YouTube and the William Morris Agency are nearing a deal that would put the Hollywood talent broker’s clients in made-for-YouTube productions, according to a report in The New York Times.
The YouTube deal would reportedly give William Morris clients an ownership stake in the videos they create for the popular video Web site. William Morris represents the likes of actors Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and producers Michael Bay and J.J. Abrams.
An agreement would give the agency’s clients, which also include musicians and other celebrities, access to at least 100 million viewers, the latest figure comScore offered for YouTube traffic.
“This is inevitable. It’s good for YouTube and good for people who are creating content that can’t find a place on the TV or cable networks,” said Phil Leigh, senior analyst at Inside Digital Media.
Monetizing YouTube Content
The Times cited anonymous sources who were not authorized to speak about the deal publicly. Those sources called the reported deal with the William Morris Agency YouTube’s most far-reaching agreement yet to add professionally produced videos to the site. Most of the videos are user-generated.
The William Morris Agency and YouTube could not immediately be reached for comment. But the Times quoted Fred Davis, a senior partner at entertainment law firm Davis, Shapiro, Lewit & Hayes, as saying that the deal may include traditional media talent looking to expand into Web properties.
“Although everyone realizes that the monetization of this content is not quite there yet, everyone also realizes the huge potential as the digital media business matures,” Davis told the Times.
Davis pegged YouTube’s prime motivator: Monetizing content at its high-traffic video portal. The Google-owned company has attempted to generate revenue streams from advertising on the site, but most of the content is user-generated and the revenues have not reached what YouTube sees as the site’s potential. To…