If You’re Building a Media Company in 2026, Read This: RockWater and the New Rules of Value

At the end of 2022, we decided to explore selling our company, 3Pas Studios.

At the time, the decision was not driven by panic or pessimism. We were still technically in Peak TV. There was still some optimism that mid and lower budget films could recover real theatrical value post-pandemic. And my partner, with close to 90 million followers, remained one of the most powerful names in U.S. Hispanic and Latin American entertainment. The traditional system was still working, and in many ways working very well.

The market reinforced that confidence. Celebrity-driven production companies were being rewarded with valuations that had little to do with near-term cash flow and everything to do with perceived leverage and future optionality.

Hello Sunshine. SpringHill. (Remember that media moment? Feels like a lifetime ago).

We brought in a bank and went to market. After more than a year of meetings, we had three bidders. We went exclusive with one of them, an international media company, and enter…