The Book

The inside story of the dramatic evolution of the entertainment business, from the days of early cable television, Beta, and VHS to a world where consumers have infinite choice and control of the movies they see.

An inside perspective on the entertainment distribution revolution from an executive who lived it with Netflix, Redbox, and MoviePass, and who continues to consult, speak, and share his unique understanding of how to disrupt the status quo and adapt to what the customer wants and needs.

When Warner Brothers announced they’d be streaming all their new 2021 theatrical releases simultaneously on HBO Max, it sent shock waves through the entertainment industry. But it was also an inevitable decision, and one soon to be copied by the other major studios scrambling to keep up with just how radically the way we watch movies has changed over the past two decades. Mitch Lowe has been at the forefront of that revolution, helping to shape a world where you can watch whatever movie, wherever and whenever you want. Lowe was one of the founding executives at Netflix; served as president of Redbox, the DVD rental kiosks outside Walmart and supermarkets around the country; and as the CEO of MoviePass, the much-lauded monthly movie theater subscription that, even as it failed, changed the way movie theaters operate forever. Along the way, Lowe learned that genuine disruption doesn’t always mean aggressive upheaval and overnight success. More often than not, true disruption is the result of perseverance, imagination, and a constantly evolving quest to understand what it is that customers really want.

In Watch and Learn, Mitch Lowe will tell the inside story of the dramatic evolution of the entertainment business, from the days of early cable television, Beta, and VHS to a world where consumers have infinite choice and control of the movies they see. He’ll also share personal stories from a wild ride that began with his dropping out of high school and living on the edge of conflict in an Israeli kibbutz, smuggling goods and money between Europe and the Middle East, and ultimately embracing Buddhism. Along the way readers will gain essential insights and lessons that extend far beyond the entertainment industry, rooted in Lowe’s keen sense for seeing ahead of the curve and intuiting customer needs, and applicable to anyone who has ambitions to disrupt and succeed: from leading with love and imagination, to reinforcing the intrinsic power of gut instinct with data and testing, to the ultimate competitive advantage of getting closest to the customer, and the value of perseverance and tinkering.

Praise

"Whether you're just starting out in business or already have a long track record of success, you'll find plenty to learn from a man who has seen it all, done most of it, and met everyone. You'll see… there's nobody else like Mitch."
— from the Foreword by Marc Randolph, Co-founder and First CEO of Netflix, and author of That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea

So excited to read this. I first met Mitch Lowe, executive of Netflix, President of Redbox, and CEO of Moviepass in 2014. He was the CEO at a start-up Quarterly and was interviewing me to lead sales. To this day it was the most interesting interview I ever had. I had spent weeks studying up on Mitch's past success and career timeline to try to impress him, but when we met at a coffee shop in NYC all he wanted to talk about was my family's journey of surviving the genocide in Bosnia, how my childhood as a refugee shaped me, and how our unique life experiences, like his own dropping out of high school and road-tripping through the Balkans, prepared us to add a valuable perspective to companies. It felt like a conversation among equals rather than a conversation between a man that has clearly proven his value and business expertise and a young woman that was trying to prove her worth to a senior leader. Soon after that conversation, I got the job offer but the impact Mitch left on me on how to analyze people's fit for a role lasted long after our shared time at Quarterly. I'm excited to read about the journey that made him the kind of man that put a 23-year-old woman hungry for success feel at ease and like she belongs in his well-established professional circle.
— Mujesira Dudic - MBA Candidate ‘22, Marketer, Start-up Advisor, Podcast host

I feel incredibly fortunate to be your son. To have witnessed the evolution from our humble video rental store "Video Droid" to helping pack the first Netflix DVD one summer, to RedBox, and on. I remember you visiting me in Los Angeles after starting my first job post-college. You said that you were meeting a guy at a Starbucks because he wanted to pitch you an idea and possibly add you as an advisor/investor. I asked where you met the guy, and you said he just sent you a message on Linkedin and that you'd never met him. In my head, I thought that this would be a waste of time and why would we meet someone who's not "well known." Long story short, we went to Starbucks and met a humble entrepreneur and veteran. "Watch and Learn" is an appropriate title for the book. My dad never told me what to do or who I should be throughout my life. Meeting this person with my dad taught me that everyone deserves to be heard and be treated with respect and kindness.
— Emiliano Lowe, Automation Engineer at Roboyo | UiPath & OutSystems Certified Developer