The Boeing Company has retained the Hollywood talent and literary agency CAA (Creative Artists Agency) for consulting services for the launch of Boeing Digital Cinema, its ambitious network, which will be used to transmit first-run movies and alternative programming via satellite and fiber-optic network.
CAA will counsel Boeing on the business strategy and marketing of the network, while Boeing will look to CAA for guidance on content programming, price structuring and alliance building.
“Distributors, filmmakers and exhibitors recognise that digital delivery promises extraordinary economic advantages, unprecedented flexibility and consistently sharp images,” said Frank Stirling, executive director of Boeing Digital Cinema, in a statement. “Our technological expertise and CAA’s central position within the entertainment community allow us to jointly plot a course that addresses the differing demands of studios, exhibitors, filmmakers, print labs and consumers.”
Boeing Digital Cinema is a service that provides secure end-to-end transmission using the same technology employed by Boeing to deliver national security information for the US Air Force, and also best-value technologies deployed in Boeing commercial satellites. From encryption upon receipt of content, to decryption at designated theatres, end-to-end multi-layered security ensures protection at each step of the process.
CAA also provides consulting services for technology companies including Motorola; Hughes Network Systems, NeTune, a satellite-based broadband service for mobile production environments; The Orphanage, a fully integrated digital studio; and TiVo.
CAA seems to be persistent in winning over many deals where they can work their magic to achieve lucrative deals. This can be seen in when they recruit for movie stars, buying out smaller profitable talent agencies and having the ability to negotiate deals that links the major corporations to the film industry. To top it off, in this gloomy economic downturn, CAA has quietly extended its reach into the financing arena on a range of media and showbiz ventures pulled together through a partnership with a group of former Merrill Lynch bankers. This investment deal is to be rumoured to be worth around $80 million.
Even when the likes of the William Morris and Endeavour agencies join forces to battle the recession, we are still seeing that CAA has the ability to capture private equity deals. By various acquisitions and new deals, it can leave CAA’s investors, clients and staff feeling safe about the security of the companies finances and their own futures in what seems to be a never ending recession.
However, questions can still be raised…
- Will CAA’s rapid growth rate be a future pitfall?
- Will CAA go from strength to even more strength, not only in Hollywood but the world?
- Does CAA have the ability to build newer strategies to be a one-stop global talent agency?