Having Run Out of Cultural Intellectual Property to Mine, Studios Turn Their Gaze Elsewhere

The future of cinema is waiting in the patent office

Image created in Canva. Film set photo by Alexander Dummer on Unsplash.

A prominent studio is pursuing a bold, new vision for content development, having exhausted their existing sources in an endless stream of reboots, mashups, and remixes. I spoke to the executive in charge.

“I was watching Ready Player One with my kids when I had the realization. You’ve got all these different characters: Batman, the Ninja Turtles, Mechagodzilla. It’s a testament to the fantastic intellectual property we’ve had at our disposal. But is this all there is? Thankfully, no.”

He leads me out of his office and into a large area filled with cubicles and the hum of a dozen busy laser printers. Interns push large carts loaded with bankers boxes from office to office.

“You know there’s more than just one kind of intellectual property, right? Sure, there’s the video game and nostalgia porn. Lots of lawyering up and contract negotiations required for that stuff. But there’s also this other kind of intellectual property, which is mostly managed by underpaid nerds too focused on their research to read the fine print. Journal articles, conference proceedings, patent applications! These babies hold the future of cinema!”