About
Strategic finance for creators, studios, and AI companies, and the finance function itself when you need one.
Norman Praught
Principal, Massasoit Advisory · San Francisco Bay Area
I have built the finance function from scratch with small and large companies. At Amazon I stood up four production companies for Audible, with their books, controls, and governance, and I ran FP&A for Twitch's global content business. At Lucasfilm I built the finance team for Lucasfilm Animation. For founders I have done it as their first finance hire: the model, the planning rhythm, the close, the board deck, then the team. Before that I spent a decade in strategic planning and deal analysis at Disney, Sony Pictures, and DreamWorks, pricing films and planning slates.
I've also sat on the founder's side of the table. I co-founded Luminous Blue Limited, an independent, AI-native studio building owned IP across games, shows, and physical products. Before that I started Netsuke Entertainment, a game company built around a character designed to live across multiple games. It failed. That experience taught me more about greenlight decisions than any memo I wrote inside a studio.
Selected Work
- Amazon / AudibleOriginal audio content business plan
- Sony PicturesGreenlight analysis for THE RING, MINORITY REPORT, and CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON
- Sony Corp.400-location retail concept strategy
- LucasfilmDistribution analysis for STAR WARS EPISODE III
- Lucasfilm AnimationBuilt the finance team and planning function
- DreamWorksFP&A through the growth years
- Disney InteractiveBusiness plan for educational division
- Luminous BlueCo-founder. Owned-IP studio: games, shows, and physical products
- Netsuke EntertainmentFounder. Game company built around a cross-game character