SAGWatch – Observing the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRA

10 Comments

1. Stuart Creque says:

   July 27, 2009 at 1:45 PM

   From The Hollywood Reporter’s story:

   Meanwhile, Barry Diller’s Internet juggernaut IAC announced Monday morning a deal with Silverman to form a new company that will be run by Silverman and “unite producers, creators, advertisers and distributors under one roof.”

   The venture will produce content for the Internet, TV and other platforms and look for additional investors. NBC Universal will continue to have a relationship with Silverman via the new venture through “platform partnerships” and a potential investment in the enterprise, said IAC. Diller and Silverman know each other well. IAC was an early backer of Silverman’s former production firm Reveille.

   Isn’t this the bigger news, compared to the short-run impact on NBC?

   –

   Ed. Comment – Not yet. When they actually *do* something, maybe. Another announcement of another grand-plan media company? Even with a brilliant talent like Barry Diller behind it, we’ll wait and see.
2. mike says:

   July 27, 2009 at 5:13 PM

   Admin. said:

   “He’s the guy who had the idea of doing a Jay Leno strip at 10 PM.”

   We’ll soon see how that works out for NBC. So far, Conan isn’t doing that great at 11:30.

   Actors, because of this guys decision, had a lot of potential jobs, go away.
3. Voiceguy says:

   July 27, 2009 at 6:17 PM

   Oh, for the days of Grant Tinker.

   VG
4. Neil Hassman says:

   July 27, 2009 at 7:08 PM

   or Brandon Tartikoff…..
5. geo says:

   July 27, 2009 at 7:18 PM

   Ah, poor NBC. My wife has worked at major NBC affilliates in master control for most of her professional life. It was actually a newspaper making scandal (two days worth) when the live ER got screwed up (long story, and not her fault –she wasn’t there that night).

   When was the last time it was newsworthy when NBC screwed up their own content? (not counting a superbowl or somesuch, of course)
6. Neil Hassman says:

   July 27, 2009 at 8:12 PM

   The BIG screwup [according to everyone I know at NBC] was hiring Mr. Silverman in the first place.

   Reveille [his production company] has made some amazing deals on British shows brought to America, but the man hasn’t made a creative decision based on original thought in years, evidently.

   And the lasting legacy [of his own doing] will be Leno at Teno. Let’s see how that works out…

   And in answer to Geo’s question, the last time NBC made news with an inhouse content f-up was in 1987 when they “checkerboarded” prime time down to 7:30. I had a client starring on the Thursday, 7:30 show [lead in to COSBY] and it was an abyssmal failure…(though it went on until ’91).

   There were celebrations over there today…
7. Raz says:

   July 27, 2009 at 10:06 PM

   Voice Guy,
   You are the “BOMB” and know what to say! Bless the days of the late Grant Tinker, and although Brandon T. could be a pain, bless he and Mr. Levinson, and Fred Silverman wasn’t so bad. I just had to respond because I was thinking about some of these gentlemen myself and was on the last episode of HELL TOWN the night Brandon shut it down due to the friction between he and the star whose name I won’t mention. “THOSE WERE THE DAYS.”
8. mike says:

   July 27, 2009 at 10:26 PM

   Not only did Mr. Silverman make deals on British shows, he also purloined “Kath & Kim” from the Australia and “Ugly Betty” from Venezuela. Did Ben Silverman, ever develop a successful show on his own, from scratch?
9. Stuart Creque says:

   July 28, 2009 at 8:43 AM

   Sounds like Diller is doing it – or at least committing to do it – but whether it succeeds is an open question. From THR.

   Web, TV blend in Diller’s grand plan
   Teaming with Ben Silverman on new ventures

   By Georg Szalai

   July 27, 2009, 08:38 PM ET

   NEW YORK — Barry Diller is ready to press the content-creation envelope again, having unveiled in quick succession digital and TV programming production firms with Ben Silverman and one of the founders of CollegeHumor.com, which is part of Diller’s Internet firm IAC.

   The two new production outfits seem ready to use a Web 2.0-type approach in that they intend to commit less money upfront than is typical in the entertainment world, meld brands and content more aggressively and look for ways to finally bring TV and the Web closer together.

   IAC has had mixed success with its content strategy so far. In December, it shut down its programming group as part of its separation into five companies. Headed by TV veteran Michael Jackson as president and former MTV Networks Games executive Nicholas Lehman as COO, the group was responsible for acquiring and developing content-based sites, including the successful CollegeHumor.com, but also Kurt Andersen’s Very Short List, which some have pegged for a sale; Tina Brown’s Daily Beast, which has created buzz but no profit; and comedy site 236.com, a joint venture with the Huffington Post that has struggled.

   But Diller has in recent appearances maintained that consumers will and must pay for good content, even on the Web. His two new content ventures seem ready to take a new and different stab at that.

   “The new company will aim to go further than the industry has gone before, by bringing marketing and advertising expertise in-house to help advertisers sponsor, support and be involved with the content-creation process from the beginning,” IAC said Monday about the Silverman project, which is looking for additional investors and partners NBC Universal is one likely option.

   That quote in bold above sounds to me like “back to the Fifties,” when oodles of television shows had advertisers sponsor, support and be involved with the content-creation process from the beginning.

   There’s a little more at THR.
10. Stuart Creque says:

    July 28, 2009 at 8:44 AM

    As Milton Berle said, “If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.”