‘Success depends on connecting with our audience.’ From Ellenton, Feld powers Monster Trucks, other shows
Feld Entertainment, now in its third generation of Feld family leadership, consolidated its operations in Palmetto in 2013. Company founder Irvin Feld started out by operating a drug store in Washington, D. C., and also selling records there. He branched out into record producing and promoting large-scale concerts, by among others, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He twice owned Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Mr. Feld, who died at age 66 in 1984, was succeeded by his son, Ken, who serves as CEO.
The company now presents live touring family entertainment experiences around the globe. Properties include Disney On Ice, Disney Live!, Marvel Universe LIVE!, Monster Jam, Monster Energy Supercross, Sesame Street Live! and DreamWorks Trolls The Experience.
Juliette Feld Grossman, the 36-year-old chief operating officer for Feld Entertainment, recently sat down with the Bradenton Herald for a question and answer session.
Q. What are your priorities for moving Feld Entertainment into the future?
A. For us, it’s always about innovation. Success depends on connecting with our audience. We are always working to know who our audience is and the kind of experience they want. It’s a fully immersive experience. We try to connect with them in a way they really enjoy. We have to make it really appealing and a good value.
Q. In In your view, how well positioned is Feld Entertainment for growth, and where might that come?
A. We’re really fortunate with the way that our business is structured. We are vertically integrated. So we manage everything from the initial concept development and evaluation of a new property or project all the way through the design, the fabrication, and all of the logistical management, the quality assurance, and the consumer products. So our business is unique because we control the whole process and we are in a really great position when we have a new property. One of the areas where we are seeing a lot of continued growth is with Monster Jam. We manage the entire franchise, both of Monster Jam and all of the properties beneath it, whether it’s Grave Digger, or El Toro Loco or Maximum Destruction. We create these characters that are the trucks and with that we also produce the TV broadcast that is on NBC Sports. We have the opportunity to bring Monster Jam into more places. We have a new tour partner this year that launched in the beginning of 2019, Spin Master. They launched over 200 products this year. We have several other partners and licensing in retail. We have a top remote control truck, that’s a top toy at Walmart, Amazon and Target this holiday season and just got nominated for Toy of the Year award. We also did something really unique with Monster Jam this year, which was to bring it to fans in a totally different experience. We launched Monster Jam Thunder Alley at Cedar Fair Park and they have 11 regional parks around the country. We created this experience, this festival of Monster Jam, at three of their parks this summer. It’s an opportunity for fans to get close to the trucks. We also created a Monster Jam Garage Experience so that they could pull levers and turn things to get a sense of how the mechanics in the truck work. It culminates with a ride experience and, what was super cool for us, we created a simulation of a Monster Jam free-style ride so that fans could get the sensation of what it’s like to go over hills, and the school bus and do doughnuts in the competition. One other thing — it was very special for everyone involved — this was the first time that we created an ADA-compliant ride truck. We were able to offer a ride to people who often come to amusement parks and find that that they are unable to take part in a lot of the experiences. For us this speaks to what Monster Jam is about which is inclusiveness and accessibility. You can meet our drivers before the show when you come to an event. It’s for everyone.
Q. What are Feld’s challenges going forward?
A. One of the biggest challenges that we’re seeing now is just the way that the media landscape is — between streaming services and the multitude of channels and networks and niche media. There aren’t as many trends that drive all of society. We are seeing a very quick, rapid turnover in terms of entertainment properties and trends. We have always worked with best-in-class franchises, whether it’s our own, or with Disney, Sesame Street, with Universal and Trolls and Jurassic World. We see pops in certain properties as they celebrate anniversaries or new properties or sequels come out. So we have created the ability to be more modular and to be able to put fresh properties into our shows in a way that retains the integrity of the overall performance but provides customers with the properties that they want to see much more quickly, something they just experienced in theaters or on Disney Plus.
Q. How does Feld Entertainment forecast trends, figure out what will be popular with consumers, and select projects to pursue?
A. We do a lot of research. So we use a lot of different sources. We do empirical research testing with potential audiences, with the general population and past consumers. We also do a lot of looking at and observing trends and generally available research that gives us a sense of what is becoming popular and relevant to our customers.
Q. Has it always been your goal to be in the family entertainment business?
A. Well, I grew up in it. So I have always been around Feld Entertainment from the time I was a child. We had the focus primarily on Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey and Disney on Ice to now where we have so many diverse properties, including those properties, but also Monster Jam, and Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Sesame Street Live, Jurassic World Live Tour, Marvel Universe Live, and Trolls Experience, and all these other properties. It’s pretty amazing seeing the evolution of the company.
Q. How do you view your career at this point?
A. Well I think I am still pretty young, so I look at it as just getting started. I have a great opportunity to get to work with my dad. There isn’t another company that’s like us and there isn’t anybody with more experience who I could learn from or get to work with. I’m really fortunate that way, plus he’s my dad.
Q. What is your original hometown?
A. I grew up outside Washington, D. C., in Maryland because our corporate offices were based in northern Virginia. Then in 2013 we combined all of our corporate functions here. We always had operations here and I spent a lot of time here as a kid.
Q. How long have you taken an active role in Feld Entertainment? Did you ever consider another career?
A. As a kid I was very active. I often went in as a clown in the show. I was part of the evaluation committee at Clown College. I spent my summer break at Disney on Ice rehearsals, and my winter breaks at Ringling Brothers rehearsals. When I graduated college, I worked in advertising and PR. Then I went and got an MBA. After I finished that, I looked at the opportunities and there just wasn’t another place where I felt like I could make such an impact. I joined the company professionally in 2010.
Q. What are the benefits of being based in the Ellenton-Palmetto area?
B. It’s been great. We have gotten a lot of support from the state and the county to grow and build the business here. This is a beautiful area. We didn’t get a lot of complaints from people moving here from northern Virginia where there is a ton of traffic and cold weather.
Q. What are the ways Feld Entertainment gives back to the Bradenton area?
A. We are involved with a number of local groups, from the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corporation, to the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, to Realize Bradenton. We are also part of the Manatee Arts and Education Council. We donate in-kind assets that we are no longer using to help train their students on performance. We have also started hosting many events. Last week we hosted the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Flight to the North Pole. It was really touching to see so many families at such a wonderful event. We also have a Toys for Tots Drive, and support the Manatee Food Banks several times a year with drives. We were the top earning corporate partner for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk this year. We really try to support other local businesses, too. We fly in a lot of visitors and people for training, and rehearsals. We have about 700 rental car days a years here, and we have 10,000 room nights a year. When we have a show in rehearsal, and we want to see how kids respond to it, because we have a relationship with the Manatee schools, we bring in a school group. Hopefully it’s a fun field trip for them, and feedback for us. On the national level, we just announced that we are increasing our partnership with St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 5:01 AM.
