Video Blogging Pioneer Interviews Spike Lee

A few questions with Spike Lee from ekai on Vimeo.

Video Blogging Pioneer Eddie Codel had a chance to sit down with Spike Lee yesterday with a handful of other bloggers & vloggers and got 20 minutes with Spike to ask him about the influence of the Internet, social networks, mobile devices and cheap tools on film making. They also got his view on UFOs!! This is part of the Nokia Productions film project.

It's interesting to see how a ground breaking filmmaker like Spike Lee is so far behind when it comes to new technology and the digital revolution.

Nice work Eddie!

Have the Clintons Figured a Way to get Hillary in the White House?

This political video is on it's way to 1 Million views this week. It features a law suit by a Democratic attorney alleging that Barack Obama is not a Natural born US Citizen.

Have the Clintons figured a way to get Hillary in the White House?

Do You Sizzle?

In the Entertainment Industry there have been two types of marketing that marketers have used to sell entertainment properties. Industry Marketing and Consumer Marketing. Movies have both Industry Trailers and Consumer Trailers. One set of trailers to explain to theater and DVD store owners as well as foreign distributors what the new movies are coming down the pike and one set of trailers for the general public to see in movie theaters and at the beginning of DVDs to get them motivated to watch.

In Television and other entertainment arenas trailers are put together but they are called Presentations or Sizzle Reels. These highlight reels are less story driven and just give a high energy look at what entertainment a company currently has to offer.

Last night at Entertainment Networking Event I had the chance to speak on a panel moderated by NBC Host Shira Lazar with some of the folks from Deca. - The people who just invested in Smosh. This was one of the toughest panels I've ever been on. Not because the questions were hard hitting but because it was in a noisy bar. It was the first time I ever asked people in the audience to leave a panel I was on. I just told them, "If you want to talk leave. Go outside and network." Boom. They did but it was still hard to hear as their noise drifted into the old swimming pool area of the Hollywood Athletic Club where Douglas Fairbanks used to swim.

On the panel we talked the basics of online video monetization to a crowd made up of film and TV people who had not yet posted videos on the Internet. This was a group of people who were looking for work and new ways to make money. A crowed that was thirsty for Online Video 101 information.

Some how we made it through the panel and my big take away was that what ever you are doing to promote yourself, your online video or video series you need to Sizzle. You need to give industry and consumers something exciting that engages them. I didn't get up on that panel to tell talkers to leave but after the panel was over I had people thanking me for doing that and apologizing for other people's behavior. What ever I did made an impression on people and it gave them an opportunity as an ice breaker to talk with me after the show. I sizzled.

I've posted Deca's Sizzle reel here for you all to check out. If you are a media buyer or sponsor who contacts Deca because of my blog please let me know.

And if you have a Sizzle Reel or trailer that you would like me to feature send me an email or post a link to it in the comments.

We all want you to Sizzle.

Hayden Black to Give Key Note at OMMA Video

Hayden Black - The best free videos are right here

Online Comedy Series Creator/Exec Producer/Actor Hayden Black will be giving the Key Note at this year's OMMA Video where he will talk about his online video successes Goodnight Burbank and Abagail's X-Rated Teen Diary.

Jamison Tilsner of Tilzy.TV talks to Hayden Black, creator of GoodnightBurbank.com and AbigailsXRatedTeenDiary.com.

SIDE NOTE: Last night one of the cast members of Goodnight Burbank, David Lawrence showed up in the NBC hit series HEROES.

Prom Queen DVD Hits the Street

The Big Fantastic boys now have a DVD of their Internet Video Hit Prom Queen out and you can buy it at Amazon for as low as $7.85 as of this posting.

Can you guys tell us anything about how it got to DVD or was that all handled through Michael Eisner's Vuguru?

What if you could use Joost without a Download?

Well it looks like you can now!

Now let's see how they treat independent content producers.

Guess Who's Investing in Original Independent Online Video?

It's not Revver.

It's Deca!

According to Paid Content "Digital entertainment company Deca has invested in Smosh, taking an undisclosed stake in the teen-centric online video brand. The Santa Monica-based content development, marketing and sales studio will handle everything, including ad sales, business development and distribution for Smosh. Deca co-founder and CEO Michael Wayne told paidContent that Smosh was already “profitable” from advertising; it currently runs Google AdSense-powered search and display ads."

Currently the third most subscribed YouTube channel of all time, Smosh is sketch comedy for teens and tweens by 20-year-olds Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. With more than 175 million views, Smosh videos have become a pop culture phenomenon. Their site, Smosh.com, features video extras, robust forums, and a growing community of more than 340,000 registered members, who contribute to more than five million page views each month.

Now you as a sophisticated media professional might not see the value in two guys in a bedroom punching each other to the tune of the Mortal Kombat Theme but there are over 13 million views of this one video that prove that you need to face facts and realize that just because something is not appealing to you it still has an audience and has value.

As a young adult I was a producer on a variety show on Nickelodeon called What Would You Do? It was a show with hidden cameras and lots of pies. I swore to myself that I was an adult and that I was not going to let a kids' show with pies make me laugh but oh how I was wrong. Every time someone went through the Piepod, the Pie Coaster or was hit with a pie from the Wall o' Stuff I laughed my ass off.

Now you as a media buyer or brand manager might pause at associating your brand with a a show as wild and crazy as Smosh but times have changed. Smosh is the 3rd most subscribed channel on YouTube and Smosh has over 175 Million views. Someone likes and is watching Smosh and this is a huge opportunity for you as an advertiser to get in front of an audience that really cares about these guys.

Sure you can try and go make your own Smosh and get over 175 Million views but while you're doing that someone else is going to be sponsoring Smosh while you are still trying to get 1 million views.

So what are you waiting for? Call Karl House Director, Business Development at 310.587.3535 x 103 or email him at khouse@deca.tv and sponsor Smosh before your competitors do.

How Are Ad Agencies and PR Firms Going to Make Money in Online Video?

In an article out today in Adweek "Twenty-eight percent of (ad agancy) respondents considered 1 million views successful; around 22 percent each would settle for 500,000, 250,000 or 100,000 views.

What? Obviously ad agencies, media buyers, brand marketers and PR firms are not connecting with online video content creators who get millions of views on a regular basis or they don't want to.

What do you mean Tim? Of course Ad agencies would want to help their clients out and connect with existing viral video series that would reach an advertiser's targeted client.

Would they? What's in it for them?

Tim, they would be a hero to their client saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ah, last I checked ad agencies aren't in business to save clients money. Advertising agencies are in business to make money and if they can't make money on the creative because some kid is making videos out of his bedroom that get millions of views and they can't make any money on the time buy because there's no time to buy cause you just post it on the Internet, how are advertising agencies going to make money in online video?

The way ad agencies are going to make money with Internet video is to embrace it. Embrace it like it's their long lost cousin cause right now with the economy in the crapper they are going to have to find cost effect ways of saving their clients money in order to help their clients make more money so that when the economy recovers they can hit their clients up with higher rates and remind them of what an effective job they did for them in the lean times.

Ad agencies will have to be careful that they don't fall into the "Smoke and Mirrors" trap that several people in the advertising and public relations industries are falling into now with online video. Where they fan a bunch of smoke about how great the creative is in their online video and then use a bunch of mirrors to talk about how effective the over all outcome of the campaign was even though their "viral video" only had 800 views on YouTube.

Ad agencies are going to need to reach outside their comfort zone of working with the "gods of media" known as commercial directors. TV commercial directors walk on water in the advertising world but TV commercials don't play that well on the Internet. The Internet has a new bread of content creators who live on the web and understand the nuances, culture, and what it takes to emotionally engage an audience online. Sure commercial directors will learn these things but the huge day rates that they command in TV commercials won't be there waiting for them on the Internet so they won't be motivated to really dive in and become an online video creator.

Ad agencies are trying to create their own online videos but they will soon learn it's easier to jump on to a moving train than it is to build your own train and lay the tracks it's going to ride on.

How are agencies going to make money in online video? Ad agencies and public relations firms will make money in online video by buying placement on video sites that will feature their sponsored or co-branded videos so that they get millions of views. But the real way agencies are going to make money in online video is by partnering with existing content creators who have relevant content with emotionally engaged audiences already in place. In some cases we will even see ad agencies and PR firms pour money into building up the audiences of small online video shows so that their reach will make a dent both nationally and globally and be affective as well as effective in creating ROI for their clients.

Wow that sounds greatt Tim, but what the hell does that mean?

Okay, let's take French Maid TV for example. Say there's a SCUBA diving resort or SCUBA diving equipment manufacturer that wants to reach young men and they don't have an online video campaign launched already. Their ad agency could go create their own SCUBA Diving viral video and hope for the best or these SCUBA people could partner with French Maid TV to do a "How To Skin Dive" episode or better yet they do a series of French Maid TV Skin Diving Tips where the French Maids explain different SCUBA or Skin diving techniques for beginners and for the pros. These videos could then be placed in an ad buy on relevant video sharing sites as well as SCUBA diving sites around the world reaching more than just the 1 to 5 million views French Maid TV episodes get. This would increase awareness for the SCUBA vacation destination or SCUBA manufacture as well as French Maid TV and be of value to everyone involved.

Are your online videos getting millions of views?

Tell us about them.

Can Social Media be Used to Revive the Economy?

The Great Depression of the 1930s had Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR was the man most people looked to for leadership in that time of global economic crisis and world war. In this News Reel that played in movie theaters across the nation he asks for foreclosures across the country to be halted until homes and farms could take advantage of federal credit and in clear terms he explains to the country the steps the Government will take to speed economic recovery in America. Roosevelt describes striking plans for the stabilization of currency, and for mortgage and home relief."

During that uncertain economic period Roosevelt created a government program called the New Deal which was set up to provide work for the unemployed, help the economy recover and change the economic and banking systems that brought America and the world to its knees. Through the programs FDR initiated it took over 10 years for the economy to recover but it did recover and went on to boom.

With all the programs FDR had at his fingertips the there were a few things FDR didn't have: Television, the Internet and Social Media.

As a nation and as a world we have some heavy lifting ahead of us but we also have some powerful tools at our fingertips. We have the power to help others find jobs. We have the power as individuals to create jobs. We have the potential power to use social media to revive the economy much faster than FDR did.

We don't need permission from the government. We don't need corporate approval. We don't need bank approval. We don't need the stock exchange to recover first. All we need is a will. A will to share work, goods and services to each other through the use of the internet, online video and social networking. And a will to take action and make something happen.

Wow, that's are cool and stuff Tim but what the hell are you talking about?

I'm talking about us, the community of social media. I'm talking about the people who use social media on a daily basis thinking about our hopes, our dreams, what we really want, what we really need and how we can work together to help each other and maybe in turn help the nation and the world.

Are you looking for work? Are you looking to hire someone? Are you looking to sell something? Are you looking to buy something? Are you looking to start a project? Are you looking to fund a project? Are you looking to sponsor a project? How can we make these transactions happen quicker? How can we get money into the hands of people who need it sooner? With social media we can move at lighting speed. If we build a network large enough we can change things overnight. We don't need to wait and see what the government is going to do for us, we can do it ourselves. Right here inside our little bubble of social media we have some very smart people and some very smart leaders among us.

There are people and companies here in our network that have already made a difference in their workspaces and in their cultures. Companies like Zappos with leaders like Tony Hsieh have changed the way people think about their jobs. People like Leo Laporte, Robert Scoble, Kent Nichols, and Guy Kawasaki have large followings that they can reach out to. Leaders like Tony Hsieh and events like TED can all get involved in a social media community movement that can make things better for us before they get worst. Then we can take what we've learned to the masses.

By getting all of us social media people involved we can use our social media tools to revive things for our community now and maybe with what we learn we can also use social media to revive the economy for the rest of the world.

It all starts with one step. Do you think there is something you have to offer? Do you have ideas to share? Do you think you could be a part of tackling some of the biggest issues facing our planet?

Care to comment? Have you already blogged about it? Is there someone already doing this?

#smre