The Future of Entertainment Programming
March 19, 2013, OTTCon, Santa Clara, CA– Drew Baldwin from TubeFilter held a fireside chat with Lance Sloan from Warner Bros. The main topics included the future of entertainment programming, what is working in digital distribution and what isn’t, the impact of different digital platforms, and future prospects for over-the-top and other platforms.
So how did you end up at Warner Bros.?
Sloan responded that I’ve been part of their digital team on-and-off since ’00, mostly in film production. I was at Bandito Brothers dong commercial production when the Navy wanted to do a recruiting commercial. After the piece was done, I gave some of the Navy people a copy of the documentary. This eventually got to the brass who wondered about expanding this to a film. The talks led to “Acts of Valor”. Warner gave some advice for the film, but didn’t like the idea, since there were no stars.
After that, I went back to Warner to start digital projects. The first was with Brian Singer to create 4-hours of content on a $2M budget for the Web. Then it was “Aim High”, some indie work and a Web series for Mortal Kombat, where they had 4-months to deliver a digital feature.
These projects require a combination of conviction, scrappiness, and talent, and all of these have to come together at one time to start the work. How does this ability to pull things off for in a resource-constrained environment work?
Sloan quipped that the fairly low budgets don’t get much oversight, so they are allowed to experiment. They get support from the top, from film group staff, and the talent likes the efforts. Young people know marketing, distribution, and direction, so the freedom and support allow them to grow.
The Internet democratizes the opportunities for discovery and allows a bypass of the Hollywood bureaucracy and force change in the studios. For example, the trailer for Mortal Kombat got 4.5 M views and was first shown and well received at the Streamys. Are you still in the experimental stage in video projects on the Web and going into TV?
Sloan commented that everything is still very experimental. The costs and branding are being developed and are getting closer.
The studio increased sales people from 4 to 40 and they are tapping into Google ad sales. The ramp on the sales side is a smaller experiment that leads to a TV-feature hybrid sales and distribution model. The feature cuts are 10 episodes of 10 minutes each, but the lengths can vary. “H+” goes with 3-minute segments.
What were the distribution models for H+?
Sloan responded that they scheduled 48 episodes for the Web, because they had no home for the series when they started. Warner had no distribution plan at the start of the project. They tried to make the best episodes when they launched the first 6 episodes. The comments in response were “more, longer”.
Season 2 work considered up to 22 minutes because filmmakers like unbounded time. The analytics are helping with the planning, by seeing where people left off, if they watched the ads, etc. They are looking at a whole scifi YouTube channel including promos to push more series.
Is it better to launch all of the episodes at once? 6 episodes seems too few, and the subscribers get all 6, while non-subscribers only get 4. Can you make money on the ads?
Sloan answered that for H+, all the ads share revenues. There is no integration into the series. They work with some brands like Oakley, but there is no up-front. Some other brands fit into the shows and integrate. Brands understand the experimental nature of the shows.
So you are not selling media?
Sloan commented that now they can add some assurance for the ad sales. Ad spending is starting to accelerate, but it takes 24-36 months to close sales. The brands are slow to act.
Does having name directors help the brand?
Sloan pondered that the brands care, but most fans didn’t know of Brian Singer. People discovered the director and increased their knowledge of his work. YouTube had new demographics.
The H+ trailer got awards. For a scifi theme, the quality of programming on the Web calls for new distribution models for a show with Hollywood type production. the technologies allow for side-by-side presentations on live TV, video, second screen, etc. the transmedia productions blur the distinctions of the media.
Sloan agreed, but only for the best content. distribution is determined by sales and the actions to monetize the content. this is like indie films on TV. Some will become a financial success and others will follow. These new series use the same production as “Lost” or a $100 M movie versus a $2M Web series. Casting helps when name talent is available to work on the project.
Actual content is different due to the medium, budget, interactivity, and all change the story?
Sloan stated that digital distribution forms new areas of work. the different formats from Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube change the way you can market. Now social recommendations are more valuable than paid ads in an organic way.
What is the future of programming and entertainment, and what is the role of technology?
Sloan considered the key to be flexible and open. They are looking at a new project with a $250k budget. This is too low for the quality they want to project. You don’t have to lose quality with a low budget, because the equipment and tools help to reduce the costs. The control is in the hands of the filmmaker.
