The biggest challenge of bringing dead stars like Bob Marley and Prince to life in holograms may not be technological, but legal .
“There are a lot of legal issues involved in bringing back dead celebrities — it’s been very, very complicated,” Bonnie Eskenazi, Entertainment Partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, said Tuesday at TheGrill conference at the Montage Beverly Hills.
“Holograms and bringing back dead celebrities to live with us and be present with us is something that’s all over the news,” said Eskenazi, who is currently working on an open case with the Marley estate for a hologram of the late reggae star.
Fellow panelist Lindsay Conner, partner and Chair in the Media and Entertainment Group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillip, took things a step further and said that markets like China are much more equipped to release something like a hologram — something the U.S. is only just finding legal language for.
“When most of us were growing up, what a theater offered was a chance to see movie on a big screen,” Conner said. “It’s gotten to be so much more than that. [China is] building extremely high quality theaters and a business that’s an enhanced version of that.”
Eskenazi is already ahead of him — just wait until the hologram comes to your house.
“It’s be interesting to see the challenges for theatrical when holograms come to home theater,” she said. “We talk about these holograms playingright in your own living room. I think that’s a hard thing to replicate.”
TheGrill 2016 welcomed a panel of such legal aces to discuss the increasingly nebulous task of structuring deals for talent, studios and other creatives as companies begin to disseminate content across more platforms than ever before.
Eskenazi and Conner were also joined by Nina Shaw, partner at Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein & Lezcano, Schuyler Moore, partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, and Susan Zuckerman Williams, partner at Loeb & Loeb.
Watch the clip above for more.
The Scene at TheGrill 2016: TheWrap's Media Leadership Conference (Photos)
TheWrap's seventh annual media, tech and entertainment conference TheGrill kicks off at the Montage Beverly Hills.
IMAX Entertainment's CEO Greg Foster speaks on the future of moviegoing in theaters, online and overseas.
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Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, joins IMAX Entertainment CEO Greg Foster and STX Entertainment Motion Picture Group Chairman Adam Fogelson to discuss the future of moviegoing.
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Adam Fogelson, Chairman of STX Entertainment Motion Picture Group, Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Entertainment Holdings, and Greg Foster, CEO of IMAX Entertainment, speak with TheWrap's Thom Geier.
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Will Palmer, co-founder and CEO of Movio, and Luke Xiang, Vice President of Beijing Weying Technology speak to TheWrap's Matt Pressberg about online movie ticketing in China.
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Media and guests at the Montage Beverly Hills for TheGrill 2016.
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President and General Manager of BBC America, Sarah Barnett discusses the state of TV.
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David Nevins, the CEO of Showtime Networks, Sarah Barnett, the President and General Manager of BBC America, and John Landgraf, the CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions, join TheWrap's Scott Collins to discuss the state of TV.
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John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions, speaks during TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at Montage Beverly Hills.
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Guests enjoy the Virtual Reality Open Demos at TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at Montage Beverly Hills.
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Lawyer Nina Shaw, partner at Del Shaw Moonves Tanaka Finkelstein and Lezcano, discusses dealmaking in the digital age.
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Schuyler Moore, partner at Stroock and Stroock and Lavan LLP, joins Nina Shaw on stage to speak on deal making in the digital age.
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Bonnie Eskenazi, Entertainment Partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman and Machtinger LLP, and Susan Zuckerman Williams, Partner at Loeb and Loeb, also speak on dealmaking in the digital age.
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Sharon Waxman speaks with Rafi and Benny Fine during lunch TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at the Montage in Beverly Hills.
Andy Howard, partner at Shamrock Capital Advisors, Carlos Jimenez, Managing Partner at Moelis and Company, Andrew Siegel, Executive Vice President at Advance Publications, and Dan Schechter, Managing Director L.E.K Consulting, discuss "What Lies Beyond the $4 Billion Media M&A Move."
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Aric Ackerman, COO of The Cavalry Productions, and Brenda Robinson, partner at Greenburg Glusker, at lunch during TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at the Montage in Beverly Hills.
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VoteBlast's Ardy Falaki speaks during TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at the Montage in Beverly Hills.
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Van Toffler, CEO of Gunpowder & Sky, and Charlie Corwin, CEO of Endemol Shine, speak to Sharon Waxman about the magic of story development.
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Instagram star Chantel Jeffries speaks during the Innovators Panel at TheWrap's 7th Annual TheGrill at the Montage in Beverly Hills.
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Rob Goldberg, CEO and founder of Fresno Inc, speaks at the Innovators Panel.
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Tim Staples, CEO of Shareability, Mark Popkiewicz CEO of Mirriad, internet personality Chantel Jeffries, Mike Hopkins, CEO of Hulu, Rob Goldberg, CEO and founder of Fresno Inc. all speak at the Innovators Panel.
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Entertainment, media and technology converge at TheWrap’s seventh annual Grill Conference at the Montage Beverly Hills
TheWrap's seventh annual media, tech and entertainment conference TheGrill kicks off at the Montage Beverly Hills.