By Gavin Boyle
Nate Bargatze explained why he is building his comedy banner to be the next Disney —t he only difference is he would keep it focused on the audience, rather than losing sight of what makes it great.
“Now Disney is run by a guy that’s just a businessman,” Bargatze told Esquire, contrasting the company today with how it was run when Walt Disney was around. That’s the business he is hoping to capture through Nateland as he creates content that everyone can enjoy, just like Disney used to.
“Entertainment seems to me in this mode of heartland, a word that’s been overused a bazillion times,” said Felix Verdigets, the CEO of Nateland. “Everyone is capitalizing on it right now, and some of it is going to feel inorganic. What’s going to separate our content is that this is how we’ve always done it. It’s very authentic, it’s very organic.”
“I don’t think anybody’s even trying to make stuff for everybody,” Verdigets added.
Bargatze has certainly accomplished that goal, as he has created comedy that any age can enjoy by straying away from foul language and crude content, which had ruled the comedy scene for decades. Meanwhile, Bargatze has uplifted others like him, giving up-and-coming clean comedians a platform through his Nateland banner.
Now that Bargatze has conquered the stand-up scene, he is looking to expand even further through shows, movies and even an amusement park. All three are in the work as he truly aspires to become an entertainment powerhouse.
“I’ll be honest with you, I bet we’re closer than people think,” Bargatze said about the theme park. “But it’s still a little bit of a ways off.”
A project much closer to completion is his first feature movie, THE BREADWINNER, which has an exciting list of talent and is slated to release in March 2026.
“I’ve always just done stand-up. I want to be able to create movies that hopefully the whole family can come out to,” Bargatze told Parade last December. “I was never great at auditioning for other people’s movies. So I kind of figured I would have to just make my own.”
Now that he’s mainstream, though, people constantly ask the comedian to be part of their projects. While he remains mainly focused on his own work, he will sometimes take on other roles as well. In doing so, he brings his iconic style with him and helps transform regularly obscene content into family-friendly fun. Hopefully he is able to do the same when he hosts the Emmys later this year, as he continues to garner an audience that he respects.
Read Next: Can This Clean Comedian Save the Emmys?
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