Deconstructing Pop Culture

An article earlier this week in the New York Times reported on dissonance at Paramount Pictures, Holson, L., “The Director Lines Up a Shot,” New York Times (Feb. 5, 2007). This type of article never would appear in the trade press; leave it to the NYT to call it like it is, or at least [...]

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For some time I have believed single-purpose companies in the entertainment industry are far riskier than any other type of firm, or combination of firms. By “single-purpose company,” I mean those doing one thing, for example, releasing movies, or records. I hypothesized these ventures particularly were risky, because they uniquely are subject to the whims [...]

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I was delightfully entertained over the weekend to read EMI Music had embarked upon yet another major restructuring of its recorded music business, and a “significant number” of people will be terminated. On top of the several thousand or so, whom already have “become redundant,” to use quaint British management-speak. At the head of the [...]

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For a company engaged in any kind of creative or aesthetic endeavor, few things are as important as the relationship between the company’s President, and its key artistes. The President may have as many intermediate layers beneath him, as imaginable. But, the important agents, managers, lawyers, and even the artistes themselves, rightly demand to, and [...]

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A. The Conventional Template A typical loan transaction between an Independent Film Production Company and a Bank might look something like this: Bank simply lends money to a Special-Purpose Entity (“SPE”), owned and controlled by Producer (plus whomever else). Lender charges interest, probably gets some points, and (depending on how aggressive it is) also might [...]

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In his column in today’s Wall Street Journal, Alan Murray discusses some of the reasons why companies hire lawyers as CEOs, Murray, A., “When Firms Turn to Lawyers,” Wall St. Journal (Jan. 10, 2007). I don’t know if it’s just me, but usually when I’m reading the paper in the morning, I don’t pay too [...]

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In 1980, The Clash put out a movie called “Rude Boy.” Says IMDB: “Rude Boy is a semi-documentary, part character study, part ‘rockumentary’, featuring a British punk band, The Clash. The script includes the story of a fictional fan juxtaposed with actual public events of the day, including political demonstrations and Clash concerts. Filmed over [...]

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I was working on a case involving some guy who funded Steven Spielberg’s first movie. Spielberg had granted him a loose option for another film, but then got famous and didn’t want to do it. Instead, he invested in this guy’s donut shop, which failed. One of the issues was Spielberg’s age when he granted [...]

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Joe Morgenstern is, as he sonorously intones on his weekly podcast, “the film critic of the Wall Street Journal.” It’s not completely clear why the Wall Street Journal needs a film critic to begin with, but that’s a different issue. What I take umbrage with is Mr. Morgenstern’s negative review of the movie, “The Fountain,” [...]

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I am sick and tired of people talking about “content” in the media business. It’s so non-descriptive, and de-personalizing, too. Some time ago I started replacing it with the term “work,” as in, a “creative” work, or an “aesthetic” work, which seems less derisory. I also dislike the term “product,” in the record business. In [...]

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