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  • From: Serena Fenton <fents AT metalab.unc.edu>
  • To: InterNetWorkers <internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Zoom in News& Observer
  • Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 08:15:00 -0500


The article can be reached (briefly) online at:
http://www.newsobserver.com/thursday/business/technology/Story/311718p-309458c.html
Then it goes into their archives-of-no-return. Full text is below:
____________________________________________________
Published: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 5:22 a.m. EST

Jump cut for joy: Zoom gets a shot at the big time

By DAVID RANII, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL -- Zoom Culture's strategy of expanding from the dot-com world to
the TV
universe has scored its first success: a deal with the Fox Sports Net cable
network.

In April the cable network will air four episodes of "Playground Earth," a
half-hour of
short film clips featuring extreme sports such as rock-climbing, produced by
some of Zoom
Culture's more than 200 student videographers and independent film makers.

The network also has the right of first refusal to air additional episodes.

The deal is the equivalent of a major-league baseball scout discovering a new
talent and
signing him up for a tryout in the big leagues.

"This is proving out the [business] model, which is important for every
company," said
venture capitalist Mitch Mumma of Durham-based Intersouth Partners.
Intersouth is an
investor in Zoom Culture, which is based in Chapel Hill, and Mumma is on the
company's
board of directors.

Martin Lafferty, Zoom's president and chief executive officer, says the Fox
deal is the
first of three distribution deals that Zoom Culture has signed with cable
channels -- but
the only one it is ready to announce.

The other deals involve the programs "Undiscovered Genius," a compilation of
mini-portraits
of people who aren't famous but who do extraordinary things; and "Hip-Hop
Nation," which
explores contemporary urban culture. (Samples of these shows, plus
"Playground Earth" and a
fourth show under development, can be found at ZoomCulture's Web site,
http://www.zc.tv).

Zoom Culture started out offering its programming on its own and other Web
sites, but last
year the 50-employee company recruited Lafferty to take the company where the
money is --
television. Lafferty has worked at both NBC and Turner Broadcasting.

Zoom Culture will receive a combination of a cash payment and a slice of the
advertising
dollars sold by Fox Sports Net, said Lafferty. The cable network encompasses
10
owned-and-operated cable stations and 11 affiliated stations nationwide that
focus mostly
on regional sports programming.

But all 21 stations, which includes Home Team Sports locally, will have
access to
"Playground Earth," which will air for four consecutive Wednesdays at 3:30
p.m. beginning
April 4. More than 71 million households receive Fox Sports Net.

"We are always looking for new and exciting programs, and Zoom Culture was a
good fit,"
said Fox spokesman Greg Phillips.

Whether Fox opts for more than four programs will depend mostly on the size
of the audience
"Playground Earth" attracts and whether the trend during the four weeks is
upward or
downward, Lafferty said.

"This is a first date," he said. "Let's get started and see how it goes."

Most of the army of college students and recent college graduates who produce
2-to-4-minute
videos for Zoom Culture's programs are aspiring film makers or journalists
who have been
through a four-week training program and are outfitted with digital cameras
and other
equipment supplied by the company.

Although they are compensated for their work -- $100 per segment used, plus a
piece of any
syndication revenue -- the costs of producing a show are dramatically lower
than the
Hollywood norm.

Staff writer David Ranii can be reached at 829-4877 or dranii AT nando.com



© Copyright 2000, The News & Observer. All material found on newsobserver.com
is
copyrighted The News & Observer and associated news services. No material may
be reproduced
or reused without explicit permission from The News & Observer.


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Serena Fenton

fents AT ibiblio.org
linux archivist -----> http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/
ibiblio collections manager ---> http://www.ibiblio.org/collection

¤ º ° ` ° º ¤ ø , ¸ ¸ , ø ¤ º ° ` ° º ¤ ø ¤ º ° ` ° º ¤ ø , ¸ ¸ , ø ¤





  • Zoom in News& Observer, Serena Fenton, 02/22/2001

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