Every time a handful of films cross the billion-dollar mark at the international box office, the same question resurfaces: are movie theaters really back? In 2025, three Disney-backed releases — Avatar, Lilo & Stitch, and Zootopia — each surpassed $1 billion internationally. Outside of Disney, only one film reached that level: Ne Zha 2, which […]
This article explores how Hollywood is evolving as brands working within Hollywood move beyond advertising and sponsorships to become creators of original content. Over time, I’ve watched companies enter the entertainment industry not just to participate in storytelling, but to fund projects, develop intellectual property, and build their own content platforms—signaling a deeper structural shift […]
Watching the Hollywood Creator Economy Chase the Audience The Hollywood creator economy is reshaping how entertainment is made, discovered, and scaled. For years, I’ve watched Hollywood try to move into the digital age—not just with marketing campaigns or social clips, but with real structural change. Today, audiences don’t begin their entertainment journey with television or […]
The rise of manga in the West didn’t happen overnight. For many years, manga existed just outside the Western mainstream, visible mainly to dedicated fans who knew where to look. However, that reality has changed dramatically. Today, manga outsells American comic books in many markets, fills library shelves, dominates convention floors, and fuels some of […]
The 1990s were a pivotal decade for animation, producing several animated films that became cult classics only after audiences discovered them over time. While many animated movies were built for immediate box office success, others took creative risks that made them harder to market—and easier to overlook. Yet those films didn’t disappear. Instead, they found […]
This article is Part 2 of a two-part series exploring the film and television production slowdown and where the industry is rebuilding. If Part 1 explains why production slowed down, Part 2 focuses on how the film and television industry rebuilding phase is already taking shape beneath the surface. While some parts of the industry […]
Few announcements in recent years have stirred as much excitement—and quiet unease—as news of the Disney OpenAI partnership. For some, it signals a bold step into the future of creativity; for others, it raises deeper questions about control, authorship, and the role of artificial intelligence in storytelling. What follows are my observations based on publicly […]
From scripted television, movies of the week (MOWs), and reality TV, I’ve had the pleasure of working on some of the best and familiar productions over the past twenty-five years. During that time, I’ve researched and analyzed how people interact with entertainment and the factors driving fluctuations in viewership. A chance lunch with a research […]
A company isn’t only defined by what it sells. It’s defined by what it signals—what it promises before a product is even opened, before a ticket is even scanned, before a word is even spoken. That signal is identity, and for entertainment companies, especially, identity is often carried by one thing above all else: a […]
90s animation still hits differently because it focused on strong storytelling, emotional clarity, and visual craftsmanship in ways many modern animated projects no longer prioritize. During the 1990s, animation studios trusted their audiences. Because of that trust, stories unfolded at a deliberate pace, characters felt emotionally grounded, and visuals carried meaning beyond spectacle. Even decades […]
