I wrote about eight VC players and 14 private equity firms ready to pounce on Hollywood, analyzed media M&A activity so far this year and spoke to Media Res CEO Michael Ellenberg about what shows are selling now.
Money is moving in Hollywood again — just not always where you’d expect.
As we head into Q4 and 2027, four recent deals offer a pretty good map of where investors and entertainment companies think value still exists: cheaper production technology, supposedly dying cable networks, creator-led businesses and recognizable movie IP that can attract financing outside the traditional studio system.
There’s James Cameron buying an AI-assisted 3D company; Hearst paying $1.2 billion for Disney’s half of A+E; Patrick Whitesell investing in Alex Cooper’s Unwell at a $500 million valuation; and an Angry Birds sequel assembling a surprisingly indie-like financing structure for a studio-scale release.
Then there’s the deal that dwarfs all of them: the NFL’s $110 billion media-rights package. The league is already testing the market years before most of its contracts expire, and the next round could force broadcasters and streamers into alliances nobody would contemplate otherwise — while sucking still more money out of film and television.
For the entertainment business, Integrated Media CEO Jon Miller tells me, “it’s the biggest single event on the horizon.”
I’ve already told you about the dry powder private equity is waiting to deploy in Hollywood. Today I’ll untangle the value in four big deals this summer that indicate where some of it might go, and look ahead to how the NFL’s next moves will reset the landscape.
I’ve got the scoop on:
- Why Cameron thinks AI can make 3D cheaper without replacing filmmakers
- The surprising bull case for cable properties, and which ones could still be targets
- What Alex Cooper’s $500M valuation says about the creator-company boom amid growing pains
- How studios are turning to indie-style financing for big tentpole budgets
- Why the NFL’s next rights round could reshape budgets and M&A across media, and lead to odd-couple partnerships
- What NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is saying about the negotiations, and possible league maneuvers to boost fees
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