Hollywood IQ 113: How to Strategize for the Creator Economy, Part 1 (feat. Adam Fowler)

Synopsis:

Creative types tend to shy away from economic strategy, writing it off as something for the suits. But in today’s creator economy, knowing your audience and distribution method are as essential as the quality of content you put out. In season one's final episode of the Hollywood IQ podcast, host Ri-Karlo Handy is joined by economist Adam Fowler, a pioneer in studying Hollywood from an economic perspective, to talk about how creative entrepeneurs can leverage economic strategies to build success. The pair delve into why creators don’t have the luxury of being recluse artists and instead need to think about how to build an audience on a platform; why investing in yourself during this time of radical disruption is the smart bet; the value of asking: “What is the economy telling me about the skills I should be focusing on?”; and why tapping into the attention economy is the whole ballgame.

Episode Highlights:

In the episode, host Ri-Karlo Handy and economist Adam Fowler discuss:

• how to play to and scale for the 24/7 attention economy
• why out attention to phones has sent entertainment industry trends off a cliff
• how tech brought the cost of entry for creatives down — and what that means for business
• why now is the time to break into the entertainment industry, because the old silos have eroded
• why being in the entertainment business means understanding the models and the tech
• the importance of knowing your consumer and collecting data
• the the success of YouTubers putting out less polished content, but at a faster pace
• the value of digital platforms, which allows people in niche spaces to cultivate global audiences and reduce the fiction of interacting with the consumer
• how the equity in IP and a brand is similar to equity in a house
• why open source is the future (and monetized open source is harder)
• how to navigate being at the mercy of changing algorithms
• why successful projects don’t have to have Marvel-massive cost structures
• knowing the tools you need to be fluent with to build distribution and an audience
• the benefit of making/selling 20 things that reach 1 million people vs. one thing that reaches 20 million people