How Often Do Celebrity Production Companies Launch Hit Shows?

I think creators are starting the new billion-dollar commerce brands and the new billion-dollar media companies. We’re seeing that with people building tech companies, [like] David Dobrik. He built an app, raised venture financing for it. His merch brand is doing incredibly well.

Putting talent at the center of its business opens up entirely new opportunities for media companies when the core asset and value is attributed to the individual. The new line of business now becomes somewhat inverted: instead of everything being limited to under a brand halo where advertisers buy on the brand and consumers subscribe to the brand,... See more

When we did Smartwater with Jennifer Aniston , that was the first time I saw an equity-cash combo deal, when Jennifer was a part owner of the company, which then sold to Coke [for $4.1 billion in cash].

The appeal, as Washington hinted at, is control. After a decade of being at the mercy of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat—which own the data, the algorithm, and ultimately that direct line of communication to the audience—stars finally aren’t willing to suffer having these apps restrict access to their fans. “We’re seeing pages get as lit... See more