Fast Company – May 2019

in Star Wars is desperate,” he adds, by way of
comparison. “Maybe not Chewie, but every-
one else. There was a feeling associated with
them that I thought was really valuable.”
When he inquired about who had made
these figures, which were on display by the
register, he was told it was an employee
named Leslie Levings. She was off that day, so
Abrams emailed her. She didn’t respond right
away. “I thought my coworkers were messing
with me,” says Levings, a soft-spoken sculp-
tor with short blondish hair.
When the two finally met, “I said, ‘Listen,
I don’t know what to do with this,’ ” Abrams
recalls. But he invited Levings to set up shop
at Bad Robot to try and figure out what could

become of her monsters, which she had been

calling Beastlies. “I’m somewhere between an

artist-in-residence and a stowaway,” she says.

Over the years, Bad Robot has turned

down offers to make Beastlies into a movie

or TV series with a complementary toy line.

“The rush to figure it out has not been a

part of the equation for us,” says McGrath.

Abrams has hoped to create something akin

to the Muppets or the Simpsons, two proper-

ties—both now owned by Disney, for those

keeping score—that are enjoyed equally by

kids and adults.

Ultimately, Bad Robot partnered with Mat-

tel in February 2018 to bring Beastlies toys to

market. (There is no announced launch date.)

ILLUSTRATION BY ELISABETTA CALABRITTO

“The fact that J.J. was thinking about what

these characters could be on multiple plat-

forms, starting with a toy, was something we

were incredibly excited about,” says Richard

Dickson, president and COO of Mattel.

Bad Robot president and COO Brian

Weinstein says that the rollout will also

include “a robust video strategy” involving

some form of episodic content, and there’s

talk of bringing the Beastlies to AR and VR

platforms. Comedians from the Upright

Citizens Brigade have been brought in to

explore voices and comedic threads for the

monsters. Animators have wallpapered a

room with drawings of Beastlies under head-

ings like “Exploring Shape” and “How Can

COMCAST-

NBCUNIVERSAL

WHO’S WINNING THE FUTURE OF HOLLYWOOD?

YOUR CHEAT SHEET TO THE GIANTS COMPETING TO ENTERTAIN YOU

NETFLIX AMAZON APPLE WARNERMEDIA VIACOM

STRATEGY

STATE OF
STREAMING
PLANS

KEY ASSET

DISTINCT
ADVANTAGE

NAGGING
PROBLEM

GRADE

Become all of

entertainment,

that’s all!

Goodbye,

cable bundle.

Hello, Amazon

Channels

bundle.

Repackage its

42,000 hours

of content,

from Game of

Thrones to

Looney Tunes

Re-create a

cablelike

experience

over the

internet

Re-create a

cablelike

experience

over the

internet

Use video to

rev up its high-

margin services

business, which

grossed $41 bil-

lion in 2018

139 million sub-

scribers, 190+

countries, 700

original shows,

and 80 movies

in 2018

Using Prime

Video to seek

rent from other

streamers who

want access to

Prime subs

Announced

plan for three

ad-free ser-

vices to launch

by end of 2019

Acquired Pluto

TV, a free, ad-

supported ser-

vice, for $340

million in Janu-

ary 2019

Announced a

free, ad-

supported ser-

vice for 2020.

Or maybe later.

Its service is

due this spring,

but currently

it’s more press

releases than

programming.

A-list creators

like Shonda

Rhimes, Ryan

Murphy, and

Kenya Barris

Programming

chief Jennifer

Salke and her

mass tastes

HBO, though

Warner doesn’t

appreciate it

Awesomeness

TV gives Via-

com the youth

cred it once

had with MTV.

Fast and Furi-

ous, Minions—

but it won’t

keep them off

rival platforms

1.4 billion Ap-

ple devices in

use, plus $245

billion in cash

Twelve-year

head start

Free one-day

shipping on

paper towels

Parent AT&T’s

170 million

wireless,

broadband,

and video

customers

Still some life in

MTV, Nickel-

odeon, and

Comedy Cen-

tral brands

By being last,

maybe it can

be first to learn

from everyone

else’s mistakes.

Its marquee

brand attracts

A-list talent.

DISNEY

Own the most

powerful fan

franchises,

from Pixar to

Nat Geo

It has ESPN+

for sports and

Hulu for adults.

Later this year:

Disney+ for

families.

BAMTech,

which gives it

the platform to

handle peak

usage

Can promote

Disney+ from

Good Morning

America to Dis-

ney World

Preserving its

legacy net-

works

Are licensed

shows 80% of

what’s viewed?

Entertainment

will always be

an add-on.

SONY

Streaming gam-

ing? PlayStation

as living-room

hub? Or sell

off its movie

studio?

PlayStation Vue

cord-cutter

service report-

edly has fewer

than 1 million

customers.

91 million PS4

users

It has a studio,

gaming con-

sole, streaming

service, and

franchises like

Spider-Man.

Not clear its

heart is in it to

compete

To o m a ny

cooks

Seems to think

it can compete

on the cheap

Seems to

think it has

plenty of time

Rich guy tastes

(see U2 album

giveaway)

A A- BB- C+ C- C- D

MAY 2019 FASTCOMPANY.COM 47