I’m Seeing Red.

The Red Camera that is.



All of us Independent Producers are waiting and waiting and waiting for the Red Camera to come out but I have an idea it will be well worth the wait.

I can’t really tell you what I do or don’t know about the Red Camera because I’m under Friend DA. But what I can tell you about is my best friend Ted Schilowitz who is the Leader of the Rebellion at Red Digital Cinema.

Long before there was any French Maid TV Ted and I met when we were both in our early twenties and freelancing at Cable Vision of Central Florida in Orlando. Boy, those were the days. Universal Studios Orlando and Disney MGM Studios were being built and Ted and I thought we were going to break into the movie business. One day I was editing the biggest show on Cable Vision’s local access channel, “Giovanni’s Birthday Big Top” (more about that some other time) and this long-haired surfer dude in flip flops Oakley sunglasses and a torn Inlet Charlie’s T-shirt walks in and says, “Hey I need to edit.” And I said, “Talk to scheduling and they’ll schedule you some time.” He said, “No, I need to edit now.” Well, we went around and around. I stood my ground and eventually he invited me surfing and we became friends. Ted and I went on to work on MTV’s Remote Control together and a few kids’ shows including What Would You Do? and the pilot for All That at Nickelodeon. After we both figured out that Orlando’s Studios were just lost leaders to get more tourist we both moved to Los Angeles where we worked on Crazy Careers for Kids WB and projects for E! Entertainment. We also launched a few interactive creepy stories online but I'll save those for Halloween.

One day Ted told me he had a great opportunity with a company that makes converter boxes. I asked if he was going to be producing corporate videos for them and he said, “No.” he was going to be consulting with them on new products that work with Final Cut Pro. I didn’t understand how Ted could leave the creative side and jump into some boring consulting gig but Ted went to work at AJA where he launched the IO Box and several other products and had a blast doing it. I couldn’t imagine Ted having more fun. That is until he became employee number 1 at Red Digital Cinema.

Through all this time Ted has been a great friend. He’s always been there for me through thick and thin. To see him over the last two years be involved with the Red Camera experience has been a blast for me. From IBC to the Sundance Film Festival to seeing the line around the Red Tent at NAB in Vegas for the Film that Peter Jackson shot with two of the Red Cameras, it has been amazing. Ted has created buzz without really trying to create buzz. To see Ted on the big screen at NAB, to see him on the Apple Store's Video Wall and Apple.com and seeing him on the Apple Final Cut Studio Tour has been a lark. I can hardly wait for the camera to come out.

However for most of us in the online video world with maybe the exception of Pixel Corps.’ Alex Lindsay no one will care about or be using the Red Digital camera for viral videos and video podcasts because the quality far exceeds what we need at this time but as bandwidth increases and Internet access to the best 100” HDTVs even the little Sony Bravia 52 in Flat Panel LCD TV increases we might see some online videos shot with the Red Camera. And I'll just smile and tell everyone I around, my buddy Ted worked on that Red Camera.

One last thing about Ted, with all they Hype around the Red Camera and all the people wanting to interview Ted he still takes time to talk to the little independent guys and gives them interviews when he can.

Making Money with Video at Comic Con

For years now freaks and geeks have been going to Comic-con in San Diego, CA. to see the latest in anything related to Comic Books This year was no different. The thing that was different was that a TV Show that was there was more popular than major motion pictures that were there. A year ago there was no TV Show called Heros. This year at Comic Con Heros was all the rage. That said, what can you do with your video between now and next year to make a splash at Comic Con?

For those of you living under a digital rock who not familiar with Comic Con, it’s a convention where comic book aficionados come to buy hard to find comic books, collectables, memorabilia and meet comic book, film and TV creators as well as celebrity actors from past sci-fi TV shows and films. Many of these comic book guys and girls also come dressed as their favorite characters. But what does all this Comic Con crap mean to you the video content producer? Well if you have a video with a fan following that is targeted at this crowd it could mean a lot and even if you don’t have a fan following but your videos might appeal to this crowd you could make a little or use Comic Con to launch your brand.

Brand, you say? But Tim, I don’t have a brand. I just have videos. Well if you want to make money in this new media video ball game you better start thinking about developing your videos into a brand. What is a brand? For those of you that didn’t take Marketing 101 or read Marketing for Dummies you might want to take a crash course brand building and think about what things in your videos have that can translate to other verticals. Could you make a cooking book? A coffee table book? A comic book perhaps? Are there t-shirts, calendars or some other consumer products that the people who watch your videos would want to buy?

It’s not going to happen over night but content creators like Home Star Runner and Red vs. Blue have done a great job of creating free content but making money from building a brand.