The US format veteran frankly dismisses many of the industry’s recent ‘survival’ strategies – such as ‘begging brands for sponsorship’ – and instead turns his thoughts to how you can thrive in the new content economy, including new modes of production and distribution.
In a world that seems to be spinning hopelessly out of control, in a business where change happens faster than a sneeze in winter, all I’ve heard since Covid rewired how we work is the same lament: ‘How do I survive?’
‘Survive till ’25.’ Remember that one? ‘Just hang on.’ ‘Buckle down.’ ‘Cut costs.’ ‘Do whatever it takes to survive this business.’
Well, whatever ‘this business’ was will not be coming back. It’s changed forever. The people presiding over the legacy institutions are hanging on by their fingernails, hoping there’s still enough juice left to squeeze from their large old conglomerate fruit. If you’re an exec of a certain age, you’re praying for a decent parachute. If you’re young and still chasing the old models… well, bless your heart.
After reading the flood of articles coming out of Florida from the latest industry gatherings, I fired off an email to a friend who knows what’s what – and what it all really means. Small budgets thanks to AI. Rampant rip-offs thanks to a culture that doesn’t care. Big companies burning time and money with lawyers chasing tiny infringers while the real question goes unanswered: where do actual profits come from now?
We’re drowning in a firehose of “original” ideas that are instantly indistinguishable and disposable. In a short-attention-span world, that’s not interesting or appealing – especially for legacy creators. Every ‘new’ show launched by certain stateside networks lately? Forgettable at best. Bad shows? You know who you are. And each one drives viewers further away, accelerating a death spiral where business and creators collaborate in their own self-destruction. Tip your waiters.
Once Netflix broke business models that weren’t broken in the first place, and the economics of libraries turned into magical thinking, we were left with a world where young people simply do not care about the old ways. Laws meant to protect intellectual property now feel about as enforceable as a blind traffic cop handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500.
The big legacy companies can’t fight every upstart ‘content creator.’ (And really – what are Martin Scorsese, Shonda Rhimes, Stanley Kubrick or David Lean if not OG content creators?) Corporations are in a death spiral, trying to prop up bottom lines by any means necessary. Are verticals the answer? Are shrinking runtimes, turning phones sideways, and begging brands for sponsor dollars really innovations – or just the last desperate gasps of an industry in freefall, clinging to a 1950s ad model dressed up with new buzzwords?
Survive in this business? Are you out of your collective doom-scrolling minds? The mantra, the headspace, the focus has to be something else. It has to be thrive.
‘Survive’ is desperate. It’s drowning in the ocean and complaining you’re thirsty. Thrive means accepting that the past is gone – really gone – and dealing with that reality positively. Thrive means making your life a joy moving forward, not a cringe-worthy exercise in hanging on.
Don’t chase a trend. Create one.
Don’t hope for the best. Be the best.
Develop ideas you would want to make and you would want to watch on any platform or live in person. Adapt your skills to new modes of production and distribution. Be excited. Pitch your ideas to anyone who will pay for them – and make damn sure they’re different from what everyone else is doing.
Get a ‘network needs’ note? Flush it. By the time it reaches you, the platform is already developing those ideas anyway. Create things no one else is thinking about. Leave derivatives to the desperate legacy GEGs feeding output deals and hoping to sell them globally where they don’t already own production companies. Friends – it’s madness.
The house has all the cards. The casino of traditional distribution – major prodcos, major platforms – is stacked against you. Sure, you might win a hand or two, but betting your
rent on selling to the GEGs or legacy platforms is no different than feeding a slot machine.
So stop panicking about survival. Find ways to thrive creatively, mentally, physically. Be free of the Fomo that eats your spirit alive. Imagine yourself as a pioneer at the dawn of a new age – because you are, we all are. Take sword and shield in hand. Eyes wide open.
Venture forth.
And slay.
