By Art Brodsky, Public Knowledge

There's no getting around the fact that the Internet will be the lifeblood of independent filmmakers and videographers. You will need it to make your products, to edit collaboratively and, most of all, to have a distribution mechanism so that the public can see what it is you have produced.

It's not secret that the media business is being consolidated. The Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will review the purchase of a major television network/film studio/cable channel supplier by the largest provider of broadband services. Congress has already held hearings on the Comcast takeover of NBC Universal. Even some members of Congress who favor the merger have even raised questions about how the deal would affect independent producers. In not too short a time, it will be the Internet or next to nothing in terms of distribution.

In order for online distribution to be a realistic alternative, however, the Internet has to be a transport medium favorable to independent filmmakers. That means two things. First, the technology of the Internet network has to be of sufficient speed and quality so that movies can be transmitted for viewing smoothly and easily, and that the consumer has a smooth viewing experience without stops and starts, and of sufficient deployment and affordability so that consumers will have the opportunity to take advantage of

Continue reading "Open Internet For All Indie Filmmakers?" »

By Levi Shapiro

This year's "Best Music Video" Grammy nominees included Coldplay, Black Eyed Peas, Depeche Mode - and playwright, children's book author, theater director and Indie musician Oren Lavie. Using a budget of $6,000, simulation software and alternative marketing platforms like iTunes, YouTube and a Chevrolet commercial, "Her Morning Elegance" has garnered more than 10 million YouTube views and a Grammy nomination. "No one is more surprised than me," says Oren. "This journey has taught me to remain true to what you think is good and find the best collaborators. The buzz just happened. There really are no shortcuts."

After releasing the album in Europe in 2007, Oren was unable to find a major US record label willing to distribute the album.Then in 2008, "Her Morning Elegance" was featured in the US for a Chevy Malibu commercial. "There is some irony there because I have never owned a car," says Lavie. The increased awareness allowed Oren to self-release the album in the US and fund the innovative, but low cost, stop-motion music video. The song was soon featured on the front page of iTunes as "Free Download of the Week," with over 200,000 downloads in a single week.

Continue reading "The Power of a Great Idea " »

By Gilbert B. Hammer

With a calm request Vidar Brekke, CEO of Social Intent called the networking group to order - all chatter ended and Vidar opened the meeting. I gather he'd be at home leading a group of 100 people as well - some people are natural organizers and leaders and Vidar strikes me as just that sort. With a background at Fortune 500 companies, Vidar was also a strategist at Ogilvy where he served IBM with sharp customer insights and analysis; as a VP of Marketing for JPMorgan Chase.

Along with partner, Vineel Shah co-founder of Social Intent they have created a social media company geared for ideation, strategy, software engineering and executive education. From my perspective on the last area many a Fortune 1000 company for that matter could use some web 2.0 integration and execution guidance, Vidar and Vineel are suited for the task.

One of the applications that caught my eye and has tremendous application is their RealTime iPhone application. It would be a simplification to just call this a Twitter application for the iPhone, I'd call it a cross between social media interaction, images and video app, with the advent of the iPad looming the larger form factor could be really compelling especially for opening websites and online video.

Initially geared for Football fans, it aggregates feeds from players who are tweeting, this along with links which are embedded in a tweet and can spawn a website. Of course there are the customary share with friends tools, this via Facebook or email. There is a nice Wikipedia entry for every player, this accessed by clicking on the players photo. Of course what would there be without the press and their analysis of the action? Its there, chatter from local reports as well as fan clubs. What is really nicely done is Blog integration of the content for bi-directional sharing and community.

So this is just a Football app? Not even close.... What is rather compelling about the platform is that Vidar and Vineel have created an open platform for use in almost any vertical from fashion to reality TV...

Continue reading "Social Intent - RealTime® - A iPhone Social Media, Twitter, Video, etc.. App" »

By Lynda Bauer

NJIT EDC @ 211 Warren Street, Newark, NJ

When Gilbert Hammer, Editor ipTV, suggested checking out NJIT's Enterprise Development Center, I was curious. Located in Big Pharma's back yard, NJIT has one of the country's most active technology incubators in the country. Though it regularly spawns new medical device and pharmaceutical ventures, it is by no means limited to Life Sciences. NJIT's School of Architecture and Engineering keeps green tech discovery and design flowing though while the Capstone computer lab keeps students rolling out more apps for the insatiably social.

From the first session, the process was interactive. Unlike "boot camps" offered by celebrity entrepreneurs or Ivy league corporate off-sites, NJIT's incubator goes well beyond disseminating high level contacts and workshop highs to deliver organizational behavioral change. In just four days, business owners (and 4 team members) develop, streamline and present their offering to investors for less than the cost of a room at the Plaza! The State of New Jersey through tenacious efforts of Judith Sheft, AVP, Tech Dept, wisely funds the difference.

Presented by Dr. Aron S. Spencer, Founder, InVenture, and professor with the School of Management, the incubator boot camp delivers Supercoach® Entrepreneurial Training (SET). Professor Spencer is, as Brian Spencer from Vurtego stated ".... part of a rare breed that can communicate effectively with the CEO types AND the CTO types. .."

Continue reading "NJIT EDC Venture Acceleration Bootcamp" »

By Levi Shapiro

Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia

This week, the world's fifth most popular website celebrates a birthday - Wikipedia is nine years old. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales spoke with me about the site and the transformation it has wrought in the philosophical, commercial and political spheres.

While participatory web culture has its weaknesses, it does increase the quantity and diversity of information. Wikipedia promises an internet that is more than just YouTube slapstick and viagara spam, says Wales. "We make the internet suck less."

Where else could you find articles like these:

Infinite Monkey Theory
Buttered Cat Paradox
Festivus
Bladderball

Infinite Monkeys Theory: A monkey hitting a typewriter at random for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text

Today, one third of the world's internet population accesses Wikipedia's 15 million entries, in more than 100 languages, powered by thousands of volunteer editors and thirty full-time employees. Wales, who sits on the Wikimedia Board of Trustees, acknowledges that "Wikipedia is a work in progress. We still have plenty of stuff to sort out."

Philosophically, Wikipedia's collaborative ethos now dominates web culture. This philosophy is best articulated in treatises like Eric Raymond's The Cathedral and the Bazaar and James Surowiecki's The Wisdom of Crowds. It is ironic that these collectivist underpinnings would have been associated with Jimmy Wales, an avowed disciple of Objectivism. This view, popularized by author Ayn Rand in the books Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, celebrates rugged individualism. Critics of Wikipedia and digital collectivism, like Jaron Lanier, author of You Are Not a Gadget, argue that the wisdom of crowds should be deployed selectively and not for its own sake. "It's great that we enjoy a cooperative pop culture concordance" says Lanier, but "the individual voice has become dispensable and the collective is closer to the truth."

Continue reading "'We make the internet suck less' - an interview with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales " »

No, this is not kitchen stadium but two sides are batteling it out for viewers hearts and minds, if not stomach's. All information avaiable to the public comes from either side Cablevision side;

"We are sorry that Scripps current financial difficulties are making it impossible for them to continue our relationship under terms that are fair to everyone. However, it is clear that they have dramatically changed their approach to working with distributors who carry these channels."

or from Scripps which has launched two consumer sites: ilovefoodnetwork.com and ilovehgtv.com to get viewers to pressure the MSO to negotiate more favorable terms.

While Ad income has been slashed, by 2008 cable-only producers took in about 39 percent of TV ad revenue, which broadcasters used to keep. The networks are very dependent on license fees since the 1994 law governing fees went into effect.

As for the law itself, there is an interesting passage in the 1994 network rules which states;

"Provided further that the subscriber shall not be forced to buy more than the channel(s), of his choice through the mechanism of discounted pricing and by grouping of channels in such a way as to render the choice of individual pay channels offered, an illusory one."

"Choice", "discounted pricing", these are illusory - its time for decoupling, or à la carte programming which I believe will actually benefit both producers and MSO's in the long run by allowing successful programming to rise while less sucessful programming may fall to the wayside, a more democratic process. The notion floated by cable that à la carte would lead to fewer hours of television watched is I think no longer valid with the emmergence of iTV and more specifically mobile TV which will only flurish in the coming years, if anything this represents a new revenue stream for MSO's.

As for regulation, there have been new calls for oversight however, these have been broached for years with little or no positive releif for the consumer.

"I think there needs to be some sort of government oversight over the cable industry," Mindy Spatt, spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network, a San Francisco consumer advocacy group, said Saturday. "There's a danger for consumers that the price is just going to keep rising with no end in sight."

Aside from the posturing with ads and websites, the consumer is once again the casualty, guys remember the consumer? Perhaps there is a role for government to take a fresh look at à la carte programming or at least to hold hearings which may get both sides back to the kitchen table...

image © iptve

Loss Leader; As defined in Wikipedia, a product sold at a low price (at cost or below cost) to stimulate other, profitable sales. It is a kind of sales promotion, in other words marketing concentrating on a pricing strategy. The price can even be so low that the product is sold at a loss.

So is the $99.00 version of BrightCove 4, a loss leader? First, is pricing a product at $99 verses $100 a physiological price point significant that professionals will find it attractive enough to purchase on an impulse?

So what do you get for your $99.00?, 50 Videos, 40 GB Bandwidth, 1 User/1 Account. Granted you will get some goodies, namely: video management and playlists, 2 built-in player templates, visual player styling, multi-bitrate streaming and detailed analytics. Question - as a small producer, do you need or can you justify these added features in light of the free alternatives in the marketplace, i.e Viddler, Youtube, JW Player, Google Analytics?

Peter Marra, a veteran Creative Media Producer and Web Developer of several streaming media and Internet companies used Brightcove with a web video initiative that closed this past year and I asked Peter about his experience using BrightCove.

IpTVe
How do you see BrightCove positioning the release of their version 4 for $99.00?

Peter
"I think with this release, the hope is to give smaller producers a "tease" and then if they really like the service, they'll want more (which to me would be mostly-dependent upon whether or not you have a developer capable of leveraging Bcove's API's -- which begs the question: would these Brightcove options give you access to the API's or not?). That's the essence of who should and should-not be looking at Brightcove: their greatest value is in the API (which is awesome, both literally and figuratively), but it costs money to integrate. Therefore, how are you monetizing it?"

Continue reading "BrightCove 4 at $99.00, A Loss Leader Strategy?" »

Roku is running a Black Friday sale on their HD-XR Streamer. Good luck getting thought however, as the site timed out right at 11am EST when I attempted to access - the site came down for a while, now (11:45am EST) they are back to another offer.

According to their original site message: "Please note: because of the extreme nature of this offer, it is possible our web site might overload. If this happens, you could receive an error message. It could be frustrating, but we hope you're successful! "

I had better luck getting Allman Brothers tickets at the Beacon Theater in NYC when they went on sale - if Roku was expecting a surge of stampeding purchasers they should have ramped up their server load/added edge capacity, I sent out the email release to a hundred people and feel Roku let their customers down. Seriously, for a company selling a solution for streaming video content, i.e. high bandwidth content it does not look good if they can not keep a simple transaction site up even if there were 100,000 or more hits...

Check out our review of both the Roku and Vudu streamer solutions on the right column of the site however, if you have a Tivo, you can link either you NetFlix or Blockbuster account to your existing DVR and avoid having another box...

By Levi Shapiro

c. iStockphoto

Hollywood is in need of a financial Superhero. Box office revenues and ticket sales have been flat the last three years while DVD sales decline and costs continue to soar. In fact, major studio releases now average $78 million to produce and $40 million to market. Studios are reacting by playing it safe creatively. In the last twelve months, 17 of the top 23 grossing films were sequels. More worrisome is the abrupt decline of DVD sales and the painfully slow adoption of Blu-Ray. In the length of time it took the DVD to reach 20% penetration, Blu-Ray has attained a measly 6%. With improvements in the quality of the 3D viewing experience and a proven track-record to bring higher revenues, the buzz around Tinseltown is that 3D could be an industry windfall.

Continue reading "Can 3D Save Hollywood? " »

Adam Black is on a mission to bring wireless access to all parts of New York City and ideally all metropolitan areas - hey if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere! As the company tag line reads: 3 clicks & you're good to go! - Unlocking hotspots near you.

Since Net Neutrality is and will become an even more important issue for the average user of the Internet, a public resource, Adam's new company is positioning itself to address some of the challenges facing users as they become more mobile.

According to Adam:
KeyWifi is a new service based on a simple but highly innovative, scalable technology with enormous benefits for all.

- Users with Internet Wi-Fi Access can share it, earning money as they do...
- Users without Wi-Fi Access can access it at a fraction of what they'd pay for an Internet connection of their own...

KeyWifi enables increased Internet access (locally & globally) by allowing users with wifi access to earn money through sharing that access, using a simple web-based platform. Everyone benefits from the efficiency of shared wifi access; more locations mean more mobility, significantly lowered costs, and more people online. No hardware! No contracts! Just a simple, web-based sign-up process.

KeyWiFi's site will launch in December I am told, in the meantime you can answer some questions about your usage and contribute to the process. There is a short survey at:http://www.internetuse.tk/

KeyWiFi would like to add you to their mailing list to get special bonuses & discounts, for early adopters. They are also looking for alpha testers. If you blog or publish to a number of readers, either via new or old media, or manage a community of any sort, you may be interested in making money through their affiliate & referral program.

We look forward to the companies soft-launch and more specifics about revenue model, time-frame for roll out in New York City and which areas will be accessible.

For more information, please email: adam (AT) KeyWifi.com

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Additional News on Net Neutrality: Net Neutrality Debate Comes to NYC