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2 weeks ago
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Two years on from being promoted to Co-Chairmen of WME, Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz gave one of their first public interviews, talking about the future of the entertainment business, and in particular, AI, movies on streaming, the future of Paramount and FAST channel services such as Tubi.
“Despite the challenges and the disruption, we have real confidence in the power of art, so we feel really good about the future,” said Muirhead at the FT’s Business of Entertainment conference.
Muirhead and Weitz were promoted in September 2022, succeeding Lloyd Braun. Muirhead came from the world of corporate communications, while Weitz was an agent.
“We got these jobs at the tail end of a lot of chaos, coming out of Covid, and then we stepped right into a little bit of chaos with the strikes. It’s been a little bit tumultuous. But for us, I think we have become laser focused on making sure we’re prepared for that tumult and that change. The past two years for us have really been focusing on the tenants of representation, and making sure that our clients are optimizing and [handling] all the sort of chaos that’s going on around them. It’s been a good two years for us. There have been some challenges, but ultimately, more than the challenges, there’s been a ton of opportunities for us and our clients,” said Muirhead.
Weitz agreed, “I’ve been an agent for 30 years. I represented writers, actors, directors. Christian came from a communication background, and we were, on the surface, if you asked anybody at our company or in the business, we were two people who probably weren’t the most likely to be put together, but I would say publicly to everybody and to Christian, it’s been the most incredible experience. Our values are the same and we want the best for our clients, with the best for the culture of our company.”
He added that there were some challenges in getting people back into a normal routine. “We had to get our culture back. We had to get our cadence back. We had to make sure that people were in the office and figuring out how to maximize what we’re doing for the future of where our business is, because we saw where the disruption was going to be, and we saw what was in front of us.”
On AI, the pair talked up the opportunities for their clients. Weitz highlighted Seth MacFarlane’s short three-minute tape that became Family Guy as well as a Christmas video card that turned into South Park.
“One of the things that A.I. is going to do, it’s going to give opportunity for our artists and our writers and directors and those that we don’t represent,” he said, adding it was “exciting”.
In terms of the theatrical experience, while the pair talked it up, Weitz also said that he doesn’t think the movie theater is the best place for all movies. “Clients are sophisticated enough to understand that. It’s better to be the number one watched movie on a streaming reserve that may not get the immediate box office,” he said. “I think Apple has taken a hit with some of their movies, and they’ve decided [they’re] not going to put everything out theatrically. It doesn’t make sense for [them], which is why I think this George Clooney and Brad Pitt movie [Wolfs], which looks great, I would have gone the movie theater, but everyone’s going to watch it. Why? Two major stars on a service that’s exclusive to them, that is a premium movie.
Muirhead added, “There’s no one size fits all proposition anymore.”
Muirhead, who has been with the company for 18 years, lauded David Ellison’s deal to buy Paramount. “If Sony had bought it, that would have been problematic. One less buyer in the marketplace. I think it ultimately is a bad thing. But more importantly, you have a new owner that does two things. One, he cares about the product. This is not Gulf + Western owning Paramount in the 1970s. He’s somebody who deeply cares about movies and television, and content. Then, in addition to that he has, he has a vision for the future, and has relationships with in Silicon Valley, obviously, that will be beneficial to how the studio, and our world evolve. As far as we’re concerned, it’s a win on both fronts, we’re really excited about it.
Weitz said that they’ve “assembled an incredible team” with Jeff Shell and Gerry Cardinale.
Weitz, whose clients include Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais and Rob Lowe, also talked up Fox-owned free streamer Tubi. “It is doing extremely well. A lot of it is dedicated to underserved people who don’t watch or aren’t watching all these premium streamers. They’re watching reruns.”
When asked the future of the business, Muirhead used a driving analogy. “Do you remember when you were taught how to drive? Your driving structure says, ‘Don’t look immediately in front of you, look down the road’,” he said. “You have to look have the long view and the long view is great. I mean, in front of us, are there challenges and hurdles and issues, of course, but is this the road ahead straight and clear? It is. So, we feel really good about it.”
Weitz added, “We’ve never been more excited about the representation business and what the opportunities are for our clients. There are no rules anymore. You can listen to a podcast, have an idea, and that could be the next big blockbuster. You’ll be playing a game on Sony PlayStation and have it be the biggest show on Amazon with Fallout or The Last of Us on HBO. The industry has never been more exciting for us.”
