Dolphin Entertainment and Kynetic Media Ventures have launched Graviteur Studios, a production venture aimed at leveraging the creator economy to produce low-budget film and television projects.
Dolphin CEO Bill O’Dowd and Kynetic CEO David Freeman will collaborate on a production venture aimed at projects with budgets ranging from $1 million to $10 million. The hope is that Graviteur will act as a bridge for YouTubers and social media stars to make the leap into mainstream film and television, with agreements and terms that allow creators to retain ownership and control similar to those on top social media platforms.
Momentum for these types of ventures has been building for some time, but has accelerated in recent weeks with the box office success of two low-budget horror films: Focus Features’ Obsession (which cost less than $1 million to make) and A24’s Backrooms (which cost about $10 million to make).
david freeman
Max S. Gerber
Graviteur focuses on genres such as horror movies, YA, anime, comedy, horror, YA, romance, sci-fi, and sports. The partners are seizing the opportunity to leverage the established and loyal fandoms of key creators with the vision to lead projects that can thrive beyond social media. Graviteur’s main difference is how it prioritizes “speed to market” in content creation.
“This isn’t about talking about a project in the way that Legacy[Media]does and hypes P&A three or four weeks before release. It’s about bringing the audience in on day one and walking them through the development stage, the scriptwriting stage, the production stage and working with the creators they really know and love. It’s important for us to feel like we’re really part of the project, so when we deliver it, it can be theatrical or it could be streaming,” Freeman said.
Mr. Freeman, who previously headed digital at CAA, and Mr. O’Dowd have known each other for years as friends and business associates. Both have worked in various areas of the digital space and have extensive experience developing content and products related to youth culture and the strong fandom that creators generate.
“We really want to move the process faster, faster, be nimble by the time we get to the green light, be nimble by the time we go into production. We don’t necessarily have to follow traditional filmmaking,” Freeman said. “Part of the creator movement is agility, freedom of action, and we really want that to be at the heart of what Graviteur stands for. These audiences that creators have built for us aren’t used to waiting years for new IP. They’re used to much shorter timelines. So speed to market and audience-first marketing are at the heart of Graviteur.”
Graviteur is developing early stages of scripted projects, including its first feature film “Crush Party,” which is described as a YA thriller written by Johnny Salas. Graviteur is looking for a cast for the film of its creator’s talent, and negotiations are underway.
“We have native expertise in creator content, traditional film, television networks, streaming, studios and, importantly, the international space,” O’Dowd said.
bill o’dowd
A key selling point for Graviteur is the level of ownership that creators can enjoy with their titles and franchises.
“We wanted to create something that gave creators and talent ownership, true back-end ownership and alignment,” Freeman said. “Bill was my first call because he had a great background in understanding independent film financing and international distribution.”
O’Dowd’s Dolphin Entertainment is a collection of entertainment-focused PR, marketing, events and promotion companies that work together to support our clients’ ambitions. Graviteur can connect to Dolphin flywheels spinning across support companies such as 42West, The Door, Shore Fire Media, Elle Communications, Special Projects, and The Digital Dept.
“If there’s an idea that combines what we’ve been doing for 30 years with the financing, production, content distribution and marketing team we’ve built, it’s this. The entire Dolphin operation is behind Graviteur,” O’Dowd said.
