INTERVIEW-Ovitz puts Hollywood muscle in Web site
By Sarah Tippit
LOS ANGELES, May 20 (Reuters) - Hollywood superpower
Michael Ovitz on Thursday joined investors and technology
experts in unveiling a new Internet venture that will combine
real-time entertainment and shopping on one Web site.
In the style of an arcade or mall, the site will allow
consumers to check out a wide variety of real-time
entertainment from movies to music, video games, special live
events and reviews and then head for the "check-out stand" to
buy related products.
"We're going to try to create an entertainment content
destination with factual information, not gossip, but
everything you ever wanted to know about music, movies and
games and then flip into e-commerce when you find something
that interests you," Ovitz told Reuters.
The site, which will officially open in mid-July, will be
known as www.CheckOut.com.
The Web site will encourage the same kind of impulse buying
seen in malls or street arcades rather than the more
product-specific commerce the Internet has so far provided,
Ovitz said in an interview.
"The show is in the (mall)," Ovitz said. "My son goes (to
the mall) for a movie and ends up buying a game. We're going to
create that kind of content ...and on the back end, sell. On
impulse you will end up buying a CD, video or game."
The site, which will target fans young and old, will not be
as specific as a music or video site, its creators said, nor
will it be as general as a search engine such as Yahoo.com. It
will fall somewhere in-between with a broad mix of content,
links and commerce.
They said the site's comprehensive entertainment choices
will set it apart from other similar sites. Not only will it
directly provide content but it will link to nearly every other
entertainment site on the Internet, they said.
The site also will get to know its repeat customers by
tracking their movements each time they use the site and
customize its content according to their tastes.
Ovitz, who has more than 30 years of entertainment
experience, including several years as Hollywood's most
powerful talent agent and a briefer tenure at the Walt Disney
Co <DIS.N>., will be involved in the marketing end of the
venture.
He is joined by partners including Richard Wolpert, a
former Walt Disney executive and partner in charge of Internet
and technology for private investment firm The Yucaipa Cos.,
which holds interests mainly in the supermarket sector and is
also the largest shareholder in Kroger Co <KR.N>., the nation's
largest supermarket chain.
The Web site marks Yucaipa's expansion in Internet and
entertainment arenas.
Initially the site plans to derive the bulk of its revenue
from the sale of entertainment materials such as music CDs and
videos and advertising, Ovitz said.
The site will be adaptable to computer equipment old and
new. However with the advent of higher bandwidth, people with
newer computers will receive a higher level of content. More
powerful computers also will allow artists more direct contact
with their fans.
"As the entertainment community continues to evolve in
relation to the Internet, artists have new opportunities to
connect with their fans," Ovitz said.
REUTERS |
