Manatt Digital Media – May Newsletter: The Growth and Evolution of the Digital Economy

Social media, livestreaming, feature films, original programming, virtual reality—these are all areas new to the old world of YouTube, and areas into which digital-first media companies and influencers are quickly expanding into as they evolve their business and content models. In this newsletter, we take you behind the scenes of this evolution and introduce some of the players who are driving change.

The Rise of the Global Digital Content Market—Esprit de Corps at MIP Digital Fronts

By Eunice Shin
Warm weather with a gentle breeze on the French Riviera is pretty fantastic. Add to that a wave of excitement in seeing the growth and potential of the global digital market—and there you have an incredible MIP Digital Front event. Read more

MCNs No More, “MPN” Please! (or, What’s in a “P”?)

By Peter Csathy
As many of you know, we write regularly about MCNs (multi-channel networks). But, just in the past few months—reflecting how fast things are moving in this space—the relevant lexicon has changed. Read more

Digital Influencers, Millennials and the New Rules of Engagement

By Mary Ermitanio
Digital influencers—popular personalities on YouTube, Twitter, Vine, Instagram and other social platforms—are increasingly attracting a large share of the consumer attention pie and are transforming the rules of engagement with Millennials. A survey conducted for Variety last year concluded that YouTube stars were more influential than mainstream celebs among U.S. teens. Read more

5 Questions with New Form Digital SVP JC Cangilla—Exclusive Q&A

By Peter Csathy
New Form Digital, a digital-first studio, was launched with great fanfare almost exactly one year ago by Hollywood legends Ron Howard and Bryan Grazer, who joined forces with Discovery Communications. I recently spent some time with SVP JC Cangilla who runs overall operations, among his many other tasks. Cangilla previously worked as a senior executive in video at Yahoo! and has been a digital dealmaker for years. In a digital video world still dominated by low production values and large doses of serendipity (not necessarily bad traits, by the way), New Form Digital’s approach is very different and, well, a bit more “traditional”—focused on high production values and scripted story-telling—but with digital, mobile and Millennials top of mind. Read more

MDM Spotlight Profile

MDM’s multi-disciplinary team of business consultants, lawyers and venture capitalists provides a unique perspective in addressing the challenges and opportunities our clients face. Eunice Shin leads MDM’s consulting team and advises media, technology and emerging growth companies on business strategy, organizational priorities and business development. Read more