Robert Friedman Launches Company To Help Integrate Media With Marketing

EXCLUSIVE: The new operation’s called Bungalow Media + Entertainment and it aims to build bridges between content creators and marketers looking for creative ways to work together in TV, film, live entertainment, and digital media. “A lot of people talk about multiple platforms, but it’s very difficult to produce a brand or show if you’re in a traditional entertainment company,” Robert Friedman tells me. He has credibility and extensive connections in media and marketing after serving as a top exec at @radicalMedia, Classic Media, AOL, New Line Cinema, and the original development team at MTV. He’ll be joined by Todd Hoffman — a former ICM Partners agent who earlier this weekunveiled his management/production company Storied Media Group. Hoffman will be a partner at Bungalow and run its West Coast operations as he continues to represent franchises including The New York Times, 60 Minutes, and New Yorkmagazine as well as Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, Nebraska co-writer Bob Nelson, and Moneyball writer Stan Chervin. Projects in development at Bungalow include a documentary with Alex Gibney, co-production of two unscripted series with Back Roads Entertainment, content from Skip Barber Racing School, and co-production of a Spanish-language comedy special from Luis Raul to be shown in theaters and on TV. Friedman will own a majority stake in the company, which also has backing from Jeff Sagansky and private equity firm Loeb Partners. Friedman’s one of the most energetic and well-liked members of the informal community of execs who frequently meet at Michael’s, the media industry’s NYC watering hole. He says Bungalow will focus on three areas: branded content, content that can be developed into franchises, and multicultural. He expects to enlist big-name partners to help build each of the business units. In a fragmented and cluttered media marketplace, major companies “all want to be in this space,” he says. Content creators need money for their productions, and marketers need to associate with projects that enhance their brands. “It’s no longer enough to put a Coca-Cola cup on a stage.”