Sharing here some key takeaways from Variety’s Entertainment & Technology Summit

1. Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz said the “Barbie” movie was not a one-off. During his keynote talk at the summit Kreiz revealed that it’s part and parcel of the company’s long-range, deliberate strategy to manage its intellectual property as entertainment franchises rather than simply toys.

2. “Historically you would’ve seen a full-page ad in a newspaper,” Wallach said. “But now, an artist can sell out a global tour by sending something out on TikTok or Instagram. It really has changed, so the fans are able to find the artist because the artist is out there talking to them on a daily basis.”

3. “It’s important for each creator to be authentic to their brand and voice,” said King. “But also for us as brands to be true to who we are and not try to be something that we’re not. For entertainment brands, it’s leaning into the people, creators and content that aligns with the content we’re putting out there.”

4. Alex Sanger, executive VP of Universal Pictures’ global digital marketing, shared that the studio utilized an “interactive” marketing approach with “M3GAN” which utilized chatbots that could connect fans with the murderous doll. “There were 20 million messages shared between Megan and our consumers,” he said. “We’re trying to create 1:1 experiences for our experiences and amplify beyond that.”

5. The biggest gaming brands like Fortnite and Roblox are no strangers to IP mixing within their platforms. “Because Roblox is a platform, our focus is on building tools that allow brands to [thrive],” said Roblox’s head of entertainment partnerships, Todd Lichten. “Success happens when brands who know their properties are able to hook up with developers to give people on Roblox [content] they can’t get anywhere else.” For Lichten, entertainment storytelling is heightened when incorporating “a gaming element” into a product that serves as “a place for fans to collect.”

6. Mike Verdu, VP of games at Netflix, discussed how the streamer has been able to elevate its content with the introduction of gaming titles — available for no extra cost. “Our games have no in-game monetization, they come as part of your subscription,” Verdu explained. “Without the pressure to monetize, all you need to do is delight your players… It perfectly aligns the interests of the game makers and players.”

7. To that point, Evan Adlman, EVP of commercial sales and revenue operations at AMC Networks, remarked on how consumers now hold more power over their consumption. “We’re no longer setting the appointment – the viewer is,” said Adlman. “There’s so much more viewership happening within these programs that happening outside of the traditional time [we’ve set].” He added, “Their premiere is tonight when they sit down and watch.”

8. “AI is fueled by data, but the big problem with that is that data is not tabular with columns and rows,” he said. “AI kind of expects the world to look like that,” though Amazon’s AI and machine learning general manager Ti White affirmed AI is “here to stay. I do not think it’s a glitch or fad — it’s mainstream.”

9. Charles D. King’s MACRO, the multi-platform media company behind the Academy Award-winning “Judas and the Black Messiah,” prioritizes representing the voice and perspectives of Black, indigenous and people of color. King explained that a major factor behind the company’s success stems from securing capital in order to continue creating projects about underrepresented groups.

10. At the final Creators in the Zeitgeist panel, WME digital agent Madeline Baldi explained that the key to success in the content creation space comes with “finding your niche.” She added, “The most important thing is regardless of where you sit in digital, it’s finding your niche.”

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