Posted on 8th November 2023 by Harry

Danny Cohen is the President of Access Entertainment, a division of Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries. Access Entertainment’s corporate investments include film and television studio A24; Europe’s fastest-growing company Tripledot Studios; creator economy leader Spotter; and a new immersive arts’ experience launched in collaboration with David Hockney and Lightroom. Before joining Access, Danny was the Director of BBC Television where he had responsibility for all of the BBC’s network channels and the greenlighting and production of the BBC’s drama, entertainment, comedy, arts, history, science, educational content and documentary. 

In Today’s Episode with Danny Cohen We Discuss:

1. From Leading the BBC to Investing for Len Blavatnik:

• How did Danny make his way from leading the BBC to investing for Len @ Access?
• What was he most nervous about when making the transition to investing?
• What has been the hardest investing skill to learn?

2. Great Founders are Like Great Actors:

• What are the biggest similarities in what makes the best founders and the best actors?
• How are the best founders different from the best actors?
• Why does Danny believe the risk that an actor takes is so different to the risk founders take?
• How does Danny feel both founders and actors can and should be managed?

3. The Future of Media:

• What does Danny mean when he says he looks for “eyeballs and attention” when investing?
• How does legacy media respond to the threat created by social media today?
• How does AI change the future of content creation and distribution today?
• How do the strikes in Hollywood impact the future of content supply?

4. Marriage, Children and Loneliness:

• Why does Danny believe that loneliness will continue to be the biggest problem we face?
• What are Danny’s biggest pieces of advice from 17 years of happy marriage?
• Why did Danny decide to not have children? What did that decision-making process look like?