More A-List Talent Migrating to the Web?

If Will Ferrell's FunnyOrDie.com has shown us anything, it's that audiences now have an appetite for online content from top stars. To feed that need, Brent Weinstein, the former head of United Talent Agency's digital media department and online division, is launching a new company called 60Frames Entertainment, designed to help established talent create content specifically for the web, connecting them with financing, distribution and advertising opportunities. From the NYT:

60Frames, said Mr. Weinstein, will operate independently of United Talent, and expected to do business with clients of other agencies and management companies. According to the executive, the company, which will be based in Beverly Hills, was born of a growing frustration among artists and their representatives at the complexities of doing any online business without an established model for financing and organizing projects.

Weinstein will be leaving UTA, one of the town's top agencies, to be CEO of the new company, which has raised $3.5 million in series A financing from Tudor Investment Group as well as Robert Pittman's Pilot Group (60Frames was incubated and financed by UTA and Internet marketing agency Spot Runner). "We wanted to make it so that artists who are busy with film and TV careers can get in and get out, easily," Mr. Weinstein told Ad Age, adding that "it shouldn't be as hard to make an internet deal as it is to make a film or TV deal."

Initially, 60Frames will focus on shortform comedy material, according to the Hollywood Reporter, and will later branch into other formats such as drama and education (they are also clear in saying they won't be producing any content of their own). They also describe themselves as "distribution agnostic" and will focus on getting content on the best platform, be it media portals, peer-to-peer sites or mobile phones. Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen are the company's first announced clients. Not a bad start, and as UTA is known for its strong comedy roster, I'm sure 60Frames is hoping to get deals going with UTA funnymen Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Judd Apatow, etc. As someone who covered digital Hollywood during the first dotcom boom, I saw a lot of content deals with A-list talent go nowhere (Who remembers Pop.com?). But this time around (mostly because of improvements in technology and the number of available platforms hungry for content), it does seem like we are on the verge of a very different era.