Realscreen‘s Global 100 Top Tens: Buyers’ Picks

Asylum Entertainment Group (an Endeavor company)

Headquarters:

Encino, CA

NUMBER OF HOURS PRODUCED IN 2023:

65

STAFF:

290 (staff and freelance)

RECENT PROJECTS:

Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed (Peacock); Zillow Gone Wild (HGTV | HBOMax); How I Caught My Killer (Hulu)

This veteran West Coast prodco, led by CEO Steve Michaels, entered a significant phase of its evolution in 2023 when Endeavor acquired a majority stake in the company. In turn, AEG itself is moving into M&A mode, with strategic investments in such companies as UK prodcos (and Global 100 Emerging Indie) DARE Pictures and Soho Pictures Entertainment, among others.

But it's the work on the content front that gained AEG recognition from various buyers who put the firm forward for the Global 100. With work ranging from true crime to lifestyle, the company was commended for, in the words of one buyer, "supporting top-tier talent and curating high-quality content across multiple genres," while another regards AEG as "awesome partners who are aggressive about getting the story." BW

Go with the gut: When asked about the current challenges facing the unscripted content business, Michaels isolates a few areas of concern. "There is constant, intense pressure for platforms to increase margins, so they are in a relentless pursuit of squeezing profitability wherever they can for consolidation purposes," he says. "This is only at the expense and ultimately the peril of all creativity, which does not bode well for the creative community and certainly not the viewers.