Simon Philips: New Adventures

Falcon’s Beyond, a global entertainment development company specializing in IP creation and expansion,  recently added industry exec, Simon Philips, as its president. Previously a senior advisor to the company’s board, the position was created specifically for Philips. As president, Philips will direct the future growth and expansion of entertainment-based businesses and the development of the company’s IPs. His role will include developing and implementing comprehensive corporate strategies for future growth across all commercial operations of the company and its owned subsidiaries. Philips is well-versed in taking brands into the licensing stratosphere, including Disney, Pixar, “Star Wars,” Marvel, “Pokémon,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Yu-Gi-Oh” and, more recently, Moonbug Entertainment and “CoCoMelon.” Philips will also focus on strategically building new consumer products and entertainment content infrastructure. 

“In the past 30-plus years in my career, I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved with some of the most-defining moments in entertainment and consumer products,” says Philips. “I was privileged and fortunate enough to be at the tip of change. When I first engaged with Cecil and Scott at Falcon’s Beyond, I understood the vision that they had, which is sort of disruptive. It is taking the development of an IP at a physical experience and then expanding storytelling outside of that. Instead of it coming from a movie or an animated series, they were starting with a physical location. People crave physical experiences, and we noticed that coming out of lockdown.”  

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Philips didn’t take the decision to join Falcon’s Beyond full-time lightly. The opportunity means relocation for Philips and his family from London to Orlando, Fla, a city filled with location-based experiences.  

 “When I got the call from Scott [Demerau, executive chairman of the board, Falcon’s Beyond] and Cecil [D. Magpuri, chief executive officer, Falcon’s Beyond], my first instinct was, yes, my second instinct was … Orlando,” says Philips. “Having been born in London and my wife was born and raised in New York, Orlando was not on our radar of places to move. However, the opportunity was so profound that I had to take it regardless of the geography. I had to put myself in the position to help define a new way for people to engage and consume.” 

As Philips adjusts to life in Orlando, he also takes in all that happens in the company in the first month with Falcon’s Beyond. 

“For me, it is about working with the incredible team here to understand the opportunities that go beyond the physical location,” says Philips. “Falcon’s is the leading company in designing and developing location-based entertainment, but what they do is exceptional. What I’m working on with the team is how we extend that physical experience and expand it into storytelling outside of the parks. How do we look at that? How do we extend our reach with physical locations in some markets into other markets? There is so much opportunity in this in this space.”