As audience members checked their handhelds, PDAs and cell
phones, representatives from several major Hollywood organizations
discussed how changes in technology would affect the entertainment
industry during the UCLA School of Law’s 30th Annual UCLA
Entertainment Symposium, called “Hollywood: By the
Number$.”
Several speakers discussed how technology has plowed forward at
an unprecedented rate, and the entertainment industry has found
itself confronted with increasingly diverse new forms of media.
The event, held Friday and Saturday at the Freud Playhouse at
Macgowan Hall, attracted about 500 students, lawyers, legal
scholars, members of the entertainment industry and others
interested in entertainment law.
Panelists explained how companies are now beginning to expand
their reaches beyond the traditional television and radio to newer
media including the Internet, cell phones and iPods, such as Apple
and Disney’s decision to broadcast episodes of
“Desperate Housewives” and “Lost” on
iPods.
The versatility of the means of communication has led to
questions about what existing categories, if any, the new media
fall under, and what rules apply to them, said Grace Reiner, the
executive assistant director of the Writers Guild of America.
Because the technology is so novel, industries have yet to
establish a standard for pricing and how far licenses extend.
“Change is a huge difficulty in the entertainment
industry,” said Michael Lang, senior vice president of
business development for Fox Broadcasting.
Though some executives are still debating the serious
ramifications and small technicalities, others are ready to embrace
the future of technology.
Tom Wolzien, founder of Wolzien LLC, said consumers should soon
be able to view the same content, such as television shows, across
several media outlets, including cell phones, computers, iPods and
televisions. He said consumers will also be able to transfer
content between them without any added cost.
The trend of the market hints at declining media storage and
transportation costs, improved compression, and multiple platforms
playing the same content, he said.
“Buy it once, and watch it anywhere,” Wolzien
said.
Many panelists lauded the new technology and its possibilities.
Amy Friedlander, senior vice president of programming for SBC
Communications, expounded the merits of Internet Protocol
Television, which she said offers the viewer a much greater range
of content and channels to choose from.
However, in regard to this expansion of media options of
consumers, Lang said he was not sure IPTV is different from
traditional modes of distribution.
“The most important (difference) is the price,” Lang
said.
The different forms of media also compete against each other,
said Rio Caraeff, vice president and general manager of Universal
Music Mobile, because though the modes of entertainment are nearly
unlimited, the hours in a day are not.
In addition to discussing new developments in entertainment
technology, some of the panelists urged caution when predicting
often unpredictable market trends.
“(In the past), the market changed drastically from what
we expected,” Reiner said. “It’s dangerous for us
to set things too early.”
Karen Stuart, the executive director of the Association of
Talent Agents, emphasized the lack of economic models for the new
media.
Companies have to be flexible because they cannot always predict
what consumers will pay for, Caraeff said. Successful marketing
also depends partly on chance; it has to be the right place, time
and price to appeal with the buyers. The entertainment industry
simply has to keep up with the changing times.
“There’ll always be a role for endeavor,” he
said.