Panel: The New Value Chain: The Link Between Hollywood, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley

Sanford Climan, President,  Entertainment Media Ventures

Roy Salter, Principal, The Salter Group

Aizaz Shaikh, BNP Paribas

Moderator: Tony Uphoff, Publisher Hollywood Reporter; President, VNU, Film & Performing Arts

This is a look at investing in films today, particularly as hedge funds come loooking the film world, wanting to invest in films.

 Uphoff, one of the founders of Beliefnet.com, a content site about religion, is the moderator, and he certainly knows a thing about raising capital, having to raise funds during the go-go early Internet days. He is well-suited to lead this discussion, and most in the audience appear to be investors.

The most interesting moment comes when Climan talks about how tricky investing in films really is. He actually makes it seem very undesirable. As he notes, it's a tricky business, with investors having to spend a great deal of money just to get the job done, for instance, having to spend money on lawyers, etc. And he compares the film industry  to the music industry, noting that it has never been an efficient business. An audience member picks up on this thought, and asks about investing in the "sketchy" film industry.

Salter isn't willing to go so far, and bucks the "sketchy" idea and says he believes that investing in films is no more difficult than investing in many other sectors. But he believes that investors need to carefully assess the deal obviously, before putting down money.

 Meanwhile, Shaikh also weighs in on the instability of the entertainment industry, noting there are only two major music companies left. For his part, Salter believes that the days when entertainment companies wanted to be conglomerates are over.  As he notes, there is no reason to "own a theme park" anymore.