Manatt Digital Media's February Newsletter Is Out -- The Month's Most Important Deals

February Newsletter: 2015 Predictions - 30 Day Scorecard Top 10 Digital Media Predictions for 2015—30-Day Scorecard (or, “One Year in One Month!”)  Amazon-ics—The Tech Giant’s New Hollywood Math Oculus’ LOST VR Cinematic XP Debuts – Its Pixar Luxo Jr. Moment? More Media in Social Media January 2015’s strategic movement in the digital media business already seems like a full year squeezed into one month. In this edition of our MDM newsletter, we walk you through some of those major developments that set the stage for ever-bigger and transformative changes in the coming months. Let’s start with a scorecard/recap of our Top 10 Digital Media Predictions for the Year matched against relevant significant developments in January—and then drill down more deeply from there. Top 10 Digital Media Predictions for 2015—30-Day Scorecard (or, “One Year in One Month!”)  By Peter Csathy One month ago, TechCrunch posted several of my predictions for the digital media world in 2015 in an article titled The Future of Digital Media in 2015. I then expanded upon that article here to give my very own Top 10 Digital Media Predictions for 2015. Although we are officially only one month into this brave new year of digital media, many of the predictions are already coming true . . . and in a very big way. Read more Amazon-ics—The Tech Giant’s New Hollywood Math By Peter Csathy Amazon is the new kid on the theatrical motion picture block, having just announced its Hollywood studiolike motion picture ambitions to produce roughly 12 films per year (at very indielike budgets of $5-$25 million each). Amazon already is a major player in OTT video, of course, with both Amazon Prime (including HBO-like original programming) and its “under-the-radar” stealth YouTube-like short-form video platform, which continues to grow in prominence. Bottom line—Amazon is now a full-fledged media company. After all, it just won its first highly coveted traditional media accolade—a pair of Golden Globes. Read more Oculus’ LOST VR Cinematic XP Debuts – Its Pixar Luxo Jr. Moment? By Peter Csathy This past month may have represented a momentous and landmark day in the annals of cinema. In January, VR powerhouse Oculus premiered its first VR cinema “experience” titled Lost at the Sundance Film Festival. Up to this point, most in media and entertainment have viewed Oculus and its VR technology to be gamer-focused. But, cinematic storytelling — on a wholly immersive new plane — has always been a central part of the plan. And, this past month may have marked that moment in time . . . Read more More Media in Social Media By Mary Ermitanio Competition continues to heat up among the social media giants as they expand their media operations to enhance experience for users and create opportunities for brands and content owners. Last year was a big year for video on Facebook, which ended 2014 with a whopping average of 3 billion videos viewed on its platform daily (including videos autoplayed). Earlier in January, Facebook reported that the number of videos uploaded per person increased 75% over the last year. Although the volume of videos is still lower than that of YouTube’s, video sharing on Facebook is significantly higher. Marketers understand the emotion-inducing impact of videos and see their audiences consume much more online video now than ever. With high video engagement levels on Facebook, some senior industry observers and pundits believe that Facebook now presents a potential real threat to YouTube.  Read more