is gonna play.

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Speaker 2: I thought that.

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Speaker 3: I got confidence watching that he knows what he's doing,

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Speaker 3: and I'm looking forward to seeing DC gets the momentum.

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Speaker 1: It certainly you and David Zaslov for sure. Yeah, but

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Speaker 1: it is interesting. We heard from Channing Dungee, chairman of

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Speaker 1: Warner Brothers TV, an awesome, awesome executive, and she also

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Speaker 1: it was interesting to hear from her and then Peter

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Speaker 1: that there's much more coordination and a much more more

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Speaker 1: intricate plan for a true universe.

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Speaker 2: Gee. I don't know where they got that idea, but

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Speaker 2: it's much more.

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Speaker 1: Of a true universe than it we remember, you know,

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Speaker 1: Warner Brothers TV. It did Small Villa, it did, it

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Speaker 1: worked more in silos. The films did not connect with

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Speaker 1: the TV series and vice versa. Now that's gonna happen,

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Speaker 1: and you're gonna throw gaming in there.

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Speaker 2: So it really is.

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Speaker 3: And now I'm very confident that Warner Brothers Discovery is

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Speaker 3: smooth sailing the rest of the way and their stock

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Speaker 3: will just come flying back. You know, there's nothing thing Channing,

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Speaker 3: who yes is terrific. UH could say that is going

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Speaker 3: to clear the uh, let's say the confidence issue I

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Speaker 3: have with the future of that company. There's so many

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Speaker 3: other pieces of that puzzle that are really troubling, particularly

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Speaker 3: on the sports side.

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Speaker 1: It'll be interesting. Obviously Q three earnings are just around

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Speaker 1: the corner. It'll be very the you know, the green shoots.

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Speaker 1: The indications for where Max is on its global rollout

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Speaker 1: will be very significant.

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Speaker 2: That is for sure.

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Speaker 1: I don't think we have seen quite the end of

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Speaker 1: things changing there, but I definitely from today got the

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Speaker 1: sense that the studio, the Warner Brothers proper studio, is

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Speaker 1: revved up, and they they have their plans and their targets,

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Speaker 1: and now now it's.

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Speaker 2: About execution, which is you could pretty much.

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Speaker 1: Say that about anything, but it is a very It

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Speaker 1: is a very I don't want to drag this on

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Speaker 1: because we have guests and we want to We also

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Speaker 1: we are the thin line between the cocktail party.

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Speaker 2: We so appreciate you guys hanging in there with us.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to throw out one thing that I thought,

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Speaker 1: just throwing it out, there is so much interest in

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Speaker 1: predictive markets, anything that can kind of give a window

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Speaker 1: into where consumers where trends are. And something that I

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Speaker 1: heard from the Pinterest executive who was on a panel

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Speaker 1: earlier was a card Yeah, very a name certainly that

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Speaker 1: is known in entertainment as well. He was talking about

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Speaker 1: pinterest predicts, which is something that that sort of their

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Speaker 1: predictive service where you know, they have great visibility into

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Speaker 1: what arts and crafts and people, you know, are they making,

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Speaker 1: you know, Macroma, Taylor Swift paintings, are they doing you know?

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Speaker 1: Or has Charlie XCX taken over the you know? And

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Speaker 1: that's just a small example. I mean, there are so

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Speaker 1: many crafters on them, you know, tens of millions, and

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Speaker 1: it just just goes to show that anywhere you have

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Speaker 1: audience and you have people congregating, you have data and

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Speaker 1: data data, data that is the gold, that is the

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Speaker 1: pot at the end of the rainbow that everybody seems

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Speaker 1: to want.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely And obviously that came through in the that came

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Speaker 3: through the Pinterest panel, also came through in the Generative

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Speaker 3: a panel that Carolyn Giardina presided over. Data is the

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Speaker 3: new oil is the expression. And yeah, it was interesting

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Speaker 3: to hear on the Pinterest side that that is useful information,

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Speaker 3: but when Malik laid it out like that, I totally

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Speaker 3: got it. I could see marketers kind of falling all

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Speaker 3: over themselves for that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot of interest there.

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Speaker 1: Just real quick, I'm gonna run through some things and

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Speaker 1: we're going to bring up our first guest. I heard

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Speaker 1: an interesting phrase that I hadn't heard before, a share

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Speaker 1: of wallet, which is very interesting for a consumer direct

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Speaker 1: to consumer subscription business. Can only imagine how they go

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Speaker 1: about how they go about tracking that. But undoubtedly AI.

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Speaker 2: Tools will help possess sure.

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Speaker 1: Roadblocks, roadblocks, roadblocks. I heard roadblocks mentioned a number of times.

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Speaker 1: I think that is a clearly a platform to watch.

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Speaker 3: Yes, lots of incredible activations. I think even in the

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Speaker 3: media business this year, Netflix, some other players, that is

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Speaker 3: the hot platform now.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely well, I think it's time we could go on.

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Speaker 1: But I think it's time. We would love to get

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Speaker 1: some perspective, and I would like to bring up our

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Speaker 1: first guests, Laura.

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Speaker 2: Martin, Come on up. Laura just stares right over there.

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Speaker 3: Laura, Laura, of course is from Needham and Company, an analyst,

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Speaker 3: peerless among and peerless and fearless, I should say in

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Speaker 3: her opinions. So let's just dive right in with her. Laura,

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Speaker 3: I guess I would want to start with You were

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Speaker 3: in DC recently and it got me thinking about what

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Speaker 3: the political environment is going to mean for the content business.

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Speaker 3: I would assume there's going to be a very big difference,

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Speaker 3: at least regulatorally. That's a word speaking based on which

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Speaker 3: president we end up with in November.

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Speaker 2: Wouldn't you say?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think that's true.

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Speaker 5: I think that the current administration and the White House

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Speaker 5: has Democrats at the head of the FCC, the FTC,

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Speaker 5: and the DOJ by law because those are sort of

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Speaker 5: agencies of the executive branch, and if Trump is elected

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Speaker 5: he will fire by law, he has to choose different

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Speaker 5: chairmen and therefore their agenda then takes precedent. So it

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Speaker 5: is my opinion that if Trump is elected president, you

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Speaker 5: will get more m and a activity, which would be

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Speaker 5: good for the traditional Hollywood businesses because they need to.

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Speaker 3: Merge because they're tiny and they have to the only

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Speaker 3: way to scale is to combine, right.

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Speaker 2: I would say that differently.

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Speaker 5: I would say they're inherently growing low single digits, and

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Speaker 5: when they combine they can cut costs. They lay off people,

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Speaker 5: but at least their earnings growth instead of like if

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Speaker 5: even if their revenue is growing three to five percent,

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Speaker 5: at least their earnings growth can be ten and fifteen

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Speaker 5: percent while they cut costs.

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Speaker 2: And that makes it investable.

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Speaker 3: And what do you envision should Kamala Harris be president?

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Speaker 3: Does that mean regular Tory ice, I mean not going

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Speaker 3: to happen.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I would guess that because she's sort of Biden protege.

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Speaker 5: She keeps a lot of the FTCFCC and DJ chairman

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Speaker 5: in place. So we'll just have status quo. No mergers,

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Speaker 5: big as bad. It takes Amazon fourteen months to buy MGM,

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Speaker 5: which is a ten billion dollar acquisition for a three

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Speaker 5: trillion dollar company in an asset they had nothing in before.

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Speaker 5: So it just makes it hard on a lot of

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Speaker 5: uncertainty to try to do mergers. And unfortunately that's just

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Speaker 5: going to put companies, more companies in the traditional Hollywood

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Speaker 5: space out of business because paramoun shouldn't be independent.

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Speaker 2: Fox is too small to be independent.

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Speaker 5: A lot of these are just too small now given

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Speaker 5: their competitors, our YouTube and Amazon Prime.

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Speaker 1: Laura, given that you you primarily cover Google, Apple, you

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Speaker 1: covered the companies with the biggest balance sheets, in the world.

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Speaker 1: How when you and but you you know, you know

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Speaker 1: the entertainment marketplace, well you know your paramount if your

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Speaker 1: Fox or even if you're one of Brother's Discovery, right now,

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Speaker 1: what do you do?

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Speaker 5: So one of the issues with the traditional businesses is

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Speaker 5: they're overlevered right because of acquisitions, so they really ideally

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Speaker 5: they could merge together. You know, ideally the as we know,

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Speaker 5: distribution and content are complementary. So if Apple, which has distribution,

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Speaker 5: could buy Disney, which has the ability to make content,

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Speaker 5: that of course is fantastic. But to the extent mergers

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Speaker 5: are not allowed because big is bad. Then what happens

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Speaker 5: is basically these companies have to figure out a way

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Speaker 5: to cut cost cut cost cut costs. But meanwhile, back

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Speaker 5: at the ranch, public investors have opportunities like with generatived

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Speaker 5: by driven assets that are much more interesting than the

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Speaker 5: traditional media business.

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Speaker 1: Do you think Tim Cook, if he could, would write

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Speaker 1: that check today to buy Disney.

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Speaker 5: So the issue that both Apple and Disney have are

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Speaker 5: these cult cultures, which has a real.

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Speaker 2: Non invent here problem.

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Speaker 5: The answer is that what I think happens next with

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Speaker 5: Apple is they have a library replacement cycle. I mean,

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Speaker 5: they either the iPhone seventeen or the iPhone eighteen have

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Speaker 5: a supercycle, and then what gets happens to growth. So

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Speaker 5: they have a big year and now growth goes negative

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Speaker 5: because structurally we have like penetration of smartphones. So he

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Speaker 5: then has to grow.

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Speaker 2: Well, you know what a good way to grow.

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Speaker 5: Is or grow engagement length is to own a film

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Speaker 5: company or own a television company that's good at storytelling.

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Speaker 5: So I do think depending on the regulatory environment and

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Speaker 5: depending on where they are in the growth trajectory. But

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Speaker 5: Apple's doing nothing with jen Ai, which means to me

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Speaker 5: they think making pink phones is a cool idea, and

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Speaker 5: you know that's just not a thing and its way.

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Speaker 3: Say, isn't the new Apple sixteen supposed to have a

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Speaker 3: whole intelligence level to it?

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Speaker 5: I mean four months from now maybe, And who knows

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Speaker 5: what that means? Don't not launch it with the phone.

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Speaker 5: It's not there.

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Speaker 3: Yet, I know, but it will be there, and I

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Speaker 3: think it will be a big deal for Apple.

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Speaker 2: I guess we'll see.

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Speaker 1: Oh, okay, let me ask you, Laura, what is your

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Speaker 1: sense Apple? Obviously they've made you know, they've made inroads

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Speaker 1: and they've made they've made some significant impact with their content.

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Speaker 1: They've had, you know, major hits like Ted Lasso winning Emmys.

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Speaker 1: They've had some shows that really break through, but it's

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Speaker 1: still the Hollywood sense is that it's still a very

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Speaker 1: very small business in the scheme of Apple. What is

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Speaker 1: your sense of how Apple views content? The content that

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Speaker 1: they produce.

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Speaker 5: So they're and they do ninety billion dollars a year

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Speaker 5: a free cash flow, and they spend two billion dollars

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Speaker 5: a year on content, which means they don't care. And

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Speaker 5: when you look at who they work with, it is

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Speaker 5: the creme de la creme. Like they don't I don't

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Speaker 5: think they care what Tom Hanks is going to do.

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Speaker 5: They just know Tom Hanks is going to be safe

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Speaker 5: and it will not hurt the Apple brand or Jennifer Aniston.

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Speaker 5: They look at talent that is beyond reproach, that has

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Speaker 5: the triple A rating that Apple has because they are

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Speaker 5: deathly afraid of hurting their own brand. That's actually not

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Speaker 5: a content business. That's a affiliation with an influencer that

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Speaker 5: is got a triple A rating.

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Speaker 2: But that isn't a mass business.

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Speaker 5: I mean mass businesses take risks like these content this

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Speaker 5: panel you just had. They're cutting edge they're doing things

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Speaker 5: that are actually broader and edgier to attract audiences because

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Speaker 5: that is the diversity of the global audience.

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Speaker 2: So no, they're not serious.

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Speaker 1: Is there anybody out there that you think, anybody in

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Speaker 1: the traditional or the new entertainment space, anybody in the

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Speaker 1: entertainment space that is really impressing you with their content?

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Speaker 5: YouTube YouTube is impressed me with its content because.

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Speaker 2: It's not with their content, with their content strategy.

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Speaker 5: I meant to say, you know, I like what Amaton

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Speaker 5: on Prime is doing, but of course I focus on monetization.

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Speaker 5: That's my day job, so I really like it too

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Speaker 5: that on the CTV frame they're linking it to Amazon sales.

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Speaker 5: Like I think that's where advertising's going that more and more,

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Speaker 5: we are not going to have proxies like like Samba

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Speaker 5: TV or I Spot TV or Nielsen. We're not going

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Speaker 5: to have those anymore. We're going to have an ad

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Speaker 5: link to performance. So of course a lot of the

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Speaker 5: Facebook ads are linked to performance, but now that's about

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Speaker 5: to come to CTV, or it is coming to CTV

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Speaker 5: with Amazon Prime Video since January twenty fourth, they're going

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Speaker 5: to link it to online sales. When Walmart is allowed

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Speaker 5: to buy video. They're going to sell visio ads and

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Speaker 5: link it to both offline and online sales at Walmart stores.

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Speaker 3: That would sad by the way, If TikTok can manage

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Speaker 3: to stay in this country, they will also be a

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Speaker 3: player in this space. They're already showing some nice progress

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Speaker 3: in terms of driving commerce opportunities off of the marketing

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Speaker 3: that is on the platform.

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Speaker 5: My pushback is TikTok is not a CTV. Yeah, I know,

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Speaker 5: ad unit, which is a big difference. There's two dollars

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Speaker 5: CPM units on a mobile phone and twenty dollars CPM

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Speaker 5: units on a CTV.

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Speaker 3: Right, But I'm saying there's a I think a broader

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Speaker 3: commerce trend here that's broader than just ETV. And I

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Speaker 3: think the social players are going to be a factor.

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Speaker 5: Okay, And I think you see that on YouTube. I

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Speaker 5: mean I don't mean that, I mean meta, I mean

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Speaker 5: your newsfeed. You know how they're constantly trying to sell

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Speaker 5: you stuff. Sure in the news feed for Instagram and.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, and I think all those players will be there.

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Speaker 3: I just think TikTok is taking it further now. They

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Speaker 3: just got to stay in this country.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there's that We're.

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Speaker 1: Going to bring up our next guest, Ernan Lopez, who

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Speaker 1: is an analyst and founder and CEO.

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Speaker 2: Of OWL and Co Research. There you go.

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Speaker 3: We should also point out that he bought and sold

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Speaker 3: a little podcast company called Wondery sou.

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Speaker 2: And the founder of Wondering.

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Speaker 3: That's right, So no better person to get into this with.

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Speaker 2: Ernan. Can you talk to you?

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Speaker 1: Just this morning on Variety dot com, just posted a

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Speaker 1: very interesting analysis of You've done a deep dive into

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Speaker 1: some of the into all of the numbers, the numbers

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Speaker 1: that Netflix has released and others, and you've got some

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Speaker 1: interesting analysis of how the marketplace is emerging, but also

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Speaker 1: some interesting ROI analysis. Can you talk about what you

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Speaker 1: have learned in all of your numbers crunching.

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Speaker 6: Yes, I started out in company with a framework called

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Speaker 6: stream onomics. It is essentially bringing unit economics into the

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Speaker 6: new stage that the business is in of television making

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Speaker 6: and remaking, television and film, licensing, marketing and merchandising. And

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Speaker 6: what I mean by that is traditionally, when I worked

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Speaker 6: at Fox International Channels, we used to think of the

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Speaker 6: unit as the movie, the television show, the hour of programming.

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Speaker 6: But when I started Wondering and All of my investors

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Speaker 6: came from the venture capital world. All of them had

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Speaker 6: tech backgrounds. The really thought of the unit as the consumer,

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Speaker 6: the customer or the hour of engagement and as all

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Speaker 6: the new entrance of large scale in the last years

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Speaker 6: in the streaming world had been companies from the tech world.

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Speaker 6: There be in Netflix, they've been new to Apple and Amazon.

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Speaker 6: They all think with that unique economics framework, and that's

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Speaker 6: I think it's the adjustment that all of us in

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Speaker 6: media need to make.

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Speaker 1: And that so it's not just about bragging rights you're

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Speaker 1: opening night numbers or your you know your your overnight

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Speaker 1: numbers anymore.

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Speaker 6: It is really about how to make the most out

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Speaker 6: of each customer that you have and out of each

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Speaker 6: hour of engagement that you have, and how do how

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Speaker 6: to get that extra hour of engagement for less. So

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Speaker 6: our article that a publisher Variety talks about the streaming

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Speaker 6: for what I call the four core companies that are

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Speaker 6: competing in streaming, that each of them have advantages that

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Speaker 6: will be difficult for the other ones to replicate. And

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Speaker 6: there are Netflix, they have the privacy advantage. They are

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Speaker 6: the company that people think of first when they're trying

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Speaker 6: to decide watch watch their YouTube, and YouTube has what

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Speaker 6: I call the urgency advantage. They are the place where

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Speaker 6: people go for something that's trending right now and they

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Speaker 6: have reached They have format flexibility, you can watch from

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Speaker 6: short form to long form videos, movies. Then you have Disney,

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Speaker 6: and Disney have the creative advantage. They have four core

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Speaker 6: engines of great brands with their libraries and the creative

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Speaker 6: encies in Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Effects. And those are

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Speaker 6: just the top four and no concience that they launch

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Speaker 6: ailed at last ten or the top ten biggest gross

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Speaker 6: box office ever and they want six amis. And then

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Speaker 6: finally I add Amazon to the mix because Amazon has

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Speaker 6: what I call the marketplace advantage. They're the place that

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Speaker 6: because of the connection between Prime Video and the fact

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Speaker 6: that they're the biggest tvod the biggest video store in

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Speaker 6: the world. Essentially, when you search anyone title, you're more

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Speaker 6: likely to find in on Amazon than anywhere else. And

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Speaker 6: because of their economic one, every time a customer engages

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Speaker 6: with Prime Video, they're more likely to spend on Amazon.

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Speaker 6: That's half a trillion consumer business, So you can almost

440
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,879
Speaker 6: think of it as a marketing engine for Amazon, and

441
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,640
Speaker 6: one that is going to become profitable on its own

442
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:18,080
Speaker 6: very soon.

443
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,199
Speaker 1: How do you think that that looking at rather than

444
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,159
Speaker 1: the numbers of the audience, but actually the sort of

445
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,159
Speaker 1: the quality and the size of your audience. How is

446
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:31,040
Speaker 1: that going to change the way Hollywood operates, how the

447
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,080
Speaker 1: way people decide what content they need and you know,

448
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:35,720
Speaker 1: what trends to go after.

449
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 6: I think Hollywood and the media industry as a whole

450
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,199
Speaker 6: is going, obviously, there's no secret through a period of

451
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,879
Speaker 6: adjustment that comes from the fact that over the last

452
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:49,000
Speaker 6: five years, there were so many projects coming into the market,

453
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,640
Speaker 6: so many televisions shows, so many movies, and as a result,

454
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,600
Speaker 6: each of them costs more to make, and they're all

455
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 6: chasing an audience that was growing, but wasn't growing as

456
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,280
Speaker 6: fast as the cost of making the television shows and movies.

457
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,879
Speaker 6: So we heard today in the panel where I think

458
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 6: it was Sora Aubrey that from Max that said that

459
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,560
Speaker 6: they're starting to think about making shows with longer episode runs.

460
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:16,080
Speaker 6: We're talking about procedural fifteen episodes. That's partially because everything

461
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:20,120
Speaker 6: old is new again, partially because you actually need to

462
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:24,240
Speaker 6: bring stream onnomics into every decision, and that will impact

463
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,280
Speaker 6: not only that p owners obviously impacts the streamers, but

464
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:29,879
Speaker 6: the streamers are the ones that are holding the pers string,

465
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,040
Speaker 6: so to say, but impacts the powners. Even if your

466
00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,880
Speaker 6: production house that is working on a cost plus model,

467
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,919
Speaker 6: you need to know what's going to maximize the chances

468
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:42,679
Speaker 6: that you show gets renewed and it gets picked up

469
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 6: and then they call you again for for the next show.

470
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,439
Speaker 1: Laura, when you hear me in your own research, and

471
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,160
Speaker 1: when you hear things that like the analysis that Ernan

472
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,679
Speaker 1: is doing, are there are there new metrics that you

473
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,919
Speaker 1: think that are going to be more important to the

474
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,960
Speaker 1: the future of entertainment, for whether it's discovery or deciding

475
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: what companies go after.

476
00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:09,040
Speaker 5: I love his idea that, like the four horsemen, I

477
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 5: really like that differentiation of the creative, you know, the

478
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:15,639
Speaker 5: one that's competitive advantages marketplace versus creative. It's a really

479
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:18,720
Speaker 5: interesting I haven't read the whole piece so I have to,

480
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 5: but I like the idea. I do think Wall Street

481
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:25,359
Speaker 5: believes bigger wins, and bigger accelerates growth and smaller doesn't

482
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 5: have competitive advantages over time. I agree with that. I

483
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,000
Speaker 5: guess the question I guess the issue I guess I

484
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 5: would raise is are we defining the competitive field too

485
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 5: narrowly if we don't look at the Kardashians, which many

486
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,600
Speaker 5: people in this room might think, oh, that's trash. Well

487
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,359
Speaker 5: to the people who watch the Kardashians, that's premium content.

488
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,840
Speaker 5: So are we too narrow? Are we forgetting Fortnite? Are

489
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 5: we forgetting things that use time that therefore siphons money

490
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,320
Speaker 5: away from these massive budgets that everyone you're talking about

491
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 5: is the crem of the krem in this tiny little

492
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,359
Speaker 5: space called premium content. But premium content is under assault

493
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,240
Speaker 5: from user generating content, aided by Generative AI, which is

494
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,399
Speaker 5: lowering their cost to make content. And then Fortnite, the

495
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,160
Speaker 5: fifteen year old boys are gone, like, they're all in

496
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,440
Speaker 5: video games and I don't know if they're ever coming in.

497
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,440
Speaker 2: And the fifteen year old girls are on TikTok, and.

498
00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:18,280
Speaker 5: The fifteen year old girls are on TikTok, which is

499
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,920
Speaker 5: not premium videos. So I just worry that the Four

500
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,280
Speaker 5: Horsemen is sort of you're right, but are you right

501
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 5: on the scale of that matters or is it just

502
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 5: within this Hollywood, you know, this bubble that we all

503
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:31,120
Speaker 5: live in.

504
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,119
Speaker 6: Here, right, Well, that's why I put YouTube us one

505
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 6: of them, because YouTube has really brilliantly executed on a

506
00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:41,040
Speaker 6: strategy of moving upstreaming every single possible format that they can. Obviously,

507
00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,080
Speaker 6: they started as a platform on desktops if you remember,

508
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,840
Speaker 6: then they moved on mobiles and then and now they're

509
00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:51,720
Speaker 6: one of the largest platforms for viewership on television sets,

510
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 6: and they're really perfected that increasing format flexibility. At the

511
00:26:55,760 --> 00:27:00,000
Speaker 6: beginning was all videos that were three minutes to five minutes.

512
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:03,240
Speaker 6: It then people start to upload longer videos and even

513
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,639
Speaker 6: professional content you can find on YouTube today people are

514
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:11,480
Speaker 6: uploading movies and television series. And then when TikTok became

515
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,800
Speaker 6: a threat to them, what do they do. They created

516
00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,879
Speaker 6: a TikTok clone called YouTube Shorts, and arguably more successful

517
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 6: than TikTok in many respects because they have a business

518
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,960
Speaker 6: model that supports the creators, that actually returns revenue share

519
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:25,960
Speaker 6: back to the creators.

520
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:28,040
Speaker 5: So I would push back a little bit and say

521
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,960
Speaker 5: everyone ignored this company until they bought the Sunday ticket.

522
00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,640
Speaker 5: Right once they got the NFL, every brand said, oh

523
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,560
Speaker 5: my god, you know, we've always been on DirecTV's NFL

524
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:38,280
Speaker 5: Sunday ticket.

525
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:39,199
Speaker 2: So they came over.

526
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,199
Speaker 5: That's when actually Hollywood took them seriously is when they

527
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,280
Speaker 5: got NFL rights, which are the most valuable rights. I

528
00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:47,760
Speaker 5: don't think it's any of this other stuff you're talking about.

529
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,199
Speaker 5: Now they take it seriously. Maybe they should have, but

530
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,000
Speaker 5: now they're actually viewed a threat.

531
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:56,280
Speaker 1: Once they read her Nons article on writing dot com, it'll.

532
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:56,000
Speaker 2: All be said.

533
00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:58,480
Speaker 1: I can't believe it, but we have to surrender this room.

534
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 1: I'm glad we brought up Generative AI because we're legally

535
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:05,240
Speaker 1: obligated to mention it. But I really we need a

536
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:06,639
Speaker 1: whole other hour to talk about that.

537
00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:07,880
Speaker 2: But thank you all so much.

538
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,000
Speaker 1: I greatly appreciate you being here, greatly appreciate the audience

539
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,640
Speaker 1: hanging in there with us. Please please look for Strictly Business,

540
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 1: subscribe to it, listen to it. Thank you both so much.

541
00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:20,000
Speaker 1: Thank you everyone. We are so grateful.

542
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:20,800
Speaker 4: Thanks.

543
00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:28,360
Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back after this break,

544
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:34,399
Speaker 1: and we're back with more from Varieties Entertainment and Technology Summit.

545
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:37,920
Speaker 1: Our event opened with a big blast of enthusiasm from

546
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:42,320
Speaker 1: AMC Theater CEO Adam Aaron. He sat with Variety Senior

547
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 1: entertainment writer Matt Donnelly. Aaron came equipped like an old

548
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,400
Speaker 1: school movie circuit sales rep with facts and figures about

549
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:52,959
Speaker 1: his business to make his case for the survival of moviegoing.

550
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,480
Speaker 1: Here's two clips. In the first, Aaron explains why he's

551
00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 1: bullish on an overall box office rebound this year. In

552
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:03,360
Speaker 1: this second, he offers great detail about how AMC is

553
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 1: investing in technology and upgrades for its theaters to give

554
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 1: people a reason to go see movies on the big screen.

555
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,440
Speaker 4: The box office in the first five months this year

556
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 4: was a bleak, and it was in the five months

557
00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 4: January made. The mestic box office was one point five

558
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:24,800
Speaker 4: million dollars in five months, one point five And you all,

559
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 4: not you personally, but many in your industry were writing

560
00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:32,880
Speaker 4: again about the demise of movie industry, in the movie

561
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,000
Speaker 4: theater industry, and AMC was going to die. And I

562
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 4: went to CinemaCon, was interviewed, and I kept on saying,

563
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,719
Speaker 4: it is inconceivable to me, as someone who's on the

564
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,680
Speaker 4: inside and knows what's going on, that AMC is going

565
00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:49,840
Speaker 4: to have financial clubs. Inconceivable. And I made a public

566
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 4: prediction at CinemaCon and a panel that the industry is

567
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 4: going to come roaring back. Finally, we had long wait,

568
00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:02,440
Speaker 4: come back and here Unfortunately for us, it happened. The

569
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,280
Speaker 4: prediction turned out to be true. And just here's just

570
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 4: two numbers and they're really important, and you write this

571
00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 4: one down because this explains everything. The domestic box office

572
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,280
Speaker 4: in the first five months of this year was one

573
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:22,320
Speaker 4: point five billion dollars and that was all strike impacted

574
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:25,600
Speaker 4: from production delays of caused by the five months of

575
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 4: strikes in twenty three. In the last four months June

576
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 4: to September, the four month box office, remember five months,

577
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 4: was a billion and a half in the first five

578
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,880
Speaker 4: months this year, the domestic box office June to September

579
00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 4: is going to be around three and a half billion dollars.

580
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:44,400
Speaker 4: From one and a half billion dollars in five months

581
00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:46,320
Speaker 4: to three and a half billion dollars in four months.

582
00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:49,400
Speaker 4: And when we look at the slate of movies that's

583
00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,520
Speaker 4: coming out over the next remaining months in twenty four

584
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,560
Speaker 4: and the incredible slate that's coming out in twenty five,

585
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,360
Speaker 4: and the incredible slate that's coming out in twenty six,

586
00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:04,239
Speaker 4: this industry is back. And all of the you know,

587
00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,920
Speaker 4: the doom and gloom stuff, those are people who are

588
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 4: looking in the rear view mirror, but if you're looking

589
00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,920
Speaker 4: at the wind shoe, out the windshield to the front. Finally,

590
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 4: it's been a four and a half year long slog

591
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 4: from COVID and from strikes, but this industry has a

592
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:26,280
Speaker 4: very bright future again, so we're a big believer in

593
00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:29,520
Speaker 4: the Obviously, what you've heard that the future of movies

594
00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:34,000
Speaker 4: going in theaters is a bright future. A little shaky

595
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:39,000
Speaker 4: recent past, but a very bright future. Finally, and the

596
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:44,040
Speaker 4: way to get moviegoers to continue to go to theaters

597
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:49,320
Speaker 4: is to make the experience in theaters so wonderful that

598
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,600
Speaker 4: they have to get off their couches and come to

599
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:56,240
Speaker 4: a theater, and they're allowed to watch movies at home.

600
00:31:56,280 --> 00:31:58,600
Speaker 4: It's okay. Have you ever heard of a movie called

601
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:02,640
Speaker 4: Avengers something whatever? Avengers movies that grossed two billion dollars.

602
00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:03,360
Speaker 1: I checked.

603
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:07,400
Speaker 4: Netflix was in business that same weekend that Avengers opened

604
00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:09,880
Speaker 4: for a two billion. When Avatar two came out with

605
00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 4: its two billion dollars, Netflix was in business. The industry

606
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:18,120
Speaker 4: is big enough that streaming and theaters can exist harmoniously.

607
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:22,479
Speaker 4: But if we want to capture our fair share, that

608
00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,920
Speaker 4: share of the consumer viewing habits that we're entitled to,

609
00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,120
Speaker 4: we've got to make going to a theater at great experience,

610
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:32,520
Speaker 4: and technology has been a big part of it. So

611
00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:37,200
Speaker 4: very quietly, we made a decision two three years ago

612
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,120
Speaker 4: that we were basically going to turn all of AMC

613
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,600
Speaker 4: all eight thousand of our seventy five hundred of our

614
00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:49,680
Speaker 4: US screens to laser projection. And we've already that's a

615
00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:53,440
Speaker 4: would be a half a billion dollar investment to switch

616
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:58,760
Speaker 4: from old xenon bulbs to laser projection, and we've already

617
00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:01,920
Speaker 4: it's biddle, it's twenty four. We've already got a quarter

618
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 4: of all of our screens in the US are now

619
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,880
Speaker 4: laser projection. And what laser projection does is it increases

620
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,120
Speaker 4: the light levels on screen by fifty to one hundred

621
00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:13,520
Speaker 4: percent depending upon the system and replaced, which means that

622
00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:18,640
Speaker 4: the image on screen is brighter and sharper and better.

623
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:23,200
Speaker 4: We've upgraded sound systems all over getting a and in

624
00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:27,360
Speaker 4: terms of PLFS premium large format screens, as I said,

625
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:31,240
Speaker 4: we're half of all the Imax cinemas Imax auditoriums in

626
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:35,000
Speaker 4: the US and Canada. We are one hundred percent of

627
00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:40,280
Speaker 4: the Dolby cinemas in North America. When I joined AMC

628
00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,040
Speaker 4: in since it seems like yesterday, but it was nine

629
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:48,320
Speaker 4: years ago. We had three Dolby cinemas. We have one

630
00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,520
Speaker 4: hundred and sixty four today we have thirty one of

631
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:54,440
Speaker 4: our own house brand primes. We have four hundred and

632
00:33:54,480 --> 00:34:00,120
Speaker 4: twenty three plfs at AMC in the United States. If

633
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,080
Speaker 4: I have my brothers thirty six months from now, we'll

634
00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:07,800
Speaker 4: have seven hundred. So we're and again why it's a

635
00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 4: bigger picture. It's a better sound system, it's better technology

636
00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:16,760
Speaker 4: in the projection booth. It's the best way to watch

637
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:20,640
Speaker 4: a movie in theater. And and they by they cost

638
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:22,799
Speaker 4: a fortunate it's like two million dollars a screen to

639
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,839
Speaker 4: put in a PLF. But we're a big believer that

640
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:31,720
Speaker 4: if we make movie going better at theaters, more people

641
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:33,239
Speaker 4: are going to come to theaters.

642
00:34:33,600 --> 00:34:36,640
Speaker 3: At the Variety Entertainment Technology Summit, I got to go

643
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:41,440
Speaker 3: one on one with the chief revenue officer at Scope,

644
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:47,600
Speaker 3: Lee Tim O'Brien, who talked about his approach to M

645
00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:52,560
Speaker 3: and A. He's done nine deals over the past six years,

646
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:57,160
Speaker 3: enough to propel his company to the number one mobile

647
00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:02,400
Speaker 3: game player in the market, and he seemed quite bullish

648
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,720
Speaker 3: about doing what he called a mega deal in twenty

649
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:10,440
Speaker 3: twenty five, in part because he has the new parent

650
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:16,200
Speaker 3: company for Scope ly Savvy Group that pledged to put

651
00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:20,080
Speaker 3: as much as thirty eight billion dollars in capital at

652
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 3: Scope Lee's disposal, which kind of makes Obrien something of

653
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:27,280
Speaker 3: a kid in a candy store.

654
00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:31,239
Speaker 7: Well, I hope that we announce at least one, you know,

655
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:35,040
Speaker 7: mega deal. I think, you know, when I see megadeal,

656
00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 7: I mean, you know, like scale global franchise doing hopefully

657
00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:41,279
Speaker 7: at least a billion dollars in revenue. I think we'll

658
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:44,040
Speaker 7: continue to execute on our current slate of games that

659
00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:49,120
Speaker 7: are live, hopefully continue to grow those games. And I

660
00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 7: think that, you know, ultimately, we want to be an

661
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:57,880
Speaker 7: amazing place for talent to join, and so we have

662
00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,080
Speaker 7: we make a tremendous amount of investment, investment in the

663
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,440
Speaker 7: culture and all the things that are happening to the

664
00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:05,120
Speaker 7: company on a daily basis, and then some education.

665
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:05,360
Speaker 4: You know.

666
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 7: I think that even though I think that we're relatively

667
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,880
Speaker 7: young company that's kind of spent twelve years making ourselves

668
00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:14,839
Speaker 7: at the scale we are, but I think that there's

669
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:16,640
Speaker 7: still a lot of people that are unaware of our

670
00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:19,239
Speaker 7: scale and the type of capital that we have to

671
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:20,839
Speaker 7: deploy and the type of deals we're doing.

672
00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:24,600
Speaker 1: Warner Brothers TV Group Chairman Channing Dungee has no less

673
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,680
Speaker 1: than ninety shows to manage right now. She's about to

674
00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 1: get even busier next year when she takes on oversight

675
00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:35,600
Speaker 1: of Warner Brothers Discovery's domestic linear cable channels. Channing took

676
00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:37,759
Speaker 1: time out to share her thoughts on how the TV

677
00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:41,520
Speaker 1: marketplace has rebounded in the year since the writers strike ended.

678
00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:44,840
Speaker 1: In the second clip, she talks about The Penguin, the

679
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:48,680
Speaker 1: new Batman adjacent series that just premiered on HBO. As

680
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:51,319
Speaker 1: she explains, it's an example of how the new team

681
00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:54,920
Speaker 1: at DC Studios is coordinating much more with the largest

682
00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:55,720
Speaker 1: TV studio.

683
00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:58,520
Speaker 8: Yeah, and I think the industry was due maybe for

684
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:01,400
Speaker 8: a little bit of a resets in that way, you know,

685
00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,080
Speaker 8: just speaking about live action scripted six hundred shows.

686
00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:08,520
Speaker 2: Nobody can keep up with six hundred shows. And there's also.

687
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:10,440
Speaker 8: Something that's very disheartening. And I can say this is

688
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,360
Speaker 8: you know, as the studio, but I feel for the

689
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,200
Speaker 8: creatives and the talent. You know, if you spend the

690
00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,440
Speaker 8: better part of a year working on something that drops

691
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:20,360
Speaker 8: over the course of a weekend and then sort of

692
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,600
Speaker 8: fades from view three weeks later. It's it's over, right,

693
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,719
Speaker 8: that is you know that that's hard. It's very disappointing,

694
00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:28,840
Speaker 8: and so you want to be able to feel like

695
00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:30,960
Speaker 8: you're in a space where your shows are going to

696
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,080
Speaker 8: be sampled, where people are going to have the opportunity

697
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:35,399
Speaker 8: to fall in love with them. So the fact that

698
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:37,560
Speaker 8: there are maybe fewer things being made, I don't think

699
00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:40,480
Speaker 8: is a bad thing for the business overall. And I

700
00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:43,920
Speaker 8: think that when you are in a situation where the

701
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:47,840
Speaker 8: platforms are making more deliberate choices, that's that's good, you know.

702
00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:49,400
Speaker 8: I mean that that is a good thing because they

703
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:51,799
Speaker 8: don't think of the things that they're buying as you know,

704
00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,120
Speaker 8: as disposable, you know. I mean, if you only are

705
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:56,520
Speaker 8: going to if you're only going to have you know,

706
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 8: twenty new shows on your development slate versus sixty, right,

707
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:01,319
Speaker 8: you're going to be that much more invested in each

708
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:04,200
Speaker 8: one of those twenty. So it's it's not as much

709
00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:07,360
Speaker 8: of a volume game, it's a quality game. But I

710
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:09,279
Speaker 8: will say we're in a place right now. We have

711
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:12,680
Speaker 8: over the course of this year, we've had close to

712
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:16,640
Speaker 8: twenty new shows premiere and another twenty to twenty five

713
00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,840
Speaker 8: returning shows come back, and so there's still there is

714
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:22,560
Speaker 8: a lot of momentum. You know, we're we're feeling like

715
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:25,840
Speaker 8: there still is a lot of great opportunity. It's just

716
00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:28,080
Speaker 8: a little bit more. I think the platform is a

717
00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:30,319
Speaker 8: little bit more deliberate now than they were two three

718
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,839
Speaker 8: years ago. The Penguin is is obviously, as you pointed out,

719
00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,800
Speaker 8: a huge property for us, and it is part of

720
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:39,760
Speaker 8: the DC universe. And what's been really exciting having Peter

721
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,600
Speaker 8: Saffron and James Gunn now at the head of DC Studios.

722
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,400
Speaker 8: You know, these guys have honestly a master plan. You know,

723
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:47,239
Speaker 8: they were like and here's the first ten years, and

724
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,680
Speaker 8: here's the But what's nice is that we now feel

725
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:52,200
Speaker 8: like everything's working in concert. The things that we're doing

726
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:56,960
Speaker 8: in television, the things that we're doing for HBO are

727
00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:59,480
Speaker 8: dovetailing very nicely with the plans that they have for

728
00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 8: the more theatrical experiences. You know, we have Creature Commandos,

729
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:04,640
Speaker 8: which is coming right on the heels of this we

730
00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:08,920
Speaker 8: Peacemaker season two and it's it's it's wonderful because you

731
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,400
Speaker 8: really feel like now there's a cohesive narrative that all

732
00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:15,040
Speaker 8: of these shows and films are playing into, which is

733
00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:15,680
Speaker 8: really exciting.

734
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:18,960
Speaker 1: That's a good segue into Peter Saffren talking about one

735
00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:23,000
Speaker 1: of DC's main men, Superman. Here, Matt Donnelly gets Saffron

736
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,160
Speaker 1: to describe the latest in the studios effort to revive

737
00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:28,360
Speaker 1: The Man of Steel as a movie franchise.

738
00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:31,000
Speaker 2: Now tell us every single thing about Superman.

739
00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:35,600
Speaker 9: Like I said, so fade in Metropolis, small office desque.

740
00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:41,920
Speaker 9: So the truth is, we really do want to preserve

741
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:44,920
Speaker 9: the story for the for the fans and for the audience.

742
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:49,000
Speaker 9: But what I can tell you is we wrapped a

743
00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:53,080
Speaker 9: couple of months ago. We're deep in posts now. It

744
00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:58,279
Speaker 9: of course is looking great, and you know, without giving

745
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:02,000
Speaker 9: away the story, I can say that it is a

746
00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:07,080
Speaker 9: story that is rooted in love and in compassion and

747
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:10,200
Speaker 9: in the essential goodness of the human spirit. There's a

748
00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:12,759
Speaker 9: lot of hope in there, which is a real hallmark

749
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:16,800
Speaker 9: of Superman in general. But all of that is wrapped

750
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:21,680
Speaker 9: in that kind of genre bending, crowd pleasing for quadrant

751
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:25,840
Speaker 9: theatrical experience that James is so great at delivering. As

752
00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:27,480
Speaker 9: you know, everybody here, I'm sure a lot of you

753
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,759
Speaker 9: have seen at least one, if not all, of the

754
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:32,960
Speaker 9: Guardians the Galaxies movies. But he has that beautiful blend

755
00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:39,680
Speaker 9: of humor, empathy, genuine emotion and great action. So that's

756
00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:41,440
Speaker 9: where we are with it, and you know, it's a

757
00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:46,600
Speaker 9: very exciting time. We were incredibly fortunate to find David Kornsweat,

758
00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:49,960
Speaker 9: who is our Superman. We were incredibly fortunate that he

759
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,880
Speaker 9: was born thirty years ago and that he was available

760
00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:55,040
Speaker 9: to us, because I don't know what we would do

761
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:58,400
Speaker 9: without him. He's perfect, perfect for the role, and I

762
00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:00,600
Speaker 9: think everybody when they see the film will realize that

763
00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:02,440
Speaker 9: he is he is Superman.

764
00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:06,279
Speaker 1: The closing act of the Entertainment and Technology Summit was

765
00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:10,040
Speaker 1: the strictly business conversation that you heard earlier. The second

766
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:13,919
Speaker 1: to last session was a fun gathering of boldface named

767
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:17,919
Speaker 1: multi hyphenates who all have podcasts. Two in the case

768
00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:20,360
Speaker 1: of Lamar and Morris, the actor who just won an

769
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:24,160
Speaker 1: Emmy for his work on Fargo. He joined Varieties Features

770
00:41:24,239 --> 00:41:29,040
Speaker 1: editor Janelle Riley on stage with Whitney Cummings, Jesse Tyler, Ferguson,

771
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:33,719
Speaker 1: Eliza Slessinger, and Jenna Uskowitz. In the first clip, Cummings

772
00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:37,719
Speaker 1: talks about the hard economic reality for touring comedians. In

773
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:41,719
Speaker 1: the second Slessinger and Morris talk about the importance of

774
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:44,520
Speaker 1: being extremely authentic behind the mic.

775
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,040
Speaker 10: Hi, you know a couple things, you know. I mean

776
00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:49,560
Speaker 10: I think that you know, and Eliza can speak to

777
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:52,319
Speaker 10: this too. We're touring comedians, you know, and you know,

778
00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:54,880
Speaker 10: connecting with our fans and having an emotional connection to

779
00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,400
Speaker 10: them is a really big part of selling tickets. Engaging

780
00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:00,880
Speaker 10: with them. Literally some people think they're in goa to us,

781
00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:06,319
Speaker 10: you know, but it's a really big part. So it's like,

782
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:08,080
Speaker 10: you know, getting someone to buy a ticket. These days,

783
00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:10,239
Speaker 10: there's so many options for entertainment. A lot of it

784
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:12,480
Speaker 10: is free to get someone out of their house to

785
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:14,600
Speaker 10: come spend you know, whether it's you know, fifty eighty

786
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:17,279
Speaker 10: dollars a ticket and pay for babysitters and parking and

787
00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:19,000
Speaker 10: you know, drinks and you know, it could be three

788
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:21,000
Speaker 10: hundred dollars at the end of the day. So people really,

789
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:23,480
Speaker 10: I think, expect a very intimate connection with the person

790
00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:26,680
Speaker 10: that they're going to see. I sleep with every audience

791
00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:27,520
Speaker 10: member after the show.

792
00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:30,360
Speaker 11: I'm kidding, but they do a lot of her shows.

793
00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:36,960
Speaker 10: Yeah, And because there's also so many people touring right now,

794
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:40,319
Speaker 10: you know, influencers and podcasters and stuff, so you know,

795
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:41,839
Speaker 10: to get someone out of their house, they really want

796
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:43,600
Speaker 10: to have a personal connection with you. So I think

797
00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:45,880
Speaker 10: that's been a big part of it. Also, you know,

798
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:48,239
Speaker 10: the TV and movie business started changing a little bit,

799
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:50,880
Speaker 10: and you know, comedians, I won't speak for everybody here,

800
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:53,800
Speaker 10: comedic actors. You know, it's look, we want to be

801
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:55,799
Speaker 10: on TV shows, we want to get cast, we want

802
00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:57,719
Speaker 10: to be in movies. But we're always you know, like

803
00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:00,440
Speaker 10: a little loud, a little too tall, I mean, taller

804
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:02,480
Speaker 10: than every actor in Hollywood, Like I'm not. You know,

805
00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:05,279
Speaker 10: there's certain jobs I'm just never going to get when

806
00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:08,400
Speaker 10: they come up to hear. So I think we're always

807
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:10,520
Speaker 10: looking for a kind of backup plan to feel like

808
00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:13,080
Speaker 10: we have some kind of power, some kind of agency,

809
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:16,279
Speaker 10: you know, in creators, like you know, whatever happened in

810
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:18,920
Speaker 10: our childhood to make us, you know, want to make

811
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:20,239
Speaker 10: drunk people laugh at night.

812
00:43:20,719 --> 00:43:20,920
Speaker 1: You know.

813
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:22,520
Speaker 10: The same thing is, you know, even if you're on

814
00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:24,640
Speaker 10: a show, when you're working, you know, six months out

815
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:26,600
Speaker 10: of the year, that's another six months where you still

816
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:28,400
Speaker 10: want to create, You still want to connect with people.

817
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:31,160
Speaker 10: The need for attention never goes away, you know, So

818
00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:34,120
Speaker 10: I think us having that opportunity to do that and

819
00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:36,960
Speaker 10: connect with our fans, as well as of movement towards

820
00:43:37,440 --> 00:43:40,680
Speaker 10: at least having some of our content be owned by ourselves.

821
00:43:41,560 --> 00:43:45,880
Speaker 12: I think authenticity is something that we're short on in entertainment,

822
00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:48,600
Speaker 12: and I think when something breaks through, then you have

823
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,040
Speaker 12: a million iterations of that because everyone hopes like, oh,

824
00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:53,200
Speaker 12: I'll be the next blank, but there is no next

825
00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:56,880
Speaker 12: whoever you are you And I think as an entertainer,

826
00:43:56,960 --> 00:43:59,239
Speaker 12: especially as a stand up and of course as an actor,

827
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:01,040
Speaker 12: you roll the dice on that. We all move here,

828
00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:04,000
Speaker 12: we all want to do things, and the practice is

829
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:07,920
Speaker 12: sticking to your guns and being yourself authentically and holy

830
00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:10,879
Speaker 12: and not giving into trends. And it doesn't always pay off,

831
00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:12,920
Speaker 12: but at least at the end of the day, you

832
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:15,799
Speaker 12: know that you did it authentically and originally, and your

833
00:44:15,840 --> 00:44:18,480
Speaker 12: audience will find you. And the great thing about the

834
00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:21,040
Speaker 12: Internet that we're in now is that there are there

835
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:24,319
Speaker 12: is something for everyone. So you may not find a

836
00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:27,560
Speaker 12: billion fans, but you might find one hundred thousand loyal

837
00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:30,520
Speaker 12: fans who will support you your whole career. And that's

838
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:32,759
Speaker 12: personally something That's never lost on me having like a

839
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:37,680
Speaker 12: very dedicated fan base is that you constantly serve them

840
00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:41,040
Speaker 12: honesty and yourself. And I think that there's a reward

841
00:44:41,120 --> 00:44:44,160
Speaker 12: for vulnerability because people can sense inauthenticity.

842
00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:44,960
Speaker 4: Yeah.

843
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,040
Speaker 11: I talk to actors all the time when they ask

844
00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:49,640
Speaker 11: for advice on how to you know, how to audition,

845
00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:52,000
Speaker 11: or how to break into the business, or how to

846
00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:55,759
Speaker 11: become a unique individual, And I say, it's you already there.

847
00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:59,320
Speaker 11: There's no one like you, So you have to trust

848
00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:02,000
Speaker 11: your humanity, trust that you don't have to pretend to

849
00:45:02,080 --> 00:45:04,520
Speaker 11: do a thing and be a thing unless you want

850
00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:08,720
Speaker 11: to be some wild, crazy character actor. But you're already unique.

851
00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:11,719
Speaker 11: And that's the same thing with podcasting. You know, there's

852
00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:14,960
Speaker 11: so many options people want to hear your perspective. I

853
00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:17,280
Speaker 11: can go through a million podcasts that are talking about

854
00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:21,000
Speaker 11: the presidency, but everyone has a completely different point of view,

855
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:22,960
Speaker 11: you know what I mean. So it's interesting to just

856
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:26,480
Speaker 11: hear how a comedian might feel about it, how a

857
00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:29,120
Speaker 11: politician might feel about, how an athlete might feel about it.

858
00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:32,439
Speaker 11: As long as you're staying authentic to yourself, I think

859
00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:33,840
Speaker 11: I think you got something.

860
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:40,680
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Be sure to leave us a review

861
00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:44,439
Speaker 1: at Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music. We love to hear

862
00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:47,640
Speaker 1: from listeners. Please go to Variety dot com and sign

863
00:45:47,719 --> 00:45:51,680
Speaker 1: up for the free weekly Strictly Business newsletter, and don't

864
00:45:51,719 --> 00:45:55,239
Speaker 1: forget to tune in next week for another episode of

865
00:45:55,280 --> 00:46:02,880
Speaker 1: Strictly Business