At docSHIFT last night, Mark Greenspan, the ubercool new media producer and the guy who puts together NextMEDIA, gave a presentation on interactive docs.
Here are links to docs he talked about so you can go play around with them. If you know of any docs that are missing from this list, let me know please.
Google sent me a coupon for $100 to use on AdWord recently. AdWords is for advertising your own product and is not to be confused with AdSense which allows you to put ads on your site and earn money from them. But AdWords is pretty confusing even if you know that.
Who's gonna ignore a coupon for a hundred bucks? Why not try it out on Hailey Hacks, which I often refer to as my experiment in business models. So I set up an AdWords account and started goofing around with keywords and almost immediately gave up in confusions and reached out to Christopher Guest who is my go-to-guy for anything that has to do with advertising.
Christopher told me there was no point in advertising anything that didn't have a revenue stream. Hailey Hacks is free on YouTube and various other video sharing sites. What is the point, he wanted to know, of driving traffic to a site that isn't earning money.
Okay, good point. So in addition to figuring how what keywords to use and how the hell the whole bidding on words works, I decided to build a new little home site for Hailey that I could add AdSense to. Now when I make ads with AdWords, they'll send clickers to the new site, titled Web Wizardry (but sitting at haileyhacks.blogspot.com.) So let's see how much I can earn from AdSense from $100 in my AdWords (now $95 because of the activation fee.)
I made three different ads, one for the April Fools videos, one for the Google Maps video and one for the LOLcats video. If you happen to meet one of my ads, please let me know or better yet take a screenshot (you know how to take a screenshot, don't you? Alt-shift-3.)
Just to see what would happen, I also turned on the pre-roll ad option on the videos over at Blip.tv. So now, the videos have pre-roll, overlay and post-roll ads on them. Soon, hopefully AdSense will be operational and if I have time, maybe I'll add an Amazon affiliate program while I'm at it.
Lucky I didn't read this piece about making money on the web by Roger Ebert before I spent my entire Saturday on this.
Poor Valerie Creighton. Late Friday afternoon, a bulk email signed by her went out announcing the launch of the new CMF on Friday March 26. That's the new and improved version of the Canadian Television Fund which, along with changing its name to the Canada Media Fund is going to usher the industry into the digital era. From here on in in order to get financing from the CMF, TV shows are going to required to have another platform.
Unfortunately whoever masterminded the bulk email forget to include the links to register for the "virtual launch and the two virtual Townhall Program Guideline Presentations later the same day.
Today comes the errata email with the links which take you to a site that doesn't support FireFox.
The launch is being held Friday March 26 from 9 to 10 in both official languages. You can attend virtually by clicking here to RSVP (but don't use FireFox). To register for the Guildelines Presentations, here for English and here for French.
docSHIFT is a two year project run by DOC Toronto with funding from OMDC's Creative Cluster Partnership Fund.
docSHIFT: Real Stories to Multiple Platforms will create new business opportunities by bringing Ontario documentary filmmakers together with new-media producers. It will facilitate new creative partnerships and help develop innovative interactive documentary projects.
Monday night at the Gladstone's networking event is a chance for documentary filmmakers and interactive digital media producers to hang out, have a drink and also to hear a little bit about the first of the docSHIFT initiatives: the docSHIFT Crossover Lab which will be taking place May 8-13.
If you're read this blog over the last year and a bit, you know I am a huge fan of Crossover. It's a brilliant creative experience. It's an inspirational experience that gives you the opportunity to begin thinking creatively about working in the digital and interactive space. Crossover labs are attended by a mix of people -- some from traditional media and some from a digital-interactive background. Not only do you get to meet and work with potential collaborators with a complementary skill set but of the course of the lab you develop a vocabulary for working together. Plus it's a magical creative experience.
I'll be at the Gladstone Monday night - March 22, 2010 - to sing the praises of Crossover and encourage everyone to apply for the lab in May. Maybe I'll see you there. The Gladstone is at 1214 Queen West in Toronto and the event runs from 6 to 8 pm. Free for DOC members and $10 at the door for everyone else. RSVP online here.
While I'm on the topic of documentary and Crossover, I should mention that when I attended the lab last March, I met a fabulous documentary producer named Liz Marshall. Her documentary, WATER ON THE TABLE, airs March 24th at 10:01 pm on TVO. Don't miss it.
This independently organized TED conference on Transmedia looks fabulous. The speakers are crazy amazing! Does anyone want to pay my way to attend? I'd be happy to Tweet, blog and share everything I learn!
When writing One-Liners there are 2 basic ground rules. The first is the length of the joke - the shorter the distance between the setup and the punch line, the funnier it is. The second is that the punch line will always be at the end.
He really does have 10 styles to choose from including:
2. Verbal Jokes: Bun (it's like a pun but not 100%): A Very tricky technique where the punch sounds a bit like the word expected from the setup, but not really. It's a very risky technique, as you may easily find yourself with a childish jest instead of a solid funny joke. The end result being a cough, instead of a laugh (that's a good example for a bad use of that technique).
For example:
Congratulations to Dolly Parton. She received an honorary degree from the University of Tennessee. It's a Ph.-Double-D. (Jay Leno)
Or:
In the year 3000 YouTube, Twitter & Facebook will merge into one super time wasting website called YouTwitFace. (Conan O'brien)
And
8. Humor based on extreme approach - Laughter can also deal with our deepest fears. If we can't control what scares us, the second best thing to do, is to laugh about it. The result is a great feeling of power - a small victory over fear. Come on - let's say the worst imaginable thing, and enjoy the one second our Id goes wild before our better judgment kicks in.
For example here is a one-liner about the most common fear - death:
I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather... Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car
(Bob Monkhouse)
Or another one about pedophiles:
I met an amazing girl on the internet. Smart, sexy, uninhibited...of course it turned out to be a twelve-year-old paraplegic boy. I'll be honest - the sex was disappointing. (Jimmy Carr)
Over at in shot, there's a post on why TV must change its revenue model -- and fast.
Broadcast television is about to be turned on its head. While many media proprietors (including free-to-air, pay-tv, cable and satellite operators) are still breathing a sigh of relief from the costs to switch to digital, the real battle for supremacy has only just begun.
At stake, is control of the entire television advertising business model, worth globally in hundreds of billions of dollars. With it, is control of the global television syndication and distribution business as we know it.
The problem lies in the ad spot.
The problem with television is that it has not changed its engine in more than fifty years. What started out as shows brought to you by, resulted in the highly successful, albeit conventional 30-second spot commercial.
The spot is stale and completely out of date in an on-demand world. If television continues with it, it risks alienating audiences even further, who have all but grown accustom to personalising their viewing habits and time shifting their favourite television programs, all thanks to a device called TiVo. Moreover, if television fails to ignore the fundamental audience shift away from advertising interruption to one of invitation, then it will surely risk the very livelihood of its own industry at its own peril.
Brand integration is no solution. Consider if you will, the typical hour of tv. How many ads are there? At least 10. Do you want to write 10 products into your episode? What kind of a nightmare would that be?
So what are the solutions? The in shot piece, suggests a few that can overlay onto the story-viewing experience without interrupting it. Widgets and technology will allow viewers to click on parts of the screen and "pull" in information about products and services. This is the "click on the character's dress and a new browser tab opens with the shopping information" idea.
Also coming is more Social TV; television events that we can share. Socializing TV isn't new. It's throwing an Oscar party or joining live a Twitter conversation while watching the Olympics. Advertisers and marketers will be looking for ways to share their messages with the communities that form around social tv events.
While these are solutions that will help to monetize television content, they can be done without the networks. Nor do internet ready TVs which can get content direct from the web without any network involvement at all. Some of the TV makers seem to be moving into the content creation business.
In fact, Ridley Scott Associates' new series Parallel Lines is produced by Philip's Cinema TV. Neat premise: five directors make films in five different genres using the same dialogue. Here's a trailer:
Vint Cerf, sometimes called the father of the Internet, has a few thoughts on watching video on the web. Watch for that word "blur"; everything gets blurry in the new environment.
Check out Hailey's second set of April Fools pranks. For you low-tech types, she's got a great trick that will have your victim smelling sweetly. And for the geeks out there, she offers up some fun with System Prefs that will have your Mac-owning friends reaching for their Chinese phrase books!
Andra Sheffer’s office has walls in two shades of blue and looks west out at College where the blue roof of the police headquarters matches her decor nicely. I was visiting to find out more about the Independent Production Fund and what I could put into my application that would help it stand out from yours. Which raises the question of why I’m now going to tell you everything I found out.
…Or am I? Do you trust me?
Well you should because one of the things Andra -- the Executive Director of the Independent Production Fund -- and I discussed was collaboration and cooperation among the successful applicants. But I’ll get to that in a sec.
First, let’s just go over the basics of the application. The IPF, as you know, is running a web drama pilot program:
The intent of the Fund is to assist independent producers/creators to finance the production of original drama series created initially for the web.
The Independent Production Fund intends to explore the potential for high quality, story-driven drama with new and innovative narrative forms.
Successful properties may subsequently be exploited on other platforms such as television and mobile either in their original format or through the exploitation of derivative rights.
Applications, which are limited to a maximum of six pages, are due on March 31st. I suspect that there will be A LOT of applicants. The plan is to narrow down the field and ask a small number of applicants (12? 14?) to create more detailed production proposals. The IPF “intends to work closely with applicants in the creation of their Production Proposals.”
What can you do to get into that select second round group?
The guidelines say:
The primary criterion for acceptance by the Fund will be the quality of the project.The Board will assess projects based on the creative materials; creative and production team; production strategies; scheduling; budget and financing; distribution and web strategies; marketing and promotion plans; projected traffic; business model and revenue projections; maintenance strategies, third party financing and endorsements, associated interactive activities, recoupment, HD, etc.
But what are they really looking for? Andra says great creative if the first step. Creative that excite jurors and evaluators makes them look deeper.
A track record is going to help. Experienced writers can apply, but you need to show evidence that you know how to produce and better yet, get things onto the web. If you don’t have that experience, teaming up with someone who has complimentary skills will help your chances.
The business plan is going to be key. The IPF is making an investment. They want their money back and they want a profit which they can invest in other people’s projects. They’d like to see you make a profit too.
You might want to talk about marketing as well. How are you going to attract and engage an audience?
Fit all that into six pages!
Obviously, no one really knows exactly how to create a successful web series and make money with it. You might say “Oh, Pure Pwnage did it.” There are definitely lessons to be learned but times have changed a lot since then. There are a handful of other series that work well and make money but no one guaranteed model.
The intent is to create a climate in which all of the successful applicants can pool resources and learn from each other. By collaborating and sharing information and strategies, the teams will improve their chances of creating great web series that audiences love and turn a profit.
As Andra says, she wants all of the series to be as successful as possible.
I’m excited because 6 or 7 web series are going to get some financing and a good chance at testing the waters. Whether they make money or not, we’ll all profit from their experience.
For more inspiration, check out these guidelines for creating award winning web series from the Fine Brothers.
In the next decade, we will see significant changes to the way that content is created, monetized and experienced. During the next few years, existing media players will begin to increasingly face the realities and challenges that those of us online have always dealt with -- an audience with a short attention span and a whole slew of viewing options.
Sumner Redstone famously called content "king." Rupert Murdoch recently upgraded that to "Emperor." While there is certainly some truth to that when looking at online content -- see Hulu's rapid growth as an example -- there are far more cases where great content does not seem to matter at all. At the very least, I think it is fair to say that even if content is king online, then distribution and marketing are the "crown princes." Good content or not, understanding and embracing digital distribution and marketing will prove critical to everyone in the entertainment industry.
These days, when I'm thinking about creating content, I'm thinking about distribution and marketing right from concept. How can I build elements into the narrative that will help it spread?
There are the mysteries of SEO to unravel -- an art or science that seems ripe with charlatans. Beyond search, there is the social web, a brilliant way of spreading content, but by no means a slam dunk. You have to know what you're doing and really work at it. You can't just sign up for a twitter account and figure everything's suddenly going to go viral.
Viral! I hate that word because of the ease it implies. Nothing goes viral without a brilliant strategy, plenty of effort and a certain amount of money.
Money. Indeed, an ad buy is important. Especially if you aren't an SEO ninja or a social media star with a zillion followers.
The new kid on the block is social recommendation. People consume things they see their friend's consuming on Facebook and click on the links on Twitter. You have to make your content shareable, embeddable and wigitizeable. You have to give your audience a Creative Commons license that gives them the right to goof with your content because that's another way to make it popular.
Because content may be king and distribution may be the crowned prince, but the audience? God.
Perhaps, I thought, cable would be a more receptive arena for women’s voices. Was I wrong! I decided to investigate 3 shows on USA, the number one rated cable network – “Monk,” “Psych,” and “Burn Notice.” None, emphasis on none of these shows has ever employed a woman on the writing staff! These aren’t blood and guts, male testosterone-laden shows; these are shows dependent on female viewers on a network that was run by a woman! None! Draw your own conclusions.
This morning, I got up my nerve and played a little Chat Roulette. This is the site where you turn on your web cam and then click to look at total strangers via their web cams, and text chat with them.
I was a little apprehensive about it. Strangers! What do you say? Plus I guess I had some preconceived notions as in, mostly teens and 20-somthings and a whole lotta sex and porn. Then there are the rudeness possibilities. What if someone just clicks away from you on first site? What if you do that to them?
But I guess the worst that can happen is hurt feelings or maybe a glimpse of a naked body part, so I decided to overcome my fear and give it a try.
The site is pretty plain, boxes for the two web cams, with the "stranger" at the top and a big box on the right for the chat text. On the top right are the words Users online. This number has stayed static at 20000 all morning, so I take it with a grain of salt.
There are three buttons: Play, Report and Stop. After you press play the first time, it turns into Next. It's the important button -- your safe word -- it gets you in and gets you out and onto the next person.
My first “stranger” was a woman, no face, just her cleavage and she was lying in bed. OK, first preconception confirmed. Without speaking to her, I clicked past. (Who's the rude one now, eh? I didn't even try to engage her conversation!)
Next was a guy who didn’t have a video camera, just a photo of an average guy – not young, maybe 40s or 50s. He greeted me with bjr. Who knows what that means? So I opened another window and started searching for the meaning of this internet acronym wondering if it was a long form of the better known bj. Then his second text came through qui etes vous?. Oh Jill, jump to conclusions much? This isn’t a sexual overture, the guy speaks French.
Cool, I’m on a “use-my-French” kick and here’s a stranger to practice on. We establish that he’s in France, it’s his first time on Chat Roulette and in fact, I am the first person he’s talking to. And would it be possible for me to show him my breasts?
Moving on.
Next guy is in Ohio, maybe 30-ish, first time try at Chat Roulette and he’s already spoken to people in France and Mexico. He wasn’t afraid to try it but a little shy about talking to strangers. Then he got a phone call and there was enough dead air to bore me and I signed off.
Conclusion: There are people on Chat Roulette from different countries. There seems to be a fair amount of sexual content, but it’s not ALL sex. It’s hard work to talk by typing to strangers and find something interesting to say. Before I try again I will make a list of questions to ask to engage my strangers… something beyond where are you and have you done this before. Help me out, if you can think of questions I should ask, leave them in the comments.
Also, let me know if you've Chat Rouletted and how it went.
I was cruising the web this week looking for information about soon-to-be-released television series and was shocked to find virtually nothing. I'm talking about more than one series -- series that are in the can and awaiting air dates. Yet, the only information about them are their IMDB pages and a press release here and there to announce a green light, a casting choice or the first day of principal photography.
Nothing else. No writers blog. No production blog. No photos from set or images of any kind.
It strikes me as odd and also foolish. The web is a cheap way to start building a fan base and community around your project.
Yeah, I know. You don't have an air date or a web site yet. But that shouldn't stop you from having a hundred followers on Twitter or 5000 hits to a blog. That's early awareness of your project. The number of people who know the project's name, the names of the actors, production company and yes, the names of the writers will just keep growing. Maybe they'll even mention it to a friend, retweet you or forward a blog post.
Wouldn't it be amazing if by the time you got your airdate a thousand people or ten thousand already knew about the project? And all it cost you was a few hours a week on the web. Let's face it, you're on the web already. Just make the time productive.
Why wait for the PR people to come on long after the show is wrapped and the creative team have moved on? Why wait till the press releases are written? Why wait for the Saturday paper to be delivered only to discover that you haven't gotten the cover of the TV guide you were promised? Why wait for the luke warm reviews?
It seems much smarter to have someone on the team or several people contributing to a blog though prep, production and post, to have a Facebook fan page up from day 1 building interest, to start a Flickr account to house pictures from set and YouTube channel from some video.
Branching narratives:
USMOB
Games:
