The Low-and-Slow Path to Producing Sonic the Hedgehog | Dmitri M. Johnson of dj2 Entertainment | DH038

You wouldn't normally associate the super-speedy Sonic the Hedgehog with anything "low or slow," but that's exactly how the legendary video game character's 2020 movie blockbuster came to be.

There's so much that happens behind-the-scenes of any business before the consumer ever experiences the final product.

In the case of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, while the animated hero might zip along at a quick rate, the movie he stars in took dj2 Entertainment and others involved in its production more than a decade to make.

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“Sonic took almost a decade,” notes Dmitri M. Johnson of dj2 Entertainment and special guest on the Digital Hospitality podcast. “We were told ‘no’ a couple times and went through a couple CEOs. We went from one studio to another studio and went through a couple of writing themes."

"That was a process and a lesson: to keep pushing for almost a decade of your life.”

Sonic the Hedgehog became a huge hit because the people who were behind its creation made sure it was the best movie they could make for long-time fans and new appreciators of the spiky haired blue character.

Just like Cali BBQ's barbecue, the path to producing Sonic the Hedgehog was low and slow for Dmitri M. Johnson and his dj2 Entertainment production company.

Founding dj2 Entertainment:

In 2011, Dmitri founded dj2 Entertainment. Since its beginnings, Dmitri and his team have worked tirelessly to acquire IP and rights from video games and other properties to story tell and create feature films and shows.

His mother’s ultimatum that he double majored in business alongside film has since paid off in his professional life.

“A skill set that I assumed I would never have to use came in quite handy,” says Dmitri on his business degree. “There's a lot of business legal fires that have to be put out long before you get to have fun on the creative part.”

As always, mother knows best.

At dj2 Entertainment, Dmitri and his team have had to do their creative cooking low and slow just like Cali Comfort BBQ. Case in point, his acquisition of the Sonic the Hedgehog rights for this year’s blockbuster hit was years in the making.

As Dmitri alluded to, lots of legal work had to be done before the creative fun started. Once the IP was acquired, the process pulled out the inner child of all involved.

“At the script level, it was important to us to be as authentic as we could be,” says Dmitri M. Johnson about co-producing Sonic. “You want this to be something that kids can enjoy with their family.”

Mission accomplished.

Sonic Movie a Huge Hit:

Responding to criticism of the online trailer and undertaking a redesign, Sonic the Hedgehog is a modern case study on flexibility and flourishing.

Humbly listening to the core audience and adjusting accordingly, the Sonic feature film was retooled.

The result? It absolutely smashed at the box office and broke records by grossing an estimated $85,000,000.

“We wanted to make sure that we were honoring people like us who grew up loving it,” Dmitri told Shawn Walchef on Digital Hospitality.

“We always want to honor the existing audience as much as we can, and we also want to make it accessible to someone who may not come in with that built-in knowledge. I always try to wear the hat of the fan. If I were coming to this, how would I feel? Would I be super excited?”

Excitement showed in the early critique, and it more so showed in the final product. For Dmitri and his team at dj2 Entertainment, Sonic may have been 10 years in the making but it’s just the start.

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“The gaming business on a global scale is massive,” Dmitri notes. “It’s growing faster than film and TV. It’s going to be the biggest industry in the next couple of years.”

As a producer, Dmitri is working on the rights to numerous gaming properties that will be turned into movies, TV shows and more.

“I can be working on multiple projects at a time,