Newly Launched AEG Studios Surrounds Partners With Branded Content

New in-house studio will produce features, episodic programming, VR and 360 video, and more

AEG, in response to its partners’ growing desire for branded content, has launched a branded-content division across its wide range of sports, music, and facilities properties. AEG Studios, an in-house production shop, will support the company’s global partnerships with innovative, original content ranging from short-form content for social-media channels to long-form documentary features.

“[Brands] want to sponsor the venue, the festival, [and] the artist. As part of that, they want social media, signage, and original or unique content, and content could mean anything,” says Andrew Klein, SVP, AEG Global Partnerships. “Content could mean short-form vignettes that they could share on their social channels, or it could be long-form documentaries, or it could be photos. We started the in-house division [to support those requests].”

Having already created branded content for AEG-owned teams like the Los Angeles Kings and the LA Galaxy and partners like Uber, Renaissance Hotels, and Toyota, AEG will continue to expand its offerings with AEG Studios. The newly formed production unit will work with its teams, venues, and partners to conceive, produce, and deliver content across digital, print, video, and mobile platforms, allowing brands to engage with their audiences in an authentic way.

In discussing the types of content AEG Studios might create for one of its sports franchises, Klein explains, “We have broadcast partners for the games themselves, but, if we want to take one of the athletes into an Uber car to create a promotion for the LA Kings and Uber, that’s more of the type of content we would execute.”

Check out AEG Studios’ work with the Los Angeles Kings and Uber:

The new division, which will operate out of a studio in downtown Los Angeles, will make use of new technologies like virtual reality and 360-degree video to help brands tell their stories. “The buzzword everywhere is 360 VR,” says Klein, “and we’re definitely getting better and smarter in the VR space.”

AEG Studios will be helmed by veteran content strategist Raymond Leon Roker and employ a team of existing AEG staffers, scaling up as needed but, for the most part, run as a “lean-and-mean” operation, says Klein. The division will work with partners to create content that is fresh, targeted, and shareable in order to bring brands to life across AEG’s portfolio of festivals, concerts, sports, venues, and more.

“What we’re not going to do is take financial risk and create content for the sake of creating content,” he says. “What we are going to do is work on specific projects that our partners are specifically asking for, so the division will grow and grow as the projects [add up]. We want to be able to provide production capabilities for our partners.”