If you were an up-and-coming movie star ten years ago the talent agency that represented you would probably have worked to get your name and face all over television through partnerships with one or more of the major networks. At the Web2.0 Summit 2010, Ari Emanuel talks with CNBC's Julia Boorstin about how the role of a talent agency is changing from getting a celebrity seen on television, to one of being an expert at knowing the audience for a particular celebrity, and then migrating the online conversations around that celebrity to a place that can be monetized. Ari also notes that talent agencies are finding that negotiating on behalf of their clients is becoming easier as content distribution networks increasingly compete for the best talent, instead of talent competing to be on the best network.
Online and mobile communication networks, where distribution is open to anyone who has content, break the value of exclusivity of content. This creates an environment where promoting talent is about connecting with an audience through social tools and leveraging the resulting social network to increase the celebrity's notoriety. Long gone are the days of fan clubs and hand writing letters to your favorite movie star. If your favorite star is using social media you can often interact with them directly.
Celebrities socializing with fans on the web is just one part of the story, however. What happened to the music industry (the huge explosion of both illegal and paid downloads for music) is on the verge of happening to video content as well. As the availability of bandwidth increases, video content is threatened by many of the challenges around piracy and its effects on profits, whether real or perceived. Hollywood is gearing up to get ahead of the curve, with companies like NetFlix and other streaming video providers leading the way, to create paid distribution channels that are better than illegal alternatives while not repeating the distribution mistakes of the music industry.
Ariel Emanuel serves as co-CEO of WME Entertainment. He was a founding partner of the Endeavor Agency and was instrumental in shaping its June 2009 merger with the William Morris Agency.
Emanuel represents such clients as writer / directors Michael Moore (“Sicko”), Martin Scorsese (“The Departed”), Matthew Vaughn (“Kick Ass”), Peter Berg (“Hancock”), Steve Zaillian (“American Gangster”), Aaron Sorkin (creator of “The West Wing”) and Larry David ( “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”); live event providers such as World Wrestling Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship; and actors Michael Douglas (“Wall Street 2”), Charlize Theron (“Hancock”),“Mark Wahlberg (“The Departed”) and Sacha Baron Cohen (“Bruno”).
Emanuel is a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute and is active in P.S. Arts, an industry supported non-profit agency working to bring arts education to public school students all over Southern California. An environmental and political activist, he also served as the co-chair of the Earth to L.A. biennial fund-raising event for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Prior to founding Endeavor, Emanuel was a partner at InterTalent and a senior agent at International Creative Management. He began his entertainment industry career as an agent trainee at Creative Artists Agency.
Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Emanuel graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. He lives with his wife Sarah and their three children in Los Angeles.
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