Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum is one the most prolific players in Hollywood, having sold more than 200 shows and movies on various platforms, often with great success.
Over nearly three decades, Blum has produced some of the most iconic titles in horror, including M3gan, Get Out, and the franchises Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Purge, as well as television shows like The Horror of Dolores Roach, The Anarchists, and The Thing About Pam.
More: Jason Blum on his ‘Exorcist’ trilogy: ‘I took the deal that I think is bad for movies’
But what really frightens him is the state of the industry, and he’s not shy about making that known. His long career in Hollywood has allowed him to be outspoken about the issues and challenges of the business, including the ongoing Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes. With the rise of tech companies getting into the streaming game, Blum says he doesn’t see how members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) can be on the same page with each other.
“I don't know what's happening with the negotiations, but it's certainly my point of view that the strikes wouldn't have happened or would have been resolved sooner if the AMPTP was made up of companies just making money from making shows and movies, which they're not anymore,” he says.
Blum says a lot needs to change, including the “buying-out talent upfront” business model that has been adopted in the streaming era, producing an approach to compensation that results in less residuals for artists.
“A lot of [talent] agreed to a back-end buyout… [so] you signed a deal with the devil, which I think is a terrible thing to sign,” he says. “You've decided to get paid up front, and then you ship off your show or your movie, and then you have to live with the consequences.”
Streamers' reluctance to share data with creatives demonstrates a lack of transparency, says Blum, and that model needs to change.
“They say, ‘Listen, we're in the subscriber acquisition and retention business.’ So even though someone may have watched a show for a billion hours, we don't know if that directly translates to subscriber acquisition or subscriber retention,” he notes.
Blum joins Kim Masters to discuss the latest on the work stoppages. He also talks about the current state of the industry, including the toxic relationship between studios, Wall Street, and the unfair distribution of wealth in Hollywood. And he shares his belief that, in order to be profitable, movies and films will migrate between platforms.
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