Full Version: South Park Creators Strike Innovative Deal
The Drudge Report is reporting, SOUTH PARK creators strike innovative deal with COMEDY CENTRAL. More details as they become available ...
That's very interesting 
South Park’ Creators Win Ad Sharing in Digital Deal
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 26 — In March, the season premiere of “South Park” began by barging into typically risqué territory, with a squirm-inducing bit about the taboo of using a certain racial epithet.
To Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators and executive producers of “South Park,” Comedy Central’s most lucrative franchise, the clip ought to have been blazing its authorized way around the Internet, its flouting of social norms picking up ad revenue with every set of eyeballs. Instead, the clip was easy to find, but it wasn’t making any money for its rightful owners.
“If I’m overseas and have to get an episode right away,” Mr. Stone lamented, “you literally have to go to an illegal download site.”
Because of the slow entry into the digital realm of Viacom, Comedy Central’s parent, and an almost crippling deal point in Mr. Stone’s and Mr. Parker’s contract, the lewd, rude, crudely animated and mordantly funny series — one that began with a viral video before the term even existed — has barely had a presence as an avalanche of user-generated entertainment hit the Web. Meanwhile, sites like YouTube met the demand for free “South Park” clips without paying for the privilege.
Now, however, Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker and their bosses at Comedy Central, a unit of Viacom’s MTV Networks, are attempting to leapfrog to the vanguard of Hollywood’s transition into Web. In a joint venture that involves millions in up-front cash and a 50-50 split of ad revenues, the network and the two creative partners have agreed to create a hub to spread “South Park”-related material across the Net, mobile platforms, and video games.
The deal, signed Friday, begins with a three-year extension of the show and its creators’ contracts through a 15th season, in the year 2011, and gives Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker sizable raises, both in their salaries and in their guaranteed advances against back-end profits from DVDs, merchandising, syndication and international sales.
It also creates an entity called SouthParkStudios.com, to be housed in the show’s animation studio in Culver City, Calif., that is intended to be an incubator not only for new applications for characters the likes of Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny, but for new comedy concepts that could one day mature into TV series of their own.
All told, people involved in the deal confirm that it is worth some $75 million to Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone over the next four years. But what is likely to draw the most attention in Hollywood is not the richness of the pact, but the network’s willingness to share its advertising revenue.
Television networks have long maintained a wall between ad revenue and the compensation they pay the talent. As recently as 2000, Leslie Moonves of CBS erupted upon realizing that Mark Burnett, the creator of “Survivor,” had been given a share of revenue from its first season — saying this was tantamount to letting the inmates run the asylum — and a new deal gave Mr. Burnett a much bigger license fee instead.
Doug Herzog, president of MTV Networks Entertainment, acknowledged that the 50-50 digital deal, which was approved by Philippe P. Dauman, Viacom’s chief, would set a precedent. “If this is seen as a bold stroke, all the better, because it’s going to take bold thinking to move ahead,” he said. But he said it was justified by the “South Park” team’s stellar track record and by the changing balance of power between the buyers and creators of entertainment.
“The landscape has shifted dramatically,” Mr. Herzog said. “The way of the Web seems to be, there’s a very low barrier to entry, so you don’t need, necessarily, a major media company to be in business, or a movie studio, or whatever it is — you just need to be able to set up shop and go. You’re seeing a lot of guys doing this, funnyordie.com being the best example.” (Funnyordie.com was started this year by the comic actor Will Ferrell and his production partner, Adam McKay.)
Adding to the likely interest in the revenue-sharing pact is that digital income is one of the key issues confronting negotiators for the Hollywood studios and the guilds representing writers, directors and actors, who want to ensure they are compensated fairly for their work for the Web, mobile devices and other technologies still in their infancy.
“Talent will look at this and say, ‘Why not us?’ ” said Warren Littlefield, a television producer and former president of NBC Entertainment. “Unfortunately, what you’ll probably find is the response is, ‘We’ll tell you why not you: because you haven’t achieved what they’ve achieved.’ This is based upon a decade of proven success; it’s not a deal that’s made on the come, it’s not a deal made with an established creator who’s about to create something new. It’s 10 years in.”
Few shows are as important to a network as “South Park” is to Comedy Central. “It put us on the map,” said Mr. Herzog, who commissioned it in 1997 when the channel was still in its infancy. Its huge popularity, particularly with young males, fueled the channel’s growth, and he credits the show with inspiring a boom in original programming on basic cable networks.
“South Park” is still the network’s highest-rated with an average of three million viewers for first-run episodes, and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars from DVDs and other types of merchandising. It reaped a record $100 million in 2003 from one of the earliest successful broadcast syndications of a cable show.
But even Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone would most likely not have been able to negotiate their new joint venture had they not years ago inserted into their contract what has proved to be a killer deal point. Comedy Central’s boilerplate reserved to the network any income generated by the show through other network divisions. But the pair’s lawyer, Kevin Morris, insisted that any “South Park” revenue not derived specifically from broadcast on the cable channel would go into the pot for calculating the men’s share of back-end profits.
This was meaningless at first, but it has taken on huge significance of late, Mr. Morris said. As Viacom struggled to change into a digitally nimble media company — making a failed bid for MySpace in 2005, suing Google and YouTube this year, and striking a retaliatory deal with Joost — the exploitation of “South Park” was subject to this nettlesome requirement. It was thus no coincidence that “South Park” was not part of the Joost deal.
Both the show’s creators and the network, therefore, stood to gain if it became easier to sell the show digitally. The brainstorming that led to Friday’s deal began a year ago in Mr. Morris’s office when Mr. Herzog proposed creating a digital animation studio led by Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker along the lines of a similar one at Nickelodeon.
The “South Park” partners now spend only about 20 weeks a year making the series, leaving plenty of time for creating or mentoring new projects. “Anything we get out of it is icing on the cake,” Mr. Herzog said.
Mr. Morris said the deal would show tech companies venturing into entertainment on the cheap that they will have to pay well for top talent, while pointing the way for Hollywood studios going digital as they compete with companies like Google and Apple.
His clients, meanwhile, said it would give them the freedom to act quickly and decisively in seizing new digital opportunities.
Mr. Stone, speaking by phone from Istanbul, added that he and Mr. Parker were particularly glad to be taking an ownership stake in their main life’s work.
“The idea that we’re getting a little piece of it back — and in five years we’ll probably be going to court and fighting about it — but in ownership terms, that’s kind of an amazing thing,” he said. “People always ask us, ‘You own it, right? No? Why’d you sign that deal?’ And I have to say, ‘Because I was sleeping on my friend’s couch.’ ”
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 26 — In March, the season premiere of “South Park” began by barging into typically risqué territory, with a squirm-inducing bit about the taboo of using a certain racial epithet.
To Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators and executive producers of “South Park,” Comedy Central’s most lucrative franchise, the clip ought to have been blazing its authorized way around the Internet, its flouting of social norms picking up ad revenue with every set of eyeballs. Instead, the clip was easy to find, but it wasn’t making any money for its rightful owners.
“If I’m overseas and have to get an episode right away,” Mr. Stone lamented, “you literally have to go to an illegal download site.”
Because of the slow entry into the digital realm of Viacom, Comedy Central’s parent, and an almost crippling deal point in Mr. Stone’s and Mr. Parker’s contract, the lewd, rude, crudely animated and mordantly funny series — one that began with a viral video before the term even existed — has barely had a presence as an avalanche of user-generated entertainment hit the Web. Meanwhile, sites like YouTube met the demand for free “South Park” clips without paying for the privilege.
Now, however, Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker and their bosses at Comedy Central, a unit of Viacom’s MTV Networks, are attempting to leapfrog to the vanguard of Hollywood’s transition into Web. In a joint venture that involves millions in up-front cash and a 50-50 split of ad revenues, the network and the two creative partners have agreed to create a hub to spread “South Park”-related material across the Net, mobile platforms, and video games.
The deal, signed Friday, begins with a three-year extension of the show and its creators’ contracts through a 15th season, in the year 2011, and gives Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker sizable raises, both in their salaries and in their guaranteed advances against back-end profits from DVDs, merchandising, syndication and international sales.
It also creates an entity called SouthParkStudios.com, to be housed in the show’s animation studio in Culver City, Calif., that is intended to be an incubator not only for new applications for characters the likes of Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny, but for new comedy concepts that could one day mature into TV series of their own.
All told, people involved in the deal confirm that it is worth some $75 million to Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone over the next four years. But what is likely to draw the most attention in Hollywood is not the richness of the pact, but the network’s willingness to share its advertising revenue.
Television networks have long maintained a wall between ad revenue and the compensation they pay the talent. As recently as 2000, Leslie Moonves of CBS erupted upon realizing that Mark Burnett, the creator of “Survivor,” had been given a share of revenue from its first season — saying this was tantamount to letting the inmates run the asylum — and a new deal gave Mr. Burnett a much bigger license fee instead.
Doug Herzog, president of MTV Networks Entertainment, acknowledged that the 50-50 digital deal, which was approved by Philippe P. Dauman, Viacom’s chief, would set a precedent. “If this is seen as a bold stroke, all the better, because it’s going to take bold thinking to move ahead,” he said. But he said it was justified by the “South Park” team’s stellar track record and by the changing balance of power between the buyers and creators of entertainment.
“The landscape has shifted dramatically,” Mr. Herzog said. “The way of the Web seems to be, there’s a very low barrier to entry, so you don’t need, necessarily, a major media company to be in business, or a movie studio, or whatever it is — you just need to be able to set up shop and go. You’re seeing a lot of guys doing this, funnyordie.com being the best example.” (Funnyordie.com was started this year by the comic actor Will Ferrell and his production partner, Adam McKay.)
Adding to the likely interest in the revenue-sharing pact is that digital income is one of the key issues confronting negotiators for the Hollywood studios and the guilds representing writers, directors and actors, who want to ensure they are compensated fairly for their work for the Web, mobile devices and other technologies still in their infancy.
“Talent will look at this and say, ‘Why not us?’ ” said Warren Littlefield, a television producer and former president of NBC Entertainment. “Unfortunately, what you’ll probably find is the response is, ‘We’ll tell you why not you: because you haven’t achieved what they’ve achieved.’ This is based upon a decade of proven success; it’s not a deal that’s made on the come, it’s not a deal made with an established creator who’s about to create something new. It’s 10 years in.”
Few shows are as important to a network as “South Park” is to Comedy Central. “It put us on the map,” said Mr. Herzog, who commissioned it in 1997 when the channel was still in its infancy. Its huge popularity, particularly with young males, fueled the channel’s growth, and he credits the show with inspiring a boom in original programming on basic cable networks.
“South Park” is still the network’s highest-rated with an average of three million viewers for first-run episodes, and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars from DVDs and other types of merchandising. It reaped a record $100 million in 2003 from one of the earliest successful broadcast syndications of a cable show.
But even Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone would most likely not have been able to negotiate their new joint venture had they not years ago inserted into their contract what has proved to be a killer deal point. Comedy Central’s boilerplate reserved to the network any income generated by the show through other network divisions. But the pair’s lawyer, Kevin Morris, insisted that any “South Park” revenue not derived specifically from broadcast on the cable channel would go into the pot for calculating the men’s share of back-end profits.
This was meaningless at first, but it has taken on huge significance of late, Mr. Morris said. As Viacom struggled to change into a digitally nimble media company — making a failed bid for MySpace in 2005, suing Google and YouTube this year, and striking a retaliatory deal with Joost — the exploitation of “South Park” was subject to this nettlesome requirement. It was thus no coincidence that “South Park” was not part of the Joost deal.
Both the show’s creators and the network, therefore, stood to gain if it became easier to sell the show digitally. The brainstorming that led to Friday’s deal began a year ago in Mr. Morris’s office when Mr. Herzog proposed creating a digital animation studio led by Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker along the lines of a similar one at Nickelodeon.
The “South Park” partners now spend only about 20 weeks a year making the series, leaving plenty of time for creating or mentoring new projects. “Anything we get out of it is icing on the cake,” Mr. Herzog said.
Mr. Morris said the deal would show tech companies venturing into entertainment on the cheap that they will have to pay well for top talent, while pointing the way for Hollywood studios going digital as they compete with companies like Google and Apple.
His clients, meanwhile, said it would give them the freedom to act quickly and decisively in seizing new digital opportunities.
Mr. Stone, speaking by phone from Istanbul, added that he and Mr. Parker were particularly glad to be taking an ownership stake in their main life’s work.
“The idea that we’re getting a little piece of it back — and in five years we’ll probably be going to court and fighting about it — but in ownership terms, that’s kind of an amazing thing,” he said. “People always ask us, ‘You own it, right? No? Why’d you sign that deal?’ And I have to say, ‘Because I was sleeping on my friend’s couch.’ ”
Three year contract extension! Best news I heard all week. Wow I'm so stocked new episodes of South Park until 2011.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT! Is this true? A contract renewal? I'm losing my fucking mind. GAHHHHH!!! I'm so excited! I'm...I'm...I'm speechless!!
Killer. Will that raise the episode count past 200?
QUOTE(southparkpike @ Aug 26 2007, 11:56 PM)
Killer. Will that raise the episode count past 200?
Yep.
The big 200 will probably come in season 14. I know that's a couple years away, but I'm already excited for it!
That's great. Congrats to them. Perfect example of good karma comin back around.
I was hoping they would keep going past the 12th season. I can never get enough of Eric Cartman.
It's awesome news! I can't wait to see what they will come up with over the next 4 1/2 years.
QUOTE(Cannibal Lover @ Aug 26 2007, 11:57 PM)
It's awesome news! I can't wait to see what they will come up with over the next 4 1/2 years.
Me too. I have been hoping to work at South Park after graduation but I as afraid they would be off the hair but I was afraid they would be off the air before I walked...now I know they won't.
Till season 15? Is this confirmed? Because that is awesome news!
If it hits a major paper like the New York Times, I'm pretty sure it's confirmed.
OMFG 
That's just fabulous!
... but it's kinda scary too.... in a way, now they ough to keep on doing the show, no matter how much they run out of ideas or not. I mean, I love it that there's still no end in sight for South Park but how can anyone think such a long time ahead - 2011? That's such a long time, god only knows where the show will end up going by that time. I mean, just think how different it's NOW than 5 years ago!
What makes me worried is what Trey said in one of those 10th season interviews when asked if there was an end in sight for South Park.
- God, I hope so!
I just hope they won't sell out in the end or end up fucking it up somehow
Please don't kill me for saying this... Isn't anyone else skeptical at all?
That's just fabulous!... but it's kinda scary too.... in a way, now they ough to keep on doing the show, no matter how much they run out of ideas or not. I mean, I love it that there's still no end in sight for South Park but how can anyone think such a long time ahead - 2011? That's such a long time, god only knows where the show will end up going by that time. I mean, just think how different it's NOW than 5 years ago!
What makes me worried is what Trey said in one of those 10th season interviews when asked if there was an end in sight for South Park.
- God, I hope so!
I just hope they won't sell out in the end or end up fucking it up somehow
Please don't kill me for saying this... Isn't anyone else skeptical at all?
Fuck, this is awesome news. =]
Fuck yeah, now they could easily slide up another grade, like I've always hoped they would. It's about time to get outta 4th!!!
Wow, they, and their lawyer, are some smart cookies. Fucking rolling in the dough, my amigos...
They should give me a million for being so stoked on their good fortunes!!!
Wow, they, and their lawyer, are some smart cookies. Fucking rolling in the dough, my amigos...
They should give me a million for being so stoked on their good fortunes!!!
I'm still kind of confused about what the article meant. What do they mean by digital and whatnot?
There's some news at SPS that answers that question.
So Matt and Trey will actually be producing new South Park-related digital content, as well as other potential animated shows (similar to how Lil' Bush started out on a mobile phone service, I guess). Also notice that in the article Matt complained about having to go to illegal download sites to get the show. Sounds to me like they might be offering full episode downloads through SPS eventually.
QUOTE
Hey Fans!
If you haven't read the new article in the New York Times about the future of South Park and its digital media presence, check it out here.
This is really exciting news for the show's creators, since it ensures that all of the digital media stemming from the show will be produced under the Studio's watchful eye and not just licensed out, but it is also excellent for the fans and contributors to southparkstudios.com, because an even more comprehensive presence will continue to grow around the show online. While this might mean some changes to the site over the next year, they will enhance your experience, so stay tuned!
And now, a word from Matt Stone:
"Three more years of South Park gives us the opportunity to offend that many more people. And since Trey and I are in charge of the digital side of South Park for the first time, now we can offend people on their cell phones, game consoles, and computers too. It's all very exciting for us."
- Matt Stone, August 27, 2007
If you haven't read the new article in the New York Times about the future of South Park and its digital media presence, check it out here.
This is really exciting news for the show's creators, since it ensures that all of the digital media stemming from the show will be produced under the Studio's watchful eye and not just licensed out, but it is also excellent for the fans and contributors to southparkstudios.com, because an even more comprehensive presence will continue to grow around the show online. While this might mean some changes to the site over the next year, they will enhance your experience, so stay tuned!
And now, a word from Matt Stone:
"Three more years of South Park gives us the opportunity to offend that many more people. And since Trey and I are in charge of the digital side of South Park for the first time, now we can offend people on their cell phones, game consoles, and computers too. It's all very exciting for us."
- Matt Stone, August 27, 2007
So Matt and Trey will actually be producing new South Park-related digital content, as well as other potential animated shows (similar to how Lil' Bush started out on a mobile phone service, I guess). Also notice that in the article Matt complained about having to go to illegal download sites to get the show. Sounds to me like they might be offering full episode downloads through SPS eventually.
They should stop commenting and start writing.
QUOTE(Fry @ Aug 28 2007, 05:16 AM)
They should stop commenting and start writing.
They like to procrastinate.
And hey, why stop the gravy train if you're being paid to procrastinate?
QUOTE(Cannibal Lover @ Aug 28 2007, 02:16 AM)
Sounds to me like they might be offering full episode downloads through SPS eventually.
If they do so, I expect that the downloads wouldn't be free, if it was an a South Park's official website. And if they start to offer episode downloads there for a cost, I'd find it a bit hypocrite thing to do, since they have stood up for the illegal downloads since the beginning..
QUOTE(tuhinal @ Aug 28 2007, 07:12 AM)
QUOTE(Cannibal Lover @ Aug 28 2007, 02:16 AM)
Sounds to me like they might be offering full episode downloads through SPS eventually.
If they do so, I expect that the downloads wouldn't be free, if it was an a South Park's official website. And if they start to offer episode downloads there for a cost, I'd find it a bit hypocrite thing to do, since they have stood up for the illegal downloads since the beginning..
Just because they might start selling episodes doesn't mean they will actively pursing people who download them illegally. But you have to remember that this is a business and they have a right to be compensated for what they do.
If they continue with their current 14 episode seasons (which is bullshit), we can expect another 63 episodes! That's 223 in total, with the 200th episode coming in March 2010 during season 14.
QUOTE(Ray @ Aug 28 2007, 03:14 PM)
QUOTE(tuhinal @ Aug 28 2007, 07:12 AM)
QUOTE(Cannibal Lover @ Aug 28 2007, 02:16 AM)
Sounds to me like they might be offering full episode downloads through SPS eventually.
If they do so, I expect that the downloads wouldn't be free, if it was an a South Park's official website. And if they start to offer episode downloads there for a cost, I'd find it a bit hypocrite thing to do, since they have stood up for the illegal downloads since the beginning..
Just because they might start selling episodes doesn't mean they will actively pursing people who download them illegally. But you have to remember that this is a business and they have a right to be compensated for what they do.
it will be so sad if they have to wait a few weeks to get the gold plated shark tank bar.
QUOTE(airmancoop44 @ Aug 28 2007, 10:04 PM)
If they continue with their current 14 episode seasons (which is bullshit), we can expect another 63 episodes! That's 223 in total, with the 200th episode coming in March 2010 during season 14.
I nominate this for Best Post Ever. Too bad the Crappers have long since vanished.
p.s. Less than 20 days til new South Park.
QUOTE(tuhinal @ Aug 28 2007, 08:12 AM)
QUOTE(Cannibal Lover @ Aug 28 2007, 02:16 AM)
Sounds to me like they might be offering full episode downloads through SPS eventually.
If they do so, I expect that the downloads wouldn't be free, if it was an a South Park's official website. And if they start to offer episode downloads there for a cost, I'd find it a bit hypocrite thing to do, since they have stood up for the illegal downloads since the beginning..
You can say they've sold out if Comedy Central's legal department starts sending out C&D letters and enforcing them.
Also, I don't see SPS having a purchased-download section - that may appear at Comedy Central's store or on iTunes.
As I understand it, the idea is exactly for SPS to provide download-able SP (and other future MnT) content from South Park Digital Studios which was formed as part of this venture. Also they could charge for that.
Remember MnT don't own SP but they will own any new digital content they produce. Not CC.
The new SP Digital Studios website will be the hub of that content and other projects MnT plan & produce. It seems MnT are moving more away from film and into digital content.
It's easier, quicker, cheaper to produce, they will fully own it because of the a clause in their 1997 contract which could not have foreseen how the internet and digital content would develop, and they don't have to deal with excruciating movie studios execs or the infuriating MPAA. And they get 50% of all advertising.
The C&D letter could be a reality in the future, esp if content exclusive to SP Digital Studios appears illegally elsewhere. However, as both MnT have said they don't care about those who (illegally) upload and downland SP it would be very silly & stupid of them to suddenly go all Metallica on the people who provide those websites now.
Mr P Kevin Morris and his legal firm may possibly make discreet approaches to existing websites. I also hope they (MnT/SP Digital Studios) make an agreement with YouTube ASAP.
Viacom are behaving like teenagers over that. Most TV companies couldn't see how online content would be so successful so they were very slow to get in on that end. Many major TV corporations have agreed terms with YouTube already but Viacom are still stomping their feet, wanting more money than anyone else and in the mean time missing out in a big way.
More about the brains behind the brains, MnT's lawyer, Kevin Morris here - NYTimes article - Kevin Morris
Remember MnT don't own SP but they will own any new digital content they produce. Not CC.
The new SP Digital Studios website will be the hub of that content and other projects MnT plan & produce. It seems MnT are moving more away from film and into digital content.
It's easier, quicker, cheaper to produce, they will fully own it because of the a clause in their 1997 contract which could not have foreseen how the internet and digital content would develop, and they don't have to deal with excruciating movie studios execs or the infuriating MPAA. And they get 50% of all advertising.
The C&D letter could be a reality in the future, esp if content exclusive to SP Digital Studios appears illegally elsewhere. However, as both MnT have said they don't care about those who (illegally) upload and downland SP it would be very silly & stupid of them to suddenly go all Metallica on the people who provide those websites now.
Mr P Kevin Morris and his legal firm may possibly make discreet approaches to existing websites. I also hope they (MnT/SP Digital Studios) make an agreement with YouTube ASAP.
Viacom are behaving like teenagers over that. Most TV companies couldn't see how online content would be so successful so they were very slow to get in on that end. Many major TV corporations have agreed terms with YouTube already but Viacom are still stomping their feet, wanting more money than anyone else and in the mean time missing out in a big way.
More about the brains behind the brains, MnT's lawyer, Kevin Morris here - NYTimes article - Kevin Morris
.............(less than 2 weeks til new South Park)..............
I'm gonna be moving the day before it starts, how lame is that..
But fortunately just a new house, not another town etc., and we won't change of internet, so I might have it the next day. I strongly hope so anyways..
But fortunately just a new house, not another town etc., and we won't change of internet, so I might have it the next day. I strongly hope so anyways..
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