@ SxSW: Michael Eisner; 'TheTime Is Right'; Internet Content To Equal TV In 5 Years
This story was written by Joseph Weisenthal.
Michael Eisner may not be the same hot ticket at SxSW as he would be elsewhere, but the conference organizers made the curious decision to put an interview of him by Mark Cuban in the smallest room in the house (just the Mavs fans alone could probably fill all the seats in here). Eisner is using SxSW as the big launchpad for the Hannah Montana-esque The All-For-Nots the new web show out of his digital studio Vuguru. It's the second big serial out of the studio, following the much discussed about Prom Queen. Timing-wise, today is the right day for Eisner to do his thing: The show, about a (presumably hapless) indie rock band is a fitting bridge as the interactive portion winds down and the Music festival gets set to begin. As they took the stage, Cuban made a joke about his proclivity to grab the spotlight, making a reference to lessons learned from the Mark Zuckerberg keynote.
-- The timing: Cuban asked Eisner whether the time is finally here to confidently make money with online content: "When I make a movie that bombs, I think maybe it's not the right time for movies." Point being: you can never say for sure whether you'll make money doing anything. "The time is right we're going to along for awhile and maybe make a little money and then all of the sudden we're going to wake up and then professionally driven content for the internet is going to explode."
-- Content ownership: Eisner claims that digital distributors, like MySpace et. al., have changed their attitude towards content ownership since the launch of Prom Queen. He noted that once it started to take off, the distributors have staked a claim more of the ownership of the content: "Now they want the whole pie.. they want to own all their own content." His advice: "If you take the position that you're going to own all your own content, you're going to end up with nothing." Much more after the jump
-- Broadband entertainment: The pair on stage had a good back and forth on the future of broadband entertainment. Mark Cuban reiterated his long-held view that the technology won't be there for awhile to really deliver interactive HD video to the home. Eisner predicted that within five years the internet will be as important content-wise as cable or satellite (note that's a clear prediction as compared to his previously vague statements about the timeline for all of this). Cuban then started talking tech, explaining why it won't happen, to which Eisner just replied: "This is why I'm in content." Basically meaning: we'll let you guys figure out the tech, and I'll make a good story.
-- Free?: On Chris Anderson's latest hobbyhorse, the econ of Free, Eisner doesn't see it. You have to pay the writers and everyone else. "There's no free lunch." But actually, there was some miscommunication on this point, because Eisner's ad-based business model for Prom Queen and the new show aren't really in violation of free at allthey are free. Later on, when a questioner asked Eisner on his views about stuff like Creative Commons the re-mix culture, he almost looked pained to admit that his core belief's hadn't evolved: "I have a long history in obviously believing in copyright." He then relayed a great anecdote about himself, at age 30, arguing with the CEO of Exxon, about the oil company's decision to pirate movies so that the men out on the rig had something to watch. Eisner's response (so he claims) to Exxon: (paraphrased) 'Fine, then I'll have my executives take free gas from the station.' If anything, this story probbly tells more about Eisner's rise to the top of the media heap than it does to illustrate the thorny issues surrounding intellectual property.
-- Strategy: Eisner says his strategy is to simply produce cheap content that makes people laugh and cry. He repeatedly pleaded ignorant on how it would all work out, or what the end model would look like, leaving Cuban to talk about the nuances of the net. A theme he touched on several times is that there are a lot of good amateur content-makers on the net, building up bases, and that if you can sign them and give them some more cash, thing will work out.
-- The All-For-Nots: Eisner hopes they're going to be the next Beatles. They've got their work cut out for them: Even some (covered) Beatles songs can be found on iTunes.
By Joseph Weisenthal