The entertainment industry has undergone profound transformation over the past decade. While technology and new formats have unlocked creative possibilities and expanded global access, much of the growth in time spent and revenue has shifted away from traditional media to a new generation of digital platforms. Profitability has grown increasingly elusive as barriers to entry continue to fall and competition intensifies across every segment, from streaming and film to gaming, social video, and creator-driven ecosystems. Success today requires not just scale, but adaptability, foresight, and a deep understanding of where audiences and value are migrating next.
Few executives embody that adaptability and foresight like Jose Tolosa, a seasoned CEO and transformation leader known for scaling creative, globally minded businesses across the entertainment landscape. At Viacom/ViacomCBS and later as CEO of Meow Wolf, Tolosa guided organizations through major shifts in platforms, consumer behavior, and technology. He drove innovation in IP development, transmedia storytelling, M&A, and enterprise strategy. After stepping back from his role as CEO of Meow Wolf earlier in 2025, he is now reflecting on the industry’s next wave of evolution and where he can make the greatest impact in shaping its future.
“The definition of ‘entertainment’ is already changing,” Tolosa explains. “What used to be distinct verticals - film, music, gaming, television - are now competing for the same finite resource: audience time. While it is impossible to predict where balance will ultimately settle, one thing is clear: the winners will be those who empower creators, in all forms including through AI, to connect with audiences in the most meaningful and innovative ways.”
Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
As modern conceptions of entertainment media continue to evolve alongside the technology used to create it, the industry faces both unprecedented challenges and extraordinary possibilities. Jose Tolosa sees this period not simply as disruption, but as reinvention, where shifts in consumer behavior, distribution, and creative tools open new paths for storytelling, community building, and monetization. For leaders and creators alike, success will depend on understanding where attention is moving, how value is being redefined, and how to design business models that thrive amid constant change.
“The entertainment industry is navigating three major disruptions at once,” Tolosa says. “First, the democratization of content creation and distribution, which has lowered barriers and unleashed an explosion of voices and formats. Second, the accelerating impact of AI across creative and operational fields. And third, the convergence of all entertainment formats, where storytelling, gaming, music, and social media are increasingly part of the same ecosystem. Each of these forces is reshaping business models, consumption habits, and investment patterns. Together, they’re redefining what it means to be in the entertainment business.”
The Three Disruptions
These forces have created a constantly changing landscape that demands new ways of thinking about creativity, talent, and value creation. As Tolosa sees it, three fundamental disruptions are reshaping the business:
1. Democratization of creation and distribution.
The tools of production and global platforms are now in everyone’s hands. Millions of creators can now reach audiences directly, bypassing traditional gatekeepers. This abundance of content expands cultural diversity but also fragments attention, pushing companies to rethink how they discover, elevate, and partner with creative talent.
2. The rise of AI.
Artificial intelligence is transforming the entire value chain, from ideation and production to marketing and personalization. “AI will influence production, personalization, and even storytelling itself,” Tolosa notes. The challenge is not whether to use these tools, but how to integrate them ethically and creatively to enhance, not replace, human imagination.
3. The convergence of formats.
The lines separating film, television, gaming, and social media are dissolving. Storytelling now extends across screens, platforms, and participation modes, blurring what it means to “watch,” “play,” or “engage.” Companies that understand how to design experiences across this continuum will define the next generation of entertainment.
Tolosa views this period of flux as fertile ground for reinvention. “The next decade will likely bring a more unified industry, where creators and consumers coexist in the same ecosystem,” he says. His advice to peers, and to those entering the industry, is simple: be endlessly curious. Seek intersections between psychology, storytelling, data, design and technology. Get close to the creative process, because that’s where innovation happens. Titles change, markets shift, but curiosity and proximity to creation will always be the ultimate advantage.
Thinking Out of The Box
Periods of disruption are when real innovation happens, and Jose Tolosa has built his career around recognizing those moments of inflection. Whether at Viacom, where he led large-scale digital and organizational transformations, or at Meow Wolf, where he helped redefine immersive storytelling, his approach has always centered on reframing business challenges through the lens of the audience.
“In reality, people don’t buy features, they’re trying to solve a need or fulfill a purpose in their lives,” Tolosa explains. “When you shift your mindset to understand what job the customer is ‘hiring’ your product or service to do, you uncover entirely new opportunities for innovation. That perspective has consistently helped me reimagine challenges and find creative solutions throughout my career.”
This mindset, anchored in curiosity and empathy, creates space for experimentation. The right questions become what if? and why not?, rather than how much will it cost? Tolosa believes that true transformation starts when teams feel empowered to imagine what doesn’t yet exist, trusting that discipline and structure can follow once a bold idea takes shape.
Today, he’s applying that same philosophy across a number of new ventures exploring the next frontier of convergent media. Among them, two stand out, with one seeking to push the intersection of media convergence in novel ways with the application of AI technology, and the other aimed at tackling the persistent challenge that established talent has struggled with for years: the lack of data ownership and direct audience relationships.
In parallel, Tolosa is investing in and advising on a range of projects across the U.S. and Latin America. “All of these initiatives sit at the crossroads of media, technology, and culture,” he says. “They share one goal: to help shape a more sustainable and human-centered entertainment ecosystem, where creativity and innovation advance together.”
Looking ahead, Tolosa remains focused on what has defined his career from the start: guiding transformation at moments of change. For him, the future of entertainment is about building the platforms, partnerships, and ideas that make the next evolution possible.
