By James Caldwell, Torch columnist

Variety has a report today on the future of WWE Films, including upcoming projects headed by Films president Michael Lake. One of the news items in the article is that WWE is working on web-based content "aimed at 6-to-8-year-olds" to compete against the likes of Disney, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon.

The report includes several WWE executives speaking about the overall direction of the company's marketing focus, and how it trickles down to the Films division. "We're looking for things that are family-friendly, fun, and positions our superstars in the appropriate light," said Geof Rochester, WWE's exec VP of marketing. "We don't take ourselves too seriously."

As has been this week's theme across the board in WWE-related media stories, WWE executives are talking about cross-over appeal and how to market the individual superstars to a broader audience. Vince McMahon provided his vision and some insight into how he's looking to market the product through storylines seen on TV.

Regarding the wrestlers on the roster, McMahon says, "First and foremost, they're performers and some of them secondarily are athletes. They're really both, but the emphasis is on entertainment. They've been indoctrinated in how to be performers, especially in front of a live audience, which is a tremendous advantage. The only thing they have to do is bring down their emotions a bit."

When asked about competition from UFC taking a piece of the "sports entertainment" market, Rochester said, "We're not worried about UFC. We're an entertainment product. There's room for everybody. Our brand has been around for over 50 years and we'll be around for another 50."

Related to the Films division, Michael Lake discusses the upcoming movies they're looking to do. As identified by Linda McMahon on the investor conference call earlier in the month, WWE is re-focusing on family-friendly movies rather than strict R-rated action movies.

"There's no reason why, going forward, we couldn't do a 'Game Plan' type of film," says Lake.
"We had to refocus where we wanted to go. There's a strong audience base that is ready for movies that star our guys. A lot of our audience is in the PG-13 area."

Lake added, "We're going to have a much greater Hollywood business. We're looking forward to learning from everyone out there. That will allow us to have better writers, better scripts."

The Variety article cites some statistics on WWE's demographic provided by WWE. From the article: "Its (WWE's) target may be 18-to 24-year-old males, but the core (audience) is actually a broader 12-24 age range, with the rest made up of families. Women make up 30% of its viewership."

- Article link.

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