Olga Krasovski, director of solution architecture for Amazon Web Services media and entertainment, games and sports, understands the industry is facing headwinds, thanks to changes in the market and an influx of new technologies.
But she views this as an opportunity for women in leadership roles, not a cause for panic.
“What I propose to you is we women in this industry in leadership roles and men who are our allies in this industry in leadership roles have an incredible opportunity to re-architect, reinvent this industry so that it becomes more inclusive, more equitable, and a place where we feel comfortable and where those who will come after us will feel comfortable,” she said, speaking at the recent SoCal Women’s Leadership Summit, presented by Women in Technology Hollywood (WiTH).
Her keynote presentation — “Empowering Innovation: Women Leaders Shaping the Future of Media, Entertainment, and Gaming” — delved into how new technologies are impacting every employee, fan, and consumer of content, with AI opening up new forms of content creation and fan engagement. And while change can be scary, there’s an opportunity for those in leadership roles to drive AI innovation responsibly, and mentor the next generation of women in technology at the same time.
The entertainment industry is forecast to hit be worth a trillion dollars by the end of this year, a quarter of that in gaming, Krasovski said. And the way younger consumers want their content is the most stark of changes: Gen Z has a strong preference for social video and for live streams compared to Millennials (47 percent vs. 33 percent), according to AWS data. That trend is only going to accelerate with Gen Alpha, those born 2010 and on.
“It’s something that continues to expand and accelerate,” Krasovski said. “Tubi has 80 million active monthly users. During its month of May, it had an average audience of 1 million viewers. [That’s] 46 percent growth year over year. TikTok launched 60 Minute Reels. What’s happening there? What’s going on?”
What’s happening, she said, is that social media is driving content consumption, instead of the traditional content creators, with nearly two-thirds of people everywhere, billions of them, using social media daily.
“The second trend that we see is around hyper personalization. Everything is personalized,” Krasovski added. “You see it in the way that information and entertainment is presented to you. And that rise of personalized content is causing some fragmentation of audiences. [And] that fragmentation opens up new opportunities. There are niche markets, global niche markets that you can address now.
“That is something that could drive and should drive diversity, diversity of thought, diversity of ideas.”
And the technological elephant in the room — Gen AI — is upending all sorts of traditional parts of the industry, from content creation to dubbing to personalization, she said.
“It lowers barriers to entry. It is accessible. You used to [need] teams of data scientists to be able to take something and create a very innovative solution with technology in media and entertainment,” Krasovski said. “But today you don’t. You have a lot of tech at your fingertips which is available to those who previously did not have access.”
Diverse and inclusive content creation and storytelling is now easily accomplished, thanks to all the tools and outlets available today, and that means women in technology can influence diversity in the stories that are told, Krasovski said, and service every niche market that’s out there.
“You can tell stories that will resonate with women and you will have market for it. And I think that’s very powerful,” she said. “That is something that tech can help us with today.”
Co-located with the Infinity Festival at the famed AVALON Hollywood nightclub and events space, the full-day Summit was sponsored by Amazon Web Services, Ateliere, Fortinet, Microsoft, Fincons Group, Qvest and Point B, with the Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA) and EIDR serving as association partners.