Apple to join tech wave sweeping over Hollywood

Los Angeles CNN Business — The history of Hollywood has been punctuated by infusions of new money and players looking to get into show business. Yet the latest wave of tech giants muscling in on the content game invites new questions about how studios will adapt – and whether the new blood reflects a boon to them or an existential threat. Indeed, a 1990 Los Angeles Times story captured the anxiety of that moment – and seemingly foreshadowed this one – with a sub-headline that read, “Hollywood’s Brave New World : A revolution in entertainment technology is coming, and the Japanese electronics giants buying up Hollywood are leading it.” Sony still owns Columbia Pictures, while Universal has turned over three times to international entities – first acquired by the Japanese company Matsushita, followed by the then-Canadian beverage company Seagram and the French water utility and media conglomerate Vivendi. When Matsushita agreed to acquire Universal in 1990, Variety ran a headline in Japanese that read, “Buyer beware.” The warning turned out to be rather prophetic, as then-Variety editor Peter Bart noted in a column a decade later amid a new wave of overseas investment, writing, “The Europeans have had as many problems as the Japanese in trying to get on Hollywood’s wavelength.” For their part, the studios are seeking to control their own destinies, which explains Disney’s decision to bulk up through its acquisition of most Fox entertainment assets, which closed this week. It’s too soon to clearly determine whether the tech giants will succeed or become the latest to discover that succeeding in “show business” – however glamorous the industry might appear – isn’t as easy as it looks.