Leave it up to the NYT’s to create somewhat of a sensationalistic forum on the agency aftermath of the William Morris + Endeavor merger takeover. Under the headline “Mogul Ascends With Old Hollywood Clout,” the Times serves up little more than innuendo around golf games with outside investors, anonymous Hollywood insiders fearing both Ari and Rahm Emanuels, and finally, musical chairs or board seats with Ari on the Live Nation board. From Silicon Alley Insider - our preferred business read although they ditched their Entertainment blog “The Biz” somewhat quietly - made mention of the Ari Gold Ascendency of Emanuel, but both articles seem to only paint Ari as a hard ball player on the rise with a brother in the Obama Chief of Staff hot seat. One wonders how that fraternal conflict of interest can be of any use to either brother outside of easy sleepovers at the White House.  

Truth be told I’ve known about this initiative by Coinstar for a little while now, mainly through following one of the companies (Rixty) listed in the release, so I was thrilled to see this news hit the wires yesterday because it’s a great example of a traditional brick-and-mortar based business finding creative ways to get in the new media world game. The basic premise is that Coinstar is allowing consumers (read: pre-teen and teen gamers with no access to credit cards as a way of paying for their digital entertainment addiction - I mean, hobby) to turn in their coins in exchange for pre-paid spending cards for onling games, virtual worlds and social networks.

It’s always exciting to see industry friends/colleagues reach the impressive milestone of product launch, and it’s even more exciting when the product is something that actually has some legitimate potential. Such is the case with Tunezee, a music search and discovery engine co-founded by Ogi Todic, who I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for a few years now. I recently had the chance to touch base with Ogi and get some more details about Tunezee’s current business as well as their future plans.

Q: In a nutshell, what is Tunezee?

Have you ever remembered a few lines from a song, but have no idea who sings it or what the name of the song is? Tunezee allows you to find that song/artist through search using lyrics or other descriptors, confirm the results via our SmartKlip service, browse full lyrics of the song, view videos and purchase music and related merchandise. The SmartKlip service is a short music clip which corresponds to the search phrase. It allows you to hear exactly the part of the song that you’ve remembered. This will help you find the song you have in mind much faster.  

In the spirit of covering topics that my readers are interested in, today’s blog topic comes from a good friend and former colleague of mine (Ed) who wrote to me recently asking if I could write a “how-to” article of sorts about how to navigate the angel investor waters. In these challenging economic times, coupled with the complex landscape found in the venture and private equity worlds, angel investors occupy a very worthwhile niche within the start-up ecosystem. They offer a combination of funding (at lower amounts) and hands-on assistance that the majority of bigger money shops can’t or don’t offer - although as we’ve read recently a handful of them are starting to set up “seed bet” funds.  

From the latest E3 announcements - Project Natal - where “You are the Controller.”  In an effort to blow past the Wii accelerometer, Microsoft’s anti-controller approach literally changes the game on console gaming. Many believed that Microsoft and Sony Playstation would have to merely copy the Wii remote to stay competitive, but with this latest “Minority Report” like gameplay (”sans remote”), one wonders if there is a competitive next step or manuever possible. With Spielberg as part of the E3 Announcement - the same Spielberg who partnered to create “Boom Blox” with Nintendo - the only issue now is workability - will the device match the demo?

Per SAI comments: Natal motion control has a special non-light sensitive sensor, an RGB sensor, a depth sensor, a multi-array microphone and a special processor, and will be packaged with future Xbox consoles. Definitely a very competitive game-changer to the Nintendo Wii.

Per Keith Barclay in Screenhub, an overview of the X|Media|Lab event in Auckland. Excerpts below:

The keynote address day at X|Media|Lab contained more than enough information and ideas to make one’s head explode several times over. Commercialising Ideas was an outstanding success, judging by the responses at the end of the day. Even the attendees not participating in the Lab, at which sixteen teams worked with mentors to develop their projects, left the venue buzzing and shell-shocked by the vast array of experience and wisdom on offer.  

Reflecting on how mobile media has come to encompass “social media” - especially with Twitter leading the charge - below, please find a few helpful tools and tricks to support your Twitter addiction:

Twitter Tools:

• Seesmic Desktop (Adobe Air client for fast multi-account tweet management and search)
• TweetDeck (alternative to the above)
• Tweetie (the best iPhone client)
• MrTweet (search submission tool to help get followers)
• @geofollow (keyword submission tool)
• Twitpic (for better photo tweeting)
• Twitterholic (follower rankings and stats)
• Last, click here for an exhaustive list of 3rd party twitter apps…  
  

From today’s keynote on “Looking for Ideas: a Media+Entertainment Perspective” at X|Media|Lab - good turn-out in Auckland, with start-up interest in content and social media.

My keynote was preceded by 42 Entertainment CEO Susan Bonds with her imaginative distribution narrative-styled ARGs (alternate reality games for The Dark Knight’s “Why So Serious” and Halo 2’s “I Love Bees”), followed by a cross-platform magazine company HB Media Ltd director Vincent Heeringa, who reminded me of a Kiwi equivalent of early Richard Branson and Felix Dennis.

The ARGs were very convincing, and talking to Susan afterwards, there’s more intellectual property here than the studios take advantage of, in terms of content communities created and unique registrants. Early beginnings of a new production model for marketing (and monetizing that marketing).

On the HB Media front, leading with a well designed mag called “Idealog” - very tough model in print media; everyone wants to read magazines and newsprint - especially in bathrooms - but the model needs to be social news crowdsourced…to survive. More updates to follow…

# Apologies on Slideshare crunching the text.

I’ve just arrived in Auckland, New Zealand for the X|Media|Lab Keynote Conference on “Commercialising Ideas“. Tomorrow, I speak on “Looking for Ideas.” Hmm, ponder, ponder - when evaluating ideas for entertainment and commerce, there are a number of places to look and traps to avoid. I’ll upload the preso tomorrow after the event…

The Big Idea asked me some warm up questions, excerpted below:

1. How do you see the economic model working for independent films in the near future? Do you think a general cinema release will become limited to Tent pole movies while indies focus more on digital distribution… or are film festivals going to help keep a cinema release as a viable option?

Independent films will continue to suffer over the next few years. With so many of the major studios shuttering or closing their indie labels, only smaller micro-distributors will be willing to take small chances on these films. Analog or traditional production costs will drop down to near-digital, i.e., cheap, budgets. Indies will still perform well in festivals, which will suffer hard to keep them alive; but it will be the breakout indies like “Little Miss Sunshine” and similar that will make enough money to make it to the awards. In effect, they will function as actors/directors/above-the-line award vehicles, and hence pick up a little box office loot, and a trophy or two.

On the other hand, smarter, indie distributors will learn how to roll-up niches of indie audiences - i.e., grow a living database of engaged users who will show up to these films in theaters. They’ll work the smaller exhibitors, cable and on-demand channels to channel very specific returns, then package them to create niche brands. So instead of a next-generation Miramax running all kinds of product, these new distributors will concentrate on very tight niches, then leverage those to enter other niches of content and consumers.

Big releases and multiplexes will be tentpole-centric, with the indies who cross-over peeking around the curtains from the smaller screens. Digital distribution will level the dvd window, but not help indies in the theatrical department, which is still the economic driver for the film’s entire run.

2. Do you see this model of multiple-platform marketing being successfully applied to other entertainment or educational media such as publishing or television?

All entertainment (and possible distance learning/education) will have to go multiplatform and social media to survive. You’ll start to even see multi-level marketing (MLM or Amway-style) begin to drive entertainment consumption, too. Again, audience-building, and moving them across all the platforms.

3. What are the main factors in determining the best timeline for release of a film across multiple delivery platforms?

Theatrical is always based on competitive landscape, and/or if there’s a seasonal or school-event tie-in. Other windows’ timelines are less important. Day and date releases typically cannibalize whichever stronger window they’re in, but we’ll see more and more that windows are shrinking: a failed movie will move quicker to straight on-demand as opposed to a quiet window into packaged dvd. We’ll also see more marrying of dvd-mailer and on-demand, expanding content reach for at-home viewers.

Read more at The Big Idea…

Last night the good people over at Dealmaker Media L.A. hosted the latest installment of their strategy & mixer series at the William Morris offices in Beverly Hills. The event centered around a panel discussion moderated by Rich Wolpert, Managing Director of The Mailroom Fund discussing the similarities and differences between the start up and investment communities in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. The panel was a good mix of investors (both angel and institutional) and entrepreneurs — Mike Jones, newly minted COO of MySpace and former CEO of Tsavo Media, Joey Carson, President & CEO of Hollywood Interactive Group, Jason Oberfest, SVP, Business Development at MySpace and Mark Suster, Partner at GRP Partners.

Here are some of my take-aways from the event:

• In general, L.A.-based start ups are more monetization oriented while Silicon Valley start ups tend to place more emphasis on product development and technology.
• Due in part to geographical differences between the two areas, the L.A. start up and venture scene is more disparate and, save for Santa Monica, has no real nerve center (a la Sand Hill Road up north). And as an extension of this reality, there is also a common perception that L.A. does not have the depth and breadth of technology talent that Silicon Valley has, although there are members of the L.A. community (including the L.A. CTO Forum) that are actively working to change this perception.
• Those working in the start up community in Silicon Valley are much more pre-occupied with the equity portion of compensation packages than those in L.A., with one theory being that so many of them know and/or have heard of many others in their position making millions of dollars off of their options - which in turn leads to something along the lines of a sense of entitlement.  
  

Via Gerd Leonard’s brilliant Media Futurist: Arianna Huffington talking to the House Committee about the Future of Journalism. Basic points: there’s no “way back” machine, tax subsidies and bailouts are like “putting [one's] finger in a dike to stop the flow of innovation.” I.e., not going to happen. Her two thoughts on saving journalistic media: online advertising and investigative journalism increasingly done (aka “rescued”) by non-profit foundations.

So begins the inaugural summer blockbuster release season: Wolverine, the X-Men origins backstory or prequel on the immortal, was superhuman enough to pull away from the pack with $87 million or $21,225 per theater average. From Hugh Jackman’s Oscar hosting to the leaking of a screener, the latest Marvel franchise had plenty of build-up, and many are already saying the leak either didn’t hurt or cost the film $20 million.  

Associated Press recently listed its highest-paid CEOs for 2008 list with only one media appointment: Bob Iger of The Walt Disney Company in 3rd place with $51.1 million.  With the majority of the top 10 being finance and industrial-based, it’s interesting to see that media/content still has a hold on the environment. With ESPN’s continued growth, Pixar integration, Disney’s recent partnership with NBC/Fox’s Hulu, teen-star “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical” talent factories, the start of DisneyNature and relatively strong film and tv revenues, not to mention the ongoing international expansion, Disney is running a very diversified content business in a market favoring global tech-based scalability. Alongside a News Corp/20th Century Fox model that slants toward print, news and politics, Disney has maintained a clean global brand while expanding in tech. And, although it’s a big compensation foothold in Iger’s case, it speaks to the power of entertainment and its role in innovating the US. If one of our bigger exports is entertainment, shouldn’t those who drive branded expansion be rewarded? After the jump, a breakdown of the other CEO list-makers and the New Medici “3Ways” to continue innovation…  

The business of Gold Farming - where paid gamers amass gold to sell to less-experienced users to game the MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games like WOW (”World of Warcraft”) is a well known practice. In a parallel world of connections, perhaps equivalent to “gold” in terms of business leads or viral marketing armies to launch brands, one could imagine a new kind of innovative farming for profit around social media relationships. Think “Twitter sweatshops,” “Facebook factories,” “Diggsourcing” and “LinkedIn (Assembly) Lines.” After the jump, a metaphorical goldmine…

The mega-agency merger is made: William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment is the combined talent agency merging film, television, music and book publishing between WMA and Endeavor. Architected on one side by Ari Emanuel, who left ICM (under Wiatt) nearly 15 years ago, and his senior partners - Patrick Whitesell (former CAA), Adam Venit and Rick Rosen (the fourth, or fifth, principal was Tom Strickler, who resigned presumably because he was anti-merger); and, by Jim Wiatt and Dave Wirtschafter from the WMA, now Chairman and Co-CEO, respectively, with Emanuel and Whitesell. A breakdown of the deal math, what it means, and where they go next in relation to CAA.

The Agency/Deal Math:

With Endeavor’s 80-100 agents (about 280 total employees, per LAT) and WMA’s 150 agents (800 employees), Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily’s (DHD) blog, which expertly followed the merger, predicts 100 or so layoffs over the next few weeks.

Add to that the requisite agencies’ assimilation issues - agents/agency poaching and conflicts, agents-turned-managers, change of client marketshare - comes the understanding that while this merger helps both companies survive the current economic storm and a changing entertainment environment (lower DVD revs and TV budgets, less upfront/more backend for theatrical).

With combined revenues of $300-325M - research points to a 2:1 split between WMA:Endeavor - the goal will be to challenge the dominant CAA, while maintaining course with current clients.

And with the new classification as WME “Entertainment” (as opposed to “Agency” or better “Media”), one wonders if they will stretch the model as has been seen with the Endeavor-MRC relationship.

The toss-up will be how the two sides intermingle and work together to produce coherent results for their shared clients. Early on, Emanuel said, “We need a bigger boat,” given the merger exploration process which took an emotional toll on both sides, not to mention their clients.

Per Nikki Finke’s DHD:

Both sides now realize that any newly merged company has to consist of only 150 core movie/tv agents at most. The mantra of these negotiations is “make it smaller”. That means, of WMA’s 150 agents, and Endeavor’s 100 agents, about 100 from the combined total will have to be let go. And since CAA’s Richard Lovett has pursued a policy of 100% marketshare when it comes to clients, the new WMA-Endeavor is making as its goal to rep only the elite Top 2%.

After the jump, more on the new agency makeup, the financial value of the enterprise, and the new-and-improved mega-talent agency skirmishes and wars to follow…

Fox Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller is a busy recruiter these days. After bringing in Owen Van Natta as new CEO, Michael Jones (formerly of Userplane which sold to Miller’s AOL, and recently Tsavo Agency) and Jason Hirschhorn (formerly President of Sling Media and CDO of MTV Networks) as COO and CPO (Chief Product Officer), respectively. Think “AOL + MTV [x Facebook] = New MySpace.” After the jump,  insight into where this troika takes MySpace to innovate the social network/portal.  

Yes, there are still jobs to be had - a few recent finds:

• Creative Director at Momentum agency
• Director of Strategy for FLO TV at Qualcomm
• Head of Marketing & Industry Development at Screen Australia
• Senior Manager, Market Development for Mobile TV & Games at Motorola
• Director of Business and Client Development at Random House
• Creative Department Web Developer at TOM’s Shoes
• CEO at MySpace (well, that’s already filled…)

For more information and specifics, visit New Medici Jobs. In addition, we’ll be highlighting a top headhunter early next week - add your choices in the comments section below.

MySpace’s “loss of face” to Facebook, a rough and tumble economy and a pivotal change of company seats, i.e., Peter Chernin, at News Corp (and MySpace’s own COO and senior technical team’s exodus) has contributed to a major executive facelift of MySpace. While their track record of change with Jeff Berman as President of Sales and Marketing and pitch towards being framed as a “social portal” has helped, the inability to keep up with Facebook’s growth rate and product innovation has forced change at MySpace. With the forthcoming announcement (today) by new CDO Jon Miller of former Facebook COO, Owen Van Natta, to the CEO spot, Fox and Murdoch are betting on social competitiveness to regain position. After the jump, we’ll look at Van Natta, and outside choice, Jason Calacanis’ recommendations.  

MRC, Media Rights Capital, is quickly becoming the new model for production companies and talent agencies - a hybrid of financing, rights ownership and innovative packaging. Its rights’ model shares ownership equity with film talent, moving beyond the usual pay-or-play contracts. After the jump, we’ll dive into their recent formation, industry perspective and what their success means to the market. Upcoming MRC titles include:

• Brüno- $42.5 million from Universal, rights revert to MRC; received new R-rating instead of NC-17 yesterday
• The B Team - Will Ferrell+Mark Wahlberg action/comedy, rights to Sony
• The Adjustment Bureau - Matt Damon action/romance/sci-fi, $62M budget, rights to Universal for 20 years, then revert to MRC; 20% first-dollar-gross backend. The studio puts up P&A and gets worldwide distribution rights.  
  

Call it “Micro Diaries of a Mad Twitterer,” but early 30s Gary Vaynerchuk has amassed a meta-canon of video blogs (aka vlogs) and Twitter-Facebook updates. Specifically, these are not normal ‘human’ numbers of vlogs or Twitter updates - GaryVee (GV), as he goes by, has 208,000+ Twitter followers and upwards of 20,000 once-counted Facebook fans. He’s creating a legacy of video bloggers - Samantha Ettus at Obsessedtv.com - to build on his “personal branding” meets “social business” platform. And the recent non-digital coup: a book deal with HarperStudio - 10 social branding books for a 7-figure deal. A breakdown of the deal, the frequency dilemma for GV, and his growing personal brand network - after the jump…  

Another week, another innovator breakout list. BusinessWeek, via partnership with Boston Consulting Group, put together a list of 25 companies that could be the bigco innovators in 10 years, i.e., the Apples, Googles and Toyotas of tomorrow. Many of these companies already command good to great revenues for 2008 (included), with some having been around the block and back. In the midst: Alibaba.com, Future plc, Grameen Bank, Hulu, Mint.com and a few you wouldn’t expect. List after the jump…  

For those innovative startups feeling the credit crunch - and which of the few/many aren’t(?) - an intriguing 33-slide read from North Venture partners, aka former Virgin Interactive team members. Given the lack of investor appetite these days, many newco’s are going the bootstrappy, ‘develop revenues first’ route. This “Breaking” deck talks about getting past the filters and gatekeepers of capital. And speaking of Virgins, Sir Richard Branson is running an interesting PitchTV or pitchfest online, via his Business Stripped Bare blog, and airing on Virgin Atlantic planes. The 33-page deck after the jump…  

Chalk this up to a little next generation (i.e., teens) or the international community who travel often, but it seems everyone under 20 and those abroad from Australia/UK/New Zealand/etc. are dropping their iPhones in favor of iPod Touches. Now with Skype and a good wi-fi connection, there’s no cost calling plans. How’s that for innovating your office, kids’ utility fees or travel abroad access…?  

With one late-night manifesto, fictional sports agent - Jerry Maguire, played spot-on by Tom Cruise - removed himself from corporate contention and revolutionized his life and career. How many of us today can say the same without nervously eyeing our 401K’s or reviewing our latest Chase credit statements? It’s not easy to “Show. Me. The. Money.” as Rod Tidwell (Maguire’s lone client, aka Cuba Gooding Jr.) demanded Jerry repeat, when the money is the check - as paychecks so often arrive “paycheck to paycheck.” This post is the preamble to the “Anti-Studio: Future of the Mega-Agency” article that we’re all writing at New Medici. You have to ask yourself, given the recession: are you doing what you love? And is your business - whether executive or entrepreneurial - a long-time affair? Is this recession a crisis point or a moment to celebrate that we can innovate our way back to greatness? An overly long excerpt from Jerry Maguire’s “The Things We Think And Do Not Say” manifesto after the jump…  

Sasha Baron Cohen’s Brüno - the Universal and Media Rights Capital (MRC) film - promises to push the boundaries of taste in a very cash-positive way when it opens on July 10th. Below, the “Red Band” restricted trailer - MySpace video is on-and-off, so via TrailerAddict:

After the jump, a comparison of Brüno v. Borat with 14 Brüno aggregated clips to boot…