May 8, 2006 6:06 AM, PROMO Xtra, By Patricia Odell

Starbucks Corp. is redefining the casting couch. The mega coffee-maker has gone from staking a claim in the music business to dabbling in movies to announcing a partnership last week with the William Morris Agency to put an emphasis on identifying music, film and book projects that it can promote and distribute from its stores. The effort is a bid to enhance the overall entertainment experience for its millions of dedicated coffee drinkers.

Starbucks touted its national footprint of stores, strong passion and trust from its huge and diverse customer base, and proven track record with word-of-mouth marketing as drivers for the significant interest it has seen—and expects to see—as a partner to labels and studios.

In its most recent endeavor, Starbucks is promoting the film Akeelah and the Bee, currently in theaters, in a marketing and profit-sharing campaign. The film is co-presented by Lionsgate, 2929 Entertainment and Starbucks Entertainment. Promotions are underway in 5,500 Starbucks locations in the U.S. and Canada. Starbucks is promoting the film on cup sleeves, through word games on store chalkboards, on its Wi-Fi home page and via its Hear Music Channel on XM Satellite Radio. It is selling the soundtrack to the film and will sell the DVD in late August. (Xtra, Feb. 1).

"We believe Starbucks is a very powerful distribution channel, which is why we are so pleased to be working with the largest diversified talent and literacy agency in the world, William Morris Agency, to bring our customers even more forms of entertainment," Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz said in a statement.

Akeelah and the Bee depicts the story of an inner city girl and her journey from South-Central Los Angeles to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The film ties in well with one of Starbucks' own philanthropic missions—supporting literacy.

Starbucks is already embedded in the music business, as it has offered a number of music options, from the Grammy-winning Ray Charles Genius Loves Company collection, to albums by Bob Dylan, Herbie Hancock and new artist Sonya Kitchell, who charted with her first-ever album co-released and marketed by Starbucks. Last year, Starbucks sold more than 3.5 million CDs, including marketing and distributing the Ray Charles compilation.

"Since Starbucks shook up the music industry when it launched its focused music strategy in 2004 we recognized the important role that they would have on entertainment marketing and distribution going forward," said William Morris CEO, Jim Wiatt in a statement.

Starbucks has 11,000 locations nationwide.

For more coverage on entertainment marketing

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