Unemployed Writer Would Like $30 Million, New Company
Since the start of the writers strike, there's been lots of hopeful talk about creating new companies that match Hollywood talent with Silicon Valley tech and money from...somewhere. Newest announcement: Writer Aaron Mendelsohn ("Air Bud") wants to start his own company, and is looking for a mere $30 million to get it going. NewTeeVee
has his pitch -- lots of talk about community, technology, etc -- and
notes several other startups looking to do the same thing.
Do-it-yourself movies are an old notion, by the way. Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W Griffith formed United Artists in 1919 so they could make their own films and keep the profits. That didn't work out, but some of Hollywood's biggest successes have come from entertainers who bankrolled and controlled their own work: Think of George Lucas and "Star Wars", or Mel Gibson and "The Passion Of Christ".
In any case, we're all for new, nimble media companies that use the Internet for distribution, but we're still worried about the economics of Web video: We have yet to see a model where video creators can make enough money to quit their day jobs. And that's for short, cheaply made stuff. The hurdle will be even higher for talent trying to create "real" movies and TV shows.
Do-it-yourself movies are an old notion, by the way. Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W Griffith formed United Artists in 1919 so they could make their own films and keep the profits. That didn't work out, but some of Hollywood's biggest successes have come from entertainers who bankrolled and controlled their own work: Think of George Lucas and "Star Wars", or Mel Gibson and "The Passion Of Christ".
In any case, we're all for new, nimble media companies that use the Internet for distribution, but we're still worried about the economics of Web video: We have yet to see a model where video creators can make enough money to quit their day jobs. And that's for short, cheaply made stuff. The hurdle will be even higher for talent trying to create "real" movies and TV shows.
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The current model is simple. Studios take the risk. They scout for and fund the investment and reap the majority of the reward through distribution. The talent is paid a little, with a select few receiving much, much more than others. Basically though, the Studio owns it all.
Off the back of the WGA strike, talent is looking at new ways to create content and keep most of the ownership.
"Virtual Artists will offer professional writers deals to develop and produce films, TV shows and shorts for a reduced fee but a larger ownership stake. It will also look to acquire content."
This is one example of many groups of talent coming together to seek VC investment; Virtual Artists, Hollywood Disrupted and 60 Frames.
The problem is that these new firms are simply replicating the same mass media economic model, the model they have been institutionalised into. If you think about it, these new firms are simply playing the role of the Studio, but on a smaller scale. They face the same transaction costs to find talent and create new programming that the studios do.
My question. When these new ventures grow, will the TV/Film world look any different? The economics are exactly the same, just spread out over more small/niche/focussed Studios. A bigger pack of wolves, different clothing.
Right now, their offering is to ask the talent to take the risk (reduced fees) and in reward be given a larger share of revenues. Who's the real winner here?
The new wolves..., and they will have the same problems the studios face. They will not be able to scale investment, production and output. They will have to control tightly what is invested in and what isn't. They will become the new bottlenecks for talent.
I can't help but think the internet has now turned those tables. The web will welcome their money and even their talent, but their gain will be minimal and their presence uneasy as they struggle to understand the non-linear distribution world where pure creativity and established star power is only part of the equation and lunch at The Ivy will only get you fed.
Mendelsohn's vision is one of idealism, not necessarily bottom-line, one of the major reasons he hooked up with Henri Poole. I'm not easily persuaded and after talking to him I felt he might have what it takes to succeed.