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5 Ideas Online Video Makers Should Steal From Trent Reznor
Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor this week published a list of essential guidelines on how to be successful online. Reznor knows a thing or two about Internet success. He became the best-selling artist on Amazon’s MP3 store despite giving his music and videos away for free, engaged his fans in a breath-taking Alternate Reality Game and recently became the Webby Artist of the year.
Critics have always argued that Reznor’s position is unique, and note that his band’s millions of fans around the world are thanks in no small part to promotion through his former major label. Reznor countered this kind of criticism by focusing his advice on the needs of aspiring newcomers. And while some of these suggestions may be specific to musicians, most of them actually make a lot of sense for up-and-coming online video makers as well. So since we here at NewTeeVee continue to get countless questions as to how to establish and promote new web shows, we’re stealing some of his best ideas and passing them on to you.
Operation Midnight Climax Depicts One of the CIA’s Dirty, Sexy Secrets
- Editor rating:
- Premiere: June 8, 2009
- Length: 10 minutes
- Budget: Medium
- Cast
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- Millie: Meredith Salenger
- Crew
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- Director / Co-Producer: Zach Jordan
- Writer / Co-Producer: Ramesh Thadani
- Producer: Juan Reynoso
- Cinematographer / Co-Producer: Glenn Sauber
- Links
Independent production company Strange Science LLC stumbled across the story of Operation Midnight Climax while writer Ramesh Thadani and director Zach Jordan were working at Videojug.com, where they were asked to research conspiracies for a potential video piece. There’s a full write-up on the operation at Wikipedia, but the Cliff’s Notes version is this — during the 1950s, as part of their experimentation with LSD and other mind-altering substances, the CIA hired prostitutes to dose their customers with drugs so that agents could observe the effects via two-way mirror.
Climax adds an element of fiction by depicting one of these brothels, run by Millie (Meredith Salenger, best known as Natty Gann from The Journey of Natty Gann), and its regulars, who have no idea that they’ve just become the subjects of a government trial in mind control. By putting the premise out front and center in a nicely rendered opening sequence, there’s minimal suspense in the first two episodes, which are mostly about the set-up of the experiment.
Instead, these episodes are more character study than narrative, establishing relationships and providing glimpses of backstory. Read more of this story
Former ManiaTV Owner Tries for a Do-Over
If at first you don’t succeed…try again by buying back the remnants of your failed company. That seems to be the motto for Drew Massey, who created ManiaTV and, according to The New York Times, is trying to resurrect the recently defunct new media studio.
Massey, in effect, sold three-quarters of the company after raising three rounds of venture capital totaling $26 million. ManiaTV focused on creating web shows around lower-tier celebs like Tom Green and Dave Navarro but never really caught on with audiences and shut down in March after it failed to find a buyer.
According to Massey, ManiaTV’s demise was because of the venture capitalists. He told the Times, “The VCs were all about building platforms and networks, not about building a big branded business.” Though Mania’s former CEO, Peter Hoskins, rebuts that by saying Mania’s vision was too expensive. After Hoskins replaced him, Massey wasn’t involved in operations and was not there until the bitter end. And if you ask our readers, ManiaTV’s management left a lot to be desired.
Massey has a few million bucks between him and his friends and is looking to run a lean business built on sponsorships and product placement in order to turn a profit. ManiaTV will relaunch “soon” with reruns of old programs and is aiming to roll out new shows this fall.
We’re not sure the second time (or even a third or fourth time) will be the charm for the company. The brand is so tarnished at this point that it will have to start out by rebuilding its image. Plus, the post-Hulu world has not been kind to mid-tail competitors like Ripe Digital and 60Frames, both of which shut down. And advertisers aren’t as interested in original programming for the web as they once were.
Blogs, Not Email or Search, Drive Video Views
Remember the days when Numa Numa was passed around as an email attachment? People don’t find online video like that anymore. Blogs and other web sites with embedded video and links are the single largest referrer of video views, according to TubeMogul. They even top direct navigation on video sites, for instance through a channel page, search or a related videos list. Seeing a mention on a gossip blog, an out-linking news site, your friend’s online journal or maybe even little old NewTeeVee is the main way people find video.
I was especially surprised to see that email referrals count for only 0.38 percent of video views — links sent via email or instant messenger surely must be a big reason people watch videos. That may indeed be true, though it’s not reflected in the data, because TubeMogul notes that it can only accurately measure click-throughs within web browsers. It has difficulty tracking clicks from software.
Starz Joins Comcast OnDemand Online
Starz announced yesterday that it was joining Comcast’s OnDemand Online trial, making content from its pay TV channels available for viewing online — if you’re a Starz subscriber.
Starz joins Time Warner, which announced last month that its TNT and Turner networks would be part of the 5,000-person national trial of the authentication service starting this July. Other networks like Scripps (Food Network), Rainbow Media (AMC) and A&E Television are expected to join as well. As part of the deal, Starz will provide 300 movie and original TV titles including Wall-E, Hancock and Party Down, some of which will be offered in HD, an online first for the network.
Comcast’s OnDemand Online and similar authentication services like Time Warner’s TV Everywhere will put premium content online, but require a cable subscription to access it.
We wonder how the ongoing evolution of online authentication will impact not just the cable operator landscape but also Netflix’s stream dreams.
Q&A With That’s Gay’s Bryan Safi
- Editor rating:
- Premiere: June 2009
- Length: 3 minutes
- Budget: High
- Cast
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- Host: Bryan Safi
- Crew
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- Producer : Natalie Proctor
In the first installment (which racked up over 70,000 views on Current’s site), Safi lashed out against the gay best friend stereotype, before moving on to discuss gay marriage and whether or not Sasha Baron Cohen’s Bruno is the new Malcolm X. We spoke via phone about reclaiming the word “gay,” Safi’s previous work at Funny or Die, and what, if anything, would be too gay to do on That’s Gay. An edited transcript follows.
NewTeeVee: What inspired the first episode of That’s Gay?
Bryan Safi: I think from watching Millionaire Matchmaker and being so offended when [Patty Stanger] asked a guy she’d never met if he was a top or a bottom. And I love Kathy Griffin, but all the stuff with her shouting “Where my gays at?” bothered me. It just seems kind of antiquated — I just wanted to say “Enough!”
NewTeeVee: Were you surprised by how fast it spread? Read more of this story
Fred Envy Pervasive at LA Conference
Here a Fred, there a Fred, everywhere a Fred-Fred. The specter of 15-year-old Lucas Cruikshank has seemed to haunt NATPE’s LA TV Fest this week, with mentions of his hit web creation, Fred Figglehorn, on many a talk or panel. Here’s our report from the conference hallways.
Whether you’re wearing a suit or jeans, everyone has the same disclaimer about Fred: “Personally, I don’t get it. Maybe I’m just too old.” But then it becomes clear that each and every one of them is in awe and fear of the Fred phenomenon. Cruikshank has created the most-subscribed channel in the history of YouTube by depicting a chipmunk-voiced 6-year-old with anger management issues.
EQAL’s Greg Goodfried displayed perhaps the most stunning case of Fred envy, talking about his guy-with-a-Flipcam-and-Final-Cut work on the new EQAL project Get Cookin’ with Paula Deen. “Literally we sit around and say, ‘Is this as good as Fred? Does it feel like Fred; is it cut like Fred?’”
Netflix Streaming Coming to Sony TV Sets
Add Sony TV sets to the long list of hardware devices that will stream Netflix movies. Netflix announced this morning that starting this fall, net-connected Sony Bravia TVs and older Bravias that use the Internet link module will be able to access its “Watch Instantly” movie service.
Sony joins a host of other consumer electronics companies carrying Netflix including LG, Vizio, Samsung along with Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Speaking of the Xbox, noticeably absent from the Sony announcement is streaming to the PlayStation 3. Netflix currently has an exclusive game console relationship with the mighty Microsoft, but once that ends, it’s likely the PS3 will get Netflix as well.
Sony also has a deal with Amazon’s VOD service to stream movies to its sets.
This deal was kind of inevitable given Netflix’s plan to be everywhere (and success so far at achieving that), but it’s a nice feather in the cap for the company to get (another) a big brand name like Sony. In April, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said that his company had a “tremendous number” of hardware partnerships in the pipeline.
ESPN Goes Interactive With SportsNation
If there is a type of TV show just screaming (sometimes literally) for socialization — it’s sports, and now thanks to social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, there are more soapboxes than ever on which the sports fan to spout off. ESPN is looking to tap into that fan-ergy with SportsNation, a new daily live show that incorporates instant viewer polls, audience tweets and viral videos.
The show debuted Monday (hat tip to Mediaite) on ESPN 2 and we caught the second episode yesterday. According to the SportsNation web site, the show’s goal is “to be the most interactive show on TV.” Viewers can interact with the program via its site, Twitter, Facebook and a good ole-fashioned telephone.
The “interactivity” is a bit of a mixed bag, and sometimes feels like more of a stunt than a show built from the ground up for audience participation. The opening segment was a poll asking a series of questions like “Where will LeBron [James] play in 2009-2010?” or “Would you buy the Cubs for $900 million?” Each host gives their opinion while the audience votes on the web site with the results shown on-air.
For Online Storytelling, What Is “Participation,” Anyways?
I sat in on the “Adapting Existing Properties for Digital” panel at NATPE’s LA TV Fest this morning, and one of the key themes of discussion is what exactly is the evolving nature of participation in online storytelling.
The general consensus among panelists was that a participatory story was less about letting users play with the actual content in a choose-your-own-adventure style, and more about letting people participate through communication. As Sarah Szalavitz, founder and CEO of 7Robot, said, “It’s not about choose your own adventure, it’s about saying your adventure is stupid.”
Speakers on the panel were: Szalavitz, founder and CEO, 7Robot; Jamie Elden, VP, Digital & Branded Entertainment, Alloy Media + Marketing; Curt Marvis, president, Digital Media, Lionsgate; Jeff Katz, chairman and CEO, American Original; and Chris M. Williams, general manager, T180 Studios, The Walt Disney Co.
The more effective participatory path is to build an active community. “Engage audiences through comments,” said Elden, “Get them involved with watching the content and how it affects them in their own real lives.”
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