“You’ll get tired!” says Hurwitz. “One of the producers came by when I was in post-production recently, and he said, ‘Can I see some of them?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, we’ve got seven episodes.’ ‘Great.’ And I heard him in the other room laughing and laughing, and then I heard him laughing a little less, and then a little less, and then later I saw him getting a drink of water and I said, ‘What do you think?’ He goes, ‘I’m just getting a little tired. I love it, it’s great, but you can’t really laugh the whole time. You have to take a break. There’s so much material.’”
However, I wanted the experience of consuming the whole thing at once, because everything that’d been said about the way Hurwitz and his team approached creating the season seemed like it would lend itself well to binge-viewing.
And in fact, the series does in fact function as a complete narrative, one that’s full of surprises.
Some observations:
This is as complex and dense a thing as I’ve ever seen, and really does peel back like an onion — conversations stretch across episodes and many reveals are pushed off until nearly the end of the season.
The vast majority of your old friends and references are back — often in surprising ways. (No spoilers, except to say that there was an awful lot more of Liza Minelli than I was expecting.)
There is plenty of new stuff, though, and new cast members including Terry Crews, Chris Diamantopoulos, Maria Bamford, Seth Rogan, Isla Fisher and Kristen Wiig.
The structure is loosely tied to a few key events which bring together all the stories; if things are unclear the first time you see a party or show, don’t worry — it’s by design. (To quote the show: It’s like it gets off on being withholding.)
This demands a great deal of patience from the viewers, especially when it takes a surprisingly long time for certain characters to get their time in the spotlight. Like, George-Michael doesn’t get his full episode until Episode 13.
Because of said complexity, there are no shortage of flashbacks and plenty of exposition used to hook things together.
This is actually openly mocked at a couple of points, by both Ron Howard in his capacity as narrator and the characters on screen.
That said, there is still an awful lot of all that. Drinking game suggestion — anytime an entire episode’s worth of plot is condensed down to a quick narrated montage, drink. (And then maybe don’t drive anywhere.)
One touch I really liked that serves the binge-viewing experience well — the opening credits for each episode are altered to reflect which character is the focus of that episode (the music is slightly different as well each time). When watching 15 episodes of a thing, that kind of variation goes a long way towards diffusing the repetition.
The approach has been compared to a novel, though it’s a novel that is constantly jumping around in time, challenging you to keep up.
I enjoyed the challenge, and the in-jokes — I didn’t so much enjoy the pacing, as the show, freed from network requirements of episode length, did drag here or there. So far, the reaction I’ve seen online has been relatively mixed, but it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and it’ll be fascinating to see how Season 4 ages with time. For there’s plenty to unpack and discover; I’m looking forward to rewatching Season 4. Maybe a little more slowly, though, next time.
When the blockbuster web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries partnered with DECA last fall, part of that deal was the promise of literary adaptations beyond Pride and Prejudice to satisfy its now-rabid fanbase. Thus, launching today is Welcome to Sanditon (AKA Sanditon), based on an unfinished Jane Austen novel — and looking to include said rabid fanbase directly in the story.
Created to fill in the gap between Lizzie Bennet and the next full-length novel adaptation, Sanditon features the return of Lizzie Bennet co-star Allison Page as Gigi Darcy, who’s spending the summer in the small coastal California town of Sanditon, working with the local community to launch a beta version of an app called Domino.
When the concept of the “Domino app” was introduced in the Lizzie Bennet narrative, it was on the surface a story device meant to explain how a particular character was successfully tracked down and brought to justice. But now, the format of the Domino app serves as a revised take on Lizzie Bennet‘s vlog-style storytelling, with the app enabling members of the Sanditon community to collaborate on videos. The first episode showcases this new approach, with Gigi sharing screen time with the town’s mayor and local ice cream shop owner.
But Domino’s reach expands past its presence on YouTube, thanks to a partnership between LBD production company Pemberley Digital and Theatrics.com. With the launch of today’s episode came the launch of Domino Beta Platform: Sanditon, where, in just the first few hours online today, over 30 new profiles (AKA “personas”) have been created, each by audience members looking to participate in the story.
People are playing in Sanditon outside of the Theatrics platform — a Twitter list created by the official Sanditon account currently lists over 300 “townspeople” beyond the official cast of the series. But the Sanditon team will be able to communicate privately with those participating on Theatrics, meaning that they’ll be able to keep the fan community abreast of upcoming plot points, allowing everyone to engage fully with the story.
Jay Bushman and Margaret Dunlap, who are co-showrunning Sanditon, were “looking to extend the opportunity for fans to engage in the story,” Theatric’s head of new business development Nick DeMartino said. The problem with that kind of fan engagement with a pre-established narrative like, say, Pride and Prejudice, is well-known.
However, Austen’s Sanditon is famously unfinished. “They wanted to continue to be respectful of the spine of the story,” he said, “But here the story’s cut off at the neck.”
At her donor level, her character is guaranteed to be included in the main story, but there’s also potential for other personas to be included down the line, depending on how the Sanditon community develops.
According to DeMartino, Theatrics’ involvement with Sanditon is its first venture into consumer-facing platforms — prior to now, it has focused on a white label offering, giving entities like USA Network for collaborative storytelling ventures.
“What we’re trying to do here is build customers and get feedback on how the platform is working for them,” DeMartino said. The plan is to then broaden to other tool-based programs for creators interested in the platform — as well as brands.
“All brands are storytellers,” DeMartino added. “They have to be.”
This week, major web video companies borrowed a tradition from the television world for the second annual NewFronts. The New York-based events brought together executives, advertisers and celebrities to preview shows, make announcements and celebrate 2013′s potential — here’s a round-up of just some of what was presented.
Yahoo
Celebrity Presence: John Stamos, Ed Helms, Morgan Spurlock, Cheryl Hines, Rachael Harris, The Lumineers (who performed live).
New Shows Presented: A mix of comedy and lifestyle programming, including Helms’s Tiny Commando, a show about the intersection of food and film, and a Spurlock-produced series where celebrities tell Stamos about the first time they had sex.
De Castro asked advertisers to sink 5% of their TV budget of just one brand into Yahoo. Clearly, he understands that while the online video space is growing in popularity, it is still an area meant to complement TV, not overtake it. Yahoo’s new shows should do just that by providing solid, accessible entertainment.
My Take: None of the announced partnerships are as high-profile as Yahoo getting the exclusive rights to Saturday Night Live clips. That said, of all the new shows announced this week, I might be the most intrigued by Losing Your Virginity with John Stamos: It sounds like a lot of fun.
AOL
Celebrity Presence: Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicole Richie, Baratunde Thurston, iJustine.
New Shows Presented: A wide range of largely lifestyle-oriented programming, including the Gwyneth Paltrow-starring Second Chances, Hank Azaria’s Fatherhood, Webby co-founder Tiffany Shlain’s The Future Starts Here, and a show about ballet executive-produced by Parker.
Biggest News Announced: To track who’s actually watching all that programming, AOL will be collaborating with Nielsen on a system that will “express audience measurement in the language of TV, enabling comparisons between the audience of AOL’s high-quality original programming and curated premium partner content to TV viewership” (according to the press release).
Ultimately, it’s not up to the Comscores and Nielsens of the world. “It’s really the market that has to decide, and we’re doing our best to make the measurement as robust and as fair for everybody so the buyer and the seller have to agree to transact on the data,” Burbank added.
My Take: Some of AOL’s original programming sounds potentially interesting, but relying on celebrities and brands to drive web content is far from a fresh business model, and oftentimes doesn’t have much staying power. However, if the audience for that content finally gets properly measured, it could help advertisers better understand the potential impact of online video.
Hulu
Celebrity Presence:SNL‘s Seth Meyers (who hosted the event), Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria, professional wrestlers Sergeant Slaughter and Rey Mysterio.
Biggest News Announced: Hulu had some exciting numbers to report, most importantly that Hulu Plus has topped four million subscribers, and according to comScore, it’s number one in engagement among top ad-supported sites.
“‘You might be wondering why someone who works for a traditional network like NBC is at the Hulu upfront,’ he said. ‘Simply put, I’m hedging my bets. I don’t want to be working for the steam-engine company and wondering if cars are going to work.’”
My Take: It would have been interesting to see bigger-name content presented by Hulu this week, but with subscribers on the rise and the site bringing in more original series, things seem to be going well for the site.
Blip
Celebrity Presence: Rob Huebel (who hosted the event), Grace Helbig, Rooster Teeth’s Burnie Burns.
New Shows Presented: The Huebel-starring comedy Mainly Murder, unscripted competition series Jewelry Star, The Great S. Cape!, created by Dark Knight producer Michael Uslan. (Full details presented on Blip’s site.)
“‘Blip is the future of TV,’ said CEO Kelly Day. ‘We have the largest library of Web originals anywhere. And we are not a platform.’”
My Take: Blip is currently in the midst of a massive sea change — so it was inevitable that this week’s news is a bit underwhelming in comparison to earlier shakeups. However, it’ll be exciting to see how the talent Blip’s brought in meshes together.
Crackle
Celebrity Presence: Jerry Seinfeld, David Arquette, Missi Pyle.
New Shows Presented:Plenty of them, including Extraction, a feature-length thriller starring Danny Glover and Vinnie Jones, Cleaners, an assassin action series with a cast including Arquette and Gina Gershon, and Strand Street, directed and produced by Milo Ventimiglia.
“Crackle is for the new living room,” Eric Berger, executive vice president of digital networks at Sony Pictures Television and GM of Crackle. “It’s programmed, it’s everywhere and its easily accessible. We’re not a content aggregator but a programmer much like a cable network.”
My Take: Anecdotal evidence suggests that Comedians In Cars has been huge for Crackle, introducing a whole new audience to the service, and the emphasis on thriller and drama programming is a positive step forward for those looking to see web original content mature.
But there’s this line from the press release: “The long-awaited sequel to the cult favorite David Spade comedy Joe Dirt will break new ground as the first made for digital movie that is a sequel to a hit motion picture.” We might be looking at two steps forward, one step back.
When the book is written on the rise of web video in the 2000s, the easiest way to explore the majority of those early pioneers will be by tracking sketch comedy troupes — groups born of live comedy venues, which then moved onto YouTube and other platforms in search of wider audiences.
Some of these troupes, such as Human Giant and Derrick Comedy, gave birth to comedy stars like Rob Huebel, Aziz Ansari and Donald Glover — but what nearly all of these sketch troupes have in common is the fact that most of them aren’t really working together anymore.
Exquisite Corpse Project is a hybrid of comedy and drama, documentary and fiction, and also, in its unique way, a coming-of-age story. The film tracks five filmmakers, either former members of Olde English or frequent collaborators, who co-wrote a feature-length film; each person, however, was only able to read the last five pages of the previous section before writing their section.
The results are a mish-mash of different genres and stories, with characters changing personality and in some cases even names depending on the whims of the writers. The actors remain the same, but the story is in constant flux.
In between clips of the various segments, meanwhile, the filmmakers are interviewed: Some of whom were fully engaged with the project and some of whom might have been deliberately trying to sabotage it.
But according to director/producer Ben Popik, who spearheaded the project, it was an opportunity to work with his friends one last time, before they permanently scattered from Brooklyn to other careers and destinations, including Los Angeles and Belize.
Appropriately enough, Exquisite Corpse Project has found its home in digital distribution, similar in style to the model being developed by VHX and Chill Direct. However, Exquisite Corpse can be found via a new player on the scene: The Awl comedy brand Splitsider, which launched the Splitsider Presents brand with the release of Exquisite Corpse.
Pay attention when you download, though — while Exquisite Corpse only costs $5, Splitsider has some very specific rules for its purchase. From the landing page:
“You can download the video 5 times. Once you’ve got it, it’s yours to do with as you like: sync it to your Zune, stream it over wi-fi to your spouse, burn it to DVD, etc.”
“You get 3 video streams and each stream lasts 6 hours. When they’re all gone, you will need to purchase the show again to do more streaming. (Download a copy to keep it forever.)”
Exquisite Corpse Project is the sort of film that defines niche — an independent docu-comedy about the making of a movie — however, it fits well with a brand like Splitsider’s. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this approach, and what other projects Splitsider decides to take on.
Used to be, when a TV show got canceled, it was dead and it stayed dead. But with the rise of the digital age, shows are coming back from the grave right and left.
This week, news broke that the remaining eight episodes of the ABC sitcom Don’t Trust the B In Apartment 23, which was taken off the air in January, would be posted to ABC.com, Hulu and iTunes.
The announcement is a boon for fans of the show, but they shouldn’t get their hopes up that successful online distribution will mean another season of the show; much of the cast has already moved on to other projects.
However, another show may truly get a second life: Also this week, rumors spread that Microsoft is looking at rebooting NBC’s Heroes, which was canceled in 2010, for Xbox and MSN distribution.
As television continues its evolution from a single box that sits in your living room to a multi-platform experience across many devices, resurrections like these are increasingly common — though sometimes they’re less like Lazarus, and more like zombies.
Netflix is of course a front runner in the rebirth business, thanks to picking up Arrested Development (only one more month, Bluth fans!).
But there’s a deep history to this practice. For instance: In late 2009, producer Ashton Kutcher turned to YouTube to screen the unaired five episodes of model drama The Beautiful Life, which had just been canceled by The CW.
They’re all still online, along with a plea posted by Kutcher saying that they’d be able to produce more episodes if the channel’s subscriber count hit a certain, unspecified threshold.
Whatever that threshold was, it was greater than 35,000 subscribers — which is the channel’s current standing, four years later. But TBL does deserve credit for being an early example of a show realizing the potential power of digital distribution — arguably ahead of its time in that respect.
The key is transitioning from digital distribution to actually producing new episodes. The most daring and ultimately successful example of this isn’t necessarily Joss Whedon getting to make a feature film follow-up to Firefly or the return of Veronica Mars as a feature — the real kickoff of digital distribution having real meaning for canceled shows comes from the early 2000s, and DVDs.
The Fox animated series Family Guy first premiered in 1999, and was canceled in 2002. But thanks to blockbuster DVD sales of the first three seasons, it was brought back to the airwaves in 2005, and has remained a key part of Fox’s schedule ever since. Creator Seth MacFarlane has even gone on to create at least two other shows for the network.
(Personal anecdote: I was working as a clerk in a DVD store in 2003, and I keenly remember how we couldn’t keep Family Guy box sets on the shelves; they sold out like crazy.)
Sometimes, things need to end. Sometimes, shows don’t work or don’t connect with a wide audience, and those involved are ready to move on. The Onion satirized this beautifully in the aftermath of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign with this piece headined “Stars Of Canceled Show Terrified Fans Will Raise Money For Movie,” centered around recently-terminated NBC sitcom Animal Practice.
The episodes of Animal Practice left unaired after its cancelation are currently available online, though it’s unlikely to come back — a zombie, for better or worse.
But as the industry figures out how to make original content on the web sustainable and profitable, we’ll see more and more examples of Lazarus.
There’s no one way for a film to get made, or a filmmaker to be discovered — but proving that you know how to direct something, even a short film, seems like a good way to start.
The latest example of a short film evolving into a feature length project is The Raven, which began life as a 2010 online video directed by Ricardo de Montreuil, and is now in development as a feature film for Universal. The premise: A telekinetic rebel with some sweet parkour skills goes on the run from a futuristic LAPD.
While the film was originally being developed as a vehicle for producer Mark Wahlberg, Deadline reported this week that The Raven is looking to sign Hunger Games star Liam Helmsworth for the lead — bringing the dystopian sci-fi action project that much closer to multiplexes.
Here are some key takeaways from The Raven‘s success:
You never know what will get you some attention
De Montreuil is an established director on the festival circuit, having already directed three feature films, including the 2008 Mancora, which was screened at both the Sundance and SXSW film festivals. But it’s this $5,000 short, shot in 48 hours, that pushed him towards directing his first big studio picture.
While a Portal feature remains elusive, the buzz that resulted lead Trachtenberg to another project — directing the adaptation of Y The Last Man, an award-winning graphic novel series that has equal fanboy appeal.
The Raven is more likely on the Blomkamp track than the Trachtenberg track, but even if a feature version is never produced, De Montreuil has gotten his foot inside the door.
But the deal with Universal didn’t come through until July 2010, and between then and now there have been few updates. Even for projects that could technically be considered success stories, the pace of the studio system requires no shortage of patience.
Put it all out there
The Raven was released simultaneously on both YouTube and Vimeo, and across both sites the description is simple and to the point — it lays out the project’s logline, the cast and crew, the tools used to create the short, and a contact email for the creator.
And the most important fact laid out is the budget for the project: $5,000, which is impressive given the level of digital effects involved.
In addition to the short film, the official Facebook page contains news updates and concept art for the future tech featured in the project, and a short behind the scenes video showcases some of the stunt work that gives the project a human edge.
All of this leads to a concept of the short film as more than a short film — as a prototype for a much larger project. Which, for filmmakers interested in this approach, is the most valuable takeaway of all.
I’m in a Burbank studio filled with boxes of T-shirts, because Hannah Hart, the YouTube star who first rose to fame with her celebrated My Drunk Kitchen series, has been taking a break from every creator’s favorite part of the crowd-funding experience — packaging up the perks — for an interview.
But our interview is now technically over, and even though Hart’s arm is in a sling from a dance contest-related injury, she’s right back at work.
“You want to stay and help?” she asks, and moments later I find myself affixing return address labels to envelopes, passing them down the assembly line to be stuffed with t-shirts.
Like at least 10,300 people before me, I’ve just discovered, it’s hard to say no to Hart.
The T-shirts, thank you notes and “E-Polygamy Certificates” we’re packaging up are bound for those who helped Hart raise over $222,000 on Indiegogo for an international tour bringing her face to face with the fans.
Beginning this April, Hart and a two-to-three person production crew will board an RV and begin traveling from Los Angeles to Canada, cooking in the kitchens of strangers, volunteering at food banks and in general spreading the Hart brand from coast to coast.
The inspiration for the tour, Hart says, came directly from the audience: “Ever since My Drunk Kitchen started, the community of ‘Hartosexuals’ — the audience, fans of the show — have said, ‘oh, I want you to come and cook in my kitchen, dude!’ Or, ‘you should do a travel show — I’d watch you do Anthony Bourdain any time!’.”
While that audience might have come as a result of Hart’s breakout work as the star of her series My Drunk Kitchen, this is not the My Drunk Kitchen Tour — instead, all information can be found at HelloHarto.com. That’s because this is the second phase of Hart’s web video journey.
The first phase began in 2011, when Hart got drunk at home one night and made a grilled cheese sandwich; the funny free spirit cooking sauces while sauced quickly grew a fanbase and was picked up by The Collective for representation.
But while My Drunk Kitchen has been a web hit, it has never had sponsorship, for one specific reason according to Hart: The word drunk, which scares off potential brands.
While MDK is only one part of Hart’s current YouTube output, it’s still the show she’s known best for — hence the new emphasis on the Harto brand. “The dedicated community who watches the the channel — they are the ones who know that it’s a Harto channel. The outside world thinks it’s a My Drunk Kitchen channel,” Hart says.
How do you go about this sort of rebranding? “Slow and steady wins the race,” she says. “I’m doing an entire tour around the world called Hello Harto.”
In recent months, Hart has spearheaded volunteer efforts at Los Angeles local food banks, bringing in fans to help organizations like the Los Angeles Food Bank. It’s something she wants to continue on the tour — however, thanks to the “D-word,” they’ve even had difficulties finding food banks to work with.
But during my initial interview with Hart, the production team finds out that the food bank network Feeding America has agreed to make introductions to local food banks along their tour stops — but with the stipulation, according to tour producer Pearl Wible, that Hello Harto and My Drunk Kitchen are separate entities.
“That makes it so much easier for us, because instead of having to explain to all these separate people what we’re about, we can work with organizations that will hoepfully be excited to work with us,” Hart said.
Hart, adding labels to envelopes for Indiegogo perk deliveries.
The Hello Harto tour is a clear turning point for Hart and her online presence. Hart says that while “My Drunk Kitchen will always be My Drunk Kitchen. It’s a funny joke,” the Harto brand is much bigger than that.
“Does this mean that in two years, My Drunk Kitchen will be a footnote on your Wikipedia page?” I ask.
The whole interview is worth reading, and one of the biggest takeaways is how engaged Warner Bros. is with the project.
Working with Warner Bros. was always going to be necessary for a Veronica Mars movie, as Mars is intellectual property belonging to the studio. But there are other benefits. S.T. VanAirsdale looked at the costs typically associated with a campaign like this — specifically in regards to basic things like manufacturing 40,000 T-shirts:
At the time, the number of backers entitled to Thomas’ limited-edition shirts was 34,000 and change. CustomInk gave me a rough quote for the exact number of shirts I sought: $3.90 each, for a total of $132,600. (“You saved $579,360.00 [81%] with Volume Discount,” the site reassured me.) BlueCotton was cheaper at $3.44 apiece, but it maxed out at 9,999 shirts, meaning some rough multiplication and rougher estimate of $116,960. That’s more than 4% of the total amount raised so far — ostensibly Thomas’ production budget, which also has to cover such actual necessities as crew, equipment, transportation and craft service — just to produce t-shirts.
While these concerns are huge for independent Kickstarter campaigns, one of the many advantages Thomas has is that a team at Warner Bros. is handling the logistics of the campaign as well as the film’s promotion and distribution. The money being raised on Kickstarter is purely for production — this is because, according to Thomas, Warner is treating Mars as an experiment:
I know, on the second part of the question, that Warner Bros. isn’t treating “Veronica Mars” like a one-off. I think they’re treating us like a guinea pig — in the best way. They want to see if this model works, and they made the calculated decision, and for a lot of the reasons you articulated in that story, that we were a good test case for this. We just happened to be the right show at the right time, got to be the first one out of the gate. I think Warner Bros., if it works, they could start doing more of these. And you know that if it works at one studio, that they’re not going to be the only studio in town that will be trying it.
Is Veronica Mars bad for Kickstarter?
The controversy that’s stirred up around Mars on Kickstarter seems to boil down to the following question: When you contribute to a Kickstarter campaign, what role do you play in it? Are you a consumer, paying a certain fee for a certain benefit, whether it be a T-shirt or tickets to a red carpet premiere? Are you a booster, selflessly donating your money to support a project you believe in? Or does your money give you a role akin to a producer of the project?
10 minutes and $30,000 of “Veronica Mars”‘s Kickstarter campaign — specifically, March 13th, 8:49 AM-8:59 AM PST.
So, do these investors get points in the movie sales? Or are they just throwing a couple of million bucks at a major studio with no return on their investment?
I’d like to think it’s more than “I funded a movie for Warner Brothers, and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.”
The key word there, potentially, is “lousy.” Thomas explained to HitFix:
The nice thing is that we never wanted to be perceived as a charity. We always imagined that we’re putting up a Kickstarter page, and we’re selling real product at real prices to fans. It’s not like a pledge drive where you pledge 100 dollars and get a 4 dollar tote bag, where it’s done out of the goodness of your heart, and for charity. We wanted to created packages where people look at what they’re getting and think, ‘Wow, I got a script and a digital download and a t-shirt for $35. I would pay that!’ So all those people worrying that we’re aksing for this money to make our movie, we’re selling you a product. Think of us as a store, not a charity.
The other issue being raised is whether success stories like this overshadow independent projects. Kenyatta Cheese, a freelance consultant and co-creator of Know Your Meme, offered the following analysis on Tumblr:
The success of the Marshmallows does nothing for unknown, unconnected creators on Kickstarter unless Kickstarter can get the backers of its high profile projects to discover some of the lesser known but equally intriguing small projects. That sort of thing has to be planned and programmed. It doesn’t just happen through the implementation of a Discover page with a few carousels of local and staff pick recommendations. This happens through building a backer community that celebrates their continued involvement while fostering a culture of discovery. The good news is that if anybody has a head start on figuring this sort of thing out, it’s Kickstarter.
And Kickstarter has numbers which show that blockbusters like Mars help build the Kickstarter ecosystem — bringing in new donors who may go on to fund other projects.
The current largest contributor to the Mars campaign, a guy who pledged $10,000 for a speaking role, is an entrepreneur named Steven Dengler. When interviewed by Entertainment Weekly, Dengler referred to himself as a “small-f fan” of Mars — what he actually is is a fan of Kickstarter projects. He’s funded over 60 of them.
I’ve said repeatedly that I would love to make another movie with these guys, and that remains the case. It also remains the case that I’m booked up by Marvel for the next three years, and that I haven’t even been able to get Dr. Horrible 2 off the ground because of that. So I don’t even entertain the notion of entertaining the notion of doing this, and won’t. Couple years from now, when Nathan [Fillion]‘s no longer [on] Castle and I’m no longer the Tom Hagen of the Marvel Universe and making a giant movie, we might look and see where the market is then. But right now, it’s a complete non-Kickstarter for me.
Hardcore Firefly fans are thus out of luck at present. But other creators are watching Mars with interest. Shawn Ryan, whose offbeat drama Terriers was canceled after one season on FX, Tweeted the below on Wednesday:
Very interested to see how this Veronica Mars kickstarter goes. Could be a model for a Terriers wrap up film.
I did get an email from Bryan Fuller earlier today saying, ‘Hey, can you jump on the phone with me at some point? I know you’re busy, but I would love to talk to you about how this thing works.’ And I know it was specifically for Pushing Daisies.
Fuller’s Daisies was canceled by ABC after two seasons — just one of many cult shows that never got the chance to wrap up its many storylines.
I used the word “cult” in this article more than once, but depending on what happens here, that term might become much more apt than before. Because, after all, aren’t cults financially supported by their followers?
When Anita Sarkeesian began raising money via Kickstarter last year for a project analyzing gender in video games, she received support from almost 7,000 backers — raising over $150,000.
She also got death threats.
In starting the Tropes vs. Women In Video Games project, Sarkeesian, founder of the Feminist Frequency video blog, committed the crime of looking to produce and research a series of YouTube videos questioning why the roles female characters play in mainstream gaming are problematic at best and insulting at worst.
Angry fumers tried to hack her Twitter and Google accounts; they e-mailed her drawings of her being raped by video game characters; one even created a Flash game where you clicked the mouse and bruises and welts appeared on her face.
Sarkeesian ended up giving a TEDxWomen talk about the experience of being targeted by a cybermob, and specifically how (transforming the language of games to a new purpose), the men harrassing her saw themselves as heroic victims taking on a great injustice, ”and they cast me in the role of the villain.”
This campaign of abuse did give the project greater exposure, including coverage on outlets like Kotaku, Boing Boing, ThinkProgress and (as mentioned above) the New York Times. But the price of this publicity was incredibly high.
After a delay caused in part by Sarkeesian’s decision to expand the project beyond its original scope (given that she initially only intended to raise $6,000 to fund the research and production of Tropes vs. Women), the first episode launched this week.
At nearly 24 minutes (making it part of the growing trend in lengthier YouTube content), “Damsels in Distress: Part 1″ examines the frequency with which female characters in video games get kidnapped — the foundation upon which classic games like Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda are based.
In perhaps a wise move to avoid a repeat of what happened with the original Kickstarter pitch, YouTube ratings and comments on Episode 1 are disabled; to understand why, just look at this Gameranx compilation of what’s being said across various blogs about it.
However, so far the first episode has racked up over 500,000 views in just a few days, and while trolls were always unavoidable, it’s also inspiring reasoned debate over the episode and Sarkeesian’s approach to the subject. And that’s the version of the conversation that should be had — because that’s the version which could lead to real change for the video game industry.
Everyone uses YouTube – but how, exactly, are people engaging with the site? I’ve been wanting to ask a random assortment of users — from creators to mothers to execs to kids — how they consume YouTube since I read the following quote in a New York Times piece about a recent site redesign:
It also said that last year’s redesign would make subscriptions more meaningful, but has since found out that average users still don’t know what subscribing actually does.
I wanted to see how that actually stacked up in the real world. So I asked both established online video experts like Zadi Diaz, YouTube stars like Amy Pham and average users: How exactly do you do YouTube?
Annette Brown, 47, business owner and mother
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
I watch YouTube videos when I’m on Facebook, but other than that I probably go directly to YouTube once a week or so.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
To search for a new video. During the election if I found a video on Facebook and went to YouTube to watch it, I would usually see similar videos and keep watching but usually I go to a specific video, rate it if I liked it or not and then leave YouTube.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
No. I thought YouTube was a channel by itself.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
N/A
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
I find them through Facebook or email.
Matt McLernon, 29, YouTube communications manager
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
About every 5 minutes, by choice. When I’m not on YouTube.com, you can probably find me on the Android app or using the send to TV feature to send videos from my phone to my Google TV.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
It’s both. At work, I do a ton of searching for videos and channels to look for the awesome people making videos for fun or for a living. At home, I’ll flip through my channel guide and watch anything from folks like Vice, The Gregory Brothers, DevinSupertramp and others on YouTube.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
About 50. When I first started paying attention to my subscriptions, I found I had a ton that I never watched (hundreds), so I removed a bunch and channels became much more useful. I have a mix based on what I like and how frequent they post – some folks post a lot like NASA or The Laugh Factory, some post about weekly like BadLipReading, and some run in seasons like Video Game High School.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
I flipped through my Watch History and I think it’s Red Bull. They do some of the craziest, most inspiring stuff all within a few minutes, and they’re always trying to push the limit with their next video. I know I’m in for a surprise every time from them, from their Kluge video to their Enduro Chronicles series.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
These days it’s through the Social Feed on my guide. It’s a feed just of what my friends are sharing on social networks (G+, Facebook, Twitter). It’s like replacing all those “gotta watch this video” emails you get from friends and parents, with a feed you can easily flip through.
Christina Boland, 24, Director of Operations at Grind Spaces and casual user
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
Probably daily. A lot more when I’m drunk.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
To search for a video or theme that I’m thinking of already.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
No.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
Not sure of any channels — I watch a lot of animal videos and a lot of music videos.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
Through word of mouth or Facebook.
Zadi Diaz, Head of Content Development, Disney Interactive Entertainment
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
Seems like I’ve had YouTube on an open browser tab since 2005. I check videos several times a day because it’s an important part of my job and because I’m obsessed with this form of entertainment. It’s what I’ve been doing for the past nine years.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
Both. I do a lot of search through video. YouTube has in many ways taken the place of Google text search when it comes to finding and collecting specific topics of discussion. When I’m on YouTube, I do end up browsing through my subscriptions, especially if the thumbnail and title look engaging.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
I’m currently subscribed to 157 channels.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
Besides the Disney network of YouTube channels (my favorite is DisneyShows), there are three channels that I keep coming back to: iamOTHER, SoulPancake, and THNKR. I love their smart, positive vibe.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
I find videos through sites like Reddit, Buzzfeed, Tubefilter, NewMediaRockStars, and even Kickstarter. I’ll also find new videos through my social feeds on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. I have a wide network of online friends and colleagues who produce, direct, write, or perform in web shows, so I’ll find new videos through them. And sometimes, I’ll even get a video that I haven’t seen from my mother-in-law via email!
Kristina, 12, student (and my second cousin)
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
At least every day.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
I normally search for a video.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
Yes, I do subscribe to many people.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
Um I probably watch Shane Dawson more than anything.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
I find out through what YouTube recommends actually.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
A little of column A, a little of column B. It’s fun to develop a subscription feed. Most people don’t even know what that means, so it’s cool to just be exploring how it could work, which it seems like no one, YouTube included, knows right now.
When I don’t see anything appealing in my feed, I tend to go to my most top pages, and see if they uploaded something I missed. If not, then I’ll just comb the most popular videos of the day. YouTube’s unfortunately made that harder to do in an effort to prove itself in the realm of original/consistent programming.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
Too many. Again, it’s really just fun to watch how it’s evolving. I subscribe to some I don’t regularly watch just to keep tabs on them.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
I’ve watched every Epic Rap Battles of History, but I’m a little biased as I used to work on them. I’ve been watching Dead Kevin a lot lately. When Fatal Farm releases new content, I’ll watch any and all of that too.
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
Friends. I watch what people whose taste I trust, post. Outside of that, Facebook in general is a good barometer of what’s actually worth watching. If three people post the same thing, I’ll check it out. Two, it better have a good thumbnail.
Rebecca Lando, 30, Network Director, Nerdist Channel and Creator, Working Class Foodies
How often do you go to YouTube.com?
At least twice daily.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
Both.
Do you subscribe to any YouTube channels?
Yes; about 25.
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
Weekly, I check in every week to see what’s going on in the YouTube world and the type of feedback we get on our content. I try to keep up with what’s working and what the viewers are responding to, in addition to what isn’t.
When you go to YouTube.com, is it to search for a new video, or is it to browse through your video options?
I usually go to Youtube to browse through any new videos that pop up on my radar; sometimes thought I do find myself searching when I’m on the hunt for a specific music video or tutorial!
What is the one YouTube channel you watch more than any other?
The Platform! Although I might be biased in that regard (I check the channel constantly to see what’s working with our audience, and to see if there’s anything I can do to help improve my show).
What’s the most common way you find new online video (on YouTube or elsewhere)?
YouTube, YouTube, YouTube. If you’re looking for new online videos, why go elsewhere but the source?
Final Thoughts
The big thing I observed from doing this survey: The responses from these folk, civilians and industry pros alike, show that social is still a huge part of discovery, even the people who understand the intricacies of the YouTube channel and subscription system.
However, the people actively using YouTube’s advanced features and finding new content through strategies like collaboration aren’t just the YouTube savvy — the youth of today are highly engaged with these methods. The question now becomes for YouTube: Is there a way to get everyone using the site behaving like a 12-year-old?
Want to add your own answers to the survey? Feel free to do so in the comments!
I recently entered a world where gamers attend their own private high school for the study of pwning — the halls are lined with lockers, video game art, and vending machines filled with fictional junk food. Later, as you find yourself walking into the dorm rooms of Video Game High School, you get the same sense of unreal reality that you get walking onto the set of any major network sitcom.
That’s what happened last week, when I visited the YouTube Space in Playa Vista, CA as it hosted the set of Video Game High School.
Freddie Wong and Matt Arnold on the set of “VGHS” Season 2.
VGHS is not the only project happening there, though, thanks to the YouTube Residency program, one of the methods by which YouTube has reached out to creators to help raise the level of content being created for the site.
Anyone can apply to be a part of the YouTube creator class, a group of 20 or so YouTubers brought in every quarter to work on their own projects and develop their video creation skills. During one of my visits to the Space, for example, I met Nikki Limo of trickniks, one of the participants of the Creator Class for the first quarter of 2013, who was editing for the very first time with some help from a YouTube staff member.
YouTube residencies are a different beast, however, and involve directly engaging with YouTube staff to pitch potential projects. The first two residents — VGHS director Freddie Wong and musically-focused YouTuber DaveDays (AKA David Joseph Colditz) — got access to the space after they’d proposed series concepts they’d want to film there, and in addition agreed to play mentor to the Creative Class.
“The idea was to do something really big and ambitious, giving [creators] those extra resources to help them reach the next level — a runway to experiment,” Kathleen Grace, Manager of Production and Programming at YouTube Space LA, said via phone.
Colditz’s Writing Room is currently shooting and should premiere in April. It teams up YouTube musical artists whose focus is on doing cover versions of songs with professional songwriters, so that the artists, who may lack experience in creating their own songs, can get the experience of writing original music. Music videos for each song created during the process will also be released.
“Not only is Writer’s Room inherently collaborative, but it takes [DaveDays] to a new level too — it makes him a producer and a leader. It’s a growth opportunity for him and those he’s collaborating with,” Grace said.
There aren’t many rules for the content being created inside the YouTube space — the primary ones, according to Grace, are that it has to be copyright-cleared, and anything filmed there must premiere on YouTube.
The helicopter outside YouTube Space LA. Fun fact: It was actually built in the space (back when the space was a helicopter factory).
But beyond those restrictions, creators have access to a wealth of resources — the YouTube Space hosts several studios, three green-screens, a 4K projection theater, and other production resources including cameras and recording equipment, all available to the YouTube community for the low low price of free.
Check out the YouTube Space Los Angeles in this video tour or continue reading below.
The purpose? To help raise the production value of YouTube content for every creator. “We don’t believe in competition,” Wong said during our interview. “A better quality of video is better for everyone.”
“It’s a very chill environment — I love that it’s really all about the YouTube community,” Colditz said. His only regret is that while he was in the same space as Freddie Wong, he didn’t pop into the background of VGHS. “I don’t know why I didn’t photobomb them — I should have,” he said.
Don’t call it a comeback, but the highly-anticipated Streamy Awards returned on Sunday night for a third time, to honor the best that web video had to offer in the last year.
“Web video is all about passion,” host Chris Hardwick said during his opening monologue, and there were so many shows, full of said passion, that were either nominated or awarded on Sunday night. Here are a few of them that deserve, if not statues, then definitely some consideration.
The winner in the Best News/Informational Show category was long-standing YouTube star Philip DeFranco, but worth checking out is his fellow nominee SourceFed — and not just because DeFranco created it.
SourceFed, a lively news recap hosted by a revolving troupe of hosts, covers topics ranging from Doctor Who news to North Korea testing nukes. I was first exposed to the manic energy of the show’s hosts during last year’s VidCon conference, and they are consistently entertaining.
Lindsey Stirling, a one-time America’s Got Talent quarterfinalist, began making YouTube videos in 2007 that featured her dance and music skills. She won a Streamy this year for Best Choreography. The above video, an homage to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, is a great example of why.
Burning Love swept the awards dolled out for Best Comedy. It’s pretty funny, especially if you’ve ever seen a single episode of reality television. A second season just got started, so you’re not too late to check it out.
Epic Rap Battles of History has been a comedy rap juggernaut since 2010; above is their Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates rap, which they performed live during the Streamys. I mean, it’s no “Ice Ice Baby,” but ERB still knows how to drop a beat.
Any winners you’re excited about? Any nominees you feel were robbed? Sound off in the comments!
Last Friday, when I binge-viewed my way through the first season of House of Cards, I didn’t have a lot of time to consider what kind of effects the show might end up having on the state of television today; I was, after all, very busy trying to figure out exactly what Kevin Spacey’s duplicitous Congressman Underwood was plotting.
But a week later, the David Fincher-produced political drama has raised a number of questions about the current state of television — and what impact the Netflix model of distribution might have upon it.
Spoiler Alert!
Spoiler etiquette — otherwise known as “When is it okay to openly tweet about what just happened on ?” — is a touchy subject for television fans who worry about being ruined for a show’s best twists. A few months ago, Sam Biddle at Gizmodo proposed the following rules, which work well for serialized fare:
A seven day grace period for new episodes.
Putting major spoilers on Twitter is a no-no.
If it’s off the air, it’s fair game.
Even outside of the grace period, a heads up about spoilers in mixed company is polite.
But how does the grace period work when everyone’s watching at their own pace? If, a month from now, I tell someone why the ending of House of Cards‘s “Chapter 7″ is [SPOILER ALERT] very creepy, would they have the right to be upset?
Informally, many I’ve talked to are about halfway through the first season — and even if a friend says to me that they just finished Chapter 5, one of the consequences of binge-viewing is that episodes have a habit of blending together: Only the most attentive of viewers are able to remember exactly which episodes contain which plot developments (though the creepy sex scenes do stand out).
There’s no good answer for this yet, which means for the duration we’re probably going to see a lot of articles like Aymar Jean Christian’s at Televisual, which goes into detail about a character revelation from “Chapter 8,” but only after being heavily couched with spoiler warnings. It’s not terribly efficient, but ultimately the prudent approach — unless you want to be Miss Know-It-All from Netflix’s own ads.
Binge-Viewing: Bad for television?
The Onion AV Club, that sprawling nexus of television commentary, is approaching House of Cards with a two-pronged approach: Reviewing episodes on a week-by-week basis, while allowing commenters who have already binged a spoiler-soaked forum for discussion.
Binge-viewing has advantages over watching episodes one at a time… Individual episodes’ flaws become magnified when viewers have a week between episodes to stew over them, but in the middle of a binge, those flaws are diminished, simply because it’s always time to move onto the next thing… I wouldn’t give any of the seven House Of Cards episodes I’ve watched higher than a B+, but I also wouldn’t go lower than B-. The show neatly splits the difference between being just good enough and never trying anything risky enough to turn off large portions of its audience.
A counterpoint by critic Jaime Weinman suggests that the new world order pushes us to evaluate shows as complete seasons, rather than on an episode by episode basis, which may ultimately create a stronger viewing experience:
After watching something for 13 hours, it’s difficult to know what the good parts or the bad parts are, or even to follow anything beyond the basic plot; everything blurs together. Yet that in itself is a possible argument for binge-viewing. Watching an episode a week tends to inflate the importance of every episode, sometimes beyond what a single TV episode can sustain. This, I think, is part of the reason that we’re more likely to be disappointed by new episodes of a series when they appear once a week, and why seasons often look better when they go to DVD or to daily syndication. The shorter the wait between episodes, the less of a life-or-death proposition every episode becomes.
But what definitely suffers is be the discussion of television online (which is probably one of the Top 10 internet recreations, right after pornography, fantasy football and cat videos). After all, it’s tough to talk about a show when everyone’s on a different episode — controlling their individual viewing, but at the expense of the communal experience.
House of Cards: Available on DVD and Blu-ray?
Speaking of internet commments — the question I’ve been seeing a lot of places is will the first season of House of Cards be released in disc form anytime in the future?
According to a Netflix spokesperson, Netflix currently has the first window of exclusivity for the series, but when that window is complete, Media Rights Capital (the production company behind the series) will also be able to pursue a home video release for the show. So, the odds are good that you’ll be able to give your thriller-loving grandparents Season 1 on Blu-ray as early as this summer.
This is just the beginning of Netflix’s 2013 of original content, and at the very least House of Cards is an exciting way to kick it off. Because love it or hate it, one thing is definitely true: It’s got people talking.
Last summer, I wrote that when Arrested Development returns to Netflix this spring, I’d call in sick so that I could marathon the entire season. Today’s premiere of House of Cards, therefore, was an opportunity to rehearse that experience — a much darker, moodier, Kevin Spacey-er rehearsal.
House of Cards, created for Netflix by Beau Willimon and David Fincher, is an adaptation of the British novel and miniseries of the same name, with Kevin Spacey starring as the manipulative Francis Underwood. It has a solid cast, premium cable production quality, and plenty of political intrigue to play out over the first 13 episodes, which went live at midnight Friday.
And as soon as it went live, I started watching. I made it through the first two episodes last night, then fell asleep around 2:30 AM watching Chapter 3, which I then resumed watching around 7:30 AM. Over the following five and a half hours, I was able to get to the beginning of Chapter 9, then took a two-hour break to run some errands and remember what fresh air smelled like.
By 6:30 PM, nearly 18 hours later, I’d consumed the entire first season, all 13 episodes. It was a pretty long day.
Complicated, grim, nasty and engaging
I’ve marathoned television before — in fact, Netflix’s recent acquisition of The West Wing has been a major obstacle in my productivity lately — but usually I know what kind of show I’m in for. So the first part of the experience was discovering that House of Cards was complicated, grim and alternately nasty and engaging. Kevin Spacey goes full-on anti-hero, while Robin Wright, as his chilly wife Claire, proves to be his equal. Spending a day in their world was intense.
The big thing I feel about binge-viewing is that it makes you conscious of what parts of the show really engage you. Chapter 8 was an interesting episode from a number of perspectives: Just past the halfway point in the season, the episode focuses on Spacey paying a visit to his alma mater for a library dedication; most of the action is devoted to Underwood and his old school friends paling around.
It makes for a nice calm before the storm — however, Kate Mara’s reporter character doesn’t show up at all in Chapter 8, which is disappointing because the twisted relationship between her and Spacey, I felt, lead to some of the show’s most fascinating scenes. Chapter 8, in which they don’t interact at all, was disappointing from that respect.
Fortunately, instead of waiting a week for a new episode to address that, I just had to queue up the next episode. Which was convenient. And then, the back half the season really takes off: Chapters 9, 10, and 11 each end with solid cliffhangers, and the show settles into a nice momentum up to the finale.
Binging doesn’t give you time to mull things over
However, the consequence of that momentum might be a loss of nuance. There are many elements I feel I didn’t comprehend as well as I might have, because of marathoning the show: It makes you conscious of the fact that with conventional dramas like Homeland and Game of Thrones, waiting a week between episodes creates an opportunity to mull over storylines that might get drowned out by bigger events.
For example, there’s a subplot involving Robin Wright’s growing interest in origami that doesn’t really affect the major plot at all, except when serving as punctuation in a couple of key scenes.
The origami thing lead to some intriguing character moments, but the only reason I remembered that it happened, at the end of the day, was because I’d made a note about it. The big events of the show stand out clearly in my head, but if I were to go back later and rewatch at a slower pace, I’m sure I’d discover new details.
Watched all at once, also, meant that things like the heavy product placement for Apple products and Sony video games stood out distinctly.
A game-changer, or just too dark?
Not only did Netflix publicly announce at midnight that the show was live, but throughout the day it encouraged viewers to marathon the show — cheering them on via both the Netflix and House of Cards Twitter accounts.
People have called the series a game-changer for Netflix, the subscription service’s equivalent to AMC’s Mad Men or HBO’s The Sopranos. But I’m not convinced that substituting the buzz that those shows acquire over the course of a season for the buzz of binge-viewing will pay off. It’s hard to watch television this way. Especially a show as dark and serious as House of Cards is.
If it wasn’t for the challenge of the assignment, to be honest, I don’t think I’d have gulped down House of Cards in a day. It’s heavy stuff, without much levity, and as mentioned above I think there are elements of it that I would have enjoyed more with a little distance and time.
That said, as the credits rolled on Episode 13, this was my first thought: “When does Season 2 start?”
This weekend, nearly 70 people teamed up at the Google offices in Los Angeles for the engineer’s equivalent of a slumber party: The LA Video Hackathon, a two-day adventure in developing apps for the Google TV and YouTube APIs. The end result: 14 apps presented to a panel of judges including Machinima’s Nanea Reeves and Fullscreen’s George Strompolos, with a 55″ LG Google TV handed out as a grand prize.
I stopped by the hackathon in its final hours this Sunday to ask Paul Carff, senior developer advocate for Google TV, why Google was interested in sponsoring a giant sleepover for developers: I expected one or two reasons, but he had many. First off, it’s an opportunity to engage Google Developer Groups, the third-party enthusiasts developing apps for the Google TV and YouTube APIs.
It also proves to be a good testing ground for the APIs, giving the developer relations team an opportunity to see how easy or difficult it might be for developers to work with the code and documentation. It can even be an opportunity for fixing errors: This weekend, one participant caught a bug in an app — the team was able to pass it along for fixing.
Also, it was an opportunity to see what people might come up with, given the opportunity to work hands-on with the APIs. Of the people who attended this weekend’s hackathon, Carff estimated that 40 percent called themselves developers, while 20-25 percent volunteered themselves as designers and the rest claimed to be business development-types. “Which is cool, because you need all those people to fill in all the blanks,” he said.
Carff, as one of the judges, said that the criteria they would be using to judge the winning videos would include the level of completeness the developers were able to achieve in just two days, as well as the way in which they used the APIs and a certain “Wow” Factor.
The winning apps from this weekend’s hackathon included Vid Social, a timeline for comments on both live-streamed and hosted video and Giggle, which uses the SongKick app to generate playlists of music videos from bands that will be performing in your area soon. TVUS, which enables users to overlay any video (including Hangouts) over any Google TV screen, took home the grand prize.
So what will come of the projects developed this weekend? As the point wasn’t to complete an app, but to instead create enough of it for demo purposes, it’s still unsure. But there’s a track record for hackathons resulting in completed projects, such as Viki, an app curating Korean entertainment for Google TV.
Not only did the developers of that app conceive of it initially at the Mountain View headquarters hackathon, but because they had the opportunity to connect with the Google TV team, they were able to get featured on Google Play.
But that’s not the only reason people take part. And it’s not why Google employees volunteer their weekends to help. The biggest reason that people participate? Carff put it like this: “My first time, I wondered, who’s going to come in? Especially if they’ve been coding all weekend. But I was floored. The energy you get when people are excited about a new idea — it’s really invigorating.”
On the surface, you wouldn’t think of YouTubers as being the most reserved of people, but talking into a webcam doesn’t necessarily reveal all your secrets. Which is why the documentary Please Subscribe, directed by Dan Dodi, aims to illuminate the realities of what it’s like to create content for the YouTube community: chasing viewer numbers, aiming for ad dollars and dealing with the basic loneliness of the job.
But while Please Subscribe‘s target audience is the digital community, the film will first be seen someplace relatively unexpected: movie theaters.
For one night only, Please Subscribe will be distributed theatrically, specifically, Tuesday February 5th at 7:30 PM. “Anytime you make a movie, your number one goal is to make it into theaters. So [this] is pretty cool and pretty important,” Dodi said via phone.
“We wanted it to be more of an event,” Dodi said about the decision to go one night only.
According to David Wengrod of Screenvision, which is handling the theatrical distribution, Please Subscribe will be available in 217 theaters nation-wide, including San Francisco and New York. You can even see it in Hawaii.
“We have a pretty good national footprint,” Wengrod said via phone. “If we’re getting people who don’t normally go to see a movie on Tuesdays — people who normally experience stuff through their computers — then we’re a success.”
Following the theatrical premiere, Please Subscribe will be released via Chill Direct on March 22 — Screenvision requested a 45-day window. The film will cost $7.99 for a DRM-free file — but it’s currently available for pre-order at $6.20, 20 percent off.
Grace Helbig of Daily Grace, one of the eight YouTubers profiled in the film, got involved because it was an opportunity to expose those who might not be familiar with the YouTube community to what. “It’s important because it’s a such huge industry and it’s growing so fast — so it’s important for people to understand what’s happening,” she said via phone.
“It’s a deeper and more personal perspective on what it means to be a YouTuber,” Helbig added.
Are you a golf fan who’s sick of Tiger Woods giving press conferences and just wants to watch some golf already? Well, your patience is about to be rewarded, as the 2010 Masters Tournament this Thursday at noon– Oh, no, you have a day job? Never fear, friend. That’s what the Internet is for.
The Featured Group channel will track selected pairings working their way along the back nine, while separate channels will focus on the entire field as well as specific holes. (Trivia: The 11th, 12th and 13th holes at Augusta are called the Amen Corner thanks to golf writer Herbert Warren Wind, who covered more than 30 Masters tournaments and also did a little amateur golfing on his own. Now you know!).
AT&T will also be streaming live content to phones via the U-verse TV 2010 Masters app, which includes an updated leader board, news updates, a course map and video archives. In addition, the Fan Zone site will broadcast streaming Masters content.
Some of the lessons learned from the commercials during Super Bowl 2010: Beer solves lots of problems, women hold men back from their dreams and this year, pants are optional. But there were also some highlights for the web video world.
Google had a relatively clever ad in the second half pushing their search ability but, um, did anyone need to be told that Google is a good search destination? Was this the manifestation of some crazy Bing paranoia?
As for commercial hosting — the ads weren’t even findable on CBSSports.com (to be fair, they were also talking a lot about this football game that was also going on today). And while Spike TV was definitely the game leader when it came to getting the ads online, Hulu’s clever voting interface should probably give them a long-term advantage.
