Drew, great post, especially the talent part. I've been dying to start my own video work back up but I'm good at some things and I totally suck at some other things and know that the answer is collaboration. If anyone wants to work collaboratively on a weekly show in the bay area, lemme know. I'd love to contribute to something like that. Doing it on my own means I only post sporadically and I know what I'm putting out there could be a hell of a lot better with more people to bounce ideas off of. Cheers, Robyn
On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 8:42 AM, Drew <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > " What concerns me most of all is that we really need companies like > > Revision3 to succeed. The independent content creator, and in turn, > > independent production companies and studios, are really being > > overshadowed by the efforts of the Hollywood studios and entertainment > > conglomerates. For example, look at the lineups at Digital Hollywood > > and the NewTeeVee Live conferences -- there was a terrible lack of > > independent content creators sitting on panels alongside people from > > LucasFilm and Hulu." > > This is a major concern I have too, maybe the biggest issue on the table. > > I don't really think of Revision3 as independent. They are "new", like a > new cable station, > but they have been trying to emulate an old model of TV and they are owned > now by > investors, so their #1 mission is likely to sell to a mainstream entity. > This is going to be an > uphill battle if rumors are true that this setback happened not due to an > economic > meltdown, but because they did not receive their next, anticipated round of > funding. > > In case anyone didn't notice, the people who you tend to think of as > independent, like > Kevin Rose, for instance, has no control whatsoever over the company and > apparently no > say even. From his blog post, we can infer that he didn't even know about > the layoffs until > he was told by Jim, without discussion. Maybe Kevin should be more > involved, that might > help. Not sure. > > Nevertheless, setting aside Rev3, what is starting to happen is that Hulu > and iTunes for > instance are becoming so popular, that they are starting to control the > programming for > the masses. ***Hulu is a place where MOST people are not allowed to > distribute.*** Same > old game as before. Because Hulu is becoming so popular, it's starting to > divide and this is > destructive not only for independents, but for the future of media in > general. Why cant > Hulu continue to curate their favorite content in the same way, but allow > anyone to > distribute on a back channel like iTunes? Probably because they believe in > a business > model that will not include open and democratic media. It's their right to > be closed, but > it's a decision that hurts the world for no gain and its gross. > > When people say things like Hulu is for "professional" content while > YouTube is for "User > Generated Content", the world is suffering even more and becoming further > divided by a > stark line between the two. > > The biggest threat of all is coming in tandem as Comcast started capping > internet plans. > Anyone who says this wont effect how much we can do online is naive. Their > first cap- > plan structure seems somewhat uninhibited right now but this doesn't mean > they wont > start tweaking the cap amounts once everyone accepts the reality in due > time. While its > easy to compete with CBS and Disney because now we use the same open > distribution > channels, it will be hard to compete with Verizon and Comcast, due to the > amount of > overhead needed to build out an alternative system. My hope is that a > teenager will > singlehandedly invent a new way to transfer data faster, without fiber - > one that may cost > almost nothing in terms of technological infrastructure. I'm certainly not > going to sit > around and wait for that to happen. > > What's to be done? At least a few things, I think: > > #1 Four years ago, I promoted the idea of saving up your coins for a year, > buckling down, > and investing in your own video company for a year. At the time, I thought > a year would > be enough but didn't understand how long it would take for a supportive > marketplace to > arise. Now, I'd say is an even better time to do it. If you can spend a > year, starting right > now, you may have an advantage due to a weak marketplace and the continuing > growth in > online audience demand. The market may be much stronger in a year when you > are ready > to monetize. If you can't do that, join another team who can. > > #2 Find the talent, dont assume you are the talent. This may be the biggest > problem the > independents suffer from. If you think you are really good on camera, there > is probably > someone who could do the job better. If you think you are a great story > teller and that > tons of people will enjoy your writing, you might be fooling yourself. > Build a creative team > of people who you think are better than you. > > #3 Start an iTunes/Hulu/Joost competitor. We know you dont need any > overhead. A few > talented programmers and UI developers should find a very open space. I > remember > before iTunes came out with their podcasting client, Rocketboom was getting > slammed by > literally 1000's of new and experimental audio and video distribution > aggregators, most of > which quickly faded away post-iTunes. It seems like there is room again for > a new spirit > and a better interface. > > #4 Be careful about the conversations you have: dont let this separation > become more > defined. Bring it all together in a way that people understand this is > about democracy, > choice and personalized content. This is where conferences hurt us if no > one is there to > discuss this. This is where Hulu viewers hurt us because they are closing > their doors on > things outside of their comfort zone. It starts with the lingo from us, > then the bloggers, > then the journalists, then the first adopters and then it becomes stuck > everywhere else. > Speak up before it's too late! > > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com <videoblogging%40yahoogroups.com>, > "Steve Woolf" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I just wanted to chime in here and thank everyone for so much support. > > We've always said that if it wasn't for the people in this group > > supporting us right out of the gate in June 2006, we wouldn't have > > ever made it past the first few months. So we really appreciate it. > > > > We were saddened to find out about Rev3's decision to make such wide > > and deep cuts in their programming and personnel, but we were not > > surprised. There were internal signs that they were going to need to > > make these kinds of moves, we just didn't expect them so quickly. > > > > What concerns me most of all is that we really need companies like > > Revision3 to succeed. The independent content creator, and in turn, > > independent production companies and studios, are really being > > overshadowed by the efforts of the Hollywood studios and entertainment > > conglomerates. For example, look at the lineups at Digital Hollywood > > and the NewTeeVee Live conferences -- there was a terrible lack of > > independent content creators sitting on panels alongside people from > > LucasFilm and Hulu. > > > > As for us, we are going to keep making EPIC FU on a regular schedule > > and distributing everywhere. We'll be with Rev3 through December, and > > after that we'll be on our own barring something unforeseen. There > > will be shows and companies that are going to go away permanently > > during this time, but hardship always brings innovation and > > creativity, so I hope we can all persevere and find a way to keep > > supporting each other. > > > > I'm personally looking forward to the next few months and assessing > > some new opportunities and ideas of our own. :) > > > > Steve > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com <videoblogging%40yahoogroups.com>, > Irina <irinaski@> wrote: > > > > > > shit i go visit my father in offline deep maryland for four days and > > just > > > got back > > > > > > maybe i should have stayed off line.... > > > > > > grrr > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 3:29 PM, danielmcvicar <danielmcvicar@>wrote: > > > > > > > Steve and Zadi inspired me to make the crossover to the world of > > > > online video and I am always in their debt. We will see many great > > > > things from them...like we have come to expect. Including keeping > > > > their community active. That is hard and worthwhile work. > > > > D > > > > > > > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com<videoblogging%40yahoogroups.com> > > <videoblogging%40yahoogroups.com>, > > > > "Kent Nichols" > > > > > > > > <digitalfilmmaker@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com<videoblogging%40yahoogroups.com> > > <videoblogging%40yahoogroups.com>, > > > > "Heath" <heathparks@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Just saw this now, probably a bit of old news for some, but sad > > > > > > nonetheless....Steve and Zadi are great people and I am sure this > > > > is a > > > > > > kick in the gut in many ways... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/10/27/revision3-cuts-back-on-shows-and- > > > > > > staff/ > > > > > > > > > > > > Hopfully Steve and Zadi knew about this before hand and were > > making > > > > > > some deals.. > > > > > > > > > > > > Heath > > > > > > http://batmangeek.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Yeah it really sucks. I can't think of people more decent or hard > > > > > working than Steve and Zadi. I'm just at a loss. :( > > > > > > > > > > -K > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > http://geekentertainment.tv > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > -- Robyn Tippins 510-579-5558 cell Community Manager, Yahoo! Developer Network Sleepyblogger.com | Gamingandtech.com | twitter: duzins [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
