Excellent as always, and it seems as though people managing studios are genuinely not talking to their consumers to understand what they actually want.
I don't mean letting fans pick movies, I mean fully understanding how Online, Multichannel, FAST and SVOD suit consumer's entertainment needs. TikTok filled a hole people didn't know they had (mobile, but shorter than Quibi) and took a lot of wind out of YouTube's sails. And YouTube is taking a major fraction of video watched on Televisions, not just laptops and phones.
The first studio that comes up with a big-picture, comprehensive view of what consumers want and need in total from their entertainment providers will have a big advantage because they will know where to play. The fact that Paramount-CBS has not embraced its massive advantage in Red America is professional malpractice.
There seems to be an absence of strategy here from almost everyone, just endlessly replaying the last few years while they wait for cable to die. If only there were professional service firms set up to help people figure out strategy....
(A note on your footnote. I think the 1974 film you're looking for is the sublime Young Frankenstein.)
As always a great read but more importantly ideas and a way forward, Roy you write consistently about the problems across the board and often provide what I think are commercial, fresh solutions and I echo Adrian Blake’s insightful comments below but is the real problem that they ( studio heads etc,) subscribe to your type of thinking but the political environment stops them from pivoting?
Wonderfully thorough and prescient. Also, that exact paperback copy of Day of the Locust was my reading material for my flight to LA the day I moved here.
What I am curious about is the need (I agree it is a need) to produce more comedies, versus the struggles of marketing costs offset by overseas business. More and more, American comedy seems like a tougher sell in different countries, too based in American vernacular and tradition (same is true for international laffers arriving stateside).
The days of big broad comedies traveling seem like a relic. Which is why, when trying to shop comedies overseas, it feels like the studios settle on genre hybrids, like action-comedies that emphasize the violence over the jokes. Movies where funny people are just trying to be funny seem so inconceivable unless there is more broad, stupid spectacle. Maybe this is irrelevant data, but I'm just looking at the work of Judd Apatow, the last semi-relevant comedy director in America (not counting guys like Wes Anderson), and it seems like his movies did a quarter or less of their business overseas. I don't think that's sustainable when it's so expensive just to sell a big comedy, moreso without stars (since the studios have had no interest in marketing new comedy stars in the last decade).
I wonder if anyone in Hollywood really believes there is actual upside in making globally-successful theatrical comedy.
Anyone But You did 88 domestic and 131 foreign. Big Bang Theory was always our strongest show in Germany. Kung Fu Panda did 193 domestic and 354 international.
Usually, comedy does a bit worse than say action internationally, but it’s not like -80% vs the average, it’s more like -15%.
Ah, yes, Anyone But You seemed like proof that you can pull off such a success. But something like Kung Fu Panda is definitely the type of genre combo I was talking about, I don't know if it's fair to classify that franchise as "comedy".
And I don't even know why Big Bang Theory was ever popular in America, that was mystifying to me, so to understand how it travels is beyond my ken.
Excellent as always, and it seems as though people managing studios are genuinely not talking to their consumers to understand what they actually want.
I don't mean letting fans pick movies, I mean fully understanding how Online, Multichannel, FAST and SVOD suit consumer's entertainment needs. TikTok filled a hole people didn't know they had (mobile, but shorter than Quibi) and took a lot of wind out of YouTube's sails. And YouTube is taking a major fraction of video watched on Televisions, not just laptops and phones.
The first studio that comes up with a big-picture, comprehensive view of what consumers want and need in total from their entertainment providers will have a big advantage because they will know where to play. The fact that Paramount-CBS has not embraced its massive advantage in Red America is professional malpractice.
There seems to be an absence of strategy here from almost everyone, just endlessly replaying the last few years while they wait for cable to die. If only there were professional service firms set up to help people figure out strategy....
(A note on your footnote. I think the 1974 film you're looking for is the sublime Young Frankenstein.)
BTW I heard this yesterday and it reminded me of my dear friends in the cable and satellite business. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Rq-4spRz4&ab_channel=AfterTheGoldRush
Funny
And a great piece!
Ah you’re right!
As always a great read but more importantly ideas and a way forward, Roy you write consistently about the problems across the board and often provide what I think are commercial, fresh solutions and I echo Adrian Blake’s insightful comments below but is the real problem that they ( studio heads etc,) subscribe to your type of thinking but the political environment stops them from pivoting?
Only the Shadow knows…
Wonderfully thorough and prescient. Also, that exact paperback copy of Day of the Locust was my reading material for my flight to LA the day I moved here.
You totally nailed it in this one. Thank you.
What I am curious about is the need (I agree it is a need) to produce more comedies, versus the struggles of marketing costs offset by overseas business. More and more, American comedy seems like a tougher sell in different countries, too based in American vernacular and tradition (same is true for international laffers arriving stateside).
The days of big broad comedies traveling seem like a relic. Which is why, when trying to shop comedies overseas, it feels like the studios settle on genre hybrids, like action-comedies that emphasize the violence over the jokes. Movies where funny people are just trying to be funny seem so inconceivable unless there is more broad, stupid spectacle. Maybe this is irrelevant data, but I'm just looking at the work of Judd Apatow, the last semi-relevant comedy director in America (not counting guys like Wes Anderson), and it seems like his movies did a quarter or less of their business overseas. I don't think that's sustainable when it's so expensive just to sell a big comedy, moreso without stars (since the studios have had no interest in marketing new comedy stars in the last decade).
I wonder if anyone in Hollywood really believes there is actual upside in making globally-successful theatrical comedy.
Fromtheyardtothearthouse.substack.com
Anyone But You did 88 domestic and 131 foreign. Big Bang Theory was always our strongest show in Germany. Kung Fu Panda did 193 domestic and 354 international.
Usually, comedy does a bit worse than say action internationally, but it’s not like -80% vs the average, it’s more like -15%.
Ah, yes, Anyone But You seemed like proof that you can pull off such a success. But something like Kung Fu Panda is definitely the type of genre combo I was talking about, I don't know if it's fair to classify that franchise as "comedy".
And I don't even know why Big Bang Theory was ever popular in America, that was mystifying to me, so to understand how it travels is beyond my ken.
It’s hard to get perfect data on comedies because there are so few good ones.