2024 Outlook
Forever Changed...aka Hollywood’s Existential Crisis...
It’s no secret that 2023 was one of the toughest years in Hollywood history. Dual actor and writer’s strikes paralyzed the industry, and though eventually resolved, the systemic issues that led to the strikes show no sign of abating. Legacy entertainment continues to be in decline with layoffs, canceled projects, and studio consolidation. Consumers have franchise fatigue, and creators are frustrated with fewer buyers for fewer projects.
And there’s no end in sight.
It’s predicted that one-third fewer projects will be made this year which doesn’t bode well for creators or consumers.
So who will unlock opportunities for this growing wave of underserved creators and give audiences the original stories + experiences they seek?
Enter the Rise of the Nextgen Studio...
We’re the solution for creators, fans and the industry...a tech-powered creative organization that brings cutting edge production capabilities to creators with great stories to tell, and interactive experiences to fan communities looking to participate in novel ways.
We continue to forge the path forward for a new Hollywood where technology empowers new voices, generates new IP and unlocks new opportunities to engage fans.
Some of Our Greatest Hits from ‘23 Include...
StEvEn & Parker officially became a breakout hit...
- Our creator series featuring Parker James now gets 26M unique weekly viewers + 85M weekly views on YouTube.
- By comparison, The Simpsons gets 2M unique weekly viewers and SpongeBob gets about 600K. So using our technology, we've enabled this emerging creator to transition from personality to IP with viewership that's 13x The Simpsons + 43x SpongeBob.
- We also used Al to expand the IP's reach in multiple languages through what we call native performance dubbing. This has given the IP immediate global scale, adding 10M unique weekly viewers and 650K subs in one month since launch in Spanish.
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Space Junk pioneered a new kind of community participation...
- Our intergalactic interactive series is empowering fans with co-creation tools that enable them to participate in + contribute to storyworlds made by some of the most sought after storytellers in Hollywood.
- Featured the first animated character voiced entirely by Al, as well as the first Al-powered community creation tool called Wellbecca, which helped community members create their own characters and storylines.
- Achieved 60x creation conversion rate v The Gimmicks (no Al-powered creation tool)
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Grew revenue for 5th year straight
#1 Animated series on Snap Discover for 5th year straight
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And we advocated for the future of Al-powered entertainment on the front lines...
- Variety featured our take on a post-strike Hollywood in The Writer's Strike May be Over. The Industry Challenges are Not.
- THE WRAP invited us to share the ways in which Al Could Rewrite Hollywood's Story with a Happy Ending + featured our pov about how Al can "Bring Animation Jobs Home."
- Deadline featured how we’re using Al to unlock opportunities for the creator economy in Interactive Animation House Toonstar Launches AI Creators Studio.
- We spoke with journalist Jeff Wilser on his Al Curious podcast about the potential for Al in Hollywood and were featured @ AI LA'S "Al on the Lot" + CalTech’s Generative AI Forum + LMU’s "Al in Entertainment" symposium.
- And we took Center Stage at Comic-Con where we announced our latest interactive series FORTUN3. (Deadline, EW and Hollywood Reporter)
What's Next?
We see a bright future... One that features a new wave of storytellers as the heroes, empowered by AI production + community-building tech, who will create the next generation of original character worlds. And in 2024, we’re expanding the ways we work with creators to make it happen...
- We’ll continue to produce community-driven, interactive series - FORTUN3 and others are coming.
- With the launch of our new Creators Studio, we’ll continue to co-produce creator series like StEvEn & Parker with new and rising creators.
- And finally, we’ll be launching an indie animated film division, working with some of the industry’s best storytellers to empower creators to participate in this medium which has historically been off limits to all but a few.
Toonstar is the Future of Storytelling...
We’ve been using AI + machine learning technology since we launched the studio to supercharge our production capabilities and create compelling interactive community experiences. And in the process, we’ve created much needed opportunities for new storytellers and pioneered a new form of interactive entertainment. And while networks + streamers try to triage their dwindling viewership + battle the new demon-child called churn, our model presents an alternative...one that gives new voices a chance to tell their stories in the powerful (and previously inaccessible) medium of animation while generating the original IP that audiences crave.
We believe that AI tech will propel the next animation renaissance...and Toonstar will be at the epicenter of that transformation.
As always, beyond grateful for all our amazing creators, partners, investors, frens and teammates for your unwavering commitment to what we’re building.
Wishing everyone a very happy + healthy 2024!