While I’ve never not minded being seen as the answer man in many a conference or break room, I’ve always looked forward to the opportunity to learn from others in the process. Knowing what one doesn’t know is to me as much of a hallmark of a successful executive as any other quality. Judging by the level of success that the last two weekends have produced at the box office–even by the modest standards that should be applied to the month of October–that’s apparently been a quality in short supply.
Which is why in the wake of Sony’s crash-and-burn with THE SOCIAL RECKONING that we mused about just yesterday it was reassuring to see in virtually the same news window the announcement of a move that may help them find something that movie-going audiences actually want to see. THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Boris Kit was among the many that broke the news over the on Saturday:
In a stunner of a move and a notable shift in strategy, Sony Pictures has hired veteran YouTube executive Fede Goldenberg to lead Screen Gems, its division specializing in genre movies such as Resident Evil and Underworld and comedies such as Easy A.
Under the new creative strategy, the film label will expand its longstanding focus on traditional genre films to include theatrical projects from the next generation of so called “digital-native storytellers,” meaning filmmakers who are making names – and gaining followers – in the digital content space a la Curry Barker and Kane Parsons.
Reporting to Sony Pictures motion picture group president Sanford Panitch, Goldenberg will, according to the studio, leverage his deep relationships with content creators to broaden the studio’s pipeline of filmmaker talent and develop theatrical movies from creators who have cultivated devoted audiences through original stories and immersive worlds online.
Anyone associated with YouTube and the creator economy becomes a red meat hire these days, especially as practically every shareholder and CFO marvels at the run that Universal had with OBSESSION and BACKROOMS via its own “boutique” label, Focus Features. Much like the legacy iterations of Screen Gems, Focus has been typically associated with “artsier” releases, often foreign imports that attracted more attention from film festivals than the public at large. RESIDENT EVIL has proven to be as reliable an IP of late for Sony as anything that doesn’t have a spider web associated with it. So why not reinfuse a genre brand with an influx of new talent willing and capable to take risks with far less of an investment as, say, what Warner Brothers chose to invest with Tom Cruise in DIGGER?
THE WRAP’s Kayla Cobb hit the nail on the head with her analysis:
(D)eveloping and curating the next generation of talent has never been more important for the major Hollywood studios…Sony sees this hiring as a way of adapting to the needs of younger moviegoers, as Gen Z audiences showed this year that they value the theatrical experience… Younger audiences often trust creators and personalities more than advertising efforts, the insider said, pointing to how the media appearances with Tom Holland and Zendaya led to interest in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” or how fan affinity for Zach Cregger led to the box office success of “Resident Evil.” Creators are also skilled at eventizing content and mobilizing communities, two strengths Sony and Screen Gems hope to capitalize on as they invest more in creator talent.
I dare say knowing Panitch, and especially his superiors Tom Rothman and Ravi Ahuja, they aren’t experts in these areas. More seasoned folk tend not to frequent the same haunts, IRL or virtual, that creators do. In Goldenberg they are getting not only someone who does, but also someone is closer to their level of maturity and breadth of experience, as his CV via TTV NEWS confirms:
During his tenure at YouTube, he worked with studios and production companies to expand their presence on the platform and took part in initiatives related to the creator economy. These included the platform’s exclusive digital release of Iron Lung, a film associated with creator Markiplier. Before joining YouTube, Goldenberg held executive positions at Globosat, Terra Networks Brasil and FremantleMedia Latin America, with responsibilities spanning content acquisition, distribution and development across the region.
For a company with significant investments in LatAM including traditional networks, having someone like Goldenberg on the Sony lot could easily lead to opportunities that could find their way on small screens as well. When your cost of experimentation is scaled accordingly and you’re dealing with folks who have been more than happy to see their works on a device that’s a possibility that trad talent doesn’t always sign off on willingly. And they also tend to be a lot more frugal when it comes to asking for perks. As long as you can respect their fierce desire to maintain a handle and ownership of their IP. That’s not something that a Disney or Skydance is necessarily willing to do given their outsized reliance on controlling franchises. That playbook is increasingly as outdated as that of a football team who opts to punt on fourth down.
It’s a similar concession to generational variance that FOX–another major legacy player not yet encumbered by a money-draining streaming service–made this past spring when it brought in their own version of a g0-between that VARIETY’s Todd Spengler gushingly described:
Fox Entertainment has a new driver at the wheel of its trek into creator-driven content: The company announced that it has recruited Billy Parks, a seasoned media and investment exec, as head of Fox Creator Studios.
The Fox Corp. division launched Fox Creator Studios at CES 2026 as a digital-first division created to partner with top creators. As head of FCS, Parks reports to Rob Wade, CEO of Fox Entertainment. Parks will focus on identifying “culturally relevant” and “high-growth” talent; building sustainable monetization models; collaborating with creators for franchises that can span TV, streaming and digital platforms; and “translating audience engagement into long-term intellectual property value,” according to Fox Entertainment.
As part of its ominously-titled FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT fete that dropped yesterday, the reverent staff of THE ANKLER reinforced exactly how nimble a hire they seem to believe Parks is:
Across every division, Lachlan Murdoch has energized his lieutenants to take bold swings. Earlier this year, Fox Entertainment chief Rob Wade invested in Ukrainian tech startup Holywater and committed to make more than 200 microseries for the company’s My Drama app. “Fox is known for its rebellious streak, which makes us ready to take chances and question how things are done,” says Wade, who earlier this year also tapped digital video veteran Billy Parks to spearhead a new Creator Studios division that invests in creator IP and helps to amplify it through ad sales and global distribution. Parks calls the studio, which has signed deals with the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Josh Richards and Tom Segura, “a creative force multiplier.” It’s part of a much more ambitious experiment: whether a 40-year-old legacy entertainment company can lead the future, too.
And they gave Parks himself the last word:
The future of entertainment is… Teaming with folks that have built audiences and have great ideas, and being flexible. Big legacy media trying to capture all the trends that are going on and support them as they grow — and not get in their way — is the future.”
Even the nimblest of all of us need some time to identify, negotiate and nurture the kind of tempermental genuises that we all couldn’t hurt to learn from. But I would not be surprised if some of Parks’ ideas surface on Tubi, which has already carved out measurable Nielsen audience as a reliable destination for movies and series typically not available anywhere else and with no paywall to hinder sampling. Parks’ disciples could easily find themselves in the same position as their parents were when they were uploading videos to MySpace, the Murdoch clan’s first and ultimately misguided digital venture. Only this time without someone thinking they necessarily knew more than they did chiming in with their two cents.
One would hope fils Murdoch decides to be more deferential that pere. Know what you don’t know, right, Foxy Lachsie?
Until next time…