| It was just two years ago that Walt Disney Co. placed a massive bet on Epic Games. |
| At the time, the Burbank media giant announced a "games and entertainment universe" with the "Fortnite" developer to expand the reach of Disney's franchises, particularly among the young people who play the online game. Disney also made a $1.5-billion investment in the company for a minority stake of an undisclosed percentage. |
| Recently, however, Epic Games has faced major financial challenges. |
| Last week, the Cary, N.C.-based company said it was laying off more than 1,000 employees and slashing $500 million in costs. As my colleague Cerys Davies reported, Epic Games Chief Executive Tim Sweeney attributed the cuts to a downturn in "Fortnite" user engagement that began last year. After the layoffs, a little more than 4,000 people will remain at the company. (The company has its Los Angeles lab in El Segundo at NantStudios' virtual production facility, which was founded by Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.) |
| In spite of the upheaval, Epic Games President Adam Sussman said the company is still committed to the Disney universe, saying in a statement that the vision is "unchanged" and the developer is "excited" about the progress that's been made. Sources close to Disney confirmed the recent Epic Games layoffs would not affect Disney's project there. |
| That's good news for Disney because the House of Mouse has become increasingly entwined with the game developer. |
| Let's start with this universe connected to "Fortnite." The online game, which has a variety of modes, allows players to fight one another, build forts and explore the virtual world. |
| It's unclear what role Disney characters will play in the game, as details have been sketchy. But Disney Chief Executive Josh D'Amaro, who championed the deal with Epic Games when he ran the theme parks division, plainly wants to attract "Fortnite's" young audience. |
| Disney has a key advantage over other studios given its strong intellectual property and recognizable franchises, including "Frozen," "Star Wars," Marvel's "Avengers" and Pixar's "Toy Story." |
| Although the company can reach viewers of all ages through its television shows and films, the aim is to cultivate long-lasting relationships with fans across Disney's businesses, including theme parks, cruise lines and stores. |
| "There's nothing quite like it," D''Amaro said of Disney's relationship with fans during a prerecorded message at the company's annual shareholders meeting this month. "And all these years later, that connection has never been more relevant or more powerful than it is today." |
| By building a universe where young people can interact with Disney characters, play games and shop, the company can strengthen ties with its next generation of fans. |
| Already, other brands have been trying to capitalize on the popularity of "Fortnite," including Nike, Lego and even fried chicken chain Popeyes, all of which have done collaborations with the game. |
| Though "Fortnite" is seeing a decline in user growth, the partnership still carries benefits for Disney, Eric Handler, media and entertainment analyst at Roth Capital, told me. |
| "'Fortnite' still has a mass audience of young boys and males, so it's a great way to reach young people," he said. "That's been very challenging to do otherwise." |
| Beyond "Fortnite," Disney also relies on Epic Games' Unreal Engine — a powerful 3D computer graphics creation tool — to produce shows such as "The Mandalorian" and create more than 15 theme park attractions, including the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride in the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge land at Anaheim's Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World in Florida. |
| In film and TV production, Unreal Engine allows crews to transform a wall of LED screens into fantastical and interactive backdrops. That ability allows film crews to create an arid desert landscape without, say, going to Tunisia, as George Lucas did for "Star Wars," or to shoot scenes with perfect lighting at any time of day. |
| As the technology advances due to artificial intelligence, the field of virtual production is only going to ramp up — and with it, Disney's need to continue collaborating with Epic Games. |
PBS documentaries on YouTube |
| PBS and major documentary co-producer Independent Television Service have launched a new YouTube channel focused on documentaries. |
| The debut of the "PBS Documentaries" channel comes after Congress voted last year to strip federal funding from the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, a nonprofit that administered funds for PBS TV affiliates and NPR radio stations, as well as from ITVS. Without the federal funding, the public broadcasting group's board of directors voted in January to dissolve the entity. |
| The clawback hit PBS and ITVS hard. In the aftermath, PBS' budget was cut by about 20%, while ITVS — known for documentary series such as "American Masters," "Frontline" and its flagship PBS show "Independent Lens" — lost 86% of its funding. |
| By sharing resources and partnering on the YouTube channel, the two organizations want to send a signal that they're still here for the public and are trying to reach new and younger audiences where they're already consuming content. |
| "The need has never been greater for these types of documentaries," said Lisa Tawil, senior vice president of brand at ITVS. "The industry is definitely in a place where they're trying to figure out how to connect and how to rise above the fray, and we believe that the trust and the civic value that we bring is the most necessary piece right now." |
| The documentary business has been rough in recent years, which makes finding new audiences even more crucial. There are promising signs: Across all of PBS Digital Studios' channels on YouTube, nearly 80% of viewers are younger than 44. |
| "YouTube is such a community-forward platform," said Maribel Lopez, head of PBS Digital Studios. Utilizing the platform's community-building tools will help "to really connect with the viewers, build that long-term loyalty [that] is critical to us, collectively, as public media." |
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| Netflix has raised prices again. A premium Netflix subscription — which allows for ad-free viewing on four devices at a time, as well as higher-quality picture and audio — is now $26.99, up $2. The price of a standard plan without ads also increased $2 to $19.99, while the streamer's standard plan with ads bumped up $1 to $8.99. |
| The price hikes come as Netflix has expanded its library of content to include video podcasts, live events and games, such as Major League Baseball's opening day. But, as my colleague Cerys Davies recently reported, consumers are growing sensitive to streamers' price hikes and are now increasingly opting for lower-priced plans with ads. |
What I'm watching |
| I'm a huge fan of "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson," so I finally got around to watching his feature film debut in 2024's "Friendship." Even knowing the absurdity of the show (who could forget the "Coffin Flop" sketch?), I was not prepared for all-encompassing chaos in that movie. What a wild ride. |
