An Open Lane or An Introduction
March 30th, 2008
My name is Jake and I work at The Safran Company in Los Angeles. Our business is making movies and managing the careers of actors, writers and directors. We’re an independent company that works closely with major film and TV studios, media companies, talent agencies, financial institutions, marketing companies and brands around the world. This is the first entry in what I hope becomes an important facet of our business.
I run the recently launched subsidiary company, the Safran Digital Group. My job is to identify and execute digital distribution strategies that maximize value for our projects and to expand the company’s digital footprint within the entertainment and media space. This is my dream job. I’ve been given an opportunity to pursue my professional goal of helping to define the economics of convergence.
Like many of you, I’ve spent a significant portion of my career chasing this elusive goal, trying to loop a business model around a slippery, moving target: what are the economics of digital content and how do we create value while increasing returns on investment? Over the past several years I’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with some of the top thought leaders in the space and while there’s consensus that we’re at a singular juncture in the history of business, when technology, content and distribution are coming together at unprecedented speeds and where innovations have fueled a power shift towards consumers that marks nothing less than social revolution, there’s a wide variance in viewpoints as to what the paths to success look like in this rapidly changing marketplace.
This is ok. In fact, it’s great. It’s what makes this business so much fun. It’s why so many of us, entrepreneurs-at-heart or, to borrow from Michael Arrington, modern day pirates, are passionate about this space. From media moguls to serial start-up junkies to bloggers down to the kids on your block uploading their latest sketch comedy masterpiece on Youtube, we all have a chance to affect change and contribute to something bigger than ourselves, and that’s empowering. But for those of us on the business side, especially in entertainment, it’s increasingly challenging to find ways to encourage artists to create for a medium that doesn’t seem to bend to provide traditional economic incentives, but instead has developed its own ancillary rewards system of the gift economy and the reputation economy. But hey, what of great value was ever easy to achieve?
Which brings me to the reason for this blog.
The point here is to critically discuss the key drivers that both catalyze and impede our journeys on the path to achieve digital value creation by offering my own personal analysis of the evolving economics of digital content. Sound like a zillion other blogs including those listed as my favorites?
What I suggest is different about this blog and why I invite you to engage me is that I’m in the middle of entertainment convergence and I want to talk about it.
Firstly, because it’s my philosophy that to overcome the challenges that we face in defining the economics of convergence, the imperative of which is an open discussion and a movement to break down the impediments in value creation that are relics of an old-media infrastructure, namely silos, fiefdoms, bureaucratic decision making, mothball-worthy performance metrics and inwardly-focused marketing. These systems have no place in a digital world, where relevance trumps polish, flexibility outlives rigidity and the ongoing battle between fragmentation and aggregation disrupts our ability to successfully apply any existing economic models.
Secondly, although I have a lot of colleagues in digital media, the only ones who seem to blog effectively are those who have come up through startups or those who haven’t had senior level access to decision making. That makes sense for a variety of reasons which we can all understand. But I came up through the entertainment and studio system and had a different angle on the last decade of digital growth. I’ve observed and been part of the development of some of the major influences on the entire spectrum of convergence. I’ve heard senior executives justify positions that have led to some of the biggest deals that we talk about everyday. One of the most complex issues for online, copyright, and how to convince a major studio to loosen its grip for the sake of building an application, was my cross to bear for a long time. I have a viewpoint and an opinion on entertainment convergence that takes into account the current infrastructure and a first-hand knowledge of why we are where we are. I don’t see that voice represented in the swath of blogs that I and most of my friends and colleagues read. It appears a lane is open and this blog aims to fill it.
That’s all very macro, but better to get that out of the way so we can get down to the fun stuff. In this blog I promise to unpack the above and more including what I believe are the challenges we face in the dynamic areas of technology, consumption patterns, regulatory issues, entertainment and media industry shifts and trends and how this all affects the path that we’re on. My opinions are my own, not that of The Safran Company or any of its divisions, but it should be noted that this blog has been blessed by my boss. We’ll see how long before I can make him regret that decision.
A note on me: I’m not an economist, but I’m fascinated by the way money works. I’m not an academic, but I’ve spent enough time in classrooms to recognize that theory matters. I’m not a journalist, but I believe that I have a responsibility to anyone who reads this blog to write with integrity and honesty.
What I am is a digital media executive who manages creative project budgets, partnerships and strategies. I’ve worked within the walls at a big media company and been part of teams to design and build exciting new products in the digital space. I’ve been on both sides of the fence during the recent writers strike and witnessed both the power and collateral damage of asymmetrical information, specifically when it comes to web analytics. I’m a buyer and a seller and I’ve done a lot of both. Sometimes with success, sometimes not-so-much.
Tags: convergence, gift economy, introduction, michael arrington, reputation economy, Safran Digital Group, studio system
Posted by: jake Posted in BusinessYou can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 31st, 2008 at 10:26 am
“They [Entrepreneurs] actually do something that economists would call insane, which is that they attach utility to risk instead of the other way around. So the more risk that’s there, the better. And pirates used to do that. I really think entrepreneurs are a little bit crazy and really cool, but they also drive the economy.” — Michael Arrington
Congrats on the move Jake!
March 31st, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I certainly enjoyed your posting and I especially appreciate the line, “battle between fragmentation and aggregation” as it really rings true in my industry (Events) as well. Take care. Good luck. Looking forward to more postings!
March 31st, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Very well written, Jake. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on how to unravel this insanity of digital distribution, and you’re right on with a lot of points here. Very exciting that you’ve finally got the tools to take a good crack at it. Keep the posts comin’!
March 31st, 2008 at 7:36 pm
I will definitely be following your adventures here, Jake. Great intro, even a little… courageous. Looking forward to your insights and analysis.
March 31st, 2008 at 11:09 pm
You have a very unique perspective. I am excited to hear your thoughts as this area progresses. Nice looking site BTW.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:16 am
Very interested in your perspective (Thanks Jennifer for the link). We’re swimming in the same waters, looking forward to having you point out the rocks and whirlpools!
jim
April 5th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
[...] This move exemplifies the ongoing battle between fragmentation and aggregation, which I referred to in my initial post. [...]
April 5th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Exciting stuff… I thought the industry was filled with backward-thinking douchebags that I couldn’t have confidence in to come up with a real solution.
Now that I know you’re one of the people defining the future of the economics of digital media, I’m thinking maybe it will work out in the end after all.
Looking forward to reading this thang… and to finding out how to make millions off my baby’s 200,000 view youtube vid.
Nice work, this is an impressive first entry… you’re a great writer, Mr. Jake Zim.
May 17th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Mr. Zim
Let me start by congratulating you on all your early success, including of course your new venture with SDG.
I came to know of you and SDG through the incredible job you did with the “If I were King” documentary that aired on MTV.
After intensely watching it and absolutely loving it, I immediately knew that I had to try and get in touch with those who were behind it.
Before even finishing the homepage of your website, I was convinced that I had found the perfect match, the company and individuals I have been waiting/looking for.
I would love the opportunity to talk to you but have had trouble finding a way of getting in touch.
I hope all is well and that I am able to talk to you soon.
Best,
Alesh Sebastian
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