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Nate Bargatze, currently the biggest touring comedian in the world, is expanding his brand of PG-rated comedy with the creation of a wide-ranging media company — Nateland Entertainment.
The Big Picture: While live touring and podcasts have been cash cows for comedians over the past decade, Hollywood has immensely underinvested in the genre during the same time, especially live-action, family-friendly comedy. With nearly no one operating in that space in film and TV, Nateland has the opportunity to own it completely.
Behind the Scenes: Bargatze wants to turn Nashville, Tennessee, into the new comedy capital of the world.
- Nateland, which counts former KPMG partner Felix Verdigets as its CEO, will have its hands in touring, comedy specials, podcasts, movies, TV, digital content, and products and merchandise.
- While Nateland has partnered with Sony on its first movie, The Breadwinner, and has others set up at studios, the company may finance its own slate of projects in the future.
- It’ll also plot some ambitious experiences, including an upcoming Nateland voyage with Norwegian Cruise Line and plans for a full-fledged theme park in Tennessee.
- Nateland also has a talent incubator to help support an upcoming generation of clean comedians — similar to how Judd Apatow has helped mint pretty much every comedy star of the past 25 years.
Last Laugh: While it’s a risky move for Bargatze to step back from his very lucrative touring schedule to build Nateland, there’s an incredible amount of goodwill already behind the venture. Blue-chip brand partners like Walmart and General Mills have flocked to take part in The Breadwinner, signaling that the comic could tap rich advertisers to fund his entertainment efforts (with producer and former Marvel exec Jeremy Latcham saying they received more incoming calls on this film than they did for the first Avengers movie).
Prediction: When Nateland one day looks for outside investors, expect getting a piece of that pie to be the hottest ticket in town.
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