In this episode of the Think Small Podcast, Paul Bales, Chief Operating Officer of The Asylum, pulls back the curtain on one of Hollywood's most unconventional and quietly successful film production and distribution companies. Founded nearly 30 years ago and responsible for close to 500 films and television series, The Asylum is best known for creating Sharknado, the 2013 Sci-Fi Channel phenomenon that spawned five sequels and turned a $300,000 movie about sharks in a tornado into a cultural moment nobody saw coming, including the people who made it. Paul shares the full arc of a company that has pivoted its business model at least five times, from DVD rental to video on demand to linear television to subscription streaming to the ad-supported free streaming platforms that now drive the business, and how each pivot was driven not by economic cris ...