Podcasts become a strategic IP play for Hollywood talent

It’s nothing new for Hollywood stars to launch their own podcasts — but Torres is part of a growing wave of film or television actors who have taken on a more direct role in the production and ownership of scripted, narrative podcasts, with an eye toward potential adaptation. In recent months, Audible has taken this approach for co-productions with Hollywood talent. On July 3, for example, “Modern Family” star Ty Burrell published the first episode of “The Good Life,” a fictional narrative podcast that he developed and executive produced based on stories from his own childhood. In May, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos launched the narrative fictional podcast “Summer Breeze,” which the actor/talk-show hosts co-produced via their company Milojo Productions. In October 2024, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone produced the narrative podcast “Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire” through their company On the Day productions.

For these actors, podcasts are more than just a creative outlet. They’re a strategic move toward owning valuable intellectual property — something traditionally out of reach in the film and TV industries.

Torres, known for her starring roles in the television series “Firefly” and “Suits,” co-owns the IP for “A Murder in Montecito” with Sonoro. She cited owning the IP as a key reason for expanding into podcasting, with the eventual goal of adapting the property to film or television.

“There are a lot of chefs in the kitchen when it comes to traditional broadcast and streaming TV, and it’s satisfying to have been able to express my wishes, my hopes and my desires with a company like Sonoro and have them go, ‘Yeah, we can do that’,” Torres said.

Torres’ new podcast does not have dedicated sponsors, nor does she intend to do ad reads. Through Sonoro’s sponsor network, the podcast will serve ads from brands such as Toyota and McDonald’s, with Torres receiving a 50 percent cut of all ad revenue, according to Sonoro CEO Joshua Weinstein.

“We’re partners with Gina on the project, and we will share in all the revenue streams together,” Weinstein said. “That can be audio, or it can mean TV and film derivatives.”

Joanna Jordan, the founder of talent booking agency Central Talent Booking, said that she’s observed an influx of Hollywood talent into podcasts over the past year, with the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes kicking off the process due to union regulations that allowed actors to continue working on audio projects during the strikes. She cited Rob Lowe and Kenya Barris as other examples of actors who had recently launched their own podcasts.

“The podcast space seems to be something that is easier for them, because fiscally, they can be in control of it, and they can develop it the way they want it to be,” Jordan said. “And then, if it’s successful, it opens up many other opportunities down the road.”

As stars like Torres step into the podcasting space, they’re tapping into a growing trend where actors are not just lending their voices but controlling the content. This shift reflects a larger rethinking within the media industry about content ownership and revenue models, as companies recognize podcasts as a new avenue for creator-driven IP and a potentially lucrative extension of traditional Hollywood fare — sometimes even offering the origins of an idea. 

For Sonoro, actor-led podcasts have generated more interest for potential TV/film adaptations than other podcasts, according to a company representative, who declined to share specific figures. The opportunity to own highly adaptable IP has been a key motivator for both Torres and other Hollywood talent to work with podcast companies such as Sonoro, per Weinstein, who said that 50 percent of his company’s limited series were tied to top Hollywood talent.

“Some of that talent are people you’ve heard of, because they’re actors, but some of them can be writers or producers that are behind the mic, behind the camera,” he said.

Sonoro is far from the only production company that frames IP ownership as a benefit for its podcast creators and talent. Other production companies that offer creators ownership of their podcasts and IP as a core part of their business model include YMH Studios, the producer of comedians Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitsky’s podcast “Your Mom’s House,” and FlightStory, the production company behind Steven Bartlett’s “The Diary of a CEO” podcast.

“For celebrities and creators of note going into podcasts, I think one of the greatest incentives is owning your audience,” said FlightStory CEO Georgie Holt. “If you choose to distribute your content on streaming services or any kind of cable, the audience doesn’t technically belong to you; it’s not something you’ve built and scaled, it belongs to the network. So, you don’t have the leverage of ownership that you can if you start to start to build your own IP.”