BU Today: How do studios measure success beyond box office numbers?

I think when you look at any sort of intellectual property [IP], if it’s something original or if it’s based on a book, what you try to do is put that IP at the center of a wheel and build spokes around it. If it has a theatrical run and a second window streaming run, there are multiple opportunities to create revenue, including military rights, educational rights, merchandise, and spinoffs. 

This is important because when you create all these characters in these worlds, you’re looking at it like it’s a start-up. It’s a business. How can this business survive on multiple revenue streams as opposed to just the theatrical box office? Across the board, the theatrical box office is down domestically and internationally, but [traditional] Hollywood blockbuster films do very well internationally. 

There are specific algorithms that must be met. And so when creators come in and say, ‘Here’s an idea I have,’ it will be run through the middle of an algorithm, and if it comes out in a positive way, then that streamer is more apt to say, ‘Here’s your $45 million exclusively for us.’ 

Interestingly enough, this year at the Sundance Film Festival, things didn’t sell. It used to be that at film festivals, these independent films would emerge, a couple would pop, and there’d be a bidding war. And people want to do it and take it on. But nowadays, the technology from an algorithmic perspective is so tight that they don’t want to guess. They want to make sure everything is ticked off that they need to have ticked off in terms of boxes, and so no one’s willing to take a swing on something that may or may not hit for them. The competition is too fierce. 

It’s tightened up a lot of the independent freedom to drill down into an algorithm. People look at the IP as, ‘How do I mine this for everything I can mine it for?’ And I love that aspect of it. The smart creatives understand it’s a business and know how to put something together in a formidable way. But creativity is involved in [coming up with] the business model around it. Each film, each IP is a start-up. And if you think that way and you think outside the box, you will create the new revenue streams of tomorrow, which will become the norm. So it’s really important that smart people are behind it, and [that] they look for opportunities.

BU Today: Disney recently released a remake of Lilo & Stitch. The original 2002 film wasn’t a massive box office hit, but it spawned a TV show, a sequel, and a ton of merchandise, and the new film has made more than $600 million globally since it opened in late May. What does that say about the power of nostalgia?

That’s another really smart way to reintroduce characters who have a base, an attachment to a certain generation, and now that generation has children. There’s a connectivity there and a sort of curation. It’s like, ‘Oh, you need to see this, because this is what I watched as a child, and these are all the characters, and I know everything about them.’ Your children are going to look at you in awe and think, ‘How do you know all of this?’

Everything old is new again, and people are risk-averse. The best way to be risk-averse is to take something that was tried-and-true many years ago, repackage it, and remake it for a new audience. You have institutional knowledge of what worked at that particular time, what people connected with, and what they did not connect with. 

There is now enough research to see the shift in tides and likes and dislikes, and rebooting things over and over again. Is something a safe financial bet? It’s not 100 percent, but it’s pretty safe. And that also opens up a question counter to that argument, which is, what are going to be the next new things that 20 years from now can be rebooted into something else? as opposed to relying on something that was developed in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, and just hanging your hat on that. I think there needs to be a fair balance between the two from a business perspective. You can simply reboot everything; that’s the easiest thing to do, and you won’t lose your job. But if you can mix that with introducing new creative IP, and it hits, then that’s probably the healthy sort of diversification of your portfolio.

BU Today: What films are you most looking forward to this summer?

Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning; Superman. I want to see Sinners. I’m curious about it purely because of the deal, because [director Ryan Coogler] got gross points. The IP reverts back to him after 20 years, so he’ll own it outright. And that deal is afforded to very few people. It’s original. IP, not based on something else. From a business perspective, that is fascinating.

Minecraft was panned, but did unbelievably well at the box office. The bigger, the flashier, and dare I say, the mindlessness of it all. I just want to sit back and be entertained.

BU Today: One movie I’m excited for is the racing movie starring Brad Pitt, F-1.

F-1 racing is super hot. The movie Drive to Survive proved to have a co-viewing audience. You would assume a racing movie might be skewed towards men, but Drive to Survive was about 50/50. That’s the sweet spot, right? F-1 racing has a lollapalooza-esque quality to it. You have the race, but you also have travel, the pretty people hanging out. It’s an experience.

BU Today: ​​With the rise of short-form content and the increasing influence of nontraditional creators, how do you see schools like BU’s College of Communication evolving? And what core skills are important, even as formats and distribution methods change?

I think we’re in a really interesting time from a content perspective. Streaming has plateaued and movies are on a consistent downward trajectory in terms of box office and popularity. And consumers are taking things in differently and viewing shorter content. Influencers and content creators have shown that you don’t need a billion dollars to do something. People are doing amazing things with $5,000. They’re master marketers, they know their fan base, and people are smarter, quicker, and younger.

And so it’s awesome to see summer blockbusters and really good films come out that truly speak to something bigger amongst us or universal within us. 

I’m curious where this is leading and how [academic] programs need to adjust or adapt to this new shift in the industry. That does not mean you don’t need to know how to tell a story, or shoot something, or edit something, or produce, or direct, or write, or be the costume designer or production designer. You have to get trained in those crafts.

It’s how what you’re making is distributed, in what form, and where, at what length. Those are the things that are top of mind for me. 

The kids that are coming up now into these programs have had their hands on technology way sooner than any of us have. They need help with writing, directing, producing, shooting, and editing a story. They’re sophisticated and they’re savvy, and they just need a little bit of traditional understanding of the craft.

And then you let them fly and do what they want to do, however they want to do it. I’m curious to see what they come up with and what emerges next, because in a moment of chaos, opportunities arise, and people will jump on that opportunity, and that will become the norm.

And then this will happen again.