Could not agree more!!
Besides being a fan myself of multiple franchises, it is, literally, my career.
I am gobsmacked at the number of times I still have the argument with execs, agents, distributors about the importance of transparency, relationship building, and just spending the time with fans.
The shift has already happened.
Markiplier’s movie, Obsession, Back Rooms have proven fans hold the power.
The execs holding onto old studio system morés and antiquated decision making rules will be left behind.
The irony here is that my feeling is that the execs take-away from He-Man, Back Rooms, etc., is the wrong one. Instead of understanding the power shift TO fans, they decided that ”old IP” was the problem.🙄
Throughout my career, I've been dismayed by the contempt some genre executives have held for fans, routinely underestimating their power to make or break a show. I've watched this repeat too many times, across too many shows, to be talking about any single one of them. Yet despite the mounting evidence over the past few years, they continue to dismiss the data, repeating the same miscalculations time and again.
But technology has rewritten the rules, and the power dynamics are shifting. Today’s fans are organized, strategic, and highly data-literate - effectively turning the platforms' own metrics against them.
As the bets get bigger and the audience grows sharper, it will be fascinating to see how this plays out.