“A24 proved that ‘popular’ doesn’t have to mean ‘four-quadrant spectacle,’” says film programmer David Chen. “Popular today means . It means a movie you put in your bio. That’s the new mainstream.” The Production Bubble & The Hangover Yet there is a shadow over this golden age. The streaming wars led to a peak-content bubble. In 2022 alone, 599 scripted TV series aired in the US—double the number from a decade ago. Studios ordered shows by the dozen, then canceled them after one season for tax write-offs (see: Warner Bros. shelving Batgirl and Coyote vs. Acme ).
“Popular entertainment studios no longer ask, ‘Is this good?’” says former Netflix executive Theo Barnes. “They ask, ‘Is this ?’ Can we shoot this in Atlanta, dub it in 34 languages, and keep someone on the couch for four hours on a Tuesday?” The IP Refinery (Sony & Nintendo) When Video Game Studios Become Hollywood’s Rivals brazzers house 5
These are not licensing deals. Sony and Nintendo have become , controlling the IP, the production, and the merch. “A24 proved that ‘popular’ doesn’t have to mean
Whether it is Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert film bypassing Netflix to go straight to Disney+, Marvel’s secretive writers’ room mapping out a movie in 2031, or Netflix’s Korean division producing a new survival drama every month, the center of gravity in global culture has shifted away from individual auteurs and toward the production house . That’s the new mainstream
Not every popular studio chases billion-dollar grosses. A24, the New York-based indie studio, has built a rabid following by doing the opposite: making weird, auteur-driven films ( Everything Everywhere All at Once, Hereditary, Past Lives ) and selling $65 crewneck sweatshirts to Gen Z.
The most disruptive shift of the decade isn’t happening in Los Angeles. It’s in Tokyo and San Mateo.