Lionsgate Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer spoke about the need for new economic models in the entertainment industry at the annual MIPCOM industry conference at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France Tuesday.
"The demand is there, at record levels. The consumers are there, in record numbers. The content is available, in record supply. But what has changed … is the way people consume content," Feltheimer said.
Feltheimer noted that the demand for premium content continues to increase, saying that consumers "want their content when, where and how they want it, and the good news is they're willing to pay more for it if it's premium, if it's faster, sooner, more mobile or more transportable."
Epix, the multiplatform channel partnership of Lionsgate, Viacom and MGM, recently entered an agreement with Netflix to add some Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM movies to Netflix's instant-watch selection.
Feltheimer's remarks stressed the continued importance of creating strong content.
"For all the new formats in the world, all the new technologies delivering them and all the new markets for consuming them, our business is still built on stories and the best way to tell them," he said. "Even the state of the art in technology cannot make ordinary content extraordinary."
Feltheimer will be honored Tuesday with the Reed MIDEM organization's MIPCOM Personality of the Year Award during the annual MIPCOM Gala Dinner for his "achievements at Lionsgate in creating global hit TV programming and for being a leading visionary and architect of the TV and film industry throughout his career."
Previous winners include CNN Founder Ted Turner, Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone and CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves.
