Published 20th Aug 2024, 08:54 BST
In the year ended March 31 2024, ZOO’s revenue decreased by 55 per cent to $40.6m, which it said was due to the industry-wide disruption of 2023 and the “hiatus in media production and orders” that followed.
It added: “FY24 (full year 2024) was an extremely challenging year for the film and television entertainment industry and all those businesses that operate in this wider ecosystem.”
In a statement, ZOO said the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes were resolved in September and November 2023 respectively with “gradual subsequent resumption in new productions”.
The total Hollywood content cash spending declined by 8 per cent in 2023 due to the strikes, although this figure is forecast to recover by 2025 to levels recorded in the full year pre-strike period of 2022.
Stuart Green, CEO of ZOO, commented: “It has been a year of unprecedented challenges for the entire film and television entertainment industry as the Hollywood writers and actors strikes brought new productions to a standstill.
“This has required difficult decisions to conserve cash while positioning the business for the market recovery that is in progress.” He added: “Customer demand has improved recently as delayed 2023 productions have completed, with ZOO’s technology platforms, global reach and trusted reputation positioning us well as the recovery continues.
“We view the market disruption as a symptom of a sector undergoing structural change away from linear and towards streaming on demand.
“With this comes a preference for vendors that can deliver multi-platform, multilingual content across international markets.
“As one of the few end-to-end vendors with the scale and skillset required by major media companies, we believe that ZOO’s model is strategically aligned with the future direction of film and TV streaming.
“These structural dynamics of the industry continue to move in ZOO’s favour such that the board remains optimistic for the long-term prosperity of the group.”
Over the year, ZOO was selected by a major film and TV distributor as a primary vendor for dubbing and subtitling.
