“We’re going to sell our product wherever we think there is an environment that supports and enhances the quality of our brand,” he said.  “Simply put, we have been an exporter to a lot of countries.  We develop it here in the US, and send it over seas.  We want to expand our footprint to not only be an exporter, but to develop content locally.  If you look at Desperate Housewives, for instance, we’ve developed that in 5 different Latin American countries.”

As far as the effect of globalization on Disney jobs, Mayer was quick to say that the company is not an outsourcer.  Disney, he said, will be making local content, locally.  “If we’re making a film in India, for example, we’re not making it there to distribute it globally.  We’re looking to distribute it in India.”

Though Mayer did acknowledge the importance of internet video outlets, he said, “Will forcing the TV experience to the PC resonate with our customers?  That remains to be seen.”  He did say, however, that the company is analyzing a potential relationship with internet TV provider Joost, which recently came to terms with Viacom on a content deal as well.  He cited Joost’s “high quality format” and “excellent management team” as two reasons Disney might be interested in a deal.

Other Comments:

• On the Disney Channel: “We had 80 million views on DisneyChannel.com from June 2006 through February 2007.”

• On cell phone content: “People will watch content on phones.  But you have to think of the short form versus the long form.  We’re not averse to putting our product on cell phones…but ultimately the consumer will let us know if they want short form or long form.”

• On Viacom suing YouTube: “It didn’t surprise us.  Someone was going to do it sooner or later.  But we want to see a resolution in the market rather than in the courts.”

• On User-Generated Content: “We have to be very careful, and very good at filtering.  Until good filtering technology is available at a reasonable cost, we won’t use user-generated videos.  We need to be as careful as we expect third party companies to be.”

• On Using the Internet to Find Talent: “There are some ideas, like contests, that we’re thinking about.  Users can’t post directly, but there are submission formats that allow us to look at their content.”

• On Ad-Supported Movies Online: “We want to go where the consumer wants to go, as long as it’s high quality, so yes, we’re interested in getting into ad-supported online movies.”

• On Digital Delivery of Films to Movie Theaters: “We’re big supporters of it.  Digital 3D is very substantial in this arena.  We think it’s a better consumer experience, and we think the economics work really well.  I think it’s going to be fully deployed fairly rapidly.”

 
Scott Goldberg