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The struggle is real but so are the opportunities — and the potential to drive profits and growth are an order of magnitude larger than anyone can predict at this fraught moment for media, entertainment and technology.
Those central business dichotomies and much more were unpacked by an A-list roster of top executives, creators, entrepreneurs, investors, analysts and talent who took part in Day 1 of Variety‘s two-day summit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 7.
The conversations were sharp and focused, and panelists went deep on the complexities that the entertainment industry faces amid the disruption that has been unfolding for a decade. And more change on the horizon as AI tools become even more baked in to Hollywood’s workflows.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the actor and filmmaker who has been pushing the boundaries of tech and media with his HitRecord content venture, crystallized the sentiment that Hollywood has reached an important crossroads with the advance of generative AI tech. He didn’t shade what he sees as the downside of instantaneous, 24/7 connectivity.
“I was as optimistic as anybody, and during the rise of social media, that’s what HitRecord came from. So much good stuff happened and continues to happen on social media,” Gordon-Levitt said. “But what did happen is a small handful of these gigantic walled gardens came to dominate what was the internet and their advertising business model necessitated these algorithms, these engagement optimization algorithms, and I think it’s those algorithms, frankly, that are causing so many of the damaging side effects that we’ve seen from social media, whether it’s mental health, it’s the backsliding of democracy, and we’re about to see that all happen again with AI, but worse, because there’s so much more compute power now and so much more money at stake.”
Breckin Meyer, actor and producer, and Jonathan Yunger, CEO of production-focused AI firm Arcana, also addressed the AI boom from the perspective of creative talent.
Kelly Day, VP of Amazon’s Prime Video International, brought the perspective of how local-language originals are both widening the playing field and competing with even Hollywood’s strongest output.
Anthony Wood, founder, chairman and CEO of Roku, offered fascinating perspective on the evolution of subscription and free streaming platforms.
Danielle Carney, director of U.S. video and live sports for Amazon Ads, and Marty Blich, executive director and head of U.S. sports investment and partnership for WPP Media, spoke about how sports and sports-related content has become even more important as connective tissue for media platforms and brands as the landscape for sports rights goes far beyond ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.
The impact of cutting-edge distribution platforms and data analytics tools on brand marketing was chopped by a quartet of chief marketing officers. Allison Stransky of Samsung Electronics America, Grace Kao of Snap, Monica Austin of Blizzard Entertainment and Darren Schillace of Fox Entertainment talked shop with Andrew Wallenstein, chief media analyst for Luminate, Variety‘s sibling data, audience measurement and analytics firm.
Wallenstein also spoke in a separate session with Khurrum Malik, CMO of Walmart Connect, and Ian Colley, CMO of the Trade Desk, about how their firms have worked together to leverage Walmart’s considerable reach with consumers.
An equally impressive assembly of TV and brand advertising sales chief tackled the questions of how streaming and AI has transformed the business once defined by “spots and dots” in the analog realm. Tim Natividad of TelevisaUnivision, Fox’s Jeff Collins, Disney’s Rita Ferro, NBCUniversal’s Mark Marshall, Netflix’s Amy Reinhard and Mike O’Donnell of Walmart’s Vizio spoke with Danny Ledger, who leads telecom, media and entertainment for Consulting Services at Deloitte.
The audacity that it takes to succeed in the cut-throat, ever-changing world of Silicon Valley is on display in AMC Network’s upcoming dramedy “The Audacity.” Summit attendees got a sneak preview of the series, which bows April 12, from stars Simon Helberg and Billy Magnussen, executive producer Gina Mingacci and Dan McDermott, chief content officer for AMC Networks and president of AMC Studios.
Fandom in the Zeitgeist
Sometime over the past decade, the word “fandom” became a verb. From tech launches to entertainment ballyhoo to brand marketing, tapping into the passionate fanbases that flock to things that speak to them. Sometimes it’s a big crowd of enthusiasts, sometimes its a tight-knit group of mega-fans who engage deeply. That dynamic was brought out as panelists offered granular examples of how they engage existing communities.
Pat Shah, global head of content acquisition, strategy and partnerships for Audible, spoke of how new audio renditions of the original Harry Potter books have skyrocketed for the Amazon-owned serivce, while Nadine Zylstra, global head of programming and originals for Pintrest, spoke of how consumer trends are evident in the content that drives the service’s crafty consumers. Jonathan Adashek, senior VP of marketing and communications for IBM; Thai Randolph, CEO of LL Cool J’s, Rock the Bells; Mitchel Berger, executive VP of global commerce for Crunchyroll; Farzeen Ghorashy, president of Overtime, add to the lively discussion of strategies to reach and motivate fans.
Decoding the Feed: How Zefr Leverages NVIDIA Technology to Analyze Social Content at Scale
Jamie Allan, global head of business development, Streaming, Sports, AdTech and Nvidia, and Jon Morra, chief AI officer of Zefr, go super-deep on how AI tools and platforms are helping the entertainment industry in myriad ways. But first, people have to embrace the technology.
Be Everywhere, Be Premium, Listen to Your Consumer and Iterate, Iterate, Iterate
The summit began at 9 a.m. sharp with a session featuring top programming and production executives from heavyweight Hollywood studios and platforms. The discussion revolved around the challenges of adapting traditional business models and practices to the new demands of content distribution and — of course — monetization.
Alison Hoffman, president of Starz Networks, emphasized the benefit that her platform has in focusing on premium series and primarily scripted content. Not trying to be everything to every consumer “allows us to be a great partner” to Starz’s wide range of distribution partners around the world.
Julian Franco, president of strategy and operations for Fox Entertainment, detailed how the vision for content distribution has changed at Fox in the half-dozen years since Disney bought the 20th Century Fox studio, Hulu and cable channels.
“It’s really a platform agnostic ecosystem where we test, we produce, and we scale IP and we’re not trying to play a game of four-dimensional chess,” Franco said. “We’re just being really pragmatic and simple in our approach and saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to go where audiences exist.’ “
Val Boreland, president of entertainment for Versant Media, is also in the throes of transformation following the split from NBCUniversal to form Versant, which is home to USA Network, Syfy, Oxygen, CNBC, MS Now and other assets. The slimming down of the company’s asset base will help the focus in on what each brand does best — and hopefully find partnership opportunities within the portfolio.
“I had been at NBCUniversal for nine-plus years and barely interacted with the Rotten Tomatoes people. And I was like, We’re both entertainment brands. Why haven’t we leaned in on each other more, collaborated more,” Boreland said. “The consolidation or the transformations, it’s really just forcing us to think differently.”
Jay Levine, chief strategy officer and business operations for Sony Pictures Entertainment, noted that the marketplace has never been wider for a studio that works with nearly every major platform.
“As an independent, we have a unique position because we sell to all platforms, we’re not beholden to one buyer. We’re not even beholden to our own network strategy, because us at Sony don’t have a general entertainment service and we’re flexible about it,” Levine said. “So there’s times that we want to deficit finance things, there’s times that we can tailor deals and we want to co-produce.”
Jon Liebman, CEO of Brillstein Entertainment Partners, brought the perspective of the creative community that has grappled with big changes in how Hollywood gets paid. That’s one reason why packaging of big-ticket projects is more important than ever.
“We all have to figure out as representatives of artists — we don’t deal algorithms. We deal in creative concepts. And so what our clients are doing more and more of is packaging, putting things together so that by the time we come to the folks on this stage with pitches and ideas and people who work for them, they are a little bit more baked,” Liebman said. “You can see what it is and that way when you all go through the metrics and try to figure out, is this gonna work on our platform and how would we make this work, you have a bit more meat on the bone.”
How IP drives cross-platform opportunities beyond the screen
The world of live experiences, brand extensions and e-commerce has greatly expanded the potential for IP to drive wholly new businesses. This fertile territory was explored by Kim Boyd, Habro’s president of licensing and entertainment, Javi Borges, EY’s global U.S. media and entertainment sector, Jenefer Brown, president of global products and experiences for Lionsgate; Kevin Chernett, Live Nation’s executive VP and head of global media partnerships; and Sandra Douglass Morgan, president of Las Vegas Raiders.
The big picture outlook: What trends will drive business in 2026?
The event wrapped with some crystal-ball gazing into the future as independent companies tap into direct connections with fans and consumers to make inroads in a marketplace dominated by media and tech giants. Nikki Santoro, CEO of IMDB, Chris McGurk, CEO of Cineverse, Maureen Polo, CEO of Hello Sunshine, Yong-yi Zhu, VP and head of business operations, strategy and compliance for Tencent Games, and Jim Squires, executive VP of business marketing and growth for Reddit, offered practical examples of how their businesses have grown through ingenuity and listening to their consumers.
(Pictured top: Variety’s Cynthia Littleton, Reddit’s Jim Squires, Cineverse’s Chris McGurk, IMBD’s Nikki Santoro, Tencent Games’ Yong-yi Zhu and Hello Sunshine’s Maureen Polo)
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