EXCLUSIVE:Oscar season used to boil down to one main thing for Conde Nast:Vanity Fairs party.
The following is a condensed and edited transcript of the conversation.
How would you say the past two-plus years have gone?
Agnes ChuNyra Lang
It is a world in which we are not showing our org structure to our audience.
DEADLINE: How bought in are the editors and the rank-and-file editorial employees to this strategy?
Or, like, maybe we should do something with that.
Its been fabulous to have the team really together with the editorial team identifying projects during the research.
Oftentimes were actually commissioning research and early treatments with CNE budget.
Were supporting the investigative journalism very early on, and were identifying projects often before theyre even published.
DEADLINE: That doesnt sound like the old system here or at other media companies.
We do have a competitive advantage when we are the earliest in identifying projects for film and television.
Its the fact that were leading with the brand.
DEADLINE:How did that strategy come into play with this Oscar crop ofshort films?
These are brands that people know through and through around the world so, its another competitive advantage.
And then finally, you know, we talk about symphony.
Thats kind of Disney 101, too.
Youre not a studio.
So, how do you approach those partnerships case by case, or with an overarching goal?
The Addams Family started out comics inside ofThe New Yorker.
It has spawned one of my favorite 90s movies with, you know, Anjelica Huston.
But look atWednesday, the series, which is, you know, a gangbuster on Netflix.
It is a missed opportunity that the world does not realize that it was fostered by The New Yorker.
DEADLINE:So, the idea is to be on the right side of the next one.
Be on the right side of next one.
CHU:Theres a couple things there.
CHU:Spike and Mike!
DEADLINE: Shoutout to Spike and Mike.
CHU:I was a big fan, too.
So, all of these films really showcase the attributes of The New Yorker brand.
In addition, these are not films that we, like we physically produced ourselves.
DEADLINE: Right, because your platforms are like a huge showcase for a small film.
So, the economics are actually quite favorable on that front.
But what is also exciting is to see the engagement with these short films.
Our engagement on those shorts are in the top of our performers.
Internally, I look at two different things.
So, its a different model, monetization model than some of our ad-driven video.
I dont look at our short films as vesicles for commercialization.
But in the shorts categories, you guys can go toe to toe with Apple or Disney.
We check that that its featured on Instagram.
There has been a top-to-bottom reset there what is the state of things now?
CHU:Im really proud of the progress that weve made onBon Appetit.
In 2022, our views are up 15% year over year.
But it showcases progress.
It was a complete free-fall.
There were many things that were in question.
