Amy Powell, president of Vice Studios, discussed building a “risk-taking” business that is a “fully-fledged studio” for the new era on the final day of the Content London industry gathering on Thursday. “Being a branded studio is a really distinctive opportunity,” she said. “We don’t want to play it safe.”
She discussed her excitement about joining Vice Studios about six months ago from Amazon after her tenure running Paramount Television and having such scripted series as Atomic and Gangs of London.
Powell also shared that the studio is exploring bringing the Gangs of franchise to other cities around the world. Given that gangs are a form of family, she said the company has “the ability to explore what other versions of that we can make beyond the borders of London. Can we make a Gangs of Miami, a Gangs of a different city, and take that IP and expand it with [the] ambitions, as ridiculous as it might sound, of what Marvel does? They’re so smart about how they take a piece of IP and exploit it as much as they can.” After a question about her interest in African content, she also mentioned that a Gangs of version set in Johannesburg or Cape Town could possibly be considered.
“Showing a world from the inside out” is a core focus for her when picking Vice Studios series, calling HBO’s Industry her favorite show and also mentioning the likes of Euphoria and Succession as great examples.
Asked about Vice getting a credit facility from Western Alliance Bank after its 2023 acquisition by a consortium led by Fortress Investment Group, Powell said: “Western Alliance Bank and Fortress are our primary sources of that production facility, and it allows us to fund, over the next five years, $500 million worth of content.”
Next year, Powell is eyeing expanding her team’s scripted output to eight series, she mentioned.
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