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Thursday's earlier post indicated as much, but now it's undeniable: It's Hollywood day here in Sun Valley, Idaho, considering that previously cited Tinseltown power players — past or present — have been joined by Jon Dolgen, ex of Paramount Pictures; Michael Eisner, ex of the Walt Disney Co.; Howard Stringer of Sony Corp.; Jim Wiatt of the William Morris Agency; and Jeff Zucker of NBC Universal Inc. Even Sumner Redstone of Viacom Inc. is said to be ensconced in a nearby cabin, set for being airlifted into a cameo role before just the right audience. These names round out those dropped in Thursday morning's posting — Barry Diller, Brad Grey, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Ovitz, Terry Semel and Harvey Weinstein — and join Bob Iger, Bob Johnson, Tom Freston and others mentioned in postings from Camp Allen, Day One. The highlight of Day Two, so far, appears to be a panel on content moderated by CNN's Anderson Cooper. The panel went on beyond its allotted time, offering, as it did, insights from such diverse and opinionated panelists as Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc., Sergey Brin of Google Inc., Diller of IAC/InterActiveCorp and Stringer of Sony. Stringer was a surprise addition (to the press, at least), and Brin filled in for fellow Google co-founder, Larry Page, who bowed out after feeling under the weather. "We're interchangeable," an affable Brin told the press on emerging from the morning's closed-door sessions.
Brin's good-naturedness extended into other areas. Yahoo! Inc. has been unfairly treated by the press, he said, given that it's an extremely successful company by virtually every benchmark conceivable "except when they're compared to us." He also divulged Google's acquisition strategy. "It's as if we like the team, and we believe in the team," Brin said of a criterion that he claimed applies to YouTube as much today as before Viacom sued Google's biggest acquisition for copyright infringement. (It should be noted the press caught Brin before anyone from the Viacom contingent did.) Although Google's acquisition strategy could be applied to Facebook — Brin admits to liking "those guys" as well — he added it was far more likely that they'll continue "building a great company on their own." It was about then that Murdoch, sensing the press' attentiveness to Brin, sneaked behind a wall of reporters' backs and double-backed into the media-prohibited area. On getting home free, Murdoch immediately turned to give the press a "fooled you" sort of smile. (Might the animated public gesture — Murdoch's first since being scrutinized in Sun Valley by media and moguls alike — indicate a breakthrough in takeover talks with Dow Jones & Co.?) He then nixed a plea yelled by a reporter from his very own New York Post to "come talk to you." And he did so with such adamancy that an ever-observant Brin was moved to tell the reporter, "I think you're fired." Similarly, though less dramatically, the Washington Post Co.'s Don Graham took time out while running a press gauntlet Thursday to inform another reporter: "You're from The Deal, but there's no deal here." Just wait, we say. —Richard Morgan See earlier dispatches from Sun Valley Categories Deal Video
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