• The New York Times, Monday, March 3, 2008 11 AM

Here's a trio for the future: Hollywood talent agency William Morris is teaming up with Silicon Alley VC firms Accel Partners and Venrock to invest in digital media startups in the Southern California area. Telecom giant AT&T is also on board as a limited partner.

How's that going to work with so many control freaks in the kitchen? Nobody knows. It's kind of unprecedented, but the last time big tech and Hollywood got in bed together was right around the time Internet bubble burst. "There is always a fear, I know, that the bubble is about to burst when a parade of actors and actresses comes through my door," says Jim Breyer, a board member of Marvel Entertainment and a partner at Accel. But this time he says "the discussions are much more rational." Haven't we heard that before? David Siminoff, Venrock general partner adds: "The ethos of this fund is about reducing the friction ... Hollywood people are not stupid. They are just not technology people."

The fun was the idea of William Morris CEO James A. Wiatt and Paul Bricault, who operates the agency's consulting arm. Its initial financing will be tens of millions, which it will use to start and invest in new sites aimed at creating online content and technology for social networking, mobile games and advertising. Investments are likely to be small--in the $250K range.

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