Updated: Paramount Pictures Creates New Mobile Entertainment Unit; Interview: Sandi Isaacs
By Tricia Duryee - Fri 08 Feb 2008 03:05 PM PST
Paramount Pictures is creating a new global business unit to focus on “developing mobile entertainment and alternative distribution models.” The Viacom (NYSE: VIA) studio plans to announce Paramount Mobile Entertainment officially Monday.
The business unit, which falls under Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, is headed by Sandi Isaacs, SVP-mobile and interactive, with three executives heading up the major worldwide regions:
-- Madeline Herdrich, previously of AT&T (NYSE: T) Mobility, VP-mobile, North America;
-- Pradeep Mittur, formerly of Disney, VP-mobile, Asia Pacific;
-- Giovanni Maruca, who worked at Sony Pictures before joining Paramount, director of mobile for EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).
The company says Paramount Mobile Entertainment has secured partnerships with wireless carriers and content creators to develop applications and content based upon Paramount Pictures’ library of titles. Some of these partners include:
Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ), AT&T, T-Mobile, 02 UK, Hungama, Cellempower (i2 Group) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK). Currently, consumers can go to the Paramount Web site to download ringtones, games and wallpapers for such movies as The Godfather, Tommy Boy and Dreamgirls. Until now, Paramount’s efforts have been a mix between that and experimenting with full-length movies with Nokia in Europe.
Update: In an interview late Friday afternoon, Isaacs described the move as a show of “optimism about mobile entertainment. ...
There was a period where it slowed for us in 2001 to 2003, and we waited around to see when this will take off. We feel like the timing is right and we’ll help grow the market.”
On short-form vs. long-form: “We are well-positioned and ready to offer our content and make deals and bring in new partners, but the cost of data services is still quite high, especially for long-form video. It will be some time before it’s a viable opportunity for us. We are very excited about it and well-positioned for when that opportunity happens.”
On creating content specifically for mobile: “We do, and there’s an opportunity there because there’s not a lot of high-quality content up on these devices, so we believe it will perform really well. It’s a little too early to tell. As this market continues to grow, it will make more and more sense to create mobile content.”
On having a worldwide presence: “Another reason why it’s important to have this global team is so we can learn from the team in Asia to think of innovative ways to offer content in the U.S. and share that back and forth.”
Posted in: Companies, Nokia, Operators, Cingular-AT&T, O2, T-Mobile, Verizon, Entertainment, Industry Moves
