Online Video Leaders: Andrew Baron

http://1timstreet.com

Online Video Leaders a series of blog posts to honor those pioneers who have laid the groundwork in getting Internet video to where it is today.

On October 26, 2004, Andrew Baron launched a daily news video blog with co-creator and host Amanda Congdon called Rocketboom. Andrew's comic newscast was inspirational to the likes of Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine of Ask A Ninja as well as Tiki Bar TV's Jeff Macpherson who inspired me to create French Maid TV.

Since then Andrew Baron has gone on to inspire many others and both in creating videos and in political activities.

Early on Andrew pushed the boundaries of online video super distribution in the early days making his show available for consumption on as many different formats as possible. Andrew was also the first to explore alternative advertising models by auctioning off Rocketboom's advertising on ebay.

After a few bumps in the road like breaking up with his partner Amanda, replacing her as host and a few false starts on partnering with others, Andrew signed a distribution and advertising deal this year with Sony Pictures Television for a seven-figure guarantee plus a share of future revenues generated by the show.

Rocketboom is now distributed across many digital platforms like Sony's Crackle, the PS3, the PSP and Bravia Internet video link televisions. Rocketboom is also be available on its website, TiVo, iTunes, Miro, Apple TV, Pando, TVTonic and other web video portals, including YouTube, Metacafe, blip.tv and Vuze.

My sympathies go out to Andrew as last week he lost his father to cancer but even as his father lay dying this true leader of online video used the tools of the Internet and social media to try and save his father's life. In doing so Andrew has shed light on drugs that may one day be of help to others with the type of cancer his father had.

I think Andrew Baron will continue to break new ground in online video and inspire others to do so as well.

You can read Andrew Baron's blog at Dembot.com.

Online Video Leaders: Alex Lindsay

He's the leader of the Pixel Corps a guild for digital content creators and he's teaching a small army of people both in the US and abroad how to create, manage, distribute and monetize digital assets. I had a chance to catch up with him at the iHollywood Forum's Web Video Marketing Summit in San Francisco and he had some interesting things to say.

Why is this such a big deal?

Well if you need a friend to work on your project do they name their files the same way you name your files? If an editor or motion graphic artist gets sick and you have to pick up a project from a stranger will you be able to figure out what they were doing in After FX or Final Cut Pro?

Beyond just laying the ground work for digital artists to be able to work together on a global scale Alex Lindsay is reaching our to third world counties in Africa and helping poor people develop digital skills that will allow them to grow their nation's economies. It's content creation as an economic development tool.

I think that's a big deal and that makes Alex Lindsay a true Leader in Online Video.

Online Video Leaders: Leo Laporte

Online Video Leaders is a new blog series I'm doing about leaders in the online video industry who I believe are breaking new ground and leading the way as we build this new industry.

When it comes to online video Leo Laporte is no twit even though Leo runs Twit.tv and Twit Live.

Leo seems to create and monetize more online video content than any other independent producer on the Internet today. Leo is truly the Digital Master of online audio and video community building and has broken ground in areas of relationship building, podcasting, advertising and new business models.

From the independent content creation side Leo creates and delivers more information daily through his Twit network than most people consume in a month and he is an inspiration to other online content creators as well.

According to Leo's website, "It all started in 1998 with a small cable network called ZDTV, a channel dedicated to covering computers, the Internet, and personal technology. The people behind this site all worked on that network as hosts, reporters, or producers."

In 2004, ZDTV, then called TechTV, was sold and dismantled. Former TechTV hosts, Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, and John C. Dvorak, and producers Robert Heron, David Prager, and Roger Chang went on to other jobs, but stayed in touch, with each other, and with fans of the late TechTV. Those fans told them again and again how important TechTV had been in their lives, and how much they missed the channel.

On a rainy evening in January, 2005 a few of that group got together for dinner after spending the day covering MacWorld Expo in San Francisco. Leo, who was working as a radio host, happened to have a microphone and recorder. He turned it on and recorded 20 minutes of idle chatter about the Expo and the tech world in general. He posted that recording on his web site. Within a few days tens of thousands of people had downloaded the recording. TechTV fans began clamoring for more. A few months later, TWiT was born.

I first saw Leo at the Podcast and New Media Expo in the Fall of 2005. Leo talked about Podtrac and how they handled his ad sales and how anyone could go make online content and get it out to the masses. I left the New Media expo inspired and within a few weeks shot the first episode of French Maid TV.

Leo Laporte is a true pioneer of online audio and video and one of my Online Video Leaders.