Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Bid to Be Moguls of a Risky Business
By LAURA M. HOLSON
BOSTON — It was 11:45 on a cool morning last month and Ben Affleckwas agitated, trapped in a thicket of Boston traffic. He and hisfriend and business partner, Chris Moore, were late for a meetingwith a beer maker who had recently signed a multimillion-dollardeal with LivePlanet, the fledgling film/television/Internetventure they founded with Matt Damon and the producer Sean Bailey.
They were tired, tardy and now lost. Stopping at a gas station,fumbling for directions as a reporter watched from the back seat,Mr. Affleck said with a mix of embarrassment and disgust, “This isus in all our glory.”
It was a strange sight: the star of “Armageddon” and “PearlHarbor” scrambling around like any other young entrepreneur, hopingto muster interest in his company. And to make matters worse, thecompany’s mission – to profitably marry old and new entertainmentmedia – is a task that has so far seemed impossible for Hollywoodto accomplish.
“I can see the headline now,” Mr. Moore said, laughing, as heslipped into the driver’s seat at Mr. Affleck’s request. “How doyou take four perfectly good careers and quickly turn them into atrain wreck?” Mr. Affleck shot back, imitating his friend’s huskytwang: “These guys will be hung by the end of the year.”
Since the Internet exploded, the entertainment industry’s best andbrightest – including the super agent Mike Ovitz and the directorsSteven Spielberg and Ron Howard – have failed to figure out how toexploit its promise. But LivePlanet has embarked on Hollywood’smost ambitious attempt yet to integrate the Internet intomainstream programming, with the reality television show “TheRunner,” which ABC will broadcast next season.
The premise is this: a “runner” is selected to be the object of anationwide manhunt, armed with a car, a credit card and a cellphone. If the runner escapes detection for 28 days, despite havingto perform a series of tasks in public, he or she wins $1 million.But the whole country can play along by visiting the Web site orwatching the TV show, where clues will be provided to the runner’slocation. If someone catches the runner, that person will win up to$1 million.
If the complicated project comes off as planned, it will combinethe up-to-the-second urgency of cyberspace, the drama of televisionand the unpredictability of a live event – while giving theaudience a chance to be, or at least feel like, a part of theaction. “Just think of the possibilities!” said Mr. Bailey, 31, whocame up with the idea for “The Runner” several years ago, inspiredin part by watching countless episodes of “The Fugitive.” Networksof friends from Tampa to Tacoma conspiring in chat rooms to catchthe runner; tricksters posting misleading clues to throw others offthe trail; the most curious tuning in for live updates as hiddencameras record the runner’s every move.
ABC, which is producing “The Runner” with LivePlanet and willbegin broadcasting it in January, is gushing. Lloyd Braun, co-chairman of ABC Entertainment, told advertisers recently that itwas “one of the best ideas for a television show I have everheard.” ABC’s enthusiasm is telling given that the experience ofthe people behind LivePlanet is rooted not in television or the Webbut in movies.
“What we are doing is staking our claim,” said Mr. Moore,LivePlanet’s 34-year-old chief executive and a producer of the 1997film “Good Will Hunting,” which starred Mr. Affleck, who is 28, andMr. Damon, 30, and was written by them. If they succeed, saidMichael Goodman, a senior media analyst at the Yankee Group inBoston, “they are going to bring a new kind of programming to thescreen.” But if they bomb, he cautioned, “the failure will be justas spectacular.”
If recent history is any indication, there is a market for whatLivePlanet is trying to sell. When “Big Brother,” the reality-TVshow that spies on a group of people living inside a house filledwith cameras, made its debut in the Netherlands in 1999, the four24- hour Web video streams tallied 52 million hits. And”RealityRun,” an on-line hide-and- seek game similar to “TheRunner” but minus the television show, had as many as 650,000 hitsdaily on its Web site when a contestant was set loose in Berlinlast August.
LivePlanet, of course, has a lot riding on “The Runner.” “Icertainly worry about it,” said Geoff Yang, an investor and boardmember. “Until it gets on the air and is successful, it is a bigdeal for us.” But ABC has also bought “Push, Nevada,” amystery-drama game produced by LivePlanet in which viewers hunt forreal treasure. And Project Greenlight, LivePlanet’s filmmakingventure with Miramax – which began with a screenwriting contestheld on the Web – has begun making its first movie in Chicago.LivePlanet has other ideas in the works, too, including a baseballevent and Project Greenlight film festivals.
Still, such an ambitious undertaking has led many to wonder: whatdo these guys know that more seasoned Hollywood veterans don’t? “Wearen’t asking anyone to jump up and down and anoint us the nextgeniuses,” Mr. Affleck said. But that is exactly what the four arebetting on. “We want to be a cross between Turner Broadcasting andElectronic Arts,” Mr. Bailey said, referring to Ted Turner’s TVempire and to the game maker with the cult-like following. Besides,he added, “it would be more shameful to put on another mediocretelevision show.”
Mr. Moore was having breakfast at a Santa Monica cafe two yearsago with a Harvard University classmate, David Goldberg – who wouldeventually become a LivePlanet board member – when the notion forthe company came up. Six years earlier, the two had kicked aroundan idea for a multimedia venture combining music and filmproduction with CD-ROM games. But they lacked two things:experience and name recognition. “What we realized is that weweren’t big enough players,” Mr. Moore said. “We weren’t at thatlevel that we could make something happen.”
All that changed with “Good Will Hunting.” Mr. Moore first met Mr.Affleck when Mr. Damon, who also attended Harvard, suggested himfor a part in “Glory Daze,” a movie Mr. Moore produced in themid-90’s. Mr. Affleck and Mr. Damon, who grew up together inCambridge, Mass., wrote the “Good Will Hunting” screenplay, about atroubled South Boston genius, and, with the help of Mr. Moore,struggled for three years to get the movie made. “Good WillHunting” was a smash, and the careers of all three took off. Mr.Affleck and Mr. Damon won an Academy Award for their screenplay andquickly became Hollywood royalty. Mr. Moore went on to produce”American Pie.”
During the making of “Good Will,” the three became close. Mr.Affleck said he had twice stayed at Mr. Moore’s Santa Monica homeafter breakups with girlfriends. (His old room on the second flooris being turned into a nursery for the baby Mr. Moore is expectingwith his longtime partner, Jenno Topping.)
In 1998 they decided to share an office across the street fromMorton’s, the West Hollywood power lunch spot, where Mr. Moore hadhis own production company, Fusion Studios. The two actors set upPearl Street, a production company named after the street that ranbetween their Cambridge homes. They were joined later by Mr.Bailey, an independent producer and former client of Mr. Moore’swho had worked on several projects, including the game show “Debt.”
Early last year Mr. Moore asked his three suite mates to join inLivePlanet. The Internet was booming and new technology made iteasy to play games on-line. (All of them except Mr. Moore are avidgamers.) And each was looking to expand his career: Mr. Affleck andMr. Damon wanted to develop their own projects; Mr. Bailey had theidea for “The Runner”; and Mr. Moore wanted to see if his oldmultimedia dream would fly.
Mr. Moore admits he was cautious about the partnership at first.He said he demanded, for instance, that Mr. Affleck show up atearly strategy meetings in Los Angeles despite a hectic actingschedule. He did. Mr. Affleck would get a seat on LivePlanet’sboard of directors, but would have to promote the company, helpraise venture capital and attend every board meeting. He agreed. Solast fall the four melded their production companies into one, Mr.Moore and Mr. Bailey quit their producing jobs and LivePlanetopened its doors.
THE company’s basic plan – to produce traditional media (includingfilms and television shows) based on live events (like the runner’scross-country trek) that allow viewers to participate (throughon-line or wireless games or contests) – sounds simple. But noother Hollywood executive or studio has tried anything quite likeit. Most have taken movies or short films and tried unsuccessfullyto adapt them to the Web. Icebox, the creator of the wildly popular”Zombie College” Web series, flopped. Pop .com, which was foundedby Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Howard with $50 million from the Microsoftco-founder Paul Allen, never even got off the ground.
And therein, say investors and industry analysts, lies the beautyof LivePlanet, which is a hybrid of an Internet start-up and atraditional production company. It makes money: it gets paid toproduce its traditional projects, and also benefits, in revenue orfree publicity, from advertising or paid sponsorships tied to itsevents. Take its relationship with the Boston Beer Company, themaker of Samuel Adams beer. Not only did Sam Adams sponsor the Webphase of Project Greenlight, but it will most likely run promotionswhen the Greenlight movie is released and when an HBO documentaryabout the making of the movie is shown in 2002. Cementing therelationship, Mr. Affleck and Mr. Damon took a day off this monthto record radio ads for Sam Adams at a studio in Los Angeles.
Mr. Yang, a partner at Redpoint Ventures, the Silicon Valleyventure capital firm that invested $10 million in LivePlanetearlier this year (valuing the company at about $36 million), saidof the four partners, “These guys learn quickly and adapt.” DavidRoux, one of LivePlanet’s first investors, added: “They are almostego-free. They really do have a commitment to each other.”
Each founder has his own role. Mr. Bailey is chief creativeofficer and, along with his ABC counterpart, in charge of “TheRunner.” He handles day-to-day development of other ideas, too,including the baseball project and the mystery series he iscreating with Mr. Affleck. Mr. Damon, like Mr. Affleck, continuesto act, but makes time for LivePlanet when necessary. “If we areneeded we will be there,” Mr. Damon said. In January, for instance,he managed to read all the Project Greenlight final scripts whilefilming in Prague. “It was expected,” he said.
So far it is Mr. Affleck, who is smart, engaging and, better yet,a technology whiz, who has best used his celebrity to promoteLivePlanet. “A lot of this business is just getting the meeting,”he said. But Mr. Affleck has done more than just get the meeting.He and Mr. Damon pitched “The Runner” to ABC themselves. And whenJay Leno announced the winner of Project Greenlight on the “TonightShow,” Mr. Affleck sat beside the screenwriter, Pete Jones, on thecouch. Still, Mr. Affleck’s Q factor goes only so far. Last fall,when they were seeking investors, one executive repeatedly calledMr. Bailey “Ben,” thinking he was the movie star.
But while Mr. Affleck may be the face of LivePlanet, Mr. Moore iscertainly its soul. He is a commanding figure with a booming voiceand an infectious optimism, known to shout “This is genius!” whenhe likes an idea. His mother used to tell him he could be apreacher, and he refers to his role as spreading the gospel ofLivePlanet, for which he travels regularly between Silicon Valley,New York and Los Angeles. His candor led one executive, afterwatching him rehearse a speech he would give to 300 journalists ata broadcasting conference in Las Vegas, say, “You’re sounprofessional, you’re believable.”
“He has a great force of will,” Mr. Yang said. “I set people upwith Chris and they say, `Wow, I want to be a part of this.’ ”
Most important, Mr. Moore does not pamper his famous friends. WhenMr. Affleck wanted LivePlanet to pay for a potential partner to flyto Los Angeles, Mr. Moore said no: “They weren’t going to make usany money.” And when Mr. Affleck and Mr. Damon wanted privateoffices, Mr. Moore said it would be bad for morale and asked themto share.
“Did he tell you the rest of the story?” Mr. Affleck said. “Ilooked at his office, which was huge, and said, `Why do you getsuch a big office then?’ Chris laughed and said, `Dude, I’m theC.E.O.!’ ”
At times, despite how charmed LivePlanet’s short life has been, itseemed as if it would take a miracle for “The Runner” to make it totelevision at all. From the time ABC executives heard the “Runner”pitch last July, nothing about the project was easy. Neither thenetwork nor LivePlanet had much time to develop the idea, and therewere unforeseen snags. “One of the biggest struggles was with allthe hidden cameras,” said Andrea Wong, senior vice president foralternative series and specials at ABC. “How do you get clearancesfor people who show up in the video? If you have guys walking withcameras, how do you not identify the runner so he is captured?” Howcould the television show be kept dramatic while giving Web usersup-to-the-minute details? And, most important, what if someonetried to attack the runner?
Mr. Bailey set out to address the security concerns early on. Hemet with Brian Jenkins, a senior adviser at the Rand Corporationand an authority on terrorism and crisis management who advisesgovernment officials on national security issues, including hostagesituations. For an hour they talked about how such a game could bestructured. “The consequences are completely unpredictable, andthat is what fascinated me,” Mr. Jenkins said. How Americans wouldreact to the game intrigued him too. “In this age of publicsurveillance and increasing intrusions into privacy, I think somefundamental issues are going to be raised by this show,” Mr.Jenkins said. “It is not its purpose, but people are going to bethinking about what privacy means.” Mr. Jenkins agreed not only toconsult but to have an on- camera role as well.
Meanwhile, ABC struggled to find an executive producer. In lateMarch it named Roger Goodman, an 18-time Emmy Award winner who hadcoordinated the network’s coverage of the gulf war. Mr. Goodman hadan excellent reputation directing huge, live productions. But he,like Mr. Bailey, lacked experience running a successful game show.
Mr. Bailey recalled a February conversation in which Mr. Goodmanasked what LivePlanet planned to do if there was a power outage atits Web operations in Silicon Valley. “Roger said: `I cover wars.You better have backup after backup,’ ” Mr. Bailey said. “Roger wasnot comfortable trusting any one means.” Mr. Goodman was alsoconcerned, said executives at ABC and LivePlanet, about how totransmit footage securely. He wanted to send tapes via courier; Mr.Bailey wanted to explore using on- line digital technology.
By mid-April, it became clear that the partnership between Mr.Bailey and Mr. Goodman was not working, said network executives.ABC needed another executive producer, and fast, because “TheRunner” was heading for a September launch.
On a Tuesday in late April, at 5 p.m., the LivePlanet executiveteam huddled around Mr. Moore’s kitchen table in Santa Monica – hisdog Louie asleep at their feet, a cool ocean breeze blowing throughopen windows – to discuss coming projects. The meeting was routinewith one exception: Mr. Bailey was flying to New York the next daybecause ABC was presenting “The Runner” to advertisers on Thursday.
IN many ways this would be LivePlanet’s coming-out party. And Mr.Moore wanted everyone on their best behavior. “People need to takeus seriously,” he warned. “We are the Hollywood guys. Even at ABC,you are the Hollywood guys. You have to get over that.” He added:”Despite all the good things people are saying, `Runner’ isn’t ahot show just yet. Companies are trying us out and testing us.”
When Mr. Moore took his seat at the back of a windowlessconference room at ABC Entertainment in Burbank that Thursday towatch the presentation by video conference, he said, “I havebutterflies in my stomach.” But he was relieved to see that MichaelDavies, who was behind the hit “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” hadreplaced Mr. Goodman in the day’s lineup of speakers. ABC had namedMr. Davies, who had been the LivePlanet team’s first choice, as thenew executive producer.
Three weeks later, ABC announced its fall lineup. “The Runner” wason the schedule, but its premiere had been moved back to midseason.ABC had a strong fall lineup, mostly because the Writers Guild haddecided not to strike, Ms. Wong said. But just as important, sheadded, was the fact that Mr. Davies needed more time.
What would be his first priority? “Stop communicating howdifficult and challenging `Runner’ is,” Mr. Davies said. “This isjust a game show which just happens to have the biggest playingboard in the world.”
In a stretch limousine after a four-hour presentation from atechnology firm near Boston, before ABC’s plans had been announced,Mr. Affleck slumped in his leather seat, the glow of the blue barlight illuminating his face. “I feel like you should be my promdate,” he said to Mr. Moore.
The week before, “The Runner” had been given a trial run with morethan 40 participants, and the network was pleased. “That was a hugestep forward for us,” Mr. Moore said. But there would be more testruns, more trips to New York to meet with ABC executives, moresponsors to woo and, of course, other projects to work on besides”The Runner.” More days like today, when, pressed for time, Mr.Affleck and Mr. Moore wolfed down hamburgers while parked in atruck on the side of the road.
Still, the two could not help savoring the recent successfultrial. “It was fun watching them be like Tommy Lee Jones,” Mr.Moore said of the test. “Even if they were way off base, they werehaving the time of their lives.”
Mr. Affleck added: “It is such a huge rush when you bring allthese people into it. There is that great moment to see if it allworks. You have a real emotional attachment to it.”
Of course, the story of LivePlanet is far from over; in fact, it’sjust beginning. For Mr. Moore, Mr. Affleck and Mr. Damon, creatingthe company has been a lot like making “Good Will Hunting”: theywere untested then, too, and critics scoffed. “All these expertswere telling us it wouldn’t work,” Mr. Affleck said. “All thesepeople were saying to us, `You were wrong to try.’ ” Laura M. Holson is a business correspondent for The New York Timesbased in Los Angeles.
