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Donna Langley, chairman and chief content officer of NBCUniversal Studios Group, is one of the key people negotiating with writers and actors.
Negotiations with the latter don’t seem to be going very well today, and Langley didn’t divulge many details about the negotiations, but said: You want to spend as much time as possible before reaching a resolution and getting back to work. ”
Speaking at a Bloomberg ScreenTime event, Langley was asked why it took five months to resolve the writers’ strike. “It just took time,” she said.
She added that one of the reasons they were so hands-on during the talks was to ensure the pipeline of content continues, especially into next year. “If you don’t watch a lot of movies, you can’t even enjoy the thought of another summer season. If the coronavirus pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that what really affects the rhythm of a movie is a lack of volume. That’s the thing,” she said. “Losing that will have a lasting impact on our industry.”
Asked during the meeting whether NBCUniversal currently uses AI, given the importance of technology, she said, “It hasn’t been implemented within my company yet.”
“We… strongly believe that creativity comes from humans,” she added.
Elsewhere, Mr. Langley, who was promoted over the summer, was asked whether he thought NBCUniversal had the scale to compete with its big-spending rivals.
“Well, no,” she freely admitted.
She spoke about her new role, which will see her taking on film as well as television responsibilities. She said the idea is to have a “content hub.” “So at a company like ours, when we talk to content creators, we really want to be able to curate the experience when they walk in the door…the sky’s the limit. There are… Between film and television, streaming, networks, linear, theme parks, there are so many ways to express creativity. Either way, that’s one of the goals,” she added.