The Billion Dollar Business Of Creating Musicals

About this video

Sam and Shaan explore the economics of theater and stage productions, examining how successful shows like Hamilton and The Lion King generate hundreds of millions in revenue. They discuss the business model behind hit musicals, including royalty structures and crowdfunding approaches, and then broaden the conversation to the broader content production landscape, where streaming platforms are spending billions annually and creating unprecedented opportunities for content creators and production companies.

Key takeaways

• Sam notes that top stage productions like The Lion King have grossed over $2 billion, with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda earning roughly 7% royalties that generated tens of millions. Shaan observes that successful musicals like Book of Mormon grossed $500 million in ticket sales and reportedly brought in $19 million monthly.
• Sam hypothesizes a web3 angle: raising $10 million through NFT pre-sales with tiered benefits (backstage passes, etc.) to fund original stage productions with a superior business model to traditional comedy.
• Shaan emphasizes that owning IP is critical to long-term value, pointing to recent major deals: South Park’s $900 million contract with ViacomCBS, Shonda Rhimes’ multi-hundred million Netflix deal, and Rob Dyrdek’s production company sale for ~$200 million, demonstrating that streaming platforms’ multi-billion dollar annual content budgets make this an exceptionally favorable time for content creators and IP holders.

Episode details: published January 27, 2022 · 2K views · 6:53 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The business ideas, figures and results discussed are the hosts’ and guests’ own claims, shared as brainstorming and entertainment — not verified facts and not investment advice.

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