short form video

Fierce 15 Online Video Movers and Shakers: Mevio

Pete Wylie — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:09:18 -0400

Mevio (formerly PodShow)
Founded: Oct. 2004
Investors include Caufield & Byers, Crosslink Capital, DAG Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Sherpalo Ventures
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
www.mevio.com

If Metacafe represents the philosophy of "If you build it, they will come" and short-form video, Mevio is all about the talent and building dedicated followers. Think about the model of the old style record corporations (Mevio) signing up singers (Podcaster) and printing records (video podcasts). Mevio has signed up a bunch of people producing episodic programming and has its own technology to enable its talent to easily publish and distribute said programming.

Add on Mevio's mantra of a "brand-safe" network for advertisers to be able to place video ads; campaigns have been delivered for Acura, Anheuser Busch, Budget Rent A Car, Coca Cola, HP, Microsoft, Motorola, Sony Pictures, and. Toyota, It doesn't hurt that founders Ron Bloom and Adam Curry have a solid track record in successfully bringing together a combination of advertising, pop culture, and technology.

Next: Brightcove

Back to Fierce15 home

Recent Articles
More Money for MEVIO
Survival Tips for Short-Form Video Ads

Fierce 15 Online Video Movers and Shakers: Metacafe

Pete Wylie — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:07:25 -0400

Metacafe
Founded: 2003
Investors include Accel Partners, Benchmark Capital, Highland Capital Partners, DAG Ventures
Location: Palo Alto, Calif.
www.metacafe.com

Billing itself as a "video entertainment" site, Metacafe is currently pulling more than 37 million unique visitors each month (August 2008). Short-form is the course of the day, with the average video running at a mere 90 seconds.

Unlike YouTube and other sites, Metacafe has its inverted version of "Survivor" going on to rank and promote videos. Videos are reviewed by a community panel numbering over 80,000 with the most popular videos bubbling to the top and winning cash; Metacafe rewards clips with an ad revenue split, so the more a clip is viewed, the bigger the check.

However, the initial environment of free-spirited free-for-all of do-it-yourself video clips from no-name talent may be displaced by a glut of Hollywood content trying to cash in on the Internet, with 60 Frames, SXM and YoungHollywood.com cutting deals with Metacafe.

Next: Mevio

Recent Articles
Metacafe goes mobile via Quattro Wireless
Metacafe inks mobile video deals
Cashing in on "How-To"

SPOTLIGHT: Bigger, faster, stronger YouTube

Pete Wylie — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:28:37 -0400

YouTube has responded to market pressure from smaller firms and made significant changes to its upload policy, including increasing the maximum file upload from 100MB to 1GB. Users will now be able to add metadata and title information while the video is being uploaded and upload up to 10 videos simultaneously.

Users must opt-in to the service, which is available here.

This play should help YouTube, far and away the present online video leader, keep more market share that could have started drifting to other sites that offered larger uploads and concurrent meta-data input ability.

For more:
- view the TechCrunch blog post here

Related Articles
SPOTLIGHT: YouTube increases market share
Chad YouTube Dishes

YouTube to take down terrorist videos

Pete Wylie — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:35:40 -0400

Earlier in the week, YouTube officially announced that it would modify its Community Guidelines and begin removing any videos on its site that "could incite violence."

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) was quick to attribute the online video site's decision to his previously unsuccessful push to have such videos banned. This past spring, Lieberman lobbied the site to take down terrorist training videos, but YouTube declined to modify its policy until now.

The senator asserts that these videos help terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda find and recruit new members, who are intrigued by the displays of shrouded figures packing automatic weapons. (Hmm, what does this make Fox's "24"?)

A line between protecting the public and allowing free expression has never been blurrier, given the myriad creative media people now have at their disposal. Using vague terminology such as "could incite violence" to remove content from the site could have a chilling effect on creators, who may choose to mirror the violence in the world in their artistic works. Broad interpretations of the new policy may cause such legitimate creative efforts to be removed from the site.

Censorship is a slippery slope, especially when making value judgments about the potential impact of a creative work such as a video. YouTube has different takedown policies for different countries; no Nazi videos in Germany, no guns in videos in the U.K. etc.

For more:
- check out computerworld.com's full article on YouTube's new policy

Death to print! Hail the online video dictionary!

Doug Mohney — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:33:50 -0400

Bebo founder Michael Birch is now backing Wordia.com, an online video dictionary website.

Wordia founder Edward Baker used the anniversary of the birth of the first modern English dictionary to declare the "death" of the print dictionary and garnish a lot of attention at the expense of someone who's been dead for a couple of centuries.

Baker said using video to let people explain what a word means would help people learn words more easily, helping definitions come "more alive." Each video is being screened by dictionary publisher Harper Collins (Wonder how they feel about being declared dead...) to make sure the accurate definition and meaning of the word is portrayed correctly.

So far the site has 250 video definitions uploaded and Wordia is filming celebrities describing their favorite words. Baker currently has a bunch of Brit-speakers, but recognizes the need for getting Yank accents on the site, America being the biggest English speaking market.

However, Baker anticipates arguments over the meaning and use of American English words, and Wordia currently has a watchlist for words describing sexual acts. Personal attacks are also no-nos.

Wordia anticipates making money by selling advertising.

For more:
- The London Telegraph reports on the online video dictionary. Article

5 "McCANIAC!"

Doug Mohney — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:00:08 -0400

"McCainiac!" is so terribly bad, it's kind of funny.

23/6 does an almost straight-up play on the original "Flashdance" video/song hit "Maniac." Three middle-aged women howl out partisan lyrics in lieu of the Michael Sembello original, re-imagine scenes in front of a green screen (more clothes, no shower scene), which is all followed by a bizarre left turn into Terminator/Borg land.

You can view McCainiac! here.

If you need to cleanse your palate afterwards, the original "Flashdance" video should help.

"The Resistance" for EQAL

Doug Mohney — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:38:31 -0400

The web video producers who gave us "lonelygirl15," presents their latest offering, "LG15: The Resistance."

"The Resistance" is being shot in Los Angeles and is being syndicated through a number of top U.S. video sites, including YouTube, MySpaceTV, Hulu, imeem and Veoh. EQAL is producing 12 installments for season one, which launches online on September 20, and will air a new episode every Saturday. Fans can choose to watch the weekly episodes only, or they can immerse themselves in the broader LG15.com website which has "daily snippets" of content, including blog postings, polls and characters' video blogs.

Part soap opera, part deep conspiracy, the new series features teen characters (no surprise there; "lonelygirl15" was also allegedly a teen) facing their daily lives and a mysterious group seeking out young girls with a rare blood type.

Creators of the series fess up and say Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog," was their muse.

Advertising will include some display ads and overlays, but no preroll video, says EQAL. The company is also seeking to interest brands in product integration (placement) deals within the story if the products fit.

For more:
- AdWeek talks about "The Resistance." Article
- And so does CNet. Blog

Related articles
Does Joss Have the Key?
CBS and 'Lonelygirl15' creators team up

Dr. Horrible's Overwhelming Demands

Doug Mohney — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:30:53 -0400

Take Joss Whedon, singing, and Neil Patrick Harris. Combine with a video blog and watch demand generate electronic gridlock.

Let's back up a minute. Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and cult-hit "Firefly," had some idle time on his hands during the most recent Hollywood writers' strike, so he sat down with his family and crafted a low-rent web musical, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." It turned into a six-figure project as Whedon cast Neil Patrick Harris as the anti-villain, borrowed a page from his Buffy days and put in music, and built a business model around the project.

A play in three 15 minute acts, Act I was released on July 15 at midnight to complaints from overseas viewers not able to reach it (Hulu doesn't allow overseas viewers) and with so many people trying to see it that it literally brought the house, er, website down. People who were willing to pay $1.99 to iTunes to download Dr. H. couldn't get it.

But Dr. H is available completely free and free of ads for the first week. After that, Whedon expects newly minted cult fans to make some coin through merchandising, iTunes sales, and DVDs. Plus there's always room for sequels.

For more:
- Lighten your day and contribute to the hype at Dr. Horrible
- LA Times deep dive into Dr. H

Related articles:
Google AdSense To Distribute MacFarlane Video Series
Cuban: Bow to Google, Little Guys

Survival Tips for Short-Form Video Ads

Doug Mohney — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:27:42 -0400

Ovum has mapped out a number of survival tips for advertising in what it calls the "short-form video jungle."

Leading the charge in giving best practices advice is BT Podshow President Adam Curry (known more intimately as "The Podfather" if one knows where to listen). Brand safety is a big one; companies don't to randomly associate their products with randomized user-generated content with no quality control or content vetting. Curry is a big fan of "popularized" content promoted through the PodShow and Mevio networks--vetted hosts, developed brands, targeted audience demographics.

Other tips include focusing on episodic content since serials develop loyalty and establish a consumer franchise to build ad revenues. Ad messages should fit the length of the short-form content; in a three to eight minute video, acceptable ads will run between 3 to 30 seconds long. Ads should be "appropriate" for the online video environment; glossy and over-produced segments won't go over well.

For more
- Ovum's survival tips for advertising in the short-form video jungle
- Adam Curry's other life as The Podfather

Related articles:
The Olympics, Car Porn, and Online Syndication
YouTube a Lasik Discount

SPOTLIGHT: NPR Slaps Sundance and IFC Online

Doug Mohney — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:13:45 -0400

NPR TV critic Andrew Wallenstein takes the Sundance Channel and the Independent Film Channel (IFC) to task for their online video efforts.

Andy expected better from both channels. What he gets is some short form videos starring foreign actors talking animals. Sundance's first offering, "Green Porno," is the "weirdest thing I've ever seen on the Internet ... which is saying a lot" said Wallenstein.

IFC does a little better with a talking dog (well, a guy in a dog suit), but not much better. Wallenstein wants to see more challenging and innovative work, not juvenile humor. Guess he overlooked the soft-core porn within "Young American Bodies."

For more:
- Listen to NPR's TV critic tear into Sundance's embarrassing online efforts
- Watch "Green Porno" starring Isabella Rossellini.
- Wilfred, the Pot-Smoking Dog

Related article:
CBS and 'Lonelygirl15' creators team up