Content Partners, for instance, was more than happy to buy these distressed investments. A financial boutique that acquires intellectual property, founded by two financiers who had worked for talent agencies, Content Partners began in 2006 as a sort of payday loan firm for profit participation. They would offer actors, directors, and producers a lump sum of cash in exchange for the revenues associated with the long-term release windows of syndication, physical media sales, and streaming rights. Backed by JPMorgan Chase, Carlyle, and other wealthy investors, Content Partners expanded into larger intellectual property assets, including the discounted slate-financing deals, as well as a 50 percent stake in CBS's lucrative CSI franchise (more than seven hundred episodes are on the air in over two hundred countries) for an estimated $400 million.

DEFINE: Explains the business model of IP acquisition firms like Content Partners: cash advances in exchange for streaming, syndication, and physical media royalties.

Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, loc. 300