YouTube Rumoured to be Close to Inking Hollywood Deal

It’s looking like YouTube is about to be made a star. YouTube is this close to signing a contract with the William Morris Agency which would give the company’s clients another screen to be on – the really small screen: made-for-the-Web productions.

Much like the music industry underwent changes to the distribution model when the dust settled and the internet became such a powerful force for music; this deal will underscore the ways the distribution models for television and movies on the internet.

There’s several actors and other celebrities are creating their own content for the internet, avoiding the red tape involved in developing a show for a network. Not only will the distribution change, WM clients will get an ownership stake in the videos they create for YouTube; something that television networks don’t offer.

So far, reps from both sides declined to comment when the New York Times asked to get one for their article. Two people who are close to the deal spoke to Brian Stetler on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the deal, described the arrangement as “YouTube’s most sweeping attempt to date to add professionally produced videos to its Web site”.  [source]

Even better, including celebrity videos on YouTube would solve the niggling problem Google has about how to make some cash from the bazillions of videos they host for free.

By signing a deal with a talent agency, YouTube is shouting pretty loudly that they want to be the next destination for Hollywood content. That concert they sponsored in November, YouTube Live, said exactly the same thing.

I guess we’ll see what happens when the deal’s finally done and the ink on the contract dries.