5 Tips for New Web Video Producers - From What the Buck

Today I'm at NewTeeVee live in San Francisco and by using Twitter I managed to track down and get an interview with Michael Buckley the Host,Writer and Producer, "What the Buck?"

Michel Buckley didn’t have an Internet connection or any writing/hosting experience when he started the What the Buck Show in the summer of 2006 in fact he was on public access TV but when his cousin posted one of the clips on YouTube he started getting viewers. Now, over 400 videos later, What the Buck? is the 7th Most Subscribed channel on YouTube with over 270,000 subscribers and 95 million views. In July 2008, Buck signed a multi-platform development deal with HBO. He recently left his day job and is a full time Internet personality.

As one of the web's breakout stars of the year Michael's scripted show makes fun of celebrities but making the show is just part of the job.

Here are six tips for new and old Internet video publishers alike:

1. Find a format that works for you
Don't try and copy someone else's show just because their show is getting views. Come up with a show idea that you care about.

2. Enjoy what you are doing
If you don't enjoy what you are working on you are not going to do great job. You need to enjoy everything about your own show so that you can be passionate about it.

3. Don't get discouraged
Don't give up. If you know you have emotionally engaging content keep at it. People will eventually find great content and share it with their friends.

4. Get Enganged
If people connect with your show they will want to interact with you. Be "present" with the experience and engage your audience by replying to their questions and comments so that you continue the conversation and keep viewers coming back for more. Your audience will be glad that you are there.

5. Repost old videos that are good
Don't let dead videos just sit there. If you know you have a video that people will want to watch but they haven't found it yet, delete it and repost it. Remember if they haven't seen it it's new to them.

An Unknown Hollywood Legend Dies

Thanks to Liz Shannon Miller of NewTeeVee for this video.

Most people know his voice but few knew his name or what he looked like. In recent years he was featured on camera in Geico commercials playing himself but even still he was an Unknown Hollywood Legend.

I was lucky enough to work with that legend Don LaFontaine, who was THE voice of movie trailers and I was always in awe of Don.

Don loved what he did and he loved sharing what he did. When I would direct Don I would just hand him a script, sit back and let him read. Don didn't need direction. Don directed himself. If he messed up or needed to do it a different way he knew before anyone else. He was at the top of his game.

When I worked with Don he had a limo that drove him from recording studio to recording studio to do reads that would take him 15 minutes or less in and out and he was booking $40,000 per day in voice over work. Don was always a gentleman. He would even take people along for the ride in his limo and let them see what his day was like, giving them tips along the way on how they could get into the voice over business.

I once asked Don what trailer he had made the most money doing and he told me that it wasn't one trailer but that it was one Steven Seagal movie. It might have been Hard To Kill. Anyway, Don said he did a couple teaser trailers, a couple regular trailers, the TV commercials, several trailers for the VHS home video release including sell through, rental and industry trailers and screeners, then he did TV commercials for the VHS, then he did TV promos for the pay-per-view, TV promos for the PAY TV version, TV promos for the regular TV version and then he did more and more promos for the DVD release and the TV commercials for the DVD release of the movie. Don LaFontaine told me that he made more money doing voice over work on that Steven Seagal movie then Steven Seagal made starring in the movie.

Don went on to tell me that when he walked up to Steven Seagal at an awards show and introduced himself to Steven, Steven Seagal had no idea who he was and just nodded politely and walked away.

Don loved telling that story and Don loved what he did for a living. Don will be missed for a long time to come.

Mefeedia Finds 5 Million Unique Visitors and Internet Videos

While hanging out at NewTeeVee's Pier Screening in Hollywood I happened to whip out my pocket FLIP digital video camera and ask Mefeedia's Frank Sinton a few questions about what's happening at the video search and discovery site and what Mefeedia means to video content producers.

Is Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy Too Big For TV?

NewTeeVee reports today that Seth MacFarlane’s advertorial series, Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, is gearing up for its launch on Sept. 10.

I'm wondering if we are going to see Google Gadget Ads in play on the launch of this project?

Imagine if Google creates a Co-branded Burger King / MacFarlane Gadget that get's placed on every comedy and animation site with a 300 x 250 Google Display Banner. The video would be hosted at YouTube the Google Gadget Ad would be on every relevant site and the video views will be through the roof.

If they do it and do it successfully this could be a new way of launching shows. No longer will you need to have millions of video views to start all you will need is a sponsor on board who can pay for the placement and you can launch a new show that will get millions of views and if it's good an instant audience of loyal fans who are ready to interact. Did I say interact? Oops we haven't gotten that far into the evil plan of Internet shows yet. Please disregard that last remark and just think about how great it was to take radio shows and put them on TV.

I'm F-ing Obama - Hillary Clinton feat. Sarah Silverman

I found this one on NewTeeVee. Wow. What a MashUP. Hillary Clinton presents her take on Sarah Silverman's "I'm F-ing Matt Damon".

And to think this could have been one of the April Fools' Videos that didn't get any play yesterday because of Rick Rolling.

Do we need a Writers Guild on the Internet?

There’s a writers strike looming but I’m not sure we need a Writers Guild on the web. As Craig Rubens of NewTeeVee writes, The last Writers strike spawned Reality TV shows like Survivor. Now there are Independently produced Reality Shows like The Next Internet Millionaire that are up, running and building an audience with global distribution on the Internet.

As an artist plagued with ideas this is the first time in my life I can afford the canvas to create whatever pops into my head. Creating entertainment with moving pictures, written words, pictures and digital code I’ve now reached a threshold where I can write, shoot, edit and distribute all by myself. I’m not as fluent in editing and the creation of HTML as I’d like to be but due to necessity I’m working on it and it’s exhilarating to be able to dream something up, write it, produce it and distribute to the world in the same day. Now I’m one of a handful of people making money in viral videos but I’m still not able to survive solely on my personal creations. I supplement my income with new media “work for hire" projects for studios, networks, consulting with Web 2.0 companies, podcasters and wanna-be podcasters.

Thanks to the Internet and the low cost of digital canvas this is the first time in the short history of filmed entertainment that writers and other digital artist don’t need a Movie Studio or TV network to make a living by creating moving pictures. Unfortunately it may not be the lavish lifestyle they have been used to living complete with residuals and it most certainly will be a bumpy ride to transition from traditional media.

The people best positioned to make the most out of this WGA Writers strike are the 20 year old kids who can write, produce, direct, edit (maybe do a little motion graphics and music) and have some understanding of HTML and sales. (Little mini Robert Rodriguezs) These mini RRs will be able to create online entertainment, distribute it and monetize it enough to make a production assistant’s wage to start but with additionally attached advertising to their evergreen work or what I like to call “Digital Residuals” they will make a writer’s salary and maybe more. If they are smart enough to build their own brand like Ask a Ninja has done they will never need a Movie Studio, TV Network or a Writers Guild. The other benefit they will have if they are smart, is that they will retain ownership of their properties and be able to license them to other platforms making even more money.

If you are a talented writer and make a good living right now in traditional media you really need the WGA fighting for you because the kids coming out of school now are mini RRs and what they can do on a used Apple MacBook Pro MA610LL/A 15" Notebook PC with a 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 120 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD SuperDrive and a Sony HDR-UX7 digital video camera that they buy off Craigslist is amazing. They not only pose a threat to you they also potentially can threaten movie studio and TV revenues, especially if those studios and networks have to pay a lot of money for writers now when they aren’t making any money online yet.

Sure the production won't be the same quality as traditional media for awhile but when viral videos start getting paid the advertising dollars that Cable TV gets for delivering more eyeballs than Cable TV delivers, production values will increase. Remember the early days of Cable TV? Shows looked like crap but the content was there and the eyeballs followed.