The Walt Disney Company's former CEO Michael Eisner invested $300,000 in a seed round for social game developer Diversion, which plans to soon launch a Facebook game called
FameTown.
Releasing on November 1st,
FameTown allows players to take on the role of actors struggling to become movie stars. Gamers can earn "favors" by producing movies, completing tasks like meeting the cast and director, and attending parties and charity events.
They can later spend those favors to purchase skills (e.g. French accent, comedic timing), movie props, or additional staff like an agent. As with most other social games,
FameTown will also allow players to buy virtual currency with real money.
Eisner's personal investment firm, Tornante Company, was the sole backer in the round. He was introduced to the Los Angeles-based start-up by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, who is an adviser and shareholder of Diversion,
according to a report from The New York Times.
The former Disney head told TechCrunch that the Hollywood-inspired game
will have opportunities to promote real movies. One of the films players will be able to produce, for example, is an upcoming Sony Pictures movie called Burlesque, which stars Cher and Christina Aguilera.
"You can imagine the confluence of the social networks, the real world, the PR world, the bit-part world, and the promotion world," said Eisner.
FameTown could also potentially tie-in properties from other areas, such as television and fashion.
