The exponential growth in content production has had ripple effects across the media and entertainment eco-system. The management of soundstages and related services is one of them.
Hudson Pacific, a real estate investment trust, has been investing significantly in studio lots in Hollywood, Atlanta, Toronto and other production hubs. Jeff Stotland, a Disney strategy executive who joined Hudson Pacific last year, is leading the charge for the company as executive VP of global studios. Last month, Hudson Pacific scooped up Culver City-based Quixote Studios for $360 million.
“We’re in the picks and shovels business,” Stotland says on the latest episode of PvNew podcast “Strictly Business. “We’re in the business of providing picks and shovels for the studio folks to go produce their content and mine for gold to come up with that next amazing piece of content.”
Hudson Pacific’s strategy is to be one-stop shopping for major producers who need facilities and services around the world. The company’s assets at present include the Sunset Studios trio of independent studio lots in Hollywood: Sunset Gower, Sunset Bronson and Sunset Las Palmas, and they’re building another one in the Sun Valley area north of Burbank. Hudson Pacific also bought Star Waggons and Zio Studio Services — both of which supply trailers and other equipment — for $222 million last year.
The endgame is to find ways to “make it as easy as possible so that [studio executives] don’t need to make 20 phone calls to figure out how to put together all the picks and shovels to go produce content,” Stotland says. “Scale is the way to do that. You can’t make it easier unless you have those assets and you have that scale. That’s really a big part of the strategy and really fundamentally underscoring our acquisition of some of these companies.”
Hudson Pacific’s expansive vision under chairman and CEO Victor Coleman was what prompted Stotland to leave his role as VP of strategy for Disney’s parks and consumer products division. Stotland saw the clear need for a company with industry savvy to provide bundled services.
“Nobody had figured out how to put it all together. Those who had tried I felt had put together a quilt. It wasn’t a blanket. A blanket is what’s needed here,” Stotland says. “It’s not just about buying up services but integrating them smartly. It’s a woven thread that really solves a problem for the studios.”
“Strictly Business”is PvNew’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher and SoundCloud.
