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Facebook looks to Hollywood as F8 nears, report says

The social network is reportedly aiming to hire an exec to handle its relations with Hollywood. And tomorrow's F8 event should offer some answers about Facebook's media plans.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
2 min read
Facebook is heading to Hollywood.
Facebook is heading to Hollywood.

Facebook is planning to improve its relationships with the film and music industries, a new report claims.

According to Reuters, citing anonymous sources, Facebook is currently looking to hire an executive who would handle the company's relationship with Hollywood in the hopes of eventually inking lucrative deals with both film companies and music labels.

Although Facebook has yet to make a decision on whom it might hire, the company has held talks with former MySpace co-President Jason Hirschhorn. Those talks, Reuters says, apparently went nowhere, and Facebook is back to looking for a suitable person for the job.

Facebook's desire to ink deals with Hollywood has everything to do with the competition it faces, Reuters says. Executives at Facebook are reportedly concerned that Twitter, especially, has strong ties to Hollywood, and could use that to its advantage. However, how strong Twitter's ties to Hollywood really are is debatable. The company certainly has a huge number of celebrities using its service, but it has yet to sign blockbuster deals with companies that would make Facebook shake in its boots.

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At the same time, there's no telling what Facebook is after with its Hollywood play. However, the New York Times reported earlier this week that Facebook will unveil a new media platform at the F8 conference tomorrow. According to the Times, that feature will let Facebook users "easily share their favorite music, television shows, and movies, effectively making the basic profile page a primary entertainment hub."

But that's not all Facebook reportedly has planned. Other reports from Mashable and AllThingsD suggest the company will offer up a "major" profile redesign, as well as a ticker that showcases what kind of content a user's friends are consuming.

For its part, Facebook has not commented on what it has planned for F8. However, the company's CEO Mark Zuckerberg will present the keynote address at 10 a.m. PT tomorrow, which should provide some answers. (CNET will be live-blogging the address, so check back later today to get set up for a reminder about our coverage.)

Facebook did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment on the Reuters report.