Characters driven: comics firm Platinum pushing envelope with emerging platforms.Chairman Scott Mitchell Rosenberg  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . claims he's simply following the Platinum Studios slogan of "Comics Fueling Media Everywhere." To accomplish that, he purchased the Web comics hosting site DrunkDuck.com two weeks ago. The acquisition represents a new direction for Platinum, which made its name pitching under-the-radar comic book comic book Bound collection of comic strips, usually in chronological sequence, typically telling a single story or a series of different stories. The first true comic books were marketed in 1933 as giveaway advertising premiums. characters to movie studios. The company sold the hugely lucrative "Men In Black" film franchise to Sony Pictures Entertainment and produced the "Witchblade" films. It currently has two high-profile projects in development: the sci-fi movie "Unique" at Walt Disney Noun 1. Walt Disney - United States film maker who pioneered animated cartoons and created such characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck; founded Disneyland (1901-1966) Disney, Walter Elias Disney Co. and spoof "Cowboys & Aliens" at Sony. But Rosenberg sees the real future in digital entertainment. "There is a quiet revolution that is happening in the comic book industry, as broadband and mobile delivery systems become more accessible," he said. "Comic creators are independently producing their properties and bypassing the traditional hard copy publishing." In exchange for an undisclosed sum, DrunkDuck.com will give Platinum a window into the digital world. The site hosts about 3,500 comics stories established and updated by user-creators. Buying the site doesn't include rights to those stories and characters, although a noteworthy property can be pursued. The key to the acquisition could be the access that it provides Platinum to DrunkDuck's audience. DrunkDuck.com has 1 million unique visitors A count of how many different people access a Web site. For example, if a user leaves and comes back to the site five times during the measurement period, that person is counted as one unique visitor, but would count as five "user sessions. a month--not a big number for an entertainment site, but Rosenberg refers to these people as buzz makers. He points to his experience at his previous company, Malibu Comics, which was the launching pad for a slow-selling comic book called "The Men in Black." Those few comic book readers represented a core audience for cutting-edge fantasy and science fiction, and their buzz helped push the MIB (1) (Management Information Base) The hierarchical database used by the simple network management protocol (SNMP) to describe the particular device being monitored. MIB objects are identified using ASN.1 syntax. See SNMP, RMON, OID and ASN.1. project to success. "Hitting that subculture has always been our specialty; now we can build out from there," Rosenberg said. Digital distribution brings bigger opportunities. First, "the audience for this material is not just 18- to 34-year-old males," said Brian Altounian, Platinum's president, citing the typical comic book buyers. "It's 15- to 50-year-olds and beyond." Rosenberg's research indicates only 7 percent of comic book readers are women; for online comics, the number rises to 48 percent. In terms of genre, most print comic books still focus on superheroes Superheroes are fictional heroes who possess abilities beyond those of normal human beings. Superheroes may also refer to:
To monetize the investment in DrunkDuck, Altounian plans to use an advertising business model. Platinum considered the subscription or donation models utilized at competing Web comics sites such as Keenspot.com or ModernTales.com, but decided to make the entire comics free for Web surfers. That decision puts Platinum at odds with traditional comics-publishing giants like Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL) is an American entertainment company. The company traces its origins to the May 1933 publication of Western Supernovel Magazine. and DC Comics, a division of Time Warner Inc., that post only a few pages online. "All the major publishers put up previews that promote a print comic," said Rosenberg. "We see it like a radio song. You play it for free on the radio and that sells more albums.... We believe the comics market is a model just like that." Altounian ranks as a newcomer to the comics world, having spent his career in tech-related positions at Lynch Entertainment, Time Warner Interactive, and National Geographic Television. Before joining Platinum last year, he served as chairman of XsunX Inc. and on the board of early-stage tech firms Machine Talker and Cereplast. Last month he invested $1 million of his own money for an equity stake in Platform. "As a serial entrepreneur Serial entrepreneur Business person that successfully starts (does not kill) a number of different businesses. , I looked at the content and the digital media market for entertainment as a whole. I saw a lot of repurposing of existing material," Altounian said. "A TV show airs and the next day you can see it online or on an iPod. But no one was generating original content for these outlets." In contrast, Rosenberg has a long history with independent comics. In 1992, as founder of Malibu Comics, he engineered a deal that allowed seven top Marvel artists--including legends like Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee--to go independent and create Image Comics. Soon Image books like "Spawn" and "Young blood" broke records by selling more than I million copies per issue. In 1997, the same year that Sony released the first "Men in Black" movie, Rosenberg founded Platinum Studios. The company now controls a library of 3,800 characters, mostly from small publishers. The highest-profile characters available digitally include Barry Ween, a vulgar child prodigy Noun 1. child prodigy - a prodigy whose talents are recognized at an early age; "Mozart was a child prodigy" infant prodigy, wonder child child, kid, minor, nipper, tiddler, youngster, tike, shaver, small fry, nestling, fry, tyke - a young person of either created by former MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. star Judd Winick This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. ; fallen angel Avengelyne, created by Liefeld; and tPatrick the Wolf Boy Noun 1. wolf boy - a male person assumed to have been raised by wolves feral man, wild man - a person who is not socialized by Art Baltazar. By centering its strategy on characters rather than a specific medium, Platinum hopes to duplicate its comics-to-film successes in all directions: toys, video gaming, wireless, online and even apparel. "That's where the entertainment industry is going," Altounian predicted. "Our acquisition of DrunkDuck is such a foray. We will take an independent community and infuse in·fuse v. 1. To steep or soak without boiling in order to extract soluble elements or active principles. 2. To introduce a solution into the body through a vein for therapeutic purposes. it with capital to allow these independent folks to capitalize on their creations." BY JOEL RUSSELL Staff Reporter |
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