Walt Disney Notes from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference (99.12 -2.37)
- Parks business had a tremendous FY17.
- FY18 will be stronger than FY17.
- Star Wars Lands are rising as we speak, both will open in calendar year '19. One in FY19 one in FY20.
- Direct app will launch in late 2019.
- Will have exclusive shows.
- Star Wars, Marvel content will be on the app.
- Opening Toy Story Land in Orlando later in the spring.
- Putting capital into franchises and branded content.
- Box Office Performance, Q: "is movie going undergoing a secular change?"
- Built pre-eminent studio by creating great content for the premimum movie going experience (the movie theater perspective.
- Looking for quality not quantity.
- Was a quiet end to the movie summer, has been slim pickings last few weeks.
- Believes there is some secular change. So much more competition for peoples times with filmed entertainment.
- Ease of use, growth of screen quality in the home means the movie going experience is less forgiving than it used to be, meaning you must make a great film designed for the experience. This is why Disney has had a lot of success.
- Mantra is to "make them big, and make them great".
- Premium VOD window not something they are interested, but moving forward will make lower budget films to put on their own exclusive platforms.