Roku is evidently preparing to produce its own original TV shows and films to increase its free and advertising VOD business.
The company placed an ad in January looking for a “leading production lawyer” to work on its “expansion of original content”. According to the job list, which was first reported by the Protocol and is no longer accepting candidates, Roku was looking for a lawyer with “substantial experience in television and film production in a studio, network, streaming service or office. entertainment advocacy, “as well as experience working with Hollywood guilds and unions. Roku’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
Roku’s move to form a team of originals comes after he struck a deal in early January to acquire the global rights to more than 75 of Quibi’s original programs. Roku said it plans to broadcast free in 2021 on the Roku Channel. The company “significantly” paid less than $ 100 million under the agreement with Quibi, the well-funded startup led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman that closed six months after launch after failing to gain momentum.
“We believe in this broader AVOD [ad-supported video-on-demand] trend, ”said Roku VP of programming, Rob Holmes Variety in an interview last month. “At a very high level, we know that our users are very significantly involved with free content.”
Roku said he had 51.2 million active accounts in the fourth quarter of 2020, and that the Roku Channel reached homes in the U.S. with an estimated 61.8 million people in the fourth quarter.
Roku’s list of jobs for a production lawyer referred to the company’s “episodic productions and original feature films”, covering aspects of production agreements, including option purchase agreements and script acquisition agreements; agreements for hiring individual writers, actors, directors and producers; service provision contracts; and sub-line contracts, including for department heads, location contracts, releases, object rental contracts, similarity postings and credit notes.
The job list also specified a minimum of eight years of “relevant legal experience” and “regular membership of the California Bar Association or the ability to register as an internal Counselor in California”.