`Blair Witch' Brings New Respect to Movie Web Sites.WITH the fall movies now coming out at a furious clip, most every movie advertisement these days is emblazoned with that now-familiar trio of letters: www. Movie Web sites have been around for as long as five years, but it was the "Blair Witch Project," this year's indie horror smash, that turned them into major marketing vehicles that have the potential to attract huge numbers of visitors. "What `Blair Witch' primarily did for us was give our group more credibility," said Ira Rubenstein, vice president of marketing for Culver City-based Columbia TriStar Interactive, one of the first groups to create marketing Web sites for films. "Now, we're getting calls earlier from the film (division's) marketing department, and it's gotten a lot easier to get permission to reveal aspects of the film and use original content on the site." The cost-to-return ratio for these promotional Web sites is impossible to determine, industry insiders say. But the sites, which often boast the best glitz glitz Informal n. Ostentatious showiness; flashiness: "a garish barrage of show-biz glitz" Peter G. Davis. tr.v. and creative content that Hollywood can muster, are not intended to be moneymakers. Their goal is to grab eyeballs on the Net and get people into movie seats. The sites themselves usually look more expensive than they really are, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Rubenstein, Many studios have in-house teams that develop and maintain Web addresses for their respective movies. The remainder of the work is farmed out to the multitude of independent Web development companies around town, which helps keep costs down. DreamWorks SKG SKG Stichting Kwaliteit Gevelbouw (Dutch) SKG Spielberg, Katzenberg,and Geffen (DreamWorks Studios) SKG Thessaloniki, Greece - Thessaloniki (Airport Code) SKG Smith and Kraus Global has hit upon a different approach that further reduces costs: It not only farms out the development of some of its movie Web sites, but also where those sites are posted. The Web site for DreamWorks' "American Beauty American Beauty n. A type of rose bearing large, long-stemmed purplish-red flowers. ," for example, is not on the main DreamWorks site, but is located on Amazon.com's domain. To rise above the Internet's cacophony, movie Web sites are guaranteed to become bigger, better, more hyped and launched earlier in the movie-production cycle. In fact, movie buffs who are curious about what the summer 2000 blockbusters will be can start surfing for their Web sites around Christmas. Another Gemstar buy Fresh from its announced acquisition of TV Guide, Pasadena-based Gemstar International is pushing into new realms of digital television. The company has invested $9 million in Telecruz, a San Jose-based start-up company start-up company A new business. developing microprocessors that turn plain-old television sets into state-of-the-art, interactive machines. Telecruz's microprocessors will feature such gadgets as a modem, digital. audio and graphic capabilities to let TV watchers cruise the Net - not to mention Gemstar's electronic VCR VCR: see videocassette recorder. VCR in full videocassette recorder Electromechanical device that records, stores on a videotape cassette, and plays back on a TV set recorded images and sound. programming guide software. Telecruz will begin manufacturing its microprocessors within the next couple months. Cable access After months of suggestive but inconclusive rhetoric on the issue of whether local cable companies should be required to open their systems to competitors, a Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. bureau has finally stated its position. It is advocating a hands-off approach, meaning cable, companies should not be federally required to give competing high-speed Internet See broadband. service providers such as America Online See AOL. access to their networks. But don't expect that FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. position to result in any quicker action on the issue by the Los Angeles City Council A deputy for Councilman Alex Padilla, who chairs the council's Information Technology. and General Services Committee, merely said Padilla will consider the FCC document along with other relevant information. The Information Technology Committee was supposed to present its position to The full council this fall, but Padilla's office says that further testimony on the issue will continue to be gathered for several months. News and notes Peter Chernin, president and, chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of News Corp. and chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of the Fox Group; is joining E*Trade Group Inc.'s board. Executives at E*Trade say they expect Chernin to play a key advisory role in helping the company leverage financial media to broaden its appeal to investors.... Santa Monica-based Cooking.com announced a $30 million round of financing from a handful of investors, including net-Worth Partners, Times Mirror Co., Idealab Capital Partners and DynaFund Ventures... El Segundo-based NetBase Computing has announced a $35 million first round of equity financing Equity Financing The act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors. In return for the money paid, shareholders receive ownership interests in the corporation. from ABS Capital Partners and Chase Capital Partners. NetBase helps middle-market companies integrate operations on the Web and develop Web presences. Site of the Week - www.epubliceye.com Because most of the new e-commerce opportunities don't bear a familiar and trusted name like, say, www.gap.com, the chance that online shoppers will run into shoddy operations has skyrocketed. To help combat the problem, Glendale-based ePubliEye.com has created an online database that provides aggregated customer satisfaction information for more than 8,500 small and mid-sized e-commerce operations. A would-be virtual shopper can check out the desired company's track record on such key areas as on-time delivery, refund policies, comparative prices, reliability of advertising claims, payment security and access to management - all for free. The online merchants, who hope to attract more customers by establishing their reliability, pick up the tab for a listing and ongoing assessment at ePublicEye. Also highly conscious us that Spanish-speaking Web surfers have even fewer resources than other online shoppers, ePublicEye provides all its information in Spanish as well. |
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