CANNES — Robbie Brenner told Mipcom attendees that the company is focused on ramping up television development and production as the Mattel Studios division is combined under her leadership as president and chief content officer.
Brenner spoke with Variety magazine’s director of international features, Leo Barraclough, on Tuesday during the keynote speech on the second day of Mipcom Content Market. Mr. Brenner detailed his unlikely career path from independent film producer to head of Mattel Studios. She reflected on the seminal success of Barbie, Mattel’s first feature film under the new leadership of CEO Inon Kreiz. Kreitz hired Brenner at the toymaker in 2018 to drive key elements of Mattel’s strategy to transform Mattel into a media and entertainment company with consumer toys and games businesses.
“It’s not often that you get to go to work every day and dream,” Brenner said of his role. After joining the company, she was impressed by Mattel’s culture of detail and innovation. She appreciates Mattel’s history and has “the integrity to make these toys the best they can be,” Brenner said. Her job is to “find ways to honor that and celebrate brands doing that. I find this interesting, original and unexpected.”
Mr. Brenner explained to Mr. Barraclough how Mattel is trying to inject creative backing into its projects by hiring unique writers, directors, producers and stars with a feel for the material. Travis Knight, the director and writer of Mattel’s second feature film, Masters of the Universe, is a “fanboy” who grew up playing with action figures and knows the mythology behind them. The live-action film starring Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes, and Idris Elba will be released on June 5th, distributed by Amazon MGM Studios.
“He knows the characters really well,” she said of Knight. “His attention to detail was amazing to watch.”
The same goes for Daniel Kaluuya, who co-stars with Ayo Edebiri in A24 and puts a new spin on the purple dinosaur. Stunt performer turned director Sam Hargraves is in the driver’s seat of Matchbox’s feature film alongside John Cena and Jessica Biel. And the day before Brenner’s Mipcom appearance, her studio announced an agreement with M. Night Shyamalayan to develop a series based on the iconic Magic 8 Ball toy.
“TV is a big boost for us. I’m happy with where our team is,” Brenner said. Brenner was head of the company’s film division. She was also promoted to television director in June. She strongly believes there are benefits to closer collaboration.
Brenner said, “Historically, everything has been very separate between studio film and television. Today, it’s all really fused together… For us all to exist together under an umbrella, each of these brands is thinking about what’s best in the past in order to navigate together as TV and theater.”
(Photo: Leo Barraclough of Variety and Robbie Brenner of Mattel Studios at Mipcon in Cannes on October 14th)
