Max Einhorn: "We are rebuilding television in the streaming space"

Film and television studio and operator of the FilmRise Streaming Network, FilmRise has known adapted to the audiovisual landscape changes applying clever strategies in order to acquire the best content and enter into co-productions. "Our strategy for content is entirely analytics based", said Max Einhorn, Senior Vice President, Acquisitions & Co-Productions at FilmRise to Señal News. "Our process has been to identify Film and Television catalog opportunities, and through our ubiquitous distribution of them, assess their worth on a per episode and film basis, and build verticals that are well-defined by genre and audience type", he explained.

Since 2019, FilmRise has pursued original production opportunities, primarily through co productions, in order to continue to strengthen its presence, and success in those key genres and content verticals. One of Filmrise's co-production is “The interrogation room, hosted by Vivica A Fox", produced by Zig Zag in the UK and commissioned by FilmRise and Crime+Investigation in the UK. "We've been continually investing in these verticals, and genre types, we're building destinations to monetize them", he pointed out. Einhorn mentioned that FilmRise has acquired a lot of Western film and television programming. "We're looking for new opportunities to get involved in new production with westerns, whether scripted or unscripted, because it's performed so well", he affirmed. "We've also built a destination, Filmrise Western, which is both an App and a FAST channel", he said. "We have real estate in the streaming ecosystem where audiences can find a curated and an analytically programmed Western channel tailor made just for them", he added.

The company is also focusing on true crime because their audience in that space is extremely well-defined. "They're leaving cable, they're looking for free online alternatives and, we have cultivated the largest free destination of true crime in the world", he admitted. FilmRise is also focused on female centric content, lifestyle content, family content, and reality shows and cooking competition shows. "There's actually nineteen different verticals that we pay attention to, and we are rebuilding television because people's viewing habits are undergoing a change, it's moving to streaming. So we are building the environment, and we're rebuilding the television in the streaming space", Einhorn said.

NEW BUSINESS MODELS
Currently, major studios have businesses that they need to continue to look after, and sometimes they find FilmRise as a competitor, but at the same time, as both, studio and a streaming network, FilmRise is also a very close partner to them. "We work very closely with Paramount and are also a key content supplier to Pluto, and we are a key content supplier to Tubi", stood out the executive. "But we're also a key content supplier to a lot of the technology companies and smart TVs, that have entered from outside the traditional television model and established themselves, but they need the content. We've been there since day one", he added.

LOOKING FOR FRANCHISES
FilmRise is looking for brands that can resonance on global viewers. "Brands as 'Forensic Files', 'Unsolved mysteries' or, 'Hell's Kitchen' have created a long-term relationship with the consumers", said the Senior Vice President, Acquisitions & Co-Productions at FilmRise. "We're always looking at our current original productions and prospective original productions with that in mind", he stated.

LINK WITH LATIN AMERICA
"We 100% want to work with production companies in Latin America, and we are also looking for production opportunities that can be attractive for both the US Hispanic market and the Latin American market", highlighted Einhorn. On the other hand, the executive also mentioned that FilmRise is working with major YouTube talent. "Creators should not wholly be dependent on YouTube to grow their businesses because building your own business from one singular platform is a dangerous concentration, and there is a whole host of audience in the greater streaming universe, that, we'll enjoy your content", he explained. "I would say to platforms, you need to really consider adopting this content for your streaming service. We've actually seen first-hand, the creator content has the proven viewership on streaming services that rival traditional film and television content that has budgets that are multiples higher. We're working with a lot of creators in that way", he expressed.