Business Models Beat Everything | Alla Vita | Chicago, IL | July 18, 2025
Jason Blum makes horror films for what Hollywood spends on craft services. His movies aren't always better. His calculator definitely is.
Blumhouse started making films for $1-5 million. Now they're up to $10-15 million. Still printing money like the Fed. About 75% of their films turn profit—which in Hollywood is like batting .750 in baseball.
This isn't about taste. This is about math that makes CFOs weep with joy.
The Economics Everyone Ignores
Traditional studios operate like drunk billionaires. Blow $200 million making a movie. Blow another $200 million telling people it exists. Need half a billion just to break even.
Blumhouse flipped the spreadsheet like a pancake:
Tiny budgets make failure a paper cut, not a amputation
Backend deals attract A-listers who want upside
Limited releases keep marketing costs reasonable
Multiple revenue streams stack like Jenga blocks
Portfolio approach means one hit funds five experiments
Not every film crushes. 25% fail. But when your failures cost couch money and your hits make yacht money, the math maths.
The Subscription Evolution Nobody Saw Coming
First-generation subscriptions were boring. Pay monthly, get stuff. Netflix, newspapers, your sad gym membership.
But something shifted. Successful platforms now build cults, not catalogs. Members don't just watch—they fund, vote, argue in forums, get tattoos of characters.
One platform built 500,000 paying members for independent films. Not by aggregating content. By making people feel like they're part of something.
The subscription includes belonging. That's either genius or terrifying.
Disney's Real Hustle
Disney's financials tell the real story. Box office? That's beer money. The real bread comes from everywhere else—toys, t-shirts, theme parks, therapy bills from parents.
Movies are two-hour commercials for eternal revenue.
Former Disney executives describe designing characters for manufacturing before names. "We engineered products first, stories second. Elsa was a doll before she was a queen."
That's either dystopian or brilliant. Probably both.
Questions Worth Real Money
We're obsessed with model mechanics:
Why do creators perfect their craft while failing kindergarten math?
How do mediocre products with great models beat great products with mediocre models?
What happens when the business model becomes the innovation?
Is the future about better content or better spreadsheets?
The most successful creators might not be the most talented. They might just understand Excel.
Platform Jiu-Jitsu
Sharp operators use platforms like Swiss Army knives:
TikTok for discovery (costs nothing)
Discord for community (you own it)
Shopify for sales (your rules)
YouTube for ad money (they pay you)
Newsletter for relationships (unbreakable)
Each platform is a tool. Combined, they're Voltron. No single point of failure.
The Chicago Business Model Lab
July 18. Ten people who've built money machines gather in Chicago.
Including the founder whose subscription model serves 500,000 paying members. The former Disney exec who built $2 billion merchandising empires. The media fund partner who's backed seven unicorns by reading spreadsheets like tea leaves.
Not theory. Therapy. For people who've been burned by bad models and built better ones.
Real examples. Real numbers. Real talk about why the business model might be the only creative decision that matters.
Because in the end, the spreadsheet might be the highest art form.
Each gathering: curated participants, exclusive venues, real connections. No fees for selected applicants. We're not gurus—we're instigators bringing smart people together to figure things out.