DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Vuguru LLC, an Internet-content production house launched two years ago by former Walt Disney Co. (DIS) Chief Executive Michael Eisner, has become a stand-alone company under an investment and distribution deal with Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI).
Eisner is chairman of Vuguru, which plans to increase its annual productions to 30 series a year. Its current shows include the Internet hit series "Prom Queen." It was Vuguru's first production, a scripted, serialized mystery about the final two months of the high school year leading up to prom night. The next installment of the franchise is forthcoming.
The agreement between Rogers and Eisner's Tornante Co. LLC "ensures that Vuguru will remain at the forefront of the ever-evolving business of original new media content," the companies said. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Rogers executive Claude Galipeau said the partnership will allow Vuguru to program series exclusively for Rogers' customers and advertisers across Rogers' range of channels, including broadband Web mobile and cable video-on-demand. Some 10 to 15 productions are scheduled for 2010, the companies said. Rogers and Vuguru have also reached a long-term distribution deal for the exclusive Canadian rights to future Vuguru projects.
When Vuguru was launched, Eisner said advertisers were skittish about marketing alongside user-generated content on places like YouTube, where the quality and appropriateness of videos is an unknown. At the time, Eisner said Vuguru's goal was to be "the leader in producing high-quality, story-driven content for the Internet that up until now could only be found in movie theaters or on television." Eisner said his aim was to "create compelling stories" to attract interest from consumers and marketing dollars from advertisers.
Eisner founded Tornante - which means "hairpin turn" in Italian - after he left Disney in 2005.
-By Mike Barris, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2330; mike.barris@dowjones.com