The official video of Britney Spears' "Womanizer - DIRECTOR'S CUT" for the New Album CIRCUS which is in stores December 2nd hit YouTube yesterday. Full of spectacle and story it also moves two or more emotions...depending on who you are of course. Womenizer also has a naked Britney Spears in a sauna and over 450,000 views as of this posting. So why does it remind me of the MTV music videos of the 80's?
Britney's stripper like performance in this director's cut is a far cry from the days that I remember Jimmy Huckaby directing her in music videos and skits on the Mickey Mouse Club at the Disney MGM Studios in Florida but the feel of this video some how throws me back to that time period when I was working on MTV's Remote Control during the week and picking up freelance gigs on Mickey Mouse Club on the weekends.
Maybe it's not the video itself but all the other money making schemes that are in play. It could be the "The B Line" call in number where Britney is "Taking Calls" now that reminds me of all those 900 numbers that used to be on TV at that time or it could be that this is just a classic music video that is being used to market Britney Spears' New Album CIRCUS in stores December 2nd.
What ever it is, this video and all the marketing behind it feels like classic music marketing being applied in a Web 2.0 world.
The big differences are that with just a few clicks you can listen to the entire song for FREE or buy it at . You can also buy the ringtone of the song Womenizer on Britney.com. Something you couldn't do with cable TV in the 1980s.
Britney Spears is back from her sabbatical with a vengeance and she's not missing a trick in monetizing her content online. Britney and her Sony Music marketing machine have a blog, a forum, wallpapers, ringtones, a Double Click ad server installed on the Britney.com website serving relevant ads to her site visitors and they even have an animate yourself into Britney's videos page from Gizmoz.
Tubemogul launched a new feature for their MRSS video uploads, which is now part of their suite of Premium Products. Videos are automatically uploaded (and launched to video sites, depending on preferences) via a MRSS feed.
This should allow Tubemogul users who have hundreds of videos to be able to upload them at the same time.
What's the Best Way to Make Money with Online Video? is a new blog series that I'm launching that investigates the different ways to make money with online video. This post is about: "Work for hire."
Since the 1990's frustrated filmmakers have been trying to figure out a way to monetize online video. Very few have been successful.
I first got started in online video back in 1999/2000. Back then everyone was all the rage about short films on the Internet. "Get your short film on ATOM Films!" From a distribution stand point that was really cool but from a viewing standpoint it was a pain in the ass. Most of the short films were pretty bad and trying to watch them was even worst. Watching VHS was way better than trying to watch a short film on the web.
Knowing that I decided to create a website that was it's own storytelling device and it would use video along with text, photos and links to other sites to tell an emotionally engaging story that took visitors some place they were not supposed to be visiting and let them see someone else doing something they weren't supposed to be doing.
This storytelling website appeared to be set up by a guy who had fallen madly in love with a girl named Julie. He built an online shrine to her that was password protected. No one could see what he was up to until some cyber sleuths from a website called creepysites hacked in and at that point the whole world could see how this creepy guy had hidden video camera's in Julie's apartment and was keeping an online journal of how he was stalking her every move.
Well a whole bunch of people came to the site including the LAPD, the Santa Monica PD and the LA County Sheriffs' Department and instead of winding up in jail I wound up on the TV show Extra, had a big Hollywood agent representing me, meetings all over town and a deal in the works with Viacom. Then the DOT COM crash happened and no one was interested in online content. I did however get a few phone calls along the way and they turned into "Work for Hire" projects for some movie studios and TV networks.
I never made any direct money off of "For the Love of Julie" but I did make hundreds of thousands of dollars creating creepy websites for studios and networks, the biggest of which was an online journal as written by Tyler Durden. - You guessed it, I'm not really allowed to talk about it.
These "Work for Hire" projects were creatively rewarding and allowed me to play in this online video space very early on. I did projects for Fox, Paramount, ABC, UPN, Sony and even Game Show Network.
At that time GSN had a show called Inquizition where the host of the game show was in silhouette and you never got to see his face. So I came up with an idea where a disgruntled game show contestant who was kicked off Inquizition would hack Game Show Network's signal and threaten to Expose the Inquizitor face online at her website where she had proof that she had got the question he asked her right and should not have been kicked off the show. After her network signal take over Michael Flemming the Founder and President of Game Show Network at that time came on the Network and apologized for the illegal interruption telling people not to go to her website. We laughed about how we shot her breaking the signal with a home video camera and shot the Game Show Network President with a studio camera and it all turned out great.
It was such a big hit with the GSN On-Air promo team that I ended getting a large monthly contract to produce other programing stunts for Game Show Network with celebrities like Betty White, Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Jamie Farr, Gary Burghoff, Monty Hall, Jeffery Ross and others.
Creating the online video stalker site didn't make me any money directly but creating online content that cut through the clutter and was emotionally engaging led me to "Work for Hire" projects that literally brought millions of dollars into my bank account.
You can make money with "Work for Hire" projects but one word of caution: If your goal is to make your own original content that you create and own be careful about "Work for Hire" projects as they will creatively satisfy you to where you don't create anything of your own. TV Host and producer Marc Summers once told me, "If you want to make movies you are better off working as an assistant manager at McDonald's than working on TV promos or Movie Trailers because working at McDonald's will keep you creatively hungry." He was right. I should have listened to him.
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.
You are among Journalists, Hollywood Agents, Independent Online Video Producers, Web 2.0 Companies as well as Studio and Network Executives who read the 1TimStreet blog. If you are interested in reaching influencers in online video sponsor 1TimStreet by contacting 1timstreet at gmail dot com.
Shot on the RED Camera, Leonardo DiCaprio, will.i.am, Tobey Maguire, and Forest Whitaker have created public service announcements to encourage American youth to register to vote and have created a star studded PSA that has gone viral.
The non-partisan PSAs, produced by DiCaprios Appian Way, were created to engage and inspire young people to register and vote and participate in the upcoming election.
Celebrities appearing in the PSAs include: Amy Adams, will.i.am, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Bacon, Halle Berry, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Connolly, Courteney Cox, Ellen DeGeneres, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Jonah Hill, Dustin Hoffman, Anthony Kiedis, Ashton Kutcher, Adam Levine, Laura Linney, Eva Longoria, Tobey Maguire, Demi Moore, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman, Ethan Suplee, Kyra Sedgwick, Michelle Trachtenberg, Usher, and Forest Whitaker.
Looks like star power still works or could it be that Sarah Silverman takes off her bra in the PSA?
With economic hard times looming online content creators may have to make some cut backs. That said, which would you be willing to give up first, Cable TV or High Speed Internet?
Over the last three weeks I've been in San Francisco, Las Vegas and New York for several different online video events. Some I spoke at, some I attended and some I just went to the parties. While I was in New York I caught up with Jim Louderback CEO of Revision3 and he explains what Revision3 Beta is and how Independent producers can take advantage of Revision3's hosting, advertising, cross promotion and online video consulting.
For some reason people love making Sarah Palin videos. Maybe this "Hey Sarah Palin" video to the tune of "Hey There Delilah" will make some money when it goes viral as they are already selling T-Shirts for it.
I think this one will really go viral once it gets mashed up.
Writer, Producer, Director,Digital Entertainment Social Media Specialist, Adviser, Speaker and Creator/Executive Producer of the Popular Viral Video French Maid TV with over 30 Million Downloads of his online videos.
In addition to creating online viral video webisodes Tim has produced Short and Long Form TV for Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros., ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, The WB, UPN, Fine Living, Food Network, Game Show Network, Nickelodeon, Spike TV and many others. Tim sits on the Advisory Board of the ADM and is available for Social Media Consulting. Contact him via email 1timstreet at gmail.com For creative work Tim is represented by UTA. View Tim's Demo Reels and Resume.
. You can also buy the ringtone of the song Womenizer on Britney.com. Something you couldn't do with cable TV in the 1980s.
