Popular entertainment is no longer solely a Western export. International studios are producing content that rivals Hollywood in budget and viewership.
These are the "micro-studios." They operate on Patreon, Kickstarter, and Twitch. They have no executive notes. They have no release windows. They have parasocial relationships with their audience that legacy studios would kill for. When the Hollywood writers struck in 2023, the major studios ground to a halt. The YouTube animators and podcast networks kept uploading.
: Disney has reportedly partnered with OpenAI to explore video generation tools for production.
The landscape of entertainment studios shifted dramatically with the rise of Silicon Valley’s influence. Production is no longer confined to the traditional "Big Five" studios in Los Angeles.
