Mark Cuban's Bold Hollywood Gambit



(image via Variety)

The Corsair is not really nor ever has been a Mark Cuban fan. Broadcast.com, first of all, was not worth billions (but hey, all is fair in love and business); His tastes are also impossibly louche -- Cuban is the slaphappy owner, in fact, of one Rysher Entertainment (a "savvy purchase," to be sure), whose library catalogue contains such "tv hits" as "Highlander," "Nash Bridges," and "Hogan's Heroes." And, perhaps worst of all, a social felony -- Cuban's eyes are, quite frankly, very, very creepy.

But this excerpt from Premiere Magazine on Cuban's new crusade to save Hollywood from itself through his distributrion company 2929 Entrertainment is, for lack of a better word, something wonderful. We found ourselves nodding our head to noone in particular. Dammit: Cuban is right:

"(The) traditional Hollywood mentality still puts theatrical at the center of the profit strategy. 'The problem is how much studios have to spend to get epople into the theater,' Cuban explains. 'Looking for ways to get epople into the theater is as much of a challenge as making great movies.'

"And as DVDs have grown in importance, studios have responded by creating those kinds of million dollar marketing campiagns all over again months later, when it comes down for the home video release, leaving them in the hole for many, many millions (without even considering the cost of actually making the movie)

"To tap into home video money quicker, studios are shrinking the time between a movie's theatrical release from five to three months. It's just this kind of Band-Aid solution that Cuban likens to 'shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.'

"But Cuban, 47, and (partner Todd) Wagner, 45, believe that they have designs on a lifeboat. Their idea is to release films concurrently in theaters, on DVD, and on pay cable and satellite tv. This would not only consolidate marketing costs, but it would give the consumers a choice that might entice them to see more movies, more often.

"'It's five to ten percent of the population that goes to movie theaters on a regular basis,' Wagner says. 'So if there's ninety percent of the audience that's not going to the theater, if we can figure out how to get content to them and get them to buy it ..' His voice trails off, leaving one to ponder the millions they hope to make.

"'There's pent up demand for people who aren't going to get to the movie theater that weekend, and they'd like to see a movie while everybody is still talking about it,' he continues. 'It's a dangerous assumption to say, They'll wait five months and buy the DVD or rent it.'"

"'They won't,' Cuban says. 'Because they've lost the impulse to buy,' Wagner says."