Comments on: YouTube to Offer Major Studio Films

By: YouTube Refocuses on Premium, and Once Again Misses the Point « NewTeeVee

YouTube Refocuses on Premium, and Once Again Misses the Point « NewTeeVee — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:01:21 +0000

[...] YouTube’s interface is set up for video blogs and virals, not premium content. It’s flat-out impossible, for example, to find those full episodes from CBS. Recent moves such as widescreen players and [...]

By: Four Eyed Monsters

Four Eyed Monsters — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:42:07 +0000

Hey there,
Our film Four Eyed Monsters was the first feature length film to be screened on YouTube over a year ago and we had the business model of getting people to join spout.com/foureyedmonsters with a custom message we added to the front of our film. For every person that joined we made 1 dollar and we raised $50,000 plus another $5,000 on banner revenue from getting over a million views to our film. We made more money then our entire theatrical DIY release and got way more exposure.

In the film world they usually equate a films theatrical success to how well it will do on DVD and in foreign markets. In our case it substantially boosted our DVD sales, brought foreign deals into the picture and landed us a 100,000 IFC TV and retail DVD deal that we are still in the process of getting paid on, but except for that little detail, the experience was hugely beneficial to our film careers. We are now working on our second feature film As The Dust Settles and are definitely considering YouTube as part of the distribution strategy to this film as well.

Not only does this make sense for indie films, but I think that larger films also want to capitalize on the exposure of putting a feature film on YouTube. And if they did what Joost and Snag do which is put commercials every 10 minutes then it would be an interesting source of additional revenue for these films as well as great exposure to boost DVD and blue-ray sales.

Arin Crumley
Four Eyed MOnsters
http://foureyedmonsters.com
http://asthedustsettles.com

By: The iMagazine » MGM Gives Full-Length Video to YouTube

The iMagazine » MGM Gives Full-Length Video to YouTube — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:41:17 +0000

[...] move is part of YouTube’s response to Hulu and had been presaged in aCNET report last week (see our coverage). The reason studios have been so cautious about putting their content on YouTube is that they [...]

By: MGM Gives (a Tiny Bit of) Full-Length Video to YouTube « NewTeeVee

MGM Gives (a Tiny Bit of) Full-Length Video to YouTube « NewTeeVee — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:09:17 +0000

[...] move is part of YouTube’s response to Hulu and had been presaged in a CNET report last week (see our coverage). The reason studios have been so cautious about putting their content on YouTube is that they [...]

By: Casi

Casi — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:56:50 +0000

YouTube is great for watching short user-gen videos, and it may well also be good for watching full-length movies – but there are currently plenty of movie watching sites out there, Hulu being only one. One thing these online video sites currently lack is a real sense of social activity. Lycos Cinema (cinema.lycos.com) is distinct in that it brings the social experience of watching movies with friends and fellow fans to the online experience – you can watch thousands of films (as well as TV content) in viewing rooms that allow you to chat in real-time with other audience members, or schedule viewing parties with friends.

By: Jericho Finally in its Proper Resting Place: YouTube « NewTeeVee

Jericho Finally in its Proper Resting Place: YouTube « NewTeeVee — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 18:35:58 +0000

[...] popped up on YouTube over the last couple weeks. We noticed the addition when we were researching another story [...]

By: Hollywood pronta a sbarcare su YouTube » Panorama.it - Hitech e Scienza

Hollywood pronta a sbarcare su YouTube » Panorama.it - Hitech e Scienza — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:12:54 +0000

[...] analisi interessanti su NewTeeVee e [...]

By: Liz Gannes

Liz Gannes — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:53:00 +0000

You're right, Rich. But other sites have chosen quality as their top priority and it shows. Another way of saying "bottom of the barrel" is "lowest common denominator," and there's something to be said for that.

Akash, no word on ad formats yet. We shall see.

By: Akash

Akash — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:55:01 +0000

Liz, do you have clarity on what ad formats are going to be used here? Will it be like Hulu – in stream ads and overlays?
And what films will make it to YouTube? Are they regular features or indie movies?

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:54:06 +0000

"Though YouTube’s video quality is still bottom of the barrel"

Why would you say this? YouTube's video quality isn't bottom of the barrel - have you watched through Apple TV or with HQ settings turned on?

The site became famously popular because it was the first to realize that if everyone came and was able to stream video instantly no matter how slow their (high speed) connection was, they'd be happy and back for more.

As more and more people ramp up their internet speeds, the site is slowly compensating by letting you choose higher quality streams. While you might take for granted a fast corporate connection, there are still A TON of people out there on basic $14.99 DSL plans that aren't much faster than dialup.

YouTube can turn on HQ or HD streams across the board if they wanted to tomorrow - right now it just makes sense to do it for those who ask.