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