- Old media joins SVoD services in spending splurge on content
- Major film studios launch TV streaming services
- Recent report calls boom ($165 billion in 2018) a “golden age of spending”
The next blockbuster in the film-production world could be Wonderfilm Media Corporation (TSX.V: WNDR) (OTCQB: WDRFF). The company is set to benefit as subscription video on demand (SVoD) services and “old media” continue to splurge on content. Streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix are driving demand for video content from independent film producers. Not to be left behind, established studios are shopping for content too, further increasing demand. The competition between old and new media has resulted in a 65 percent increase in global content spending over the last decade. This is a trend that shows no signs of abating, which augurs well for Wonderfilm. The company is well positioned to significantly increase its existing $58 million annual production slate to meet new demand.
A recent report shows how SVoD has become an essential component of U.S. domestic felicity. “Nearly three fourths of American homes, 74 percent, subscribe to at least one of the major SVoD services, Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu, up from just 64 percent in 2017 and 52 percent in 2015,” the article noted (http://nnw.fm/Uq5Yu). Established film studios have taken the cue. The five majors have all launched SVoD services or have links to such services. Most notably is Disney, whose Disney+ streaming service is set to debut on November 12 this year. Spending on content from the company that produced megahit ‘The Lion King’ reached $13 billion in 2018.
Warner Bros is also in (http://nnw.fm/WjmY9). Its SVoD service “will debut in the U.S. in a beta form in the fourth quarter of 2019, with a full launch in Q1 2020.” So, too, is Universal Pictures, which plans to launch its SVoD service in 2020 (http://nnw.fm/0S65j). Paramount Pictures’ parent company, Viacom, already has its Paramount+ streaming services, currently available in the Nordics and across Central and Eastern Europe (http://nnw.fm/D9o3D). Sony, which owns Columbia Pictures, already has its SVoD platform, Crackle, streaming content to more than 20 countries.
The global splurge on TV, film and sports content had increased to $165 billion in 2018, up from $100 billion in 2008, with most of that increase occurring in the last five years, according to a recent Ampere Analysis report (http://nnw.fm/Xr5JI). While new media outfits such as Netflix have dug deep in their wallets to purchase content, a bulk of the expenditure – $111 billion of the $165 billion spent in 2018 – has come from old media. But a dollar is a dollar, regardless of who’s spending, and indie producers stand to benefit either way.
Wonderfilm, particularly, is in a position to benefit from this liberality. The company is backed by four Hollywood producers who have produced over $1 billion worth of hit movies. Forged from a coalition of strength, WNDR brings together several leading industry execs with well-established track records of individual success. Wonderfilm is using a new, wider business model that allows the company to quickly finance and produce film and television content for both foreign and domestic markets. The company works with some of Hollywood’s top talent to create unforgettable films while providing value for its shareholders.
Movies with which members of Wonderfilm’s producing team have been involved or associated include ‘Get Out’ (2017), which cost $4.5 million to make and grossed $255 million at the box office; ‘BlacKkKlansman’ (2018), which grossed $93 million on a budget of $15 million; and ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’, which has grossed $71 million on a budget of $25 million. As of October 2019, Wonderfilm has 17 movies ready to be shot or green lit (not yet shot).
“The content creation opportunities in the market today are akin to a new gold rush,” Wonderfilm CEO Kirk Shaw stated in a news release (http://nnw.fm/tJw7N). “After thirty years in this business, I’ve have never been more excited to be a movie and TV content producer.”
No wonder the Ampere Analysis report has christened the boom a “golden age of spending.”
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Wonderfilm.com
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to WDRFF are available in the company’s newsroom at http://nnw.fm/WDRFF
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