Matt Kaplan, Principal Producer of Ace Entertainment joins Hollywood Unscripted to discuss the young adult market.

The conversation with Matt and Scott Tallal begins with Matt’s two passions, football and movies (0:34). They then discuss Matt’s early internships and jobs (0:58) and what he learned from them (2:14). They discuss his move to a position at Lionsgate that led him to YA films (2:39).

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Matt talks about working with Jason Blum (4:22), moving to Dreamworks and Awesomeness (4:52), and then landing at his company, Ace Entertainment (6:14).

 

Matt mentions how To All The Boys came about (7:43) and reveals how developing talent was a priority of the company (8:38). He talks about how they make films that stand out (9:40) and how they pursue success (10:26). Matt explains how he stays connected to the younger audience (11:21) and how the company is making a variety of different types of content (12:58).

 

He opens up about what he’s looking for in people he works with (14:02) and the goals for Ace Entertainment (14:24). Matt then discusses the potential of pushing to theatrical releases (16:26).

 

Matt discusses Michael Fimognari’s jump from cinematographer to director on To All the Boys 2 (18:38) and the how the overnight fame of Noah Centineo and Lana Condor did not affect their focus (19:15). He discusses another movie, Before I Fall, and working with a YouTube star (20:13).

 

Jenny Curtis chimes into the conversation (20:49) and Matt dives deeper into finding the style of To All The Boys (20:58). Matt discusses being content to stay in his current niche (23:36) and reveals upcoming projects (24:20). He give a peak into the focus of To All The Boys 3 (28:40) before closing out with what he learns from his movies (29:08).

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