EXCLUSIVE: Longtime entertainment executivesTom Ascheimand Tricia Melton, who worked together at Warner Bros.
Discovery and Freeform, have launched Pith and Pixie Dust, a consulting firm.
With the new venture, Ascheim, former President Of Warner Bros.
Tom Ascheim & Tricia MeltonCourtesy of Pith and Pixie Dust
The company already is working with a couple of international companies.
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Tom Ascheim Exits As President Of Warner Bros. And the marriage of those two things, pith and pixie dust, is the perfect symmetry of that.
They ultimately decided to turn that into a business.
It does feel like the time is very ripe, Melton said.
So many different industries are going through massive transformation right now.
The heart of that for us is about storytelling.
Ascheim and Melton are taking on a kids and YA marketplace that has seen some contraction lately.
I wish it were better, Ascheim said.
The need and the demand among children and young adults just like the rest of us is constant.
Overall, the cut in spending on streaming content as media companies started to prioritize profits is not surprising.
I think we were due for a correction, Ascheim said.
I think thats all healthy even though its going be super painful.
Added Melton, Its always surprising to me because kids and young adults are the futurist.
They are the puck, often literally, they create the cultural trends.
To ignore kids and young adults is a missed opportunity.
Both are open to Pith and Pixie Dust working with both WBD and Freeform.
There are great people there, and I think they also need a lot of help, Ascheim said.
I understand Disneys need to prioritize, Ascheim said.
I think part of what we originally pitched the idea of Freeform to [Disney CEO] Bob Iger.
I think theyve just shied away from what felt like a big opportunity for that company.
And I think theyre in trouble and I think thats too bad.
Ascheim also shared his perspective on how streaming will evolve, following the broadcast-cable dynamic.
That led to the creation of cable networks focused on news, documentary programming, kids.
They do a little bit of everything and its great; a little bit of everythings very important.
Added Melton, Brands absolutely still matter.
I do think, in the mad dash and the upheaval of streaming, that got a little subdued.
But I predict, like Tom does, that ultimately well come back to that.
Ascheim and Melton both bring decades of entertainment executive experience to Pith and Pixie Dust.
