Covid-19: Big shifts in the entertainment industry

Covid-19 social distancing has created the perfect conditions for DNVCs: disruption of the traditional media product lifecycle (like studio production and theater distribution) combined with a massive increase in consumer demand for content.

This is precisely the arc that we’ve watched immersive entertainment take over the last decade. It has evolved over time to address the shortcomings of the previous incarnations of mass media. It is not that the prior media and social platforms were uninteresting, rather it’s the inevitable rise of new models that better address the shortcomings of... See more

The constant changes in 1-2-3 speaks to how the entertainment industry is changing beyond “D2C SVOD”. The two clearest trends are video gaming/interactivity and multi-media/trans-media/cross-media storytelling. Taken together, this will fundamentally alter competitive dynamics, which stories we love, and how much.

I think the same thing is now happening in TV and in cinema. Technology (and now lockdown) broke apart the old model and changed all the rules, but the questions about the new models are TV and cinema questions, not software questions.

In movies, TV, and video games: cinematic universes. Studios have finally figured out that once audiences fall in love with fictional worlds, they want to spend lots of time in them.

There are two major waves happening today that could accelerate the creation of a new generational storytelling company:

1. Consumer shift toward interactive media (over linear/passive media, i.e. TV/film)


2. Technology advancement driven by generative AI

Trouble arrived early in the 21st century, when upstart companies powered by new digital technologies began to challenge the status quo. Entertainment executives reflexively dismissed the threat. Netflix was “a channel, not an alternative.” Amazon Studios was “in way over their heads.” YouTube? No self-respecting artist would ever use a DIY platfor... See more