Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to get involved in some projects with the entertainment industry that has helped me develop some great relationships and contacts in that industry. One of the primary reasons I have willingly immersed myself in these projects is because I know how much the technology industry needs Hollywood. Yet the single fact remains that these two industries, technology and entertainment, operate on very different levels. So I embarked on a journey to mingle and develop relationships with people in the entertainment industry who know that industry better then anyone else. My hope is that now that I have a fairly deep understanding of the entertainment industry and how they work and conduct business that I can act as a bit of a middle man between the technology industry and the entertainment industry. The funny thing is I believe only a neutral trusted source can do this and it can’t be any one company acting as the middle person. The reason for this is the constant fear on both sides that the other is trying to rip them off. This is especially true in entertainment; I have never met so many distrusting people in my life. Which is the biggest reason that they all operate by relationships. I have been fortunate enough to develop such relationship with movers and tastemakers as they call them in the entertainment industry. This group is made up of promoters, managers, agents and celebrities themselves. It is my hope that these relationships and myself as a trusted source to both sides can help bridge the gap even if only in the smallest way.
Now the first time I realized this gap was gigantic was when I witnessed Grammy parties from both sides. Intel threw a Grammy party, which I witnessed and Kayne West threw a Grammy party, which I witnessed. To say these parties were distinctly different would be an understatement. After spending some time in the entertainment industry I am convinced that we here in the technology sector don’t throw enough parties. However I truly believe we should not throw any parties without the help of folks, promoters in particular, in the entertainment industry. That being said the entertainment industry throws parties literally all the time. The funny thing is they love having sponsors at these parties. Usually they are fashion and beverage sponsors but the one thing that really peaks celebrities and Hollywood’s attention is technology. I was recently at a party at a mansion in Beverly Hills. It was a party thrown by a PR agency called the House of Hype and they were putting this party on because it was the day before the MTV Movie awards. This party had literally 10-15 sponsors. Mostly made up of fashion, beverage and beauty companies. There were two I would consider somewhat technology centric, VTech and Vivendi video games. Now the intelligent question is why does anyone care to sponsor such an event. The answer is because these parties have many celebrities and tastemakers at them. So they hope to get celebrities interested and in many times give them their products with the hope that they get on TV with them or talk about them etc. Now one thing happened that was interesting. The guy who was throwing the party is a DJ and his name is DJ Skee. Now Skee had the Motorola Q and he had just got it that day. Of course he knew everyone at the party and he never put the Q in his pocket because as the saying goes in Hollywood “You’re only as cool as your cellphone.” Now all though there were tons of fashion and other companies there giving away free stuff what do you think was the most popular item at the whole event. If you guessed the Q then you were right. Mobs of people were always around this guy checking out his phone. There were probably 100 or more people who went home that night and ordered it. I witnessed at least two celebrities get on their phone and call their manager with the order to buy them that phone. Now where was Motorola at this event? Well no one thought to talk to them why because the entertainment industry does not talk to the technology industry. As amazing as it sounds that these folks are obsessed with gadgets and technology the industry at large was absent from this event. That is where I hope to lend a little help given now that I have connections in both sides. Let’s just hope for the sake of consumers we bridge this gap sooner then later.
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