What Hollywood Gets Wrong About Gaming | Simon Pulman, Pryor Cashman

Simon Pulman, Partner and Co-Chair of the Media & Entertainment Practice at Pryor Cashman, has deep experience and strong opinions about making the games and traditional entertainment industries work together. Our conversation explores the future of both industries, generational gaps in understanding gaming, and practical advice for IP deals between gaming and Hollywood.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple and YouTube.

Key takeaways:

• The entertainment industry's leadership is too disconnected from gaming culture, with many executives not understanding the scale and influence of the gaming industry

• The success of Five Nights at Freddy's ($80M opening weekend despite day-and-date streaming) demonstrates the power of engaged gaming communities

• IP holders from gaming should never grant perpetual rights to movie/TV studios and should focus on maintaining control of their IP

• Streaming-only movies struggle to become cultural phenomena compared to theatrical releases, as audiences don't perceive them as "real movies"

• The 2023 Hollywood strikes likely hurt writers and actors more than helped them, leading to reduced content production and allowing studios to reassess their business models

• Multi-tasking is becoming the norm for media consumption, suggesting a bright future for handheld gaming and content that can be consumed while doing other activities

• Asian-developed games, particularly from South Korea and China, represent a growing opportunity in the gaming market

• Deal-making between gaming and entertainment companies often fails due to process misalignment and not having all stakeholders (especially legal) involved early enough

Full episode guide:

(00:00) - Introduction and background
(05:32) - What makes successful game adaptations work
(14:16) - Why the Borderlands movie went so badly wrong
(18:04) - Hollywood's age problem and disconnect from gaming
(23:18) - The entertainment industry's "survive till 2025" mentality
(27:19) - Netflix's gaming strategy
(30:10) - The challenge with streaming-only movies
(34:16) - Community-driven IP and Five Nights at Freddy's success
(42:15) - Future trends in gaming and entertainment
(47:48) - Practical advice for deal-making between gaming and entertainment companies

Where to find Simon:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpulman/

• Website: https://www.pryorcashman.com/simon-pulman