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Home > NewsRelease > David Maisel of Marvel Studios Fame — Never-Before-Heard Tales of Hollywood Dealmaking, The Art of Aiming Big, Lessons from Power Broker Michael Ovitz, Combining Business Smarts with Street Smarts, The Making (and Importance) of Iron Man, Selling to
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David Maisel of Marvel Studios Fame — Never-Before-Heard Tales of Hollywood Dealmaking, The Art of Aiming Big, Lessons from Power Broker Michael Ovitz, Combining Business Smarts with Street Smarts, The Making (and Importance) of Iron Man, Selling to
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Tim Ferriss - Productivity, Digital Lifestyles and Entrepreneurship Tim Ferriss - Productivity, Digital Lifestyles and Entrepreneurship
For Immediate Release:
Dateline: San Francisco, CA
Wednesday, June 7, 2023

 
Illustration via 99designs

“It’s having the vision and then going there and making it happen with whatever dials I need to turn— creatively or business or political or financing—to get it done.”

— David Maisel

David Maisel (@maiseldavid) is the Founder of Mythos Studios and the former Founding Chairman of Marvel Studios. In 2003, David pitched Marvel on his idea of Marvel financing and producing its own movies in a connected cinematic universe. He went on to executive produce Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Angry Birds Movie. In 2009, David arranged the sale of Marvel to Disney for $4 billion.

David is currently the Founder of Mythos Studios, an IP entertainment studio. The Ekos Genesis Art Collection, all 1/1 original hand-crafted digital art, is the first offering in the forthcoming Ekos Universe.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.

Brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 900M+ users, LMNT electrolyte supplement, and Vuori comfortable and durable performance apparel.

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#676: David Maisel of Marvel Studios Fame — Never-Before-Heard Tales of Hollywood Dealmaking, The Art of Aiming Big, Lessons from Power Broker Michael Ovitz, Combining Business Smarts with Street Smarts, The Making (and Importance) of Iron Man, Selling to Disney for $4 Billion, and Much More

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What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

  • Connect with David Maisel:

Twitter | Instagram

  • Connect with Mythos Studios/Ekos:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

SHOW NOTES

  • [09:25] Michael Ovitz.
  • [17:00] How David became Michael’s right-hand man.
  • [25:12] Creative interests.
  • [26:14] When David fell in love with comic books.
  • [28:34] Early Hollywood lessons — learned and taught.
  • [35:43] Resources for people aspiring to work in the entertainment industry.
  • [39:20] How Marvel enters the picture.
  • [48:11] A detour to Broadway theater.
  • [54:51] Making the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
  • [1:28:26] Why start the MCU with Iron Man?
  • [1:31:56] Decisions between development and deployment.
  • [1:36:18] Biggest challenges.
  • [1:39:45] Animated feature films.
  • [1:41:14] Not just another pretty suit.
  • [1:47:20] Five stars for Favreau.
  • [1:48:48] Why hasn’t David done more PR until recently?
  • [1:53:24] The surprise success of Iron Man.
  • [1:59:45] Wheeling and dealing with Bob Iger.
  • [2:08:50] Ron Burkle.
  • [2:10:35] Finalizing the big sale to Disney.
  • [2:14:36] Recommended reading.
  • [2:15:17] Building new mythologies and legacies in a post-MCU landscape.
  • [2:21:12] Parting thoughts.

MORE DAVID MAISEL QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“Part of managing creativity is knowing when to exert yours and when to get the best out from others”
— David Maisel

“It’s having the vision and then going there and making it happen with whatever dials I need to turn—creatively or business or political or financing—to get it done.”
— David Maisel

PEOPLE MENTIONED

The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 900 million downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
News Media Interview Contact
Name: Tim Ferriss
Title: Author, Princeton University Guest Lecturer
Group: Random House/Crown Publishing
Dateline: San Francisco, CA United States
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