In the fourth and final week of Mediabistro’s Profit From Your Passion series, we’re focusing on the TV/Entertainment industry, starting with an interview with award-winning director and producer Mike Tollin.
Tollin, who began his career working on sports documentaries, has directed and produced such TV hits as Smallville and One Tree Hill, and films like Varsity Blues. Twenty years ago, he collaborated with Brian Robbins to form Tollin/Robbins Productions. But, most recently, he joined forces with Peter Guber, chairman of Sony Pictures, to create a new company called Mandalay Sports Media, where he’s experimenting with digital platforms:
[Mandalay] encompasses everything from sports movies to long-form sports documentaries in the vein of 30 for 30, which I have been very involved in, to digital shorts like My Ink, which we just launched for AOL. It’s exciting to see a new market where you’re making up the rules as you go. Look at the over-the-top networks, as they’re called: Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and look at how they’re launching their shows. How much is binge-viewing a part of the strategy? It’s exciting to find new partners and find new ways to reach an audience. If you find a great story, there’s a way to reach an audience.Advertisement
To hear more from Tollin, including how he got started in the industry, read: So What Do You Do, Mike Tollin, Acclaimed TV/Film Director and Producer?
–Aneya Fernando