Sony Pictures Television chairman Keith Le Goy sees a worrying trend in Hollywood, which in recent years has looked to remakes and reboots for comfort in turbulent times.
“I think sometimes we’ve gotten a little too risk-averse in this business. We’re a little fear-based, and sometimes you need to run towards something which is a little bit scary,” Le Goy told the Banff World Media Festival on Monday.
Le Goy, who has been with the studio for over 25 years and earlier served as president of distribution for Sony Pictures TV, now has the top post at the division. He succeeded Ravi Ahuja, who moved up to president and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment after the departure of Tony Vinciquerra. In his new post, Le Goy oversees all of Sony’s domestic and international TV production, including the studio’s game show business (which includes Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune) and cable outlet GSN.
Le Goy argued Hollywood had to stop talking about fear and decline, and tout its successes, even as the industry faces turbulence and headwinds. “We’ve got to start doing a better job of being, not pollyannaish, but a bit more optimistic, a bit more excited, of leaning into a bolder, more positive future,” Le Goy argued.
But on the issue of fear, the studio exec did address the thorny issue of artificial intelligence. “Right now, AI is a tool, which isn’t perfect. It’s not a replacement for human decision making, no more than data and analytics and algorithms are a replacement for human creativity or decision making,” Le Goy said.
While in Banff, he also welcomed Warner Bros. Discovery making it official and unveiling plans on Monday to split into two companies. “It’s good for the health of our business as a whole, for these things to get kind of figured out, and for companies who are going to do this, to get on with it and do it,” Le Goy said.
Having focus on content creation, by contrast, has left Sony as “very stable and very clear in our thinking and our strategy and our approach,” he added. Le Goy argued his studio had dodged a bullet by not having to invest heavily in a new streaming platform and being laden by legacy cable channels.
“We avoided both of those, so we could focus on what we do best, which is telling stories,” Le Goy insisted. Despite escalating industry disruption, he argued content was being consumed globally as never before. The challenge was figuring out where it should be distributed.
On the content front, Sony Pictures TV recently announced plans to keep its SWAT franchise going with a spinoff series called SWAT Exiles to star Shemar Moore.
A coy Le Goy pointed to potential partners to be lineup for the new spinoff series. “We’ve had a tremendous response from partners from all around the world, both existing partners from the original SWAT series, and potentially new partners who are interested to see what we’re doing,” he said.
