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Hollywood took another step closer to Silicon Valley today.
San Francisco-based venture capital firm Benchmark is investing a Series A round into a new "creative accelerator" founded by film and TV heavyweights Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.
The Academy Award-winning duo founded Imagine Impact in September 2018 to bring new voices to an entertainment industry that can be difficult to break into.
"The old way of sourcing talent in the entertainment industry is based on who you know, which presents high barriers-to-entry for the fresh voices we need to hear from," Benchmark general partner Bill Gurley said in a statement. "Impact is knocking down these barriers through a marketplace model that reduces information asymmetry and levels the playing field. Ultimately this leads to more opportunities and better outcomes for everyone involved."
<p>Modeled after influential Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator, the program takes applications and connects participants with mentors to develop their projects and conducts speaker series with the likes of JJ Abrams and Malcolm Gladwell.<br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-vimeo">
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</p><p>Benchmark's investment, which is reportedly in the range of $10 - $20 million, will create a new standalone company called Impact Creative Systems ("Impact"). Tyler Mitchell will be its chief executive and Howard and Grazer will remain involved as founders.<br/></p><p>On a panel Thursday hosted by TechCrunch featuring the three, Howard said Grazer developed the model for the accelerator based on his realization that creating a show or movie is much like developing a startup: it requires building a product, a team and finding a product-market fit. </p><p>Gurley, somewhat of a superstar in the venture world, was introduced to Grazer through Michael Lynton, former Sony Pictures chairman and chief executive and current chairman of Santa Monica-base Snap Inc. Gurley, who spearheaded the deal, will sit on Impact's board. </p><p>The accelerator evaluates about 2,000 applications a week with the help of technology, Mitchell said on the panel. It has also built out a "LinkedIn-meets-Slack" marketplace called Creative Network, which the company says is currently used by producers and executives from across the entertainment industry, including Amazon, Netflix, Warner Brothers and many others. </p><p>Having Gurley on board will help Impact to further build this marketplace out. Many of his investments at Benchmark have been in tech companies with a similar two-sided supply and demand component, including Uber, Ebay, OpenTable and Yelp. </p><p>"Sitting around a white board meeting with Bill Gurley talking about our business and where it could go as a central clearing house for jobs – it's exciting, it's creative; I find it really creatively stimulating," Howard said on the panel.</p><p>The Impact accelerator has developed 72 projects, 25 of which have gone on to major studios. One example is Tunga, <a href="https://deadline.com/2019/02/tunga-netflix-animated-musical-zimbabwe-newcomer-godwin-jabangwe-imagine-impact-1-1202557570/" target="_blank">an animated musical from Zimbabwean screenwriter Godwin Jagangwe</a>, who was connected via the accelerator to Bojack Horseman creator Kate Purdy to develop the idea, Mitchell said. </p><p>Beyond embracing tech industry funding models and product development approaches, Howard and Grazer have turned to tech platforms to distribute their films and shows. The Impact accelerator has sold a project to Quibi, and Jax Media, another one of their companies, is doing projects with the L.A.-based short-form streaming app. </p><p>Impact also recently launched its own podcast, announced a deal with Netflix to source and develop content from across the world, and opened an accelerator program in Australia last month.</p><p>Grazer also said that he and Howard recently signed a deal with an unnamed celebrity to turn one of his Instagram Stories into a major motion picture. Grazer said the video he saw included a large man with two donkeys named Whiskey and Lulu. That description points pretty squarely <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/arnold-schwarzenegger-coronavirus-donkey-mini-horse" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">to Arnold Schwarzenegger</a>. </p><p>"I think we're going through a creative renaissance," Grazer said, noting that media that has been disconnected from Hollywood — such as social platforms and podcasts — are becoming more ingrained in the entertainment landscape. </p>
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Ficto, a cross between Quibi, Netflix and a video game that is set to launch next month, got a big boost this week when LG announced the app would come preloaded on 1.3 million of its new double-screened LG Wing smartphones.
The deal should help Ficto stand out from the competition by (literally) putting it in people's hands.
The mobile streaming service set to launch in October will focus on shows that leverage the smartphone's unique features, bringing to them a heavy dose of interactivity and social engagement. It also offers some brands, like LG, product placement and a degree of creative control in their shows. "Snoop 16," an interactive gameshow hosted by Long Beach native Snoop Dogg, will debut as one of the streamer's original programs.
<p>Mike Esola is the chief executive of L.A.-based Fiction Riot, a.k.a. Ficto. He told dot.LA that talks with LG began about a year ago. Both companies thought the other would be a good match.</p><p>"(LG Wing) is best utilized by apps that exhibit premium-level content on the main screen and interactive functionality features on the second screen," Esola said. </p><p>In exchange for the preloads, Ficto will embed LG products into some of its programming. LG will be paying for the product placements as well, a revenue stream that will likely be key to the free service's growth. In future phases of the partnership, LG will also include the app on other phones and televisions, Esola said.</p><p>Ficto has had about 60,000 users during its beta period. It will launch next month with dozens of licensed shows and seven originals. The latter group is where its mobile- and social-oriented content will predominate.</p><p>"Snoop 16" episodes, for example, will center around a March Madness-style bracket, except the competitors will be various items like rappers or cars; viewers will fill out and submit their own brackets, and if they match Snoop's, they will receive an LG Wing smartphone giveaway.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQwNDQ0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDUyMzc0NH0.21-8gFyM3X7MgAYN4nJsUBzoMuJbEcnU6ln_q_ZrPT8/image.jpg?width=980" id="59e01" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a24b43a156249fc28f966b0eb5403413" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Streaming service Ficto is creating shows with LG's new smart phone in mind.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Courtesy of Ficto</small></p><p>Esola acknowledged there is no guarantee the new phones will sell. And getting the app integrated with LG Wing's swiveling second screen required investment.<br/></p><p>"It's not easy to adapt to a new form factor," Esola said, referring to the phone's shape and size. "Apps don't (usually) spend the time [to adapt] until they know. We took the risk."</p><p>In doing so, LG is betting that Ficto can break through in the crowded streaming field. It will aim to do so largely through interactivity, which Esola has referred to as a form of "engaging and empowering" viewers. </p><p>The ability to share Ficto content across social media is a departure from fellow mobile-oriented streamer Quibi, which did not allow users to share content clips. After a disappointing launch, the L.A.-based company <a href="https://hypebeast.com/2020/6/quibi-app-revamp-coronavirus-airplay-sharing-features-update" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recently added that feature, among others</a>. </p><p>By contrast, Ficto has built-in technology to enable sharing clips over social media while complying with copyright law. Ficto will also provide creators with some analytics about the performance of their shows, something that Esola says many streaming companies, namely Netflix, do not do. </p><p>Ficto <a href="https://dot.la/ficto-raise-2646273511.html" target="_self">has raised $5 million since it incorporated in March 2018</a>.</p><p>About 80% of the company's revenue currently comes from licensing shows to foreign markets, which allows apps in those markets to use Ficto's shows and essentially present them as their own. </p><p>The company also makes revenue from brand integrations, an area that is expected to grow as its user count climbs. Such arrangements allow a company like Anheuser Busch to "sponsor" a season or episode in exchange for a degree of creative control and product placement.</p><p>Ficto also licenses its proprietary technology for functionality like e-commerce integration and data analytics. </p>
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Ranker has made a profitable business of crowdsourcing lists and rankings on everything from action movies to ice cream flavors. Now, it wants to sell that data.
The Los Angeles-based media company announced this week it has surpassed 1 billion user votes for its lists and with that data will launch Ranker Insights, a new service targeting the marketers, studios and entertainment platforms vying for consumers' attention in a crowded online space.
<p>"This marks the open-for-business milestone," David Yon, who was brought into the company to lead Ranker Insights, told dot.LA. "Ranker is now available for B2B data licensing."</p><p>Ranker Insights will be the company's next step in its evolution from a website where someone can vote on their favorite U.S. president, fast food burger and Marvel Cinematic Universe character to a purveyor of consumer information, feeding the entertainment industry as it navigates a world dominated by streaming. </p><p>But in an industry awash in analytics, Ranker may face challenges in convincing customers that its data are valid. Although the company released a white paper with some description of its backend processes, it will likely need to peel back the curtain to prospective buyers. </p><p>Ranker is likely to face questions about the steps it takes to comply with Europe's complex data protection rules (GDPR), for example, and exactly how it is able to separate the signal from the noise, media analyst Dan Rayburn told dot.LA. </p><p>"There may be value there but the data's only as good as the methodology and how it's being collected," Rayburn added. "Everybody's always questioning that." </p><p>Ranker says that savvy companies know how to value its hoard of data. The company boasts over 160 million statistically relevant relationships and correlations on a range of consumer likes from their hamburger preferences to their favorite city in South America. </p><p>Chief executive Clark Benson, a serial entrepreneur who started Ranker 10 years ago because he liked lists and rankings and wanted to democratize them on the internet, said that within five years Ranker Insights could eclipse revenues generated by Ranker.com. </p><p>Ranker currently makes most of its money from its website via ads from streaming services such as HBOMax or consumer companies like Unilever. It's been profitable for over four years and though it's raised $7 million in venture funding, Ranker has financed its recent growth with its own cash, Benson said. </p>
<p><span style="background-color: initial;">But the app that gives television show recommendations for viewers based on their preferences has a larger purpose. Ranker will sift through the data from its website and Watchworthy to feed its Insights service.</span><br/></p><h3>Who will use Ranker Insights?</h3><p>Yon — who has been in the data licensing business for over a decade, including stints at entertainment software company Rovi and TiVo — sees Ranker's data as valuable information for a variety of entertainment companies. </p><p>Streamers could use it to improve their own content recommendations and to guide decisions on which shows to produce and/or acquire. Studios could use the data to make casting decisions. Talent agencies may be interested in insights on which actors and directors positively correlate with which kinds of content and brands, Yon said. And the data could help content makers and brands alike to target audiences. </p><p>"When you look at the hundreds of millions of dollars companies spend on data, it's a huge market," Yon said. Ranker has done one-off data deals in the past but now it's Yon's task to consistently tap that market.</p><p>Device-makers, too, may find the data useful, especially as voice-activated search becomes more common. Yon says these queries tend to be more subjective and granular than text-based searches, which brings challenges in providing useful results. Ranker's data, he says, has the depth and richness to help meet that challenge. </p><p>"Sometimes living in your own bubble and ecosystem doesn't give you the insights and visibility you need, such as what's the right content, the right recommendations, the right ad targeting," said Yon. </p><p>But being an outsider can also be a disadvantage. Ranker won't be able to take into account every factor that a content provider considers when making programming decisions.</p><p>"Many times a (streaming company's) recommendation engine will recommend certain content where the licensing window is expiring or where the licensing cost is cheaper," Rayburn said. </p><p>That gap could diminish the value of Ranker's data. </p><p>Rayburn noted the biggest thing ad-based streamers are missing is the ability to provide personalized, programmatic advertising. That requires an improvement in the backend technological infrastructure, not data the likes of which Ranker Insights can offer. </p><p>"They're (already) kind of drowning in data," Rayburn said. </p><p>But Ranker Insights is more likely to find demand, he suggested, from the less data-savvy companies like traditional networks and studios. </p><p>Yon's challenge will be to convince potential customers that Ranker can provide value. Based on his experience, he expects it may take up to a year to get into the full swing of data dealmaking. </p><p>"Everyone says they're agile, but they usually have 6-12 month roadmap commitments," he said. "If you knock on a company's door today, unless you're extremely lucky, you have to get on their radar, build some mindshare, make it easy for them to take a spin when they have time on their hands and eventually you build the business case and then you strike the kinds of deals we're going for."</p><p>The 6-12 months that Yon says he has to build a proof of concept for Ranker Insights starts Tuesday. If he succeeds, he is optimistic about its prospects. </p><p>"It could easily exceed the revenue that we generate from Ranker and Watchworthy," he said. </p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://dot.la/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDMzMjA5OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDMxMzQwN30.cQod6cWu2XfFG9r80AdRPpDhyVagvWI-VQ5jozKho7E/image.jpg?width=980" id="38425" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="61ef1766b1b04202340cd12156402841" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Ranker" />
What Makes Ranker's Data Unique
<p>The value of Ranker's data, the company says, starts with its volume. Those 1 billion votes and counting – which imply three votes per second over the company's 10 years of operating – come from over 70 million users. 40 million users visit the site on a monthly basis, according to the company. Voters spend over 4 minutes per visit and vote about 11 times per list.</p><p>"A lot of TV networks and studios, pay-TV and video on-demand platforms are not yet fully leveraging the power of data," Yon said.</p><p>Although the company's focus has been on building up rankings around entertainment – TV, movies, music and celebrities – the site also includes subjects like food, sports, fashion and history. There's data on favorite skin care products, grapefruit drinks and beaches in Hawaii. This variety and volume means Ranker can extract insights based on correlations.</p><p>"You start to build a connected graph that's not just about people's TV preferences but interconnected preferences," Benson said. For example, discovering the kind of music that fans of "Breaking Bad" enjoy, or the type of car to which "Call of Duty" fans aspire.</p><p>Building upon its data collection, <a href="https://dot.la/watchworthy-ranker-app-2645570752.html" target="_self">the company launched Watchworthy in March</a>. It poured a "7-figure investment" into the app and directed most of the company's product and engineering resources there over the past year. And it's paid off. The app had 13,000 downloads in its first month and Benson said it could ultimately drive half of Ranker's direct sales. Already Watchworthy has attracted some of Ranker's biggest advertising deals to date, Benson added.<br></p>From Your Site Articles
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