Vuguru Spices Up the Video Scene
Have you been hooked by an online video series yet? Does anything make you tune in every day like the Lonelygirl15 fans? Perhaps it’ll be Prom Queen, debuting April 2. A serialized drama lasting just 90 seconds per day, the online-only show’s tagline promises blood and titillation: “Some girls would kill for it.”
The show is the first production of Vuguru, a web video studio funded by Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company, according to USA Today. To make it happen, Eisner has brought in the folks at Big Fantastic, funding Prom Queen and buying their previous serialized internet drama, the excellent Sam Has 7 Friends.
See this article in the LA Times about Big Fantastic from less than two months ago, which talked about the guys shopping around a new batch of shows but not having any luck (yet). Good to see Hollywood moving so fast.
Sam Has 7 Friends cost about $50,000, and Prom Queen will cost more than double that, according to the USA Today story. The production value is most definitely slick.
While sites that feature user-generated video, such as YouTube, “won the short-term sprint” to reach audiences, [Eisner] says, “Winning the marathon will be professionally produced, emotionally driven story content.”
The clips will be heavily monetized — perhaps overly so, with pre-rolls, post-rolls, and product placements, according to the article. Signed sponsors include Fiji Water, Pom Wonderful juices, and Teleflora florists.
Video that’s optimized for the web and has high production values? We’re more than happy to place our bets on this trend!
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Try looking at SomethingToBeDesired.com . IT is a web sit com that has been running for 4 or 5 seasons. All on a shoe string budget and based in Pittsburgh.
Jeff on March 12th, 2007 at 6:55 am - Permalink
Thanks Jeff, I will definitely check it out.
Liz Gannes on March 12th, 2007 at 9:39 am - Permalink
[...] production deals are the online video theme of the week, with Michael Eisner launching Vuguru and the show Prom Queen on Veoh, Stephen Bohco signing up with Metacafe to solicit clips, and now NBCU and Break getting [...]
NewTeeVee » Break and NBCU Creating Original Show on March 14th, 2007 at 10:33 am - Permalink
[...] them and watching them get buried among thousands of other videos. The 90 second webisodes will start playing on April 2nd, we’re told. Perhaps this is the start of a trend: professional content [...]
Prom Queen: The Next Lonelygirl15? on March 28th, 2007 at 9:37 pm - Permalink
[...] them and watching them get buried among thousands of other videos. The 90 second webisodes will start playing on April 2nd, we’re told. Perhaps this is the start of a trend: professional content [...]
proxieslist.net on April 12th, 2007 at 6:21 pm - Permalink
[...] drama nominee Sam Has 7 Friends from Big Fantastic (previous coverage) is no longer available at the original site or on Vuguru, and has been removed from YouTube and [...]
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