Meet Dolphin Entertainment: Fly exclusive interview with CEO Bill O’Dowd

In an exclusive interview with The Fly, Dolphin Entertainment’s (DLPN) Chairman and CEO Bill O’Dowd talked about the company, its next steps, the industry it operates in, and much more.

DIVERSIFIED COMPANY: Founded in 1996 by Bill O’Dowd, Dolphin Entertainment is an Emmy-nominated creator of television, digital, and feature film content. Recently, several companies joined forces with Dolphin, offering services in the marketing and brand-building space, part of O’Dowd’s vision. Dolphin’s CEO said he saw potential of earned marketing tools for film and entertainment promotion, and envisioned creating a collective of agencies in these spaces.

“We produce and market entertainment. Prior to taking the company public eight years ago, we produced television and feature films. And in the last eight years upon going public, we’ve acquired eight entertainment marketing companies to form a group that can market everything from film and television, to music, to influencers, to hosting live events. So, I’d say today we’re a diversified entertainment, production, and marketing company,” O’Dowd told The Fly in an exclusive interview.

SUBSIDIARIES: Several subsidiaries operate under Dolphin’s umbrella. “That was the big idea that hit us in 2016. What if we could build a group of these specific types of companies? What if somebody assembled market leading earned media companies into one group? And so that’s what we set out to do. Each of our companies absolutely complement each other,” the executive explained.

“We have three different PR firms. We bought one in 2017, one in 2018, and one in 2019. The first one was 42 West, and they’re widely considered the most powerful PR firm in Hollywood. We represent celebrities like Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, and we also represent content. We do the PR for the James Bond franchise. Shore Fire Media, which is our music PR firm, is the largest music PR firm in the world. Names go from Bruce Springsteen to Dave Matthews Band, Chance the Rapper — across all genres. And then we have the celebrity chef PR firm The Door. They have these very well-known culinary celebrities like Rachael Ray, or Emeril Lagasse and their restaurants and the hotels that house those restaurants, the hospitality world, the liquor world.”

O’Dowd also noted that today it’s “impossible to launch a product or a hotel or a movie without having online.” So, we brought in an LA based influencer marketing agency called The Social and a New York based influencer marketing agency named Socialite, and we merged them to create The Digital Department.

NEXT PHASE: In a recent newsletter to shareholders, Dolphin said that the formation of its “Super Group” was now complete following the successful acquisition of Special Projects in Q4 2023. Further, the company said it was excited to enter “the next phase” in its history.” “The whole idea of putting the group together was so that we could use the group to market content or products that we’ve taken an ownership stake or have an ownership stake or receive an ownership stake,” Dolphin’s CEO explained to The Fly. “The first phase of the company’s journey has been to assemble the super group. That kind of we feel that finished in October… Now the next phase, starting here in 2024, is to go to market with certain assets that we have ownership stakes in. We’re looking for those types of ownership stakes where our form of marketing makes a difference… even outside of entertainment content. Consumer products like cosmetics, skincare, liquor, those types of things. And then of course, live events themselves.”

FAST-CHANGING INDUSTRY: Dolphin Entertainment operates in a fast-changing industry. “One of the biggest changes in the last 10 years on the content side is the rise of streaming. Our company predates that. Now it’s very prestigious to produce for streaming, which wasn’t the case when it started. I remember when Netflix (NFLX) became as big an account to 42 S as Universal Films (CMCSA) or Warner Bros. (WBD). And now 42 S works with virtually every major streaming platform. I think having a place at the table comes from having that type of client roster and you just go with the change.”

The second major change O’Dowd has seen during his career relates to the rising of social media and the rise of influencers. “I was probably about halfway through my career when we were producing a lot of shows for Nickelodeon and wonder if we should make some original content and post it on the internet… Over the last 10 years, which in business history is a very short period of time, we went from people doubting it would ever become a thing to anybody being able to be an influencer with their own fan base and launching products.”

STABLE, GROWING COMPANY: Discussing any misconceptions about the company with The Fly, the CEO said he thinks Dolphin “does need to use 2024 to be the year in which the Street understands the mouse trap that I wrote in the recent letter to shareholders. We believe that, oftentimes, microcap companies valued at less than $250M tend to lose money. They are trying to achieve something and have spotty revenue. And what I don’t think the Street appreciates yet is that we intend to report positive cash in 2024. We’re a stable, growing company. But we also have upside as if we were a biotech company. We have ownership stakes and eight to ten different consumer products. We also have several content plays.”

“Meet the Company” is The Fly’s recurring series of exclusive short interviews with Executive Officers to offer a deeper look inside the company.