Hollywood

I’m going to tell you a little secret: Hollywood is in a state of panic (it’s also in California, but that’s another issue). Those of you who have been paying attention have surely noted that the new media is moving at warp speed. Now you could say, in the studios’ defense, that this rapid turn of events has been, well, rapid, but the Dawn of the New Media has been predicted since Amazon.com sold its first book.

Hollywood has been actively digitizing product for years now. Every studio has been scrubbing and remastering and relicensing music in anticipation of a digital windfall. Maybe it’s that DVD has been so dominant, so profitable for so long, but the studios remain unprepared for the future. Item Number Ten on the Absolute Value analysis of Google’s Analyst Slide Show asks the question that has Hollywood biting its nails:

Do you know exactly how many assets you have? By assets, I mean all the content you’ve ever owned or created. Do you know exactly? Do you have the count? (Remember, I’m a computer scientist. I have to ask these things.)

In Saturday’s “The Daily Loper”, I linked to a Los Angeles Times about the Hollywood guilds and their clamor for better treatment when it comes to download royalties. Make no mistake about it — the guilds (SAG, DGA, WGA, etc) might have chosen to play nice when it came to DVD royalties, but it wasn’t due to lack of interest. They were saving their energy for the real battle: downloadable media.

The LAT and Hollywood Reporter have made note of this brewing battle: the first target in the guilds’ sights is ABC. Which makes sense considering the popularity of Lost and Desperate Housewives.

Right now, Hollywood is in a bit of disarray (note to studios: never let them see you in disarray). Some studios treat downloads similarly to television; others are taking the “same as DVD approach”. While both treatments will ultimately come under scrutiny, it is those studios who use the so-called home video royalty calculation who will be on the front lines. Reason?

What Really Keeps Studio Executives Awake At Night

The Battle Royale: Download Royalties