Mark Cuban & Content Partners Redux

Today, the Wall Street Journal follows up with maverick Mark Cuban, his partner Todd Wagner and their new business Content Partners which buys out the future profit-sharing stakes held by individuals in films and TV programs for upfront cash. It's pretty much the same info that appeared in Cynthia Littleton's Variety story from May (and as Hollywood Wiretap so aptly put, a variation on the old "check cashing" biz, but nevertheless, another innovative business from Cuban). From the WSJ:

What if there was a way to invest in the future movie earnings of Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie? What kind of risk would they represent? And what would be their biggest source of income in 10 years time -- DVD sales, television airings or Internet downloads?

Those are the kind of questions being asked these days by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of professional basketball's Dallas Mavericks. The business partners are backing Content Partners LLC, a new Los Angeles firm attempting to corner a market in buying actors, directors and producers out of what are known as "profit participation" deals on movies and TV shows.

These profit-sharing deals typically promise such participants a percentage of a project's revenue or profit from the box office or DVD sales.

In the Content Partners proposal, the Hollywood figures will trade the right to all or part of such future earnings for a lump sum of cash now. Then, Content Partners -- whose chief executive is Steven Kram, a former executive at the William Morris talent agency -- deals with collecting the revenue stream.