Production Pipelines: TV & Film in Flux

While analyses of the content business’ health tend to focus on output — the number of TV series released in a given year, for instance — truly understanding this business requires examining the top of the funnel as well as the bottom.

That’s why the new Variety Intelligence Platform special report “Production Pipelines: TV & Film in Flux” highlights every phase of content creation, from development to distribution, for an in-depth look at Hollywood’s progress toward a new normal after years of disruption, including (but by no means limited to) 2023’s historic labor disputes.

What emerges from the data is less a narrative of the business returning to normal volume, in terms of fare filling studios’ development, production and distribution pipelines, than a reconfiguring of the pipelines themselves and where the money and content flowing through them are going.

Consider the fact that straight-to-streaming movies are all but extinct outside of Netflix, as the studios — even tech giant Amazon — have returned to prioritizing theatrical releases to the point of rerouting titles originally commissioned for SVOD to theaters instead.

There’s the increasing flow of film and TV dollars away from Los Angeles and the U.S. at large as the globalization of production solidifies. Or the ongoing drainage of originals from U.S. cable networks — which outside of FX, HBO and Showtime have just 13 scripted series on their rosters for 2025 — while broadcast networks see something of a resurgence.

Examining these and other trends in the space, it quickly becomes clear that Hollywood is undergoing yet another significant reset, as its major players rethink and reroute where and how their content dollars are being spent, where physical production is taking place and where their titles are ultimately distributed.

As such, “Production Pipelines: TV & Film in Flux” offers a comprehensive view of a pivotal, transitional phase in the history of the media business, assessing not only the current recalibration but how it will steer content’s future course.