Three Buckets of Deals About to Hit the Industry: ‘Transformational Crisis’
Execs from Brillstein, Moelis and more on Hollywood’s narrowing field and how to play it
I cover top dealmakers for paid subscribers. I wrote about a fix for film’s mid-budget extinction crisis, the new foreign presales playbook for indies, the return of film crowdfunding, animation’s box office boom and who’s scoring big feature film deals.
Hollywood is in what Integrated Media CEO Jonathan Miller calls a “transformational crisis” — not an existential one, but a structural reset that is forcing deals, reallocating power and narrowing the field of viable players.
Strip away the noise and worry, and nearly every consequential decision facing the industry in 2026 falls into three buckets, according to Miller, an investor and media veteran who’s led companies including News Corp, AOL and NBA Entertainment:
Consolidation
The application of capital to programming and sports rights
Technology — particularly AI
They’re colliding in real time. Ankler contributor Claire Atkinson reported earlier this week about how Wall Street is keeping a close eye on all of these themes as investors make their bets on media in 2026 (i.e., who gets to survive). Today I look at how those financial pressures will affect the ground game for Hollywood companies and stakeholders.
To understand how Hollywood’s transformational crisis is actually being navigated, I spoke with Miller, Brillstein CEO Jon Liebman, Moelis managing director Carlos Jimenez, Little Ray Media CEO Mallory Edens, and several additional background sources actively involved in the industry’s dealmaking and strategic planning.
Their perspective is not theoretical. These are the people advising studios, negotiating transactions and recalibrating strategy in real time.
In this issue for paid subscribers, they explain:
How streaming data is reshaping greenlights, casting and audience discovery — with implications for creators and viewers alike
The unexpected upside emerging from Hollywood’s increasingly contentious M&A battles
How talent reps can create leverage for clients in a market with fewer buyers and shrinking windows
What further consolidation will actually mean for companies, creators and consumers
Why a Hulu-style streaming joint venture makes strategic sense — and almost certainly won’t happen
The explosive value of sports rights — and the one factor that matters most right now
Why the NFL’s decision to accelerate talks for its next media deals could force longtime players off the field
Why Disney’s Sora partnership marks a turning point for every major media company