Spotlight: C-Suite
HM: So TV and Film? What’s great, what’s difficult, what’s the monster under the bed?
FV: Well, Nate’s been trying to do pilots and written stuff for a long time and it really had never gone anywhere, so I didn’t have a good barometer as to how quickly this vertical would need to be set up. I thought we had a little more of a runway because we’re moving into one of the biggest tours in any entertainment space, let alone comedy. When Sony Tristar stepped up with “Breadwinner,” our first film project, and said, we’re ready to make this movie now, you want to talk about being adaptive? We had to look at schedules and move shows—I remember one of the agents said, Hey, until you hear that slate go clack, you don’t have a movie, we’ve seen projects literally disintegrate the day before production. It was a good reminder to always protect what generates most of the revenue—touring! When it became clear the movie really was a go, we realized we had to get TV and film set up because I am not a television or film executive.
HM: So, you needed to hire someone like, immediately.
FV: As we speak, we’ve extended an offer and we’re hopeful that we can come to terms on a contract and accelerate the structure of this division before we begin shooting our next film. We potentially have a slot to film another movie in 2026, and luckily we have no shortage of scripts, producers and directors who want to work with Nate.
HM: 2026? That’s like tomorrow.
FV: In this business, it’s like yesterday. We’re learning on the fly with “Breadwinner.” The team at Sony Tristar has been phenomenal. The producers have educated us every step of the way on how the process works—but there’s also a lot that we’re leaving on the table because you don’t know what you don’t know. There are industry folks sitting on the sidelines waiting to see if this movie will be successful and when it is, we’ll need to be prepared for the uptick in activity and interest—that’s the monster under the bed, having enough infrastructure built out to capitalize on our success.
HM: With “Breadwinner,” you might be leaving something on the table?
FV: You must adjust your focus as you view the deals through different lenses. There’s the artist deal for Nate, the production deal for Nateland, marketing deals, distribution deals. We could do an entire interview on just the brand sponsorships tied to this film.
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