All Things Video

Chris Williams is the Founder & CEO of Pocket.watch, a kid-centric entertainment studio. Chris began his career as one of the first 100 employees at Yahoo!, then launched his first startup, FanLib, which later rebranded as Take180 and was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2008. Chris spent 3.5 years at Disney and then joined Maker Studios as Chief Audience Officer. Maker was also acquired by Disney in 2014, and Chris spent another two years there before leaving to start Pocket.watch. Chris and I cover a lot of ground in this episode, from creating participatory entertainment experiences around passionate subcultures to developing digital-first franchises for kids. Chris shares his perspective on what makes Bob Iger and Bob Bakish legendary media execs, the secret behind Viacom’s dramatic digital transformation, and what he sees as the subtle genius behind Quibi. We also debate the ultimate outcome of the streaming wars based on what Chris defines as the five pillars of the media industry: pipes, pl