Mobilizedtv

Q&A with Michael Jay Solomon, Chair of Getfugu Board

On July 22, Getfugu, a publicly traded company (OTCBB: GFGU) that offers a next-generation search tool for the mobile platform, announced that Michael Jay Solomon, founder and Chairman/CEO of Telepictures Corporation, which is credited with creating TV syndication in the U.S., has been named Chairman of The Board of Getfugu, Inc. Solomon was instrumental in introducing Western programming in China, Russia, India as well as several developing countries and was the first international distributor of the Grammy’s, MTV, and E Entertainment Channel. Founder of the American Film Market Association, Solomon is the largest distributor of Chinese language programming through an exclusive deal with the Shanghai Media Group, having launched eleven TV channels and eleven radio stations outside of China, on the Internet. He has held executive positions at United Artists, MCA/Universal and is Co-Chairman, with David Murdock (Dole Foods) of a TV network focusing on health and wellness, which will debut on January 1, 2010 worldwide.

MobilizedTV spoke with Solomon about the future of mobile and Getfugu’s place in the ecosystem. Read MobilizedTV’s past article on Getfugu here. And here.

MobilizedTV: How were you introduced to Getfugu?

MJS: I have a very good friend who’s an investment banker I’ve worked with for many years. He’s involved with Getfugu from an investment point of view and thought I might be a welcomed addition to Getfugu.

When did mobile as a distribution platform begin to interest you?

I’ve been in the distribution business pretty much all my career, and I always felt that new technologies was the way that distribution of content was going. A couple of years ago, I started getting involved in the Internet and then instinctively knew that the major content delivery platform would be on mobile. When I was introduced to Getfugu, I jumped at the chance. These are a bunch of smart guys who have worked on this for three years and have patented technology.  I joined as a board member and now find myself as chairman of the board.

As chairman of the board, what are you charged with?

I will be dealing with the investment community. Basically, since I’m a content person, I’ve been introducing Getfugu to many opportunities around the world to put content on their technology.

Are there useful lessons to be drawn from your years in TV distribution that can be applied to the mobile marketplace? Or is this an entirely different world?

Its an entirely different world because when you have access to mobility and you have that little hand apparatus with you wherever you go, it’s a dream for a content supplier. You don’t have to be in your living room watching TV or have a computer on your lap. There is a tremendous difference in the distribution method.

On the other hand, I’ve made relationships over the years that are pretty much all over the world: U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asia. I am introducing all of those relationships to Getfugu. For example, I’ve made a very interesting deal in China with the Shanghai Media Group to deliver  live TV networks on the Internet. We just launched on 11 Chinese language TV channels, live, and we have 11 radio channels. I’m taking that license  and expanding it to the mobile phone. All of a sudden, Getfugu will be able to deliver content to the Chinese market worldwide; there are anywhere from 75 and 100 million Chinese outside of Chin and that will be our public.  I lived in Latin America for many years; we’ll have a Spanish and Portuguese service as well. It’s natural to evolve that technology, to syndicate to the mobile phone but instead of just English in many different languages.

What do you say to the people who don’t think mobile video will take off any time soon?

I believe the naysayers are the same ones who spoke against taking 33 rpm records and putting them into 45 and taking a VCR and turning it into a DVD. There are four billion mobile phones today worldwide versus 1 billion computers. That in itself, should convince the naysayers that the major future for content delivery and a lifestyle change is the mobile phone. I think we’ve really just scratched the surface.

What do you see as Getfugu’s advantages in the mobile search arena?

Getfugu bypasses the process of typing  on your keyboard to connect to a brand. There are 400- million brands in the world and we’re in the process of signing up many, many of them. With Getfugu, you can take a photo of a logo, no matter where it is–on your sneaker, a store window–and it’ll take you wherever the company wants you to go, whether it’s to its website or to a coupon.

Or you can access the brand by voice; say “Coca Cola” and it’ll take you right there. The third dimension is hotspotting where once you go into one of these brands, you see a pair of Gap jeans you like on the video, you press the screen on the pair of jeans you like and it gives you the ability to buy those jeans, pay for it, select the color and size and 3 days later you have it in your home.

What’s the relationship of content and advertising/marketing on the mobile platform? Is content king or is marketing?

Content is still king. Distribution is emperor. Never forget that. What we have is the distribution. Of course there’s marketing; any business you go into today, you have to market, you have to let the public know it exists.

We’ll be spreading Getfugu through blogs, the Internet, licenses with brands. We’ll also produce mobisodes.

So Getfugu is going to get into the made-for-mobile content creation business?

Yes,  I intend to do a soap opera, a sexy Sex in the City with the episodes anywhere between 3 to 5 minutes.  I’ve made a deal with two very important producers, Suzanne De Passe and Susan Winston. Suzanne right now has, on Cinemax, [writer/producer] Zane’s Sex Chronicles. We’re going to take the essence of the Sex Chronicles and boil it down for mobile.

What kind of phone do you have, and what do you watch on your mobile?

I have a Blackberry and an iPhone. But I don’t watch anything; I don’t have time. I just send and get a lot of emails and I use the iPhone for demo purposes for Getfugu.

Tags: advertising brands, American Film Market, Blackberry, CInemax, future of mobile, Getfugu, hotspotting, international distributor, iPhone, made-for-mobile content, marketing, Michael Jay Solomon, mobile marketplace, mobile phone, mobile search, MobilizedTV, mobisodes, Sex Chronicles, Shanghai Media Group, Susan Winston, Suzanne De Passe, Zane

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under Advertising/Marketing, Content, Home Feature, Monetizing Mobile.