AllThingsD » Ari Emanuel

In Self-Imposed Alternative to SOPA, Google Will Ding Repeat Copyright Offenders in Search Results

Liz Gannes — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:24:41 +0000

Google said today that it will use the number of copyright removal notices filed against a certain domain as a signal in its search results.

This is a sort of voluntary alternative to the infamous SOPA and PIPA legislation, which would have required ISPs and search engines to block access to sites accused of copyright infringement.

William Morris Endeavor Agency Co-CEO Ari Emanuel

Hollywood hates Google’s hands-off approach to copyright infringement. At our D10 conference in May, leading Hollywood talent agent Ari Emanuel had angrily targeted Google (and its defenders!), saying that the company should be able to filter for copyrighted material the same way it blocks child pornography.

Today, Google’s Amit Singhal explained that the company has sufficient data that it can lower search rankings for repeat offenders.

Google is now “receiving and processing more copyright-removal notices every day than we did in all of 2009 — more than 4.3 million URLs in the last 30 days alone,” Singhal noted.

Singhal said the changes would go into effect next week. He noted that those who feel their content had been unfairly removed can continue to ask for it to be reinstated.

RIAA CEO Cary Sherman has already praised today’s Google’s announcement as a “potentially significant change.”

“This change is an important step in the right direction — a step we’ve been urging Google to take for a long time — and we commend the company for its action,” he said. “As Google itself has acknowledged, this is not the only approach, and of course, the details of implementation will matter.”

[ See post to watch video ]

Google's Wojcicki and Pichai on Ads and Chrome: The Full D10 Interview (Video)

Kara Swisher — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:14:19 +0000

The last interview of the 10th D: All Things Digital conference was a key one, since it featured perhaps Google’s two most important execs: Susan Wojcicki and Sundar Pichai.

Longtime exec Wojcicki — the search giant was literally founded in her garage — runs advertising products at Google, its money-gushing flagship division; Pichai’s charge is making the company’s products ubiquitous via its Chrome unit.

The pair talked about a wide range of things, from the progress of Chrome and its Android mobile offering to how it dominates the online ad market to accusations by Hollywood’s Ari Emanuel that Google is a content thief.

Here’s the video of the full interview with Walt Mossberg:

[ See post to watch video ]

Hollywood's Ari Emanuel Has Strong Opinions About Content: The Full D10 Interview (Video)

Kara Swisher — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:55:16 +0000

Without further ado, here’s one of the more controversial interviews of the 10th D: All Things Digital conference — Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel unplugged.

Actually, he is usually a very live wire, which the crowd at the event did not get to see burning hot until the very end, in a testy exchange with The Verge’s Josh Topolsky.

This exchange caused some level of debate online over Emanuel’s brusque manner, including some cursing. But — however riveting it is to watch their argument devolve from initially like a funny wrestling match to really pissed-off — there’s a lot more to the interview to pay mind to.

Emanuel — who co-heads William Morris Endeavor, one of Hollywood’s most important talent agencies — talked about a range of issues, from a recent investment by private equity firm Silver Lake to spur more digital initiatives, to the state of the entertainment industry, to crowdfunding movies.

But it was the topic of intellectual property piracy that got Emanuel’s content-loving juices flowing, taking particular aim at Google for not doing enough to filter out stolen copyright-protected material.

Here’s the video of the full interview:

[ See post to watch video ]

Ari's New Message to Googlers: Let's Hug It Out, Geeks!

Kara Swisher — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 18:38:40 +0000

Here’s an unusual new role for the legendarily pugnacious Hollywood super-agent Ari Emanuel: Digital peacemaker.

After he challenged Google to do a lot better with stopping content piracy in an onstage interview at the D: All Things Digital conference on Wednesday night, the search giant’s top advertising exec called the co-CEO of the William Morris Endeavor “very misinformed.”

So, the never-shy-or-retiring Emanuel has now penned an open response to all Googlers inviting the company to come to the table and talk about improving copyright filtering on the giant search engine.

And here it is in its entirety:

I am misinformed about a lot — just ask my wife — but I’m not misinformed about this: One of our last remaining dominant American exports is our creativity, no matter how you define it, either as a story or as an algorithm. There is equal genius behind companies like Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google as there is behind artists who create stories that resonate around the world. We need to protect America’s intellectual property and Hollywood can’t do it on its own. I understand that the onus is not entirely Google’s, but let’s stop talking at each other and get in a room with all parties to figure this out. To be clear, I don’t want to rehash SOPA as we can all agree that was a reflection of Southern California’s arrogance, and let’s also not pretend that we’re working together on this issue because we have Youtube channels together. This is a larger conversation. It’s time for Hollywood, our government and Silicon Valley to step up and collectively resolve this problem. Let me know where and when and I’ll be there.

Ari

Possible guests for this potentially awkward sitdown: Google and tech giants like Microsoft and Facebook; all the major media companies, including News Corp., and Time Warner; Justice Department head Eric Holder and California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Such making nice is in stark contrast to the allegations and counterclaims between Emanuel and Google at the D10 conference earlier this week, where we managed to engineer a public face-off between the pair on a very hot button issue.

It began Wednesday night when Emanuel repeatedly called on Google to do better filtering of copyrighted material.

“We need Northern California to figure out how to keep our intellectual property from being stolen,” he said. “If Google was in China, and their stuff was being stolen, they would leave China, right?”

And: “I promise you that Larry David and Aaron Sorkin spend a lot of time on their stuff, and the guys up north need to figure out their pipes, and help us protect that stuff.”

Using the example of filtering for child pornography, he said Google — and the rest of Silicon Valley — are unwilling to come to the table to negotiate a better alternative to the highly controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which failed to pass in Congress earlier this year.

But, in an onstage interview the next day, a top Google top advertising exec took issue with Emanuel’s characterization of the company’s effort.

“I think he was misinformed, very misinformed,” Google’s Susan Wojcicki. “We do not want to be building a business based on piracy.”

Wojcicki said the problem was a difficult one to solve compared to dealing with child pornography since, “when I see content, I don’t know if you own the copyright.”

She noted that the company has spent $30 million building its Content ID system, which checks YouTube content for copyright claims, and that Google also takes down more than one million suspect URLs per month.

Wojcicki also said that the sides were already talking about a number of other issues, such as channels on YouTube, but was willing to talk more.

“This is not a technical problem, this is much more of a business issue,” concluded Wojcicki.

Thus, Emanuel took up the gauntlet, after Wojcicki said that Google was willing to “come to the table.”

A table that would — by the way — make a terrific reality show, Ari.

To get caught up on the fracas, here’s a compilation video of Emanuel on the subject and more at D10, and also one of Wojcicki with Google Chrome leader Sundar Pichai:

[ See post to watch video ]

Google's Susan Wojcicki Responds to Ari Emanuel on Copyright Filtering

Liz Gannes — Thu, 31 May 2012 19:30:50 +0000

Sometimes the juxtapositions at D allow for companies on opposite sides of an argument to talk to each other in public.

On the stage last night, Ari Emanuel repeatedly called on Google to help filter copyrighted material, speaking on behalf of the greater Hollywood cause from his role as co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor Agency.

Emanuel said he didn’t see why Google couldn’t filter for piracy, given that it filters for child pornography. He charged that Google — and the rest of Northern California — are unwilling to come to the table to negotiate a better alternative to SOPA.

“I think he was misinformed, very misinformed,” Google’s Susan Wojcicki responded today onstage. “We do not want to be building a business based on piracy.”

As compared to child porn, which people can generally recognize on sight, Wojcicki said, “When I see content, I don’t know if you own the copyright.”

Wojcicki, who leads advertising at Google, said Google has spent $30 million building its Content ID system, which checks YouTube content for copyright claims. And Google takes down more than one million URLs per month.

She rejected Emanuel’s suggestion that Google was unwilling to “come to the table,” given that Emanuel noted his team is working on multiple channels on YouTube for stars like Tyler Perry.

“This is not a technical problem, this is much more of a business issue,” Wojcicki argued. Even the lawyers associated with a single piece of content can’t agree who owns it, she said.

Full D10 Conference Coverage

Day Two at D10 in Tweets and Pictures

Eric Johnson — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:00:14 +0000

Piracy, Google and Facebook Crowdfunding: Ari Emanuel Lets Loose at D10 (Video)

Mike Isaac — Thu, 31 May 2012 05:49:13 +0000

Separated by only a few hundred miles, Northern and Southern California still remain worlds apart. Viewers want a la carte content, and Silicon Valley has created easier ways to give it to them. But Hollywood still wants its money.

Enter Ari Emanuel, one of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, who is just fine with Hollywood’s way of doing things but isn’t keen on any new tech that enables the dreaded “P” word (piracy). That’s especially with respect to Google, whose technology Emanuel thinks makes theft easier.

As for Emanuel changing his traditional notions of Hollywood funding, he seems open to new ideas. Most recently, he said he got his hands on a new film script for “Friday Night Lights,” and found himself musing on funding options while visiting at Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s house. Possibilities included a Kickstarter-like crowdfunding initiative powered by Facebook “Likes,” or even Pinterest pinning actions.

During his D10 interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, Emanuel demonstrated some relative restraint. But once the Q&A opened up, he let loose the notorious temper on which the popular “Entourage” character Ari Gold is based. After seeing him lambast The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky, I’m feeling thankful that Ari hasn’t opened up a Silicon Valley office.

[ See post to watch video ]

Full D10 Conference Coverage

Ari Emanuel Wants You to Shut Up and Pay Up

Peter Kafka — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:11:41 +0000

The D10 conference kicked off yesterday with a gospel choir and a marching band. Tonight, we got a pro wrestling match.

In one corner: Ari Emanuel, playing the role of “Hollywood guy who thinks Hollywood is in pretty great shape.” The opposing corner, I think, was filled with most of the tech-friendly D10 audience.

You’ll definitely want to check out the highlight reel for this one, particularly for the theatrical confrontation between Emanuel and Joshua Topolsky, editor-in-chief of The Verge, in which Emanuel finds displeasure with one of Topolsky’s metaphors. (Note to Emanuel: The Verge is a big technology news site. Lots of people read it. Maybe even some of your agents.)

[UPDATE: Here's a 22-minute compilation clip that will give you a very good taste of the evening's tone and tenor.]

In the meantime, here’s the takeaway: Emanuel is fine with technology when it generates additional revenue streams for him, like when Netflix and Hulu pay up for shows his clients have already produced for TV.

But he doesn’t like Google’s technology, which he thinks enables piracy. And if you think you’re going to get HBO’s “Game of Thrones” without paying for HBO? You’re nuts.

Got it? Good.

(Meanwhile, if you’re fascinated by Emanuel, here’s an amazing profile of the agent and his super-achieving brothers, from 1997.)

Earlier:

A nice nightcap for the D10 crowd: A visit from Hollywood mover and shaker Ari Emanuel, the talent agent with so much zest he got a (fictional) part in an HBO show.

The William Morris Endeavor Agency head spends most of his time making big-dollar deals for his big-name clients, but he’s recently struck one of his own, via a pact that will give private equity firm Silver Lake a big chunk of his company.

This should be a lively interview, and it’s probably folly to try to liveblog a conversation with a rapid-fire talker (the Ari Gold character on “Entourage” is a good allusion, if not a perfect imitation), but we’ll try anyway here:

Good evening! Pretty great Miami-Boston game, btw: 96-94 Heat, w/1:36 left.

Ah. Now we have sound here, so I can tell you what’s happening during the interview, too. Walt asks Emanuel to describe the North-South California wars: Hollywood versus Silicon Valley.

Emanuel: We need Northern California to figure out how to keep our intellectual property from being stolen. If Google was in China, and their stuff was being stolen, they would leave China, right?

You guys were just talking about intellectual property, today, right? I promise you that Larry David and Aaron Sorkin spend a lot of time on their stuff, and the guys up north need to figure out their dumb pipes, and help us protect that stuff.

Now Emanuel is on a history lesson: In 1995, there were four networks, and distribution was the asset. In 2011, you can get TV everywhere. So the asset has moved from distribution to content creators. Netflix, Hulu, etc. Eventually, people are going to not just pay for “two cats on a couch, doing whatever they’re doing” — I think they’re going to pay a lot more for Aaron Sorkin or Seth MacFarlane.

Kara: Why hasn’t this happened?

Emanuel: You gotta ask Verizon, Google, etc. “Eventually, I believe content is more valuable into the future. When it’s going to happen I have no idea.”

Walt: Everyone in this room will pay for Aaron Sorkin, as long as they can buy it when and where they want, without paying my cable company for a bundle I don’t want.

Emanuel: There are a lot of costs. From subs to advertising, that’s $100 million into Hollywood. If we go a la carte, that drops to $40 million.

The guys in Northern California, like Marc Andreessen, watch a ton of TV. “But you can’t just watch ‘Homeland’ and think that it’s going to cost you $4.95.”

Walt: I pay for cable, including lots of stuff I want. But also Netflix, Hulu, etc. I’m not trying to steal anything. I’m happy to pay.

But the real issue, isn’t if — it’s when — somebody’s going to figure it out.

Emanuel: Okay, so let’s talk models. Glenn Beck has 230,000 paying subs. That’s his fan base. “He goes on for a half hour, spews whatever he wants to spew.” He makes $23 million, $40 million. “That’s a model.” But you don’t get “Family Guy,” “Homeland,” “Entourage,” for that. “Those things cost more.”

When SOPA died, a lot of conversations died. But they’ll start up again.

(Boston-Miami tied at 99; 34 seconds left.)

Back to Ari! There have to be ways to filter illegal content, and I know the tech guys can handle that.

(End of regulation, still tied at 99.)

Now, back to a discussion of “windows.” Emanuel thinks they will remain for big movies, but will shrink for indie/small-budget movies. The DVD business is gone, and with it the profit margin in the movie business. Maybe once physical goes away completely, the windows will, as well, where you go into the theater and get a credit for a digital movie.

Emanuel: I think Hollywood has done a very good job. We’re in trouble because of DVDs. But the “TV business is in an incredible renaissance right now.” All the cable guys are spending a ton on original content — reality and scripted shows. “You’re going to have more great programming coming out of television than there’s ever been.”

“The television business’s economics are better than it’s ever been.”

The music business has been good “from where we sit, because we’re in the concert business,” and because musicians can go direct. Books, too.

Walt: Let me focus on TV. How can this pay-TV bundle business last and last?

Emanuel: “I think it’s going to last for a long time.” You despise it because you only watch a few channels and you get a lot of them. But hours watched on TV have increased. Ratings are down because they spread. Usage on devices has increased. People are doing dual usage. “We now have, the economics are great” — more windows than ever. We’re getting new syndication revenue from Netflix, Hulu, etc., at no cost to us. “I think it’s the best business in the world right now, and I’m betting heavily on it.”

(Big, big D-Wade dunk.)

Now a brief interlude about Ari’s tolerance for pain and willingness to fight strangers.

Back to Kara: What do you think about watching content in bite-size clips? And what about Hulu and Netflix paying for original content?

Emanuel: We don’t think about the devices when our clients make stuff. We think about the economics. I think the artists might get upset about it, but for us it’s mainly an economic discussion.

(103-103, 2:16 in OT.)

Walt: Do you watch TV on an iPad?

Emanuel: Yup.

Kara: Making shows for digital is a small part of your business, right?

Emanuel: Growing. We’ve been talking to YouTube about Tyler Perry. It’s a place for them to get their creative endeavors out. (Translation: Still no money in the Internet for Hollywood, unless it’s selling TV repeats.)

Clients are doing this all the time. We have a whole group that does this. When we see something that is big on the Web, we try to figure out how to make it mainstream. If you get a show that goes into syndication, it’s tens of millions of dollars, and there’s lots of syndication. Is that business going away? Maybe?

Walt: But everyone I know who’s not in Hollywood hates their cable company.

Emanuel: Cord-cutting’s not happening.

Walt: But cord-never is happening.

Emanuel: I don’t think so. I think when people get to a certain age, they pay. Somebody’s got to pay for this, or you’re not going to get premium content, and I think that’s more valuable than “two dogs doing whatever they’re doing on a couch.”

(Ooooh. Big D-Wade drive.)

Emanuel is explaining the difference between scripted and unscripted TV to Walt and Kara.

Walt: I didn’t watch “Friday Night Lights” when it came out. But my wife and I watched all of it on Apple TV.

Emanuel: Right. So we had a movie and a TV show. Would you watch if we had another movie, where they go to Philadelphia?

Walt: Sure.

Emanuel: Well, I’ve been talking about this at Sheryl’s [Sandberg] house. There are different ways to finance this movie. Maybe we could finance it via Facebook fans. There are lots of ways to finance a movie like this, with a fan base like this.

The budget for this should be about $15 million.

Kara: So you could charge one million Facebook fans $20.

Emanuel: That would be $20 million. Or I could go international.

Walt: So you are trying to get ahead of trends.

Emanuel: Well, no. I’m still going to do traditional distribution. And this movie will take $25 million to market, etc.

Now a discussion of Walt’s favorite TV shows.

He’s just gotten into “Game of Thrones;” watched the first season on iPad, via iTunes. Now on HBO Go.

Emanuel: At least on the coasts, I don’t think a lot of people watch traditional TV. “But I do think people are watching a lot of television.”

Walt: I don’t think people care about networks anymore.

Emanuel: Les Moonves and CBS are doing great.

Kara: Talk about the Silver Lake deal, please.

Emanuel: We’ve been increasingly interested in tech. We’ve been buying and investing in start-ups. We did Otoy, which you guys showed off today. We’re working with Sean Parker on Airtime. When we merged a couple years ago, we “kind of shifted the whole focus” in terms of where things were going, and we’ve spent a lot of time up in Silicon Valley, trying to figure it out. We also started a merchant bank that does a lot of advising in digital.

So when Silver Lake saw what we were doing, they got interested.

Kara: You were talking to Zynga about taking some of their titles and making an investment, expanding them.

(Final: Miami wins, 115-111.)

Emanuel thinks he could make a reality-TV show based on Uber, a la “Taxicab Confessions.”

Kara: Have you talked to them about it?

Emanuel: Yep.

Kara: What about a mashup of Twitter and “Hoarders”?

Emanuel: Don’t get into the reality-TV business. You’re not very good about it.

Walt: We tried to get Tim Cook to talk about Apple TV last night.

Emanuel: I can’t wait for it.

Kara: Do you know anything about it?

Emanuel: No.

Now back to the Uber TV show, which Kara wants to appear on.

Walt: Anyway, lots of people are multitasking when they watch TV, playing Angry Birds, tweeting, etc.

What do you think about that?

Emanuel: “I’m okay with a little bit of disruption, and let’s see what happens. I dunno. I’m good with it.”

Kara: Who are the important tech companies for you?

Emanuel: Google, Verizon, AT&T, Twitter, Microsoft, depending on the Nook. Amazon and, of course, Apple. The usual. But where Google decides to play on piracy is very, very important for us. And I think they’re kind of going slowly.

Walt: You don’t have a problem with Apple and Microsoft when it comes to privacy?

Emanuel: I don’t like the music industry’s deals with Apple, but they made a deal. But Google needs to figure out what they do with piracy. That’s the most important thing.

Talking about Emanuel’s goals: In the old days, agency heads would end up running studios. He doesn’t want to do that, wants to keep working with creators. (Not sure how that precludes being a studio head, but whatever.)

Q&A:
Q: Let’s say you’re in charge of Google. What would you change?

Emanuel: Nothing.

Q: I don’t buy that.

Emanuel: I don’t know how he’s supposed to do this job. (And now Emanuel is sort of threatening the questioner, in a ha-ha kinda jokey way.) But I want them to stop helping people steal my client’s content.

Q: So you want them to censor search results?

Emanuel: I don’t want them to censor results, but they have a bunch of smart guys there that can figure this stuff out.

Q: Back to Verizon/AT&T/Google. Aren’t you saying that the road is responsible for the fact that someone drove on it before they robbed my house?

Emanuel: “That’s a stupid example.” Look, Google can filter and does filter for child pornography. They do that already. So stealing is a bad thing, and child pornography is a bad thing. (And now Emanuel has told The Verge’s Josh Topolsky to go sit down and think of a better question. “Where do you work?” He’s in full-on Judge Judy mode here. Can’t tell if crowd is entertained by him, or astonished. Maybe both?)

Q: You rep Buzz Bissinger, who has had a dustup with Amazon over pricing on his e-books. How’s that going to work out?

A: Dunno.

Q: I want to buy “Game of Thrones” for $5 an episode without paying for HBO. GIVE ME GAME OF THRONES NOW!!!!!!!!

A: Nope.

Ari Emanuel is way better when he’s doing his pro wrestling shtick. Now he’s in refractory mode. Less fun.

Historical discussion about Apple, iTunes, and the music business. Emanuel, like many content people, points out that iTunes singles were great for Apple, not great for the music business. He thinks labels would have been better off striking a deal with the original Napster.

Q: So why doesn’t the TV business make the same deal now? Because the same thing will happen with TV.

Emanuel: What’s the deal to make? These things cost lots of money. You give me the economics that can make this happen, that can make me help you get “Game of Thrones” at a price you would pay, a la carte.

Q: But you can’t control the market price. It’s going down.

Emanuel: No, the TV business is stronger than ever.

Q: It’s going to go away in 20 years.

Emanuel: I’ll be 70+. That’s fine.

Q: There are lots of distributors in Silicon Valley. Facebook, Google, etc. Shouldn’t you be there?

Emanuel: One of our companies does. Silver Lake does. “I don’t think people could handle me moving up there.”

Q: I work for comScore. What do you want from people who measure media, like Nielsen and me?

Emanuel: I dont really think about it. Nielsen isn’t that important right now, at least for TV ratings. Sorry. “That’s a really shitty answer.”

Kara: What’s a misconception about you?

Emanuel: I’m not rude and mean! I’m a nice guy!

And we’re done. Closing music: “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys.

Full D10 Conference Coverage

D10 Second-Night Speaker: Hollywood Power Broker Ari Emanuel

Kara Swisher — Tue, 29 May 2012 20:48:30 +0000

Of all the many power players in Hollywood — from studio moguls to top-name actors and writers to the money men everywhere — one of the key people sitting at the junction of media and tech is undoubtedly Ari Emanuel of William Morris Endeavor.

While better known in popular culture as the inspiration for the fictional and very colorful super-agent Ari Gold of “Entourage,” the real-life version is quite a bit more substantive than that, as the audience at the 10th annual D: All Things Digital conference will find out tomorrow night.

Emanuel will be in the red hot seat at D10, in its prime second-night interview — the first will be Apple CEO Tim Cook tonight, who will be followed by two days of top tech and media speakers.

Emanuel will surely be a lively one to query. At the intersection of entertainment and digital technologies as the co-CEO of WME, he has built the leading entertainment and media firm in Hollywood and well beyond that ZIP code — first as founding partner of the Endeavor Agency, until its mid-2009 merger with the legendary William Morris Agency.

Consider a short list of actors, writers and directors that Emanuel represents: Michael Moore, Martin Scorsese, Nancy Meyers, Matthew Vaughn, Peter Berg, Steve Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, M. Night Shyamalan, Errol Morris, Larry David, Charlie Rose, Charlize Theron, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Douglas and Sacha Baron Cohen.

He has also just struck a very intriguing “strategic partnership” with large private equity firm Silver Lake, which is buying a 31 percent stake to help turbocharge WME’s digital efforts.

“In addition to capital, we really wanted a partner to help us build it out that had more technology expertise,” said Emanuel when the deal was announced earlier this month. “We are good with brands and creative and talent, but there are many more Silicon Valley opportunities.”

What that could turn into is one of the many topics Walt Mossberg and I will discuss with Emanuel onstage, as WME tries to strengthen its digital portfolio to respond to the needs of its clients, and the changing nature of entertainment distribution as consumer Internet use has exploded.

And changing it certainly is, with Emanuel charged with figuring it all out for his stable of clients, in what has been a long career in Hollywood.

Prior to founding Endeavor, he was a partner at InterTalent, and a senior agent at International Creative Management. He began his entertainment industry career as an agent trainee at Creative Artists Agency.

Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Emanuel graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.

Full D10 Conference Coverage

Silver Lake Grabs Large Minority Stake of WME to Push Digital Initiatives

Kara Swisher — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:59:41 +0000

Large private equity firm Silver Lake is buying a large stake in powerful Hollywood talent agency William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, which is being described as a way to turbocharge its digital efforts.

While the pair would not disclose any financial details of the deal, which they are calling a “strategic partnership,” sources said Silver Lake is acquiring 31 percent of WME.

“Over the years, we have been brick-building, as we have been doing more and more digitally,” said Patrick Whitesell, co-CEO of WME with Ari Emanuel, in an interview today. “But the opportunities are so vast, there is a need for more capital to do more.”

Whitesell and Emanuel said they had been considering a range of investors, especially among media entities, but that they wanted to work with Silver Lake since it had more digital experience as an active investor in technology.

Skype, for example, was the driver of the sale of Internet telephony giant Skype to Microsoft for $8.5 billion, while WME reps stars such as Matt Damon and Hugh Jackman, among others.

“In addition to capital, we really wanted a partner to help us build it out that had more technology expertise,” said Emanuel. “We are good with brands and creative and talent, but there are many more Silicon Valley opportunities.”

In fact, WME has long tried to up its digital portfolio to respond to the needs of its clients and the changing nature of entertainment distribution as consumer Internet use has exploded. That’s included a digital advertising effort, as well as one in online gaming.

Silver Lake, which has most recently looked at investing in Yahoo, it was a chance to get closer to a trove of premium entertainment content.

“You have two forces at play, ubiquitous distribution and four billion people connected,” said Silver Lake’s Egon Durban. “As that distribution has been commoditized, the only way to differentiate is through A-plus content.”

Along with the core investment, WME and Silver Lake said they will also be considering other possible deals together as they move forward.

“There is nothing we like more than handing our best partners more money,” said Durban, who will join WME executive committee and also help create a technology advisory counsel at the firm.

Calling Marc Andreessen! Actually, in an interesting factoid, it was the well-known tech investor and entrepreneur who introduced Durban to Emanuel.

But this movie has been shown before and is not the first Hollywood-tech hookup to happen. A variety of efforts have waxed and waned over the years — most of which have largely been underwhelming.

Last year, for example, Accel Partners invested $40 million in Legendary Pictures and, back in 2008, Accel, the then William Morris Agency and AT&T formed an investment consortium to focus on Southern California start-ups.

Most closely related was the 2010 deal, in which TPG Capital took a 35 percent stake in Creative Artists Agency.

Here is the official press release on the Silver Lake-WME deal:

WME Press Release_5 02 12_FINAL

Lady Gaga + 126,000 Pasty Geeks + Vegas = BoomTown Nirvana

Kara Swisher — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:24:35 +0000

This is going to be good.

The iconic singer and performance artist Lady Gaga will be appearing at the Consumer Electronics Show later today to unveil “creations” she came up with for Polaroid.

Gaga announced last year here that she had been named the creative director of Polaroid.

As part of the collaboration that will debut her Polaroid “Grey Label” project, Gaga said a year ago that she would be coming up with “prototypes in marrying the fields of fashion/technology/photography innovation.”

Oh, goody. Fishnet stockings that can post pictures to Instagram!

I am considering going to the event–as ordered to by the shy and retiring Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel.

But it will likely be a mosh pit of nerdy dudes, so I’ll need to frontload starting at 10 am.

And you can watch it on Polaroid.com at 3:30 pm PT.

Videos of the Three Best Sessions at the Web 2.0 Summit

Liz Gannes — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:08:40 +0000

I spent the first half of the week at and around the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. This year’s edition felt a bit smaller than before, but it still attracted some of the key characters on and off the Web. If you weren’t there or didn’t tune in to the event’s first-ever full livestream, or you spent too much time networking in the hallway, here are some of the highlights, which have already been posted to the O’Reilly YouTube account:

Big Web CEO/very recently CEO Interviews:

The headliners for the Web crowd were Eric Schmidt of Google on day one, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook on day two and Evan Williams of Twitter on day three. None of the conversations were super revelatory, but they did highlight the heightening competitive tensions between Facebook and the rest of the Web.

Here’s the Zuckerberg video, which was notable for being one of his better public interviews in terms of ease and clarity (nothing like the near-fainting incident while being pummeled with privacy questions by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at D8).

Two good comments from Web 2.0: About giving Google access to Facebook user email addresses, Zuckerberg said, “I’m not sure we’re 100 percent right on this.” (For someone with his hubris, that’s practically an admission of guilt.) Zuckerberg also criticized the visualization of the Web as a map of territories that illustrated the Web 2.0 stage.

“Your map is wrong,” he said. “The biggest part of the map has to be uncharted territory–this map makes it seem like it’s zero-sum, but it’s not. We’re building value, not just taking it away from someone else.”

Here are Schmidt (already at 170,000 views!) and Williams.

Best panel:

The most captivating panel was the one with venture capitalists John Doerr and Fred Wilson, ably moderated by John Heilemann. Wilson argued that Google has bought all of its recent interesting products, saying its last in-house success was Gmail. “They haven’t home-built from the ground up anything interesting in a half decade,” he said. Doerr replied passionately, “Ideas are easy. What’s really dear is execution. Google executes. Facebook executes.”

Best start-up presentation:

Brian Pokorny, CEO of DailyBooth, explained how the young people who use his site to share pictures are having conversations with each other. Pokorny made an interesting distinction about how–unlike with other photo-sharing apps–his users choose to use the front-facing camera on the iPhone and iPod Touch so they can take pictures of themselves.

An evening talk by agent Ari Emanuel was also quite well-received, with many people mentioning it to me the next day. You can watch it here.

Please see the disclosure about Facebook in my ethics
statement.

Viral Video: Late-Night Debacle Makes for Good Jokes at Least (Plus BoomTown's Zucker Interview, Pre-Disaster)

Kara Swisher — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:22:01 +0000

Although BoomTown completely enjoyed having dinner with entertainment agency overlord Ari Emanuel last week–hey, it was a Hollywood party at the Consumer Electronics Show, so name-dropping is required–I have little interest in the money and scheduling machinations that broke out last week over NBC Universal’s late-night television talk shows.

But I do love the roundelay of online videos this Tinseltown mess has created.

It all has to do with Jay Leno stinking up the joint in his newish 10 pm time slot, which has caused NBC affiliates to revolt, which–in turn–has sent broadcast network execs into a decided chicken-with-its-head-cut-off panic.

Thus, their big and cloddish idea to reschedule Leno back to late night, while trying to hipcheck Conan O’Brien from his 11:35 pm perch, all without incurring a big contract penalty fee. Jimmy Fallon, who comes on after O’Brien, is also part of the shovefest, as is after-Fallon host Carson Daly.

And, of course, all of them got to comment on all of this on–yes–the late-night comedy routines that open their shows.

Here are Leno and O’Brien riffing on the silly crisis–as well as ABC’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel weighing in with Daly’s help–at the GE (GE) unit that was just bought by Comcast (CMCSA).

And below is an interview I did with NBC Universal President and CEO Jeff Zucker at the seventh D: All Things Digital conference last May talking about a range of topics, including what a brilliant idea it was going to be to move Leno to an earlier, five-night-a-week slot.

Not so much, Jeff!

But enjoy the ensuing videos:

LENO

O’BRIEN

KIMMEL/DALY

ZUCKER

[ See post to watch video ]

Is Google Getting a Hollywood Tour Guide? Former William Morris Boss Jim Wiatt May Take YouTube Consulting Gig.

Peter Kafka — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:00:50 +0000

Does Google need a Hollywood guide?

It may be getting one: Jim Wiatt, the former head of the fabled William Morris talent agency, has been talking to the company about a consulting gig for its YouTube video site.

Wiatt, who is leaving his old job in the aftermath of his agency’s highly contentious merger with the Endeavor agency, discussed the idea with Google and YouTube executives in Mountain View last week, multiple sources said.

Wiatt hasn’t signed a deal and may end up pursuing something else instead, I’m told.

But the role would make sense, given that Wiatt has already served as a de facto guide for Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who has been trying to ingratiate his company with studio and network executives for some time.

(Schmidt has spent enough time in Hollywood to justify plunking down a reported $20 million for an estate in Montecito, a wealthy resort town an hour or so outside of Beverly Hills.)

Google (GOOG) has tried to convince Hollywood to bring more of its content over to the world’s largest video site, but its biggest players have so far resisted, offering the site promotional trailers but little else. Meanwhile Hulu, the joint venture between News Corp.’s (NWS) Fox, GE’s (GE) NBC and Disney’s (DIS) ABC has staked out a reputation as the go-to site for free “premium” movies and TV shows.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced that William Morris and Google had reached a pact that would steer the agency’s high-profile clients to make and star in YouTube videos.

Neither company ever formally acknowledged the so-called “YouTube Gold” program, and it’s not clear if it ever got off the ground. But, in any case, William Morris has more or less been absorbed by onetime rival Endeavor, headed by Ari Emanuel, leaving Wiatt looking for other work.

Wiatt, via a spokesman, declined to comment. YouTube offered up this statement via email: “We are constantly exploring opportunities to reward the talented members of the YouTube community, including helping to distribute their content around the Web and beyond.”

[News Corp. owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.]

[Image credit: Sorn]