The LATimes published a blog post about TechCrunch50, which we wanted to pass along. Especially interesting is there focus on the increasing convergence of Silicon Valley an Hollywood. Enjoy.

Battle of the A-listers: Ashton and Arrington, let the games begin

Loren Feldman, of 1938 Media, has a few thoughts about Ashton Kutcher being at TechCrunch50, and we wanted to pass them along to you.

TechCrunch50 is just a week and a half away. The list of presenting companies is kept strictly confidential until the day of the event to ensure maximum audience attention. But we’re making one exception this year. Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg’s Katalyst Media will be launching Blah Girls, one of his new interactive online video products, at TechCrunch50.

Like all products launching at the event, TechCrunch50 will be the first time the public or press has seen it. We got a look at it a couple of months ago and think it’s going to be a hit. Look for a lot more activity from Katalyst Media over the coming months.

I asked Ashton to do a quick intro video saying how excited he is about TechCrunch50. He sent the video below. You have to read between the lines, but I think he’s pretty jazzed about all of the strict confidentiality requirements and the need to meet with us twice before the event to rehearse his presentation. Warning: There’s some strong language.

Live streaming video by Ustream

Mark Cuban will be joining the TechCrunch50 program on Tuesday, September 9 for a one-on-one interview with Jason Calacanis from the main stage. You probably know Mark as both the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Broadcast.com with Todd Wagner. They then sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo in July of 1999 for $5.04 billion. Before Broadcast.com, Mark co-founded MicroSolutions, a leading National Systems Integrator, in 1983, and later sold it to CompuServe.

Mark has continued his work with Todd Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video. Additionally, Mark is a co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of HDNet, the first high-definition satellite television network.

Even with all of his entrepreneurial, sports and corporate experience, Mark recently found time to participate as one of the 12 contestants on the 5th season of the ABC Show Dancing with the Stars. Mark and his partner, Kym Johnson, were the fifth couple to be voted off of the show after welterweight boxing champion Floyd Mayweather and professional partner Karina Smirnoff.

You will not want to miss this live interview with Mark Cuban from TechCrunch50. Stay tuned for additional content updates – as we have a number of surprises yet to announce.

TechCrunch50 is right around the corner. Please register for your tickets before we sell out!! You will not believe what we have planned for you this year (September 8, 9 and 10).

As we move closer to the conference, we are encouraging everyone to book their hotel reservations (many hotels are already sold out) and register for the conference before we sell out. For companies seeking to launch and showcase products at TechCrunch50, please take a look at our Exhibitor Package. If you have questions about sponsorships, please reach out to Heather Harde or Dan Kimerling. All media inquiries should be sent to Sarah Ross.

TechCrunch50 is all about the startups. But 50 startups (its actually 52) launching over three days is a lot to digest. That’s why we’ve got a different party planned each night, hosted by MySpace, Symantec and Seesmic. Your TechCrunch50 attendee badge is all that’s required to get into these parties. We are encouraging everyone to arrive early, as space is limited. When the venues are at capacity, we can’t let anyone else in.

Monday: MySpace

Dance your brains out with MySpace on Monday!

First up, the MySpace/TechCrunch50 Launch Party on Monday, September 8, starting at 9:00 p.m. (open bar is from 9 p.m. to midnight). You will not want to miss this party as Sam Ronson will be the party DJ.

Mezzanine
444 Jessie Street @ Mint
San Francisco, California 94103

Tuesday: Norton

Blast Off with Norton on Tuesday!

TechCrunch50 guests are invited to the launch party unveiling Symantec’s 2009 Norton product line, the industry’s fastest security solution. The party starts at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 9. DJ Tone will be spinning tracks. Hors d’oeuvres and specialty cocktails by Temple Bar’s Prana Restaurant. Premium open bar from 8 p.m. to Midnight. Be there early to catch a special performance by MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew winners “Jabbawockeez.”

Temple
540 Howard Street
San Francisco, California 91405
Temple
540 Howard Street
San Francisco, California 91405

Wednesday: Seesmic

Sing Happy Anniversary with Seesmic on Wednesday!

Seesmic is delighted to be celebrating its first anniversary in a big way — at the closing night party of TechCrunch50. The party starts at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 10. Entertainment includes music by international talent Alland Byallo and more.

330 Ritch
360 Ritch Street
San Francisco, California 94107

We are super excited and quite honored to announce today that Peter Thiel will be joining the TechCrunch50 program on Monday, September 8 for a one-on-one interview with me from the main stage. As you probably know, Peter is the President and Chairman of Clarium Capital and the Managing Partner of the Founders Fund. Before starting Clarium and the Founders Fund, Peter served as the Chairman and CEO of PayPal, the company he co-founded and eventually sold to eBay for $1.5 billion.

Peter and the Founders Fund are early investors in some of the hottest start-ups in the Industry including companies such as Facebook, Causes, Jaxtr, Powerset, Geni, Slide, Quantcast, and ooma among others. In our conversation with Peter, we will ask him to share his thoughts on what he looks for in start-up investments, as well as where he thinks the market opportunities exist for new companies and emerging technologies.

You will not want to miss this live interview with Peter Thiel from TechCrunch50. Stay tuned for additional content updates – as we have a number of surprises yet to announce!

TechCrunch50 is right around the corner. Please register for your tickets before we sell out!! You will not believe what we have planned for you this year (September 8, 9 and 10).

As we move closer to the conference, we are encouraging everyone to book their hotel reservations (many hotels are already sold out) and register for the conference before we sell out. For companies seeking to launch and showcase products at TechCrunch50, please take a look at our Exhibitor Package. If you have questions about sponsorships, please reach out to Heather Harde or Dan Kimerling. All media inquiries should be sent to Sarah Ross.

TechCrunch50 is right around the corner. Please register for your tickets before we sell out!! You will not believe what we have planned for you this year (September 8, 9 and 10).

Today, we are announcing four new luminaries who will be joining our distinguished team of TechCrunch50 Experts. We are pleased to announce that Henry Blodget, Josh Kopelman, Tim O’Reilly and Robert Scoble will be joining us in San Francisco in September. Bios for each of these TechCrunch50 Experts are referenced below.

As we move closer to the conference, we are encouraging everyone to book their hotel reservations (many hotels are already sold out) and register for the conference before we sell out. For companies seeking to launch and showcase products at TechCrunch50, please take a look at our Exhibitor Packages. If you have questions about sponsorships, please reach out to Heather Harde or Dan Kimerling. All media inquiries should be sent to Sarah Ross.

A special “thank you” to Symantec for joining us this year as a new TechCrunch50 partner. Welcome aboard to Symantec, the global leader in consumer security.

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As we get closer to TechCrunch50, we will updating you on the conference panels and keynotes we have planned. Expect some of the conference program to remain a surprise until we get to the event and the launch of the next 50 great start-ups!

Today, we are pleased to announce that we will be featuring a panel at TechCrunch50 entitled “Hollywood Goes Silicon Valley.” Brought to you in partnership with Creative Artists Agency, the panel will showcase the efforts of a posse of entertainment luminaries who are creating content exclusively for the Web, and embracing new technologies in all aspects of their production, marketing and distribution of commercial entertainment properties.

The panel will include Chris Henchy, writer, producer, and co-founder of Funny or Die and co-executive producer of “Entourage”; Matthew Diamond Founder and CEO of Alloy Entertainment (“Gossip Girl”);Stan Rogow, executive producer and director of online series Gemini Division, starring Rosario Dawson; Joss Whedon creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”; and Michael Yanover, head of Business Development, Creative Artists Agency.

As we move closer to the conference, we are encouraging everyone to book their hotel reservations (many hotels are already sold out) and register for the conference before we sell out. For companies seeking to launch and showcase products at TechCrunch50, please take a look at our Exhibitor Packages. If you have questions about sponsorships, please reach out to Heather Harde or Dan Kimerling. All media inquiries should be sent to Sarah Ross.

Bios on our “Hollywood Goes Silicon Valley” panelists are below

(more…)

TechCrunch50 is a month away, and we are very busy here reviewing the nearly 900 start-ups from 49 different countries that have applied. The ideas and innovations that have been brought to our attention are mind blowing. You will not want to miss out on this year’s conference as the next generation of technology, Web applications and products will be revealed to the world on September 8, 9 and 10 in San Francisco.

Today, we are announcing that Niklas Zennstrom the co-founder of Joost, Skype and Kazaa, Evan Williams the co-founder of Twitter, and Ash Patel the Executive Vice President of Yahoo!’s Audience Product Division will be at TechCrunch50. Niklas, Evan and Ash join a growing and extraordinary group of experts who are teaming with us to mentor and evaluate our 50 finalists. Bios for our newly announced experts are referenced below.

We, also, are pleased to announce today that we have 3 new partners joining us: The Founder Fund, Salesforce and MySpace. The Founders Fund is a non-traditional investment group led by a team of four managing partners, who themselves are founders and entrepreneurs. Salesforce.com is the market and technology leader in software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS). MySpace.com is a leading online lifestyle portal. We’re lucky to have executives from all three companies joining us as expert panelists - Sean Parker (Partner, Founders Fund), Marc Benioff (Chairman & CEO, Salesforce) and Chris DeWolfe (CEO, MySpace).

As we closer to the conference, we are encouraging everyone to book their hotel reservations (many hotels are already sold out) and register for the conference before we sell out. For companies seeking to launch and showcase products at TechCrunch50, please take a look at our Exhibitor Packages. If you have questions about sponsorships, please reach out to Heather Harde or Dan Kimerling. All media inquiries should be sent to Sarah Ross.

We can’t wait to see you in San Francisco!

	Niklas Zennstrom Niklas is an Internet entrepreneur, who co-founded, Joost, Atomico, Skype and Kazaa among other companies. He is currently a partner of Atomico. In addition to this, he is also the co-chairman of Joost. Niklas co-founded Skype in 2002 with Janus Friis with the vision of liberating consumers and businesses from the need to pay for talking to each other across the globe. Skype has become the global leader in Internet voice communications, attracting more than 276 million registered users within less than four years of its launch. Skype’s continuing success was officially recognized in September 2005 when eBay Inc acquired the company for $3.1 billion US Dollars. Niklas had the position as CEO from its inception until September 2007. Crunchbase profile.
	Evan Williams Evan Williams founded his first Internet company in 1994 and has been doing the same ever since. He is currently chairman and chief product officer of Twitter. In 1999, he co-founded Pyra Labs and led the team that created Blogger, which was sold to Google in early 2003. Williams worked at Google until late 2004, after which, he helped form Odeo, an early podcasting company. In 1996, he formed Obvious, LLC, a web-product development company in San Francisco, which spun out Twitter, Inc. in 2007. Crunchbase profile.
	Ash Patel Ash Patel is currently the Head of Yahoo’s Audience Products Division. Previously he was the Executive Vice President of the Platforms and Infrastructure Division where he was responsible for global technology investments and platform initiatives both on and off the Yahoo network. Under his previous title he also led an increased focus on innovating and developing next-generation services for Yahoo customers, and oversaw divisions including Product Platform Engineering, Platform Strategy & Architecture, and the Advanced Development Division. Since starting at Yahoo in 1996, Patel has played a key role in architecting and enhancing MyYahoo, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Messenger, Yahoo Chat and many other products that continue to impact millions of Yahoo users. Crunchbase profile.