Disney Goes Native in New Markets

How, and why, Isaiah Mustafa and team did it

(NEWSER) - The Old Spice “ man your man could smell like ” conquered the world with his hilarious commercials —and now he’s taken social media by storm, winning over everyone and everything from Perez Hilton to 4chan. He did it by gathering with a team of experts in Portland and producing 87 personalized YouTube videos on Tuesday and more than 74 yesterday, addressing everyone from Demi Moore to some random guy who wanted Isaiah Mustafa’s Old Spice man to propose for him. More»

Popularity of Slumdog Millionaire made way for successors on TV

(NEWSER) - Bollywood is coming to Hollywood, with more Indian actors and TV shows about Indians and Indian Americans coming to the small screen. The interest in all things Indian “was boiling, hovering there, with the increasing popularity of Indian clothing, food, and Bollywood movies”—and then Slumdog Millionaire came along last year and pushed the growing trend “over the tipping point,” one studio exec tells the Hollywood Reporter . More»

Do you know when you're being sold something?

(NEWSER) - You can tell when you’re watching a commercial, right? Not at all, writes NE Marsden , and that’s a huge problem. A new FTC measure seeks to expose the practice of paid consideration—“stealth advertising” is a better phrase—online by requiring bloggers and marketers to disclose remuneration, but that hasn’t worked too well on TV. You didn’t know producers have to disclose product placement on TV? Exactly. More»

(AP) - The Walt Disney Co. says it is acquiring Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the Disney family. Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Marvel shareholders will receive $30 per share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share they own, Disney reports. More»

(NEWSER) - As recently as 2007, Michael Jackson had a net worth of $236.6 million, the AP reports. But his finances weren’t that simple. Most of his $567.6 million in assets were tied up in property and rights—he had just $668,215 in cash—and his debt totaled $331 million. His largest asset by far was his 50% stake in the Sony/ATV publishing catalog, which includes many Beatles songs and was valued at $390.6 million. More»