Investor Jeff Sagansky took Hollywood to task for decisions that have led to a massive destruction of value and are causing an “unbelievable cataclysm in the business,” speaking in a keynote interview at TheWrap’s Grill conference on Tuesday.
“You’re seeing the traditional business collapse,” he said in a conversation with entertainment entrepreneur Peter Guber and TheWrap’s editor in chief Sharon Waxman. “And at the same time, you’re seeing all this predatory behavior from the streamers and the two of them together are causing unbelievable cataclysm in the business that we both love.”
Sagansky accused Hollywood’s traditional studios of accelerating the decline of linear television by choosing to abandon programming in favor of streaming platforms, which led to what he called “predatory” behavior from streamers.
“It’s still [a] $150 billion value business in terms of revenues,” he added, noting that major sports like the NBA, MLB and NFL alone represent a $40 billion business, much smaller by contrast.
Sagansky also predicted that the four leading streamers — Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney/Hulu and Max — would form an entertainment oligopoly that is likely to draw scrutiny from government regulators.
Sagansky highlighted a total loss of $190 billion in value in the stock prices of major entertainment companies including Warner Bros Discovery, Disney and Paramount, noting that television, the traditional driver of the entertainment industry for half a century, has lost “almost half” of its audience.
Guber, another Hollywood veteran and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment and the Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner, noted that amid mass layoffs, steep cuts in production, and an anxious search for streaming profitability, there’s more uncertainty in Hollywood than ever.
“There will be blood, just like the movie, but there will also be opportunity,” Guber said. “Don’t give up on entertainment. It’s been around for thousands of years. It’s not going to go away in 2025.”
During the conversation, Sagansky said he is still astounded by how entertainment companies got to this point: by pushing their film and TV libraries to Netflix in response to the decline of the DVD market in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
“When streaming starts, people have a choice they can make, and they make it. So what does cable do? They raised the prices. They produced less programming at a time when the building was on fire,” Sagansky said. “They just looked at their cash cow and said ‘OK, it’s over,’ and that was a fundamental mistake.”
While there are differences between live sports and the rest of entertainment, Guber believes there’s one key similarity to finding success in both worlds: find a position as the bridge between artist and audience. As part of the ownership groups behind the Dodgers and Warriors, he sees those teams’ venues — the new Chase Center in San Francisco and the venerable Dodger Stadium in L.A. — as “cathedrals” that foster generational connections between teams and fans. And he said he tries to make those venues into places that people feel active in the story being told during the game.
“You have to find your way through, to be active in your own rescue,” Guber said. “Don’t wait just for the government to give you a clear path. Create your own path. If you don’t, you will be on the dustbin of history.”
Sagansky and Guber also discussed the potential impact of artificial intelligence on filmmaking and whether it will expand or curtail opportunities for filmmakers. To see that debate, check out the clip above. (Full interview to follow.)
During Tuesday’s TheGrill, five other business panels tackled different aspects of AI in Hollywood.
In a panel focused on how to balance “innovation and ethics” actor and director Justine Bateman said AI would “burn the industry to the ground” by eliminating numerous job functions, which Edouard Harris, CTO of Gladstone AI, predicted that Hollywood would break off into a two-pronged system of those supporting and not supporting AI implementation.
In another panel moderated by Waxman, Fox Corp. CTO Melody Hildebrandt called on the industry to take a long view on AI and be “peers to big tech in the exploitation of it.” And in a spotlight conversation, Jeffrey Bennett, SAG-AFTRA’s general counsel, broke down the timeline for what needs to happen for AI protections to be adopted nationwide.
And in an afternoon session about balancing the protection of creative rights with opportunities, Alexandra Shannon, head of strategic development at CAA, detailed the creation of theCAAvault to store actors’ likenesses for use in other AI-generated applications with legal consent.
Not all the day’s event dealt with AI. Two panels featured top journalists like former New York Times staffer Laura Holson, Oliver Darcy and former LA Times Executive Director Kevin Merida, discussing the state of the media industry.
And in a session centered on redefining success in sports and business, WNBA Champion Sue Bird and soccer legend Megan Rapinoe, along with Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin, discussed how mainstream traction for women’s sports continues to be met with gaslighting and industry resistance. “The goalpost is moving,” Rapinoe said.
About TheGrill: For 15 years, TheGrill event series has led the conversation on the convergence of entertainment, media and technology, bringing together newsmakers to debate the challenges of and opportunities for making content in the digital age. TheGrill delivers a unique series of curated discussions, industry panels and networking activations that explore the ever-changing media landscape.
TheGrill is powered by the essential source for entertainment insiders, WrapPRO, TheWrap’s premium content subscription platform. This members-only service and community provides deep analysis and access — that can’t be found anywhere else — on the business of entertainment, streaming and media. Click here for more information on WrapPRO.
Watch the full panel below:
