Wednesday, January 25, 2006
The Disney/Pixar Deal: Can Steve Jobs Change Hollywood?
byIt really happened. Disney has bought Pixar and made Steve Jobs a richer man than he already was and put him on the board of one of the largest Hollywood content companies there are. The first videos that Apple sold for its new video iPods were from Disney and Disney-owned companies, the fact that Jobs was able to make those deals had to be in some small part due to the relationship he had with them through years of distributing movies like Toy Story and Finding Nemo.
Disney’s CEO Robert Iger seems to be willing to embrace a new digital Hollywood, it was only twelve days into his new job as CEO that the iTunes deal was announced. With Jobs on the board, he will also be the single largest single stockholder in Disney, will the two of them be able to make significant changes in how Hollywood views digital distribution and everything that goes with it.
My hope is that they present a well-thought out plan sooner than later to leverage the new relationship. Together there will be quite a bit of power they can hold on the future of how people can view the content they pay for, but will it be enough to really make a difference? Being that Apple and Disney have already shown they can move fast and think ahead, I think this could be one of the best things to happen in a long time in Hollywood.
Of course Mickey Mouse branded iPods won’t be so bad either!
