Tubefilter News

Today at NATPE in Las Vegas, legendary Hollywood creative and entertainment business leader Michael Eisner, CEO of The Tornante Company and its digital entertainment studio Vuguru, shared his thoughts about originally produced content for the Web.

First off, Eisner is the first to admit that he doesn’t know how the industry is going to play out. “I don’t know if it will be evolutionary or revolutionary…but it can’t not happen” (the growth in content made for the Internet), said Eisner. He added that a “death march” has been going on for other media” (i.e., Cable, TV). They are in trouble because there is a more efficient way to share content around the world with the Internet.

Regardless of the distribution strategy (TV, Cable, DVD) – it’s still about making great, high quality content. He added that when his job was on the line a few times over the years, that “it wasn’t a new technology that saved his ass—it was a show.”

Advertising & Cost Controls

Eisner stated that as far as he can see right now, there is no set model for what works and what doesn’t for producing and distributing made-for-Web series. The industry just has to keep developing new ways of doing deals to attract advertisers, talent, and audiences. For example, they have sold Prom Queen by territory across 45 countries, offer product placements in shows, and also include embedded ads.

Speaking of advertisers, he cited that online ad spots for FOX’s The Simpsons command higher rates than for its broadcast spots ($30 CPM vs. $60 CPM). He also noted that no one thought that the “Brought to you by…” 3-second sponsor spot, or the 15 and 30 second ad breaks in a 7 minute episode would work. Neither have been met with significant negative viewer concerns. So apparently they do. It’s all about experimenting to see what sticks.

Controlling production costs is also critical. He maintains that other digital studios have gone out of business because they spent too much on making the content and couldn’t recoup their costs fast enough. Vuguru made one of their shows running at 150 minutes for $250k. He also mentioned the Hollywood Guilds (e.g. SAG, WGA) as playing an important role in helping this young industry get off the ground, citing flexibility for independent pay negotiations with talent on productions that cost less than $25k per minute.

uguru’s Latest Series: The Booth at the End

Vuguru, producers of the hit Prom Queen web series franchise, Foreign Body, Back on Topps, and the upcoming original series The Booth at the End, plans to produce 10 to 30 shows per year. The launch date for Booth has not been set yet, but the trailer, which screened at NATPE, was compelling. “For Vuguru, we are concentrating on the first window only—the Internet.”

In October, Vuguru announced it inked a multi-million dollar deal with Canadian media behemoth, Rogers Media. The partnership gives Vuguru – a three-year-old web television company founded by Michael Eisner – two things. One, a distribution partner with 51 radio stations, two television networks, one Major League Baseball team, and a multitude of other print publications and broadcast outlets, ranging from a Canadian edition of Hello magazine to Canada’s only nationally televised shopping service. And two, an influx of cash with which to triple production and create a reported 10 to 15 new web series in 2010.

Today, Vuguru named Larry Tanz president. The entertainment industry executive and digital media entrepreneur will have the responsibility of soundly spending Rogers’ “significant capital investment” on “high-quality, scripted, story-driven productions” with known talent and advertiser, distributor, and audience appeal. If his resume is any indication, he’ll perform very well in the new position. Before Vuguru, Tanz was CEO and President of LivePlanet (the entertainment company founded by Ben Afleck and Matt Damon that created, most memorably, Project Greenlight) and also Co-Founder and President of digital studio, Agility.

In one of his frist orders of business, Tanz will be rolling out the Vuguru library (which includes web series like Prom Queen, The All-For-Nots, and Foreign Body) on Rogers On Demand networks. In the coming months, he’ll oversee the productions and distribution of Prom Queen: The Homecoming; Pretty Tough “an adaptation of a successful young adult novel from accomplished television writer and producer Liz Tigelaar;” and The Booth at the End, a “physcological thriller” starring Xander Berkely and directed by Jessica Landaw.

In a multimillion dollar deal announced today, Michael Eisner’s three year-old web studio Vuguru just landed a major investor and distribution partner in Canadian-owned Rogers Media. For Rogers, it means a multi-year exclusive on Canadian rights to Vuguru properties on all platforms including web, TV and mobile.

Known for being an earlier pioneer of professionally produced web series like Prom Queen, The All-For-Nots, Foreign Body, and Back on Topps, the studio had been relatively quiet after a busy first two years. The only active series so far this year were a second season of Back on Topps and the shot but still unreleased third installment in the Prom Queen franchise, Prom Queen: Homecoming.

As part of the deal, the web studio is being spun out into its own stand-alone entity, with Eisner serving as its Chairman. Vuguru was previously a division of Eisner’s privately-owned Tornante Company, the same investment company that purchased Topps trading cards in 2007.

“This deal not only solidifies Vuguru’s position as a leader in the new media landscape, but it also allows us to stay true to our creative and business philosophy of owning and distributing high-quality, story-driven content,” said Eisner.