One of my favorite novelists is Robin Cook. He is the pioneer of the medical thriller genre - with perhaps his most well-known title being Coma. In all, he has written 25 NY Times bestsellers.

Now he is moving to the online world. That is, Cook is teaming up with Vuguru, which is Michael Eisner's digital movie studio. Cyber Group Animation is also involved.

Basically, there will be a prequel - on the web and mobile - for Cook's upcoming work, Foreign Body. The debut will be on May 27, 2008. And, yes, I certainly look forward to it.

To get some perspective on all this, I interviewed Chase Norlin, who is the CEO of Pixsy (an online video search company). According to him:

"Perhaps the most notable aspect of this deal is the continued progress of the 'made-for-Internet' programming model, which reflects the inherent cost efficiencies of content production for this medium and the potential for a significant web-wide distribution impact. Tying this into the launch of a new book is a unique Hollywood-esque tie-in that makes a lot of sense."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Robin Cook gets dot-com fever originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Walt Disney Company's (NYSE: DIS) former CEO, Michael Eisner, has been busy lately. His personal investment fund, Tornante, has made a variety of investments in the digital media space. The latest venture: Vuguru.

Basically, it's a studio that produces high-quality content for Web and digital media. Each episode is 90 seconds. And, the business model is based on advertising revenues.

In fact, Vuguru already has a show, called "Prom Queen." There are 90 episodes and distribution will be on Veoh.com, YouTube.com, and ELLEgirl.com.

I had a chance to talk to Chase Norlin, who is the CEO of Pixsy, which is an online video site. According to him:

"This is a really great idea, despite the strange name. The web is revolutionary in that it reduces the cost of access and entry. To date, most efforts have been around CGM (consumer generated management), given the obvious opportunities opened up for consumer content creators. However, there hasn't been a ton of activity around producing quality media content at a fraction of the price it would cost to create a TV show. Smart companies like Heavy.com are getting success here, and I belive Vuguru's entry into this category is very promising if the economics are right."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Michael Eisner gets a studio originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Mar 2007 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.