WEBVTT - YA Media Star Alloy Entertainment is Ready to Grow Up 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:12.399 Welcome to Strictly Business, Variety's weekly podcast featuring conversations with 0:00:12.480 --> 0:00:16.400 industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.960 Cynthia Lyttleton, co editor in chief Variety. My guests today 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.759 are the leaders of Alloy Entertainment. You may not know 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.479 the name Alloy, but you know their TV shows and 0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:34.080 movies Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, You, Vampire Diaries, Sisterhood 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:38.000 of the Traveling Pants, Purple Hearts, and the Ohso Charming. 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:42.400 You are so not invited to my about mitzvah. The 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:46.080 company has an unusual approach to developing content because it 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:49.159 also has a very busy book division that provides the 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:53.440 vast majority of the ip that drives the company. Here 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:56.920 in this interview, we get the lowdown on Alloy's unusual 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:02.480 business model from three key players CEO Leslie Morgenstein, TV 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:08.720 chief Gina Girolamo, and film leader Elisa Koplovitz Dutton. The 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:12.120 trio explain here how they've been able to thrive in 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:15.160 the YA space and why they are now looking to 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:19.240 grow up a bit, as they describe it. Morgenstein also 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:22.119 walks us through how the company wound up being owned 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:26.680 by Warner Brothers but still operates with great autonomy. That's 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:37.360 all coming up after the break, and we're back with 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:43.000 more from the leadership team at Alloy Entertainment. Les Morgenstein, 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:48.000 Gina Jerromo, Elisa Dutton of Alloy Entertainment. 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:50.240 Thank you so much for inviting me to. 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:53.560 Your beautiful offices here on the Warner Brothers lot. It's 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.080 my first podcast recording of twenty twenty four, and I'm 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.720 excited because Alloy Entertainment is a company I've covered a 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:03.320 long time, but I have really wanted to get to 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:05.040 know you all better and get a little bit behind 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:09.399 the scenes of how you create your content less from 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:11.959 the thirty thousand foot view, can you tell me sort 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:15.960 of what is Alloy's approach to nurturing and generating content. 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:19.240 You have an incredible track record over the last fifteen 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.760 twenty years of very buzzy television shows that really have 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:26.760 penetrated the culture in a way that is hard to 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:31.320 in our mass fractured media environment these days. What is 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:32.640 your approach? Sure? 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:35.400 And thank you for coming here and visiting with us, 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:38.920 and we're pleased to be your first pot of the year. 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:46.080 It's a pretty organic story and IP is such a 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:50.200 buzzword or buzz phrase these days, and companies are so 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:54.440 desirous of it. We never sat down and said we're 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:59.760 going to become an IP company. It was more of 0:02:59.800 --> 0:03:04.160 a process of a group of people who love storytelling 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:07.760 and had a good knack for what's a commercial idea 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:13.240 building a business over many years. So the company started 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:18.040 in the book business and originally was a production company 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.959 for hire, producing a team book series called Sweet Valley High, 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:24.160 and eventually. 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:27.840 Got smart enough to know that. 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:32.000 It needed to own its own properties and began brainstorming 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:35.880 ideas like what's something we want to see, what's something 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.360 we think will resonate with the audience, and putting those 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.280 ideas together with great writers, so a nose for concept 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:49.000 and a nose for talent, and that shop eventually produced 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.880 Vampire Diaries and The Sister of the Traveling Pants and 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:57.880 Gossip Girl and a very popular middle grade book series 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:00.520 that became a movie called The Click, and. 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:05.440 Pretty Little Liars and The Hundred and You. And the 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:05.880 thing that. 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:09.800 Really makes us unique, which you mentioned at the center 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:14.080 of it, is a group of creative people who develop 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:18.120 ideas internally and then go out and find the best talent, 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:22.839 whether that's a novelist or a TV showrunner or a 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:26.280 screenwriter to make it come to life. 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.960 So that's an interesting It sounds like a large part 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:35.440 of the ideas, the concepts that become books and television 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:39.160 shows and potentially movies start in house and then you 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:43.080 marry the writer. Would you say that's more common than 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:44.760 a writer coming to you with a pitch. 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:47.919 Yes, I mean these days we do have lots of 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:52.080 relationships with book writers where we'll have a long term 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:54.840 deal and it will be more collaborative, so sit down 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.000 with the writer and just have brainstorming sessions. 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:00.040 But the traditional. 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:03.400 Model, which we still employ on at least half of 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:07.520 our new book projects and we produce about twenty books 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:12.520 a year, come from our group. And there's a team 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:16.080 of editor writers in New York who get together on 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:21.600 a regular basis. This team in LA less frequently and 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:26.480 they just have creative sessions, and that can be very freeform. 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.320 Come into the room with an idea, can be a 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:33.719 pitch off of a magazine article or our show you 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.320 went to, or it can be very specific like it 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.400 was many years ago when Pretty Little Liars was birthed, 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:45.000 and that was a development assignment, which actually came from 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:46.040 our TV office. 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:49.560 And the problem is, what's a team Desperate Housewives? 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:53.000 And on the face of it, that doesn't make a 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:55.520 lot of sense, like teenagers. 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:56.080 Are not housewives. 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:58.520 But when we talked about what was at the heart 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:02.560 of that show, murder Mystery and then I deal like Suburbs, 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.000 you kind of see that DNA in what pretty old 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:09.640 liars came to be. So getting back to your question, 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.080 the model has been and will continue to be. 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:15.440 We are self generating. 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:20.720 That's the thing that makes Alloy a viable business regardless 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:22.560 of what's going around us in the industry. 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:25.600 You're not beholden to the big pitch with the three 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.680 Oscar winners and the clock and you must pay, you know, 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:31.520 a small fortune to even get your foot in the door. 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:35.320 Correct, And we're not chasing the hot new book. We're 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:40.760 not going after the Sunday New York Times magazine article. 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:44.520 We are coming up with great ideas we believe in 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.920 and nurturing them over time. And like I said, you know, 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:52.240 the various teams of the book team and Gina and 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:56.000 TV and Lisa in movies has done a fantastic job 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:58.279 marroring those ideas with great writers. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.000 So I would love your perspective on how does it 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.120 how does it inform and help the process of developing 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:10.320 television shows or movies when you are working with literary properties, 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:13.920 people that are thinking in novelistic form, but you've got 0:07:14.000 --> 0:07:18.280 such a you know, you've got a hand in shaping 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:18.960 that novel. 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:21.320 Is that that? That's again a kind of a. 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.080 Twist on the on the typical I love this book, 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:26.360 I'm an option in the manuscript. 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:29.080 Yeah, I mean, I'll jump in and I would say 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:32.880 that we are all huge book lovers and TV and 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:33.600 film lovers. 0:07:33.720 --> 0:07:39.400 It's a natural instinct to want to protect the concept 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:43.640 as much as possible, but also understanding that each medium has, 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:48.360 you know, specific rules for what works if you will, 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:51.720 and so I think working with the book team in 0:07:51.760 --> 0:07:55.000 New York on a specific idea, they'll sometimes ask us 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:57.960 to weigh in early in the stages of a book 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:02.120 being developed. If it's eyed for television, we can give 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:05.679 feedback that would help expand the world or the characters 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:10.360 or the stories, or once the book is written, when 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:12.760 we're meeting with writers, we can. 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:18.360 Talk about ways to adapt several characters into only a few, 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.920 or you know, hyper focus on a location of a 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:25.600 book and give it specificity that would make the television 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:29.960 show even more special. So I would say that's that's 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.160 part of the joy of being on the ground floor 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:35.680 in this company. It's all very fluid and we all 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.040 communicate to one another regularly. 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:41.440 So you can even think in terms of seasons like 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.520 you can you can project out ahead on something you 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:45.560 feel very strongly about. 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:47.920 In terms of how to keep it going right, like 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.680 potential something absolutely, yeah. I think it's whether it's something 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:54.480 that we option outside of our library or something within 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:58.280 our library. And you know, oftentimes we're working with books 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:03.199 that are multiple book series, so we can sit and 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:07.520 give a writer five novels that continue the foundation that's 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:10.520 built in the first book and expands the world in 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:11.960 a way that they can then take on. 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:13.960 That was the case with Pretty Little Liars. 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:18.160 When the final version of the show premiered, the seventh 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:21.800 book had just been released, so those writers had seven 0:09:21.840 --> 0:09:25.160 novels that they could dive into and pull story and 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:25.880 character and. 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.880 Murders, and from a sales and revenue standpoint, like do 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:31.000 you see is it kind of. 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.240 A virtuous circle. The books come and the you know, 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:35.840 when you coordinate that kind of stuff. 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:41.680 The reality of the book business today is the company 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:45.800 has really transitioned from being a book business with a 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.360 film and TV office to being a film and TV 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:55.160 business that has an internal IP generation machine that in 0:09:55.200 --> 0:10:04.040 great success, is profitable. But we now are much more 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:08.880 cognizant of our book business exists to feed film and 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:14.880 TV and the communication is much more frequent than it 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.200 used to be, and it's much more two ways. So 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:22.600 there are many books that have started as that would 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:24.880 be a great idea for a show or that would 0:10:24.920 --> 0:10:29.280 be a great idea for a movie, and recently Purple 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:33.560 Hearts is an example of that, where that began as 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:39.040 a movie pitch and one of our executives here had 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:45.679 read or heard a true story about contract military marriages 0:10:46.240 --> 0:10:50.800 and called names it is this the basis for a 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.280 romantic movie? And I was like, Yeah, I love that. 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.440 Let's just get going on a script. So we did that, 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:00.280 and unfortunately at the time we're on a able to 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:03.199 set it up. But we loved it so much, so 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:05.880 let's turn it into a book. And we did, and 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.240 we published the book and then came back to it 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:13.040 in features, and obviously we're fortunate enough to put it 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:14.520 together with Sophia Carson. 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:16.679 And Wiz Allen, and the movie went on. It was 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:17.400 a great success. 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:20.160 But that that is typical of the model now where 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.920 the starting point can be over here and can go 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:28.400 back to the book team, and the book team will. 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:30.280 Jump on it if it makes sense in this book 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:30.640 as well. 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:34.080 How is it different working at Alloy in this process 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:36.760 than in you know past in your past lives, at 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:38.480 other at other creative shops. 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.240 The book's really become our superpower because it gives us 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:45.680 the kind of luxury of time to invest and be very. 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:51.079 Hands on and involved as producers. 0:11:51.120 --> 0:11:53.040 We are kind of we have a we have a 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:57.959 healthy slate, but because we are not we have this 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:02.719 kind of stable of books and continuous kind of new 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:05.559 new flow of material coming our way. 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:07.760 We can really just focus on the work, which is 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.800 a luxury. And I would say that it's. 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:12.400 Wonderful to be able to you know, if you have 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.600 a feature idea, or you hear something that a studio 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:18.400 is really looking for. To be able to run that 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.040 by our book business and then talk about what that 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.520 would look like in book form is amazing because we 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:25.719 all know the studios get really excited when they hear 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:28.280 that there's a book, and the publishers get. 0:12:28.160 --> 0:12:31.120 Really excited when they hear that there could be a movie. 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:35.440 So it really does become a circular economy, and in 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.760 the best possible way, and a very creative one. And 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.120 the other thing about the books, and what makes this 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.200 different from other jobs, is that sometimes you'll get a 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:47.439 call on or sometimes you'll be. 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:49.880 Able to take a book that is out of print. 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.440 In the case of you know, two years ago, there 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:57.080 were two books that were from the early aughts. 0:12:57.160 --> 0:12:58.040 One was You're So. 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.840 Not Invited to My Botman's Fat, which was a title 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:02.480 that just we kept saying, this is a movie, but 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:06.040 how do we put together and convince people that it's 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:09.000 not a niche, that it can really resonate on this 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:12.480 universal level. And we found a writer and sent it 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:14.720 to Adam Sandler and he said yes, and the rest 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:15.240 is history. 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:17.000 But that book was not a new book. It was 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:20.800 not a hot book. Similarly, Horoscope was a book that 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:21.960 I mean, I didn't even know. 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:24.719 I'm pretty aware of all of our library and it's 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:27.360 a deep library, but I had never even heard of Horoscope. 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:28.599 And we got a call. 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:31.040 And now that movie is coming out in ment so 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:35.680 sometimes it really is the gift that keeps on giving. 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:37.719 It can be very surprising how deep the well is. 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.600 People will say I'm looking for a boarding school movie, 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:42.600 and in fact we probably have three of them. So 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:46.239 that makes it very different from other positions. 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:51.880 Because we have such strong foundation in our concepts in 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:57.920 our books, we're patient with the adaptations, so similar to 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:02.400 what Alisa was saying earlier, we're not chasing it. And 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:07.080 so there have been several iterations of some of the 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:11.280 shows you've mentioned during the development process that didn't move forward, 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:13.920 but we never gave up on the concept because we 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:17.560 believed it would be a successful series. So that's something 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:20.000 I think also all of us working at the company, 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:22.320 you know, at Leasta and I are ten plus years, 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.640 we have such a depth of knowledge of the material 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:30.640 that once we meet a writer or we hear a 0:14:30.720 --> 0:14:33.800 target that someone's looking for, we can reach back in 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.880 and say, you know, we tried this five times, but 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.360 maybe this is the one that's going to make it. 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:43.880 Is the luxury to be a because that's exactly right. 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:45.880 That's interesting, that's really interesting. 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:46.960 Let me ask you. 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.760 Lesson, you know, what. 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.560 What kind of big picture learning is about the modern 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:55.080 television landscape. 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:57.760 Did you learn from the you experience? 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.080 You know, in the industry, it was very close. We 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.520 tracked that you started. You know, it was a very 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:07.040 distinctive show. Incredible star in Penn Badgeley, who we had 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.480 Variety had as a cover feature last year in twenty 0:15:10.520 --> 0:15:15.040 twenty three, a very successful cover for us. You know, 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:16.960 it was a great It was the same show. It 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:21.320 was a great show. It did not succeed on the 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:24.360 linear basic cable. It went to Netflix, and we know 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:24.840 the risk. 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.440 We were all very disappointed in how it performed on 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.360 Lifetime because we knew in our heart that we had 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:32.320 something really special. 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.320 We all believed it was really special, and then. 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.000 When we heard that Lifetime was picking us up to 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:41.760 a second season, it was all very exciting. We had 0:15:41.920 --> 0:15:44.840 met Lesson, I had met with Bella Bajara and Stacy 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:48.720 Silverman at Netflix when they were running the international division, 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:53.800 and we said, we have the show at Lifetime, here's 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:57.880 the script. This could be something for your international agenda 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.400 because they were buying American shows and so them as 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:06.040 originals for Netflix. And literally twenty four hours later, Bella 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:08.840 called and Stacy called us and said we want. 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:10.920 This, and so that's a good call. 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.360 We were able to go to the studio and say 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:18.400 Netflix wants this for international, regardless of what Lifetime thinks 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:19.680 of us and what our future. 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.560 Is at Lifetime, we have this piece and so that 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:26.160 deal was made. Do you want to continue to keep? 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:26.840 Oh? 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:27.240 Okay? 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:31.680 So that deal was made and then Lifetime did pick 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:33.720 us up for a season two. They had a twenty 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:37.280 four hour kill switch, and they it seemed as though 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:39.480 they were not going to they were going to renege 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:45.080 on the second season. So we immediately called Netflix and said, 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:46.960 you're going to be able to have the show if 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:50.200 you want it, and they absolutely stood up and grabbed 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.320 it and put it on Linny. They put it on 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:58.320 the domestic platform almost a year before they were planning to. 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.400 And that's when it became an enormous hit. 0:17:02.440 --> 0:17:04.600 And it was interesting because it was like there wasn't 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:06.280 a gigantic marketing campaign. 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:08.320 It just found its audience. 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:10.760 Is it just as simple as there's a whole lot 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.159 more eighteen to forty year olds watching Netflix than there 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:15.320 are Lifetime these days? 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.960 In this case, I don't think it was a question 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:24.080 of linear versus streaming so much as that is where 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:26.400 did the where does the demo for the show live 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:28.200 and how do they want to watch the show? 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:32.919 That's right, Yeah, and I think, look, they've been. 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:38.000 Tremendous partners and really supportive of the show. But I 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:41.440 think in this instance, it was the audience finding the 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:45.000 show more than the show being served up to them. 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:49.199 Let me ask you on just a a on the 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:52.879 more macroeconomic level. You know, obviously a lot of changes 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:56.920 in television. The syndication market is in, you know, various 0:17:56.920 --> 0:18:00.280 stages of being kind of reinvented. Does that cons earn 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:02.280 you long term as a producer of series? 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:03.560 Does because we. 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:10.080 Are fortunate to have had several hit shows go the 0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:15.760 distance under the traditional model, and we have the benefit 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:20.400 of seeing the money those shows kick off. We're also 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:24.560 fortunate enough to have screaming hits and see the money 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:25.760 those shows kick off. 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:29.400 And it's a different business. 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:36.760 And you know, I think the business is very profitable, 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:43.119 it's very sustainable. It is not comparable, and we would 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:49.680 love to have opportunities where they're second and third revenue streams. 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:50.040 From our shows. 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:55.080 And until there's a shift in the model, which maybe 0:18:55.080 --> 0:19:00.080 there will be, we're gonna continue to plug away and 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:01.760 do what we do, but. 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:08.479 Would I love to see some return to that traditional model. Yeah. 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:12.280 Do I see anyone diving in and kind of paving 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:13.399 the way. I don't. 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.760 I'm very curious to see kind of as we really 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:19.840 kind of shake out from the impact of the strikes 0:19:19.840 --> 0:19:24.280 and all the all the evaluation that I'm very interested 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:28.480 to see whether if there's a there might be a 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:32.520 bounce back in linear television that could be completely you know, 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:34.560 delusional optimism. 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.200 On my part as a fan of broadcast television. 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:40.800 I think the Yellowstone and only Murderers I'm putting in 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:42.200 quotations experiments. 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:45.360 What a concept. 0:19:45.440 --> 0:19:49.359 Yeah, maybe that's indicative of where the business is going, 0:19:49.520 --> 0:20:00.560 where shows are platformed across right windows simultaneously or reaching 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:02.560 as broad an audience as possible, so. 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:05.920 That the marketing dollars really can be as effective as 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:06.600 they can. 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:11.240 Be, and you bring down the upfront costs and share 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:12.160 them back any more. 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:18.679 Don't turn the page just yet. We'll be back with 0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:30.479 more from Alloy Entertainment after this pause for monetization, and 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:33.520 we're back with more from the Home of Gossip Girl, 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.720 Pretty Little Liars, and you, Elisa. 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:40.600 The film business is no walk in the park either. 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:44.280 Right now, Can you tell me how you approach Do 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:45.880 you look for a certain amount of things that can 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:46.880 be done theatrically? 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:49.240 Do you look to sell straight to streamers? 0:20:49.240 --> 0:20:51.520 Some titles tell me about sort of how you go 0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:53.280 about developing your slate. 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:59.239 We have had great success in streaming. 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:01.760 As of late. 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:06.040 On Netflix and three. 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:06.800 Number ones in a row. 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:11.520 So we have been very fortunate that our audience is 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:14.639 the alloy audience. 0:21:14.359 --> 0:21:18.800 Is there, but they show up for streaming, whether it's 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:21.840 on their phone, on their laptop, whatever. I think that 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:24.080 that's been great for us, but we still love the 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:29.000 theatrical experience and hope to make movies for theatrical. 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:31.840 It was obviously a joy to see. 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:35.080 People you know return in some form over this past 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.960 year and post COVID, and we hope to do more 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:42.679 of it. That said, I think streaming will be a 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:45.560 big core of our business because that's where our audience 0:21:45.720 --> 0:21:49.520 primarily lives. Although my daughters fifteen tells me that on 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:53.480 her TikTok feed theaters are coming back, so let's. 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:56.040 Know, we would love for that to be part of 0:21:56.080 --> 0:21:59.520 our business. But we also want to have wins. So 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:05.400 if we developing a movie like Purple Hearts or you're 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:08.480 setum invited to my bio Mitzvah. We are cognizant of 0:22:08.480 --> 0:22:11.760 who the audience for those movies are, and. 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:12.960 We want to put it. 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:15.359 In a place where it's going to have success and 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:17.679 where we are going to have success and not have 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:21.560 the pressure of delivering on something that in this current 0:22:21.640 --> 0:22:26.720 market feels really challenged. We want to remain the biggest 0:22:26.760 --> 0:22:29.480 fish in the YA pond. 0:22:28.760 --> 0:22:32.760 But we are really running our grown up business, and 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:36.800 if you look at our past eighteen months, our two. 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:42.200 Biggest successes are you Joel Goldberg's in his late thirties 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:46.400 at this point and Purple Hearts, which was a grown 0:22:46.480 --> 0:22:50.680 up romance, and so we are focused on that. Our 0:22:50.680 --> 0:22:56.040 book business currently is about twenty five percent books for adults, 0:22:56.200 --> 0:22:57.760 although WYAT titles. 0:22:57.440 --> 0:22:58.960 Are read by adult women. 0:23:00.200 --> 0:23:03.159 By the end of twenty five, it's going to be 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:06.600 fifty to fifty and that's really the focus. 0:23:06.200 --> 0:23:08.919 And that's driven by a couple things. 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:15.880 One is the CWN free form aren't here anymore, and 0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:20.600