"We're Where Television Was At Its Beginning"

Even veteran Hollywood dealmakers are taken aback by the way aggressive new dot-coms are wooing stars, writers, and directors to their startups in hopes of being to the studio business what Amazon.com is to books. A case in point: Late last year, Rob Burgess, the co-founder of Shockwave.com, a San Francisco-based animation site, signed South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker to provide 39 "webisodes" of the show in return for $1.5 million in cash and an equity stake in the site. Riding in a limo with the duo's agent and lawyer right after sealing the deal, Burgess turned to them and said "So, who else do you have?"

That led to yet another deal to pay Sleepy Hollow director Tim Burton $2 million and some Shockwave stock to produce an odd animated series called Stain Boy. Says P. Kevin Morris, the lawyer who rode with Burgess that day: "The sky seems to be the limit."