Tuesday, February 3, 1998
Industry faces challenges of expansion
LAW SCHOOL Effects of deregulation, lack of funds core of
issue
By Katie Sierra
Daily Bruin Contributor
Students and professionals from the law and entertainment
industries gathered to discuss alternative forms of financing, the
effects of FCC regulations and the growing concern with impersonal
investors, during the 22nd annual Entertainment Symposium on Friday
and Saturday.
Peter Bart, vice president and editor in chief of Variety,
delivered the keynote address which focused on the growing belief –
"bigger is better."
In today’s fast-growing entertainment industry, people are
starting to lose track of what’s really important, Bart said.
Managers and investors focus on how much money they can make and
tend to neglect their other duties.
"Industry is getting too big and impersonal. Managers are out
for themselves, not others," Bart said.
Many students attending this symposium were interested in
learning more about financing films. Films can be financed by bank
lending and private investors.
It’s hard to get started when big investors refuse to take
chances, said Jennie Frankel, a fourth-year economics student at
Claremont McKenna.
"From this symposium, I’m getting a clear understanding of how
financing is set up and it’s nice to hear from people who are
actually doing it," Frankel said.
Mark Manson, principal and vice president of Luftkin and
Jenrette, encouraged newcomers to keep looking for opportunities.
He said that there is a large amount of money in the private sector
that is not tapped into.
"People want to be involved with Hollywood, it’s just very
sexy," Manson said.
Panelists at the symposium ranged from former presidents of
television networks to large investment bankers who specialize in
financing motion pictures. Gary Stiffelman, chairman of the
entertainment symposium, claimed attendees should be able to draw a
better understanding of all aspects of the entertainment
industry.
"One (of the reasons to attend this symposium) is to meet and
mingle with practitioners in fields that they might one day wish to
participate in," Stiffelman claims.
Many of the panelists were pessimistic about the future of the
entertainment industry. They claimed that new laws and regulations
would be debilitating.
Recently, the FCC has been debating about whether or not to
force cable companies to sell their stations individually to the
consumer, instead of the package deal that they use now.
Ken Ziffren of law firm Ziffren, Brittenbam, Branca and Fisher
estimates that this could cause a minimum of a 70 percent loss in
viewers.
Rita Chang, a financial analyst for Disney, agreed with the
panelists.
"There’s so much concern about where this industry is going,
about the fact that production costs are going sky high and
advertising/promotion costs are so high," she said.
"The industry is really unpredictable and you almost have to be
lucky," Chang said.
Despite the pessimism, attendees still claimed to have gotten a
lot out of the symposium. The variety of topics and speakers
contributed to a better understanding of the entertainment
industry, Chang claimed.
"I think that people want to be involved in production. If you
want to stay with the big studio and really get further, you have
to be able to think about all these things," Chang said.
HILARY DOUGLAS
Gerald Cromack and Loring Guessous speak as members of the Wall
Street Panel for the Law School’s entertainment symposium. They
were among several speakers ranging from former presidents of
television networks to large investment bankers.