04/10/2024

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David Maisel of Marvel Studios Fame — Never-Before-Heard Tales of Hollywood Dealmaking, The Art of Aiming Big, Lessons from Power Broker Michael Ovitz,

David Maisel of Marvel Studios Fame — Never-Before-Heard Tales of Hollywood Dealmaking, The Art of Aiming Big, Lessons from Power Broker Michael Ovitz,

Illustration via 99designs

“It’s having the vision and then going there and making it happen with whatever dials I need to turn—creatively or business or political or financing—to get it done.”

— David Maisel

David Maisel (@maiseldavid) is the founder of Mythos Studios and the founding chairman of Marvel Studios. In 2003, David pitched Marvel on his idea of Marvel financing and producing its own movies in a connected cinematic universe. He went on to executive produce Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Angry Birds Movie. In 2009, David arranged the sale of Marvel to Disney for $4 billion.

David is currently the Founder of Mythos Studios, an IP entertainment studio. The Ekos Genesis Art Collection, all 1/1 original hand-crafted digital art, is the first offering in the forthcoming Ekos Universe.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Musicor on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.

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#676: David Maisel of Marvel Studios Fame — Never-Before-Heard Tales of Hollywood Dealmaking, The Art of Aiming Big, Lessons from Power Broker Michael Ovitz, Combining Business Smarts with Street Smarts, The Making (and Importance) of Iron Man, Selling to Disney for $4 Billion, and Much More


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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

  • Connect with David Maisel:

Twitter | Instagram

  • Connect with Mythos Studios/Ekos:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

SHOW NOTES

  • [09:25] Michael Ovitz.
  • [17:00] How David became Michael’s right-hand man.
  • [25:12] Creative interests.
  • [26:14] When David fell in love with comic books.
  • [28:34] Early Hollywood lessons — learned and taught.
  • [35:43] Resources for people aspiring to work in the entertainment industry.
  • [39:20] How Marvel enters the picture.
  • [48:11] A detour to Broadway theater.
  • [54:51] Making the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
  • [1:28:26] Why start the MCU with Iron Man?
  • [1:31:56] Decisions between development and deployment.
  • [1:36:18] Biggest challenges.
  • [1:39:45] Animated feature films.
  • [1:41:14] Not just another pretty suit.
  • [1:47:20] Five stars for Favreau.
  • [1:48:48] Why hasn’t David done more PR until recently?
  • [1:53:24] The surprise success of Iron Man.
  • [1:59:45] Wheeling and dealing with Bob Iger.
  • [2:08:50] Ron Burkle.
  • [2:10:35] Finalizing the big sale to Disney.
  • [2:14:36] Recommended reading.
  • [2:15:17] Building new mythologies and legacies in a post-MCU landscape.
  • [2:21:12] Parting thoughts.

MORE DAVID MAISEL QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Part of managing creativity is knowing when to exert yours and when to get the best out from others”
— David Maisel

“It’s having the vision and then going there and making it happen with whatever dials I need to turn—creatively or business or political or financing—to get it done.”
— David Maisel

PEOPLE MENTIONED

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