5X Media Touts Talent as King

A fresh entrant in the international landscape, 5X Media has positioned itself at the intersection of production and talent management. The studio was launched in January 2023 by film producer Scott Einbinder. Earlier this year, he tapped the expertise of well-known international TV execs Alon Shtruzman and Gil Goldschein as co-CEOs.

The drive in forming the new outfit came from seeing the disruption in the current marketplace, according to Goldschein, and realizing how their collective experience could be a powerful combination in navigating these waters. Goldschein himself has been in the TV industry for more than two decades, predominantly in the unscripted space, having served as CEO of Bunim/Murray Productions, while Shtruzman has been working in international programming, with a long tenure as CEO of Keshet International. This is paired with Einbinder’s expertise in feature films and extensive international experience, notably in Asia.

“The thinking with the three of us coming together is, number one, having a diverse portfolio,” Goldschein says. “In our industry, things are cyclical. It’s a matter of not knowing what is necessarily going to be working at any given time. Number two, it’s all about story; we’re all storytellers. We believe in identifying stories, but not every story is meant for one particular medium or genre. So, let’s identify a good story, and if we were just in one lane, [we might be limited]. We might read a great book and it might be a scripted project, but if we’re only playing in the unscripted space, that wouldn’t work. We have different potential verticals based on our collective experience. We can put that story in the right place, whether it’s scripted, unscripted, a feature, podcast or otherwise.”

Goldschein also points out that the team recognizes the importance of being international. While its central headquarters is in Los Angeles, their collective experience can lead them to stories that resonate globally.

Shtruzman sees an advantage, too, in their combined passion for presentation. “The last 20 years had been a great ride for producers, and both Gil and I were riding high on this era of peak TV,” he explains. “I felt that the next decade is a time for management. Talent is everything. The saying used to be: Content is king. Now, we say talent is king. Talent drives everything. It’s becoming harder and harder to sell anything without talent attached. In many cases, talent is the content. If we look at the universe of the creator economy, every kid with a mobile device can become their own TV platform. There can be 20 million, 30 million, 40 million, 50 million followers for one specific talent. I felt that representing talent worldwide is going to be a big business. I wanted to be able to integrate production and management, which I feel is the way to go. A production company without good access to talent is missing something. That was the vision, to integrate the two and work closely with talent in the U.S. and worldwide to develop content, sell content and, in a way, invent content.”

Like Goldschein, Shtruzman is adamant about the power of a good story to cut through in today’s market. “We’re big believers in storytelling,” Shtruzman says. “We think that a great story, a great narrative, works and travels everywhere. In my days at Keshet, we proved the concept with shows like Homeland and The A Word, which have been translated into different languages and resonated in different countries and cultures. For us, it’s really more about storytelling than the genre. We are very much open to anything. We see 5X Media as a platform for creators and producers to come and express themselves and build on their own slates. As long as it’s a great story, everything goes; it can be genre, sitcom, drama, dramedy. As long as we understand the story and there are great narratives and characters. When I hear a pitch for the first time, typically my request is just: Tell me a story; don’t give me a speech on the pilot and the motivations of the characters. That is all important, but most importantly, tell me a story—one that would resonate with me, that would excite me, that sparks emotions. I’m a big believer that if the story is good, it will sell.”

He adds that it is still important to keep a finger on the pulse. “It’s very much about listening and learning what the trends are,” Shtruzman says. “But having said that, my decades in this industry have taught me that it’s really better to be a trendsetter than a trend follower. It takes so long to make a show—maybe five or six years from the inception of the idea to the actual airing—that by that time, trends can change. It’s a mix of understanding and knowing what the audience and buyers want, but also speaking to an inner truth and looking for great stories. If something is good, regardless of genre, it can sell and resonate with audiences.”

Shtruzman believes that branded content will grow in popularity and that more money will flow in the online world. “We see more and more branded content, not only in terms of direct integration and product placement but also brands that will invest in shows and stories that represent their values,” he says. “The TV industry has been bouncing from advertising to subscription back to advertising. We see TV ads like the good old days on some of the platforms, and that will grow. We also see more and more money shifting to the internet. We see brand endorsement rising as a big business. Brands pay money for influencers with a platform to promote them. That’s also becoming a way to fund content. You see it more in unscripted with guys such as MrBeast. It can push the boundaries of the internet to high-end TV shows that can be on network television. If you look at what MrBeast is doing, his shows could actually easily live on network television or big streamers because they’re so good and high-end and have scale. We’re going to see more and more traditional media getting into the internet. We’re also going to see scripted television funded that way. There’s going to be some kind of House of Cards moment that will change the way we make and consume scripted television forever. In the same way that Netflix changed everything for networks when it launched House of Cards as its first big commission on the platform, I think we’re going to see that online. It’s about being open to different models, building relationships with buyers and funds around the world and being innovative. The way to survive in today’s rapidly changing market is by being innovative and constantly looking for new ways to develop, make and fund content.”

Goldschein points out that the collective experience of the 5X Media team helps from a business-model perspective. “Our partner Scott has been doing independent financing in the movie world for a long time. You’re seeing that model more and more within the international scripted space. With the three of us coming together and sharing models, in every single project, we’re cognizant of where the market is, and we’re open to these co-productions. [We’re] cognizant about cost and ways to produce that are more cost-effective and beneficial to buyers out there. We spend a lot of time figuring out the right model for these projects as well.”

While it’s still early days for the company, Shtruzman says the building blocks are put in place with the representation and talent pillar, production (both scripted and unscripted) and global expansion. “We already have outposts in Spain and Africa; that’s a hint at what we’re aiming for,” he says. “We want to be borderless and work with creators and buyers everywhere. We want to be able to build an operation that has a big clientele of talent from all over the world but also develop, produce and sell content all over the world. In a year and a half from now, I want to see a big roster, completely international, especially from key markets, and sell to those markets. On the production side, I want to have shows in different countries. We want to build a big company; we came from big companies, and we want 5X Media to grow, flourish and become a scalable business. We will take presentation, production, development and international and grow it to a scale that would allow us to become a big company with significant influence.”