NNN Clipbook 022609

Public Relations Summary Mid-November 2008 – February 2009
Prepared by LaunchSquad

611 Mission Street, 7th Floor  San Francisco, CA 94105 415-625-8555  [email protected]

Executive Summary
Since November of 2008, LaunchSquad has worked with Next New Networks to promote its corporate story, further establish its presence in the new media space, and refine PR messaging for use across all its networks. Additionally, LaunchSquad executed aggressive campaigns around several networks, including launch efforts for $99 Music Videos and Barely Digital, and ongoing efforts for ThreadBanger, Indy Mogul, Barely Political, Fast Lane Daily, Channel Frederator and TMI Weekly. Throughout these efforts, LaunchSquad has leveraged both momentum within the online video sphere and timely network video content to garner prominent coverage spanning major business, industry and consumer media. LaunchSquad helped jumpstart $99 Music Videos with more than 55 pieces of coverage within two days of launch, including prominent pieces in The Wall Street Journal, WIRED, Reuters, The Hollywood Reporter, Advertising Age, Billboard, popular music publication CMJ and several other key business and consumer publications. In addition to hitting all the major online media publications including NewTeeVee, TV Week, MediaPost, Contentinople and others, blog coverage of the launch included Mashable, a social media blog with a Twitter following of over 100,000, Laughing Squid, with over 31,000 Twitter followers, and a wide range of other blogs spanning online, music and film topic areas. The Barely Digital launch kicked off with an exclusive in The New York Times, followed by a media push resulting in major advertising and technology media hits including TechCrunch, NewTeeVee, PCWorld, Beet.tv, and All Things D. LaunchSquad continued to tap into the active political vibe with a Barely Political Inauguration push, which resulted in a flurry of media activity including “Obama Girl’s” second stint on “The O’Reilly Factor,” another appearance on “Geraldo at Large,” and coverage in The Associated Press, People.com and major national newspapers such as New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune and The Boston Globe. Next New Networks corporate coverage included several pieces in a range of online media and advertising outlets such as Advertising Age, GigaOm, All Things D, TV Week, NewTeeVee and MediaPost. Highlights of LaunchSquad’s ongoing efforts for other networks include a ThreadBanger piece in the New York Post’s Page Six Magazine, coverage of Fast Lane Daily’s 500th episode milestone in NewTeeVee and TV Week, and CNET coverage of Garage 419. Since mid-November 2008, LaunchSquad has secured more than 40 briefings spanning business, industry and consumer media. LaunchSquad has also incorporated speaking opportunities and awards programs into ongoing PR efforts. LaunchSquad collaborated with Next New Networks to secure Webby Award short list finalists in seven categories. Additionally, LaunchSquad submitted Next New Networks’ networks for Streamy Awards in four categories and secured Tim Shey to appear as keynote speaker at Light Reading’s Contentonomics conference later this year. The following document provides further details regarding Next New Networks’ corporate and network-related public relations achievements and activities from mid-November through present, including a summary of coverage highlights for each network.

$99 Music Videos



Coverage Highlights

By Elizabeth Holmes Calling all crooners and carolers looking for time in front of a camera. Indie bands and under-the-radar filmmakers are being brought together by the folks at Next New Networks, a Web company that set out to create a litter of niche video networks on a variety of topics. After launching more than a dozen sites on topics from autos to comic books, it is trying its hand at music videos. La Strada’s video for “The Sun Song” on 99dollarmusicvideos.com Today it’s launching a video network called $99 Music Videos which features music videos made for — you guessed it — just $99. The site is designed to introduce music fans to unknown acts, says Fred Seibert, MTV’s first creative director and a cofounder of Next New Networks. Its founders saw a “unique space between what iTunes is providing and what YouTube is providing, in a branded sort of way,” he says. The barebones structure is simple: the site matches bands and directors and asks them to shoot a music video in one day for $99 or less. Professionally produced music videos can cost upwards of $100,000 or more. Filmmakers can use any equipment they have access to, but any money they spend on the video has to be within the budget. Coffee the morning of the shoot, for example, is included. Each collaboration also comes with a separate behind-the-scenes video, which is capped off with a rundown of where the money went. The fruits of a new duo will launch each week on the site. Next New Networks will also include a guide to making inexpensive music videos and is hoping to feature user-generated $99 videos on the site as well.

“It’s hard for an emerging band to get a video made,” says Tim Shey, head of entertainment and another co-founder of Next New Networks. “We’re great at finding producers for video.” Music videos, especially titles from well-known artists, are some of the most-watched video content on the Web. Google’s YouTube channels for Universal Music Group, Sony BMG and Hollywood Records are the all-time most viewed, with more than 4 billion video views between them. The most popular video of all time on YouTube is Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” music video, with more than 115 million views. But there’s a place for more amateur music videos as well. “Evolution of Dance,” a six-minute video of a man performing a variety of dance moves, is the second-most-popular video of all time on YouTube, with 114 million views. Next New Networks aims to create a new “prosumer” niche. The first video to launch on $99 Music Videos comes from Jack Ferry, an independent filmmaker who specializes Web video, and La Strada, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based band. They filmed the video for “The Sun Song” in different parts of New York City, including Ellis Island and a backyard in Brooklyn (where Mr. Ferry was concerned about the possibility of neighbors complaining). Verizon is the launch sponsor of the site. In addition to ads that run adjacent to both videos there is a Verizon “high-speed tip” plunked in the middle of the explanatory video. For the La Strada video, Mr. Ferry shows viewers how he digitally manipulated the video footage to give it an old world feel.

Back in 1981, Fred Seibert helped create MTV. Now he'd like to re-create it on the web with a new network devoted to music videos made in a day for $99 or less. That's the theme of the latest "network," called $99 Music Video, from web-production studio Next New Networks. "I was there at the start of MTV and this has the same feeling all over again," said Mr. Seibert, a co-founder of NNN. The idea is to give signed and unsigned bands the opportunity to create a video and have it distributed and promoted by Next New Networks and a new website, 99dollarmusicvideos.com. This, of course, isn't too unlike what thousands of bands are already doing, but Next New Networks is giving the DIY videos a marketing push to separate them from the clutter of YouTube and MySpace. Verizon FiOS is sponsoring the series, with the message "$99 music videos are best experienced with Verizon FiOS internet." Next New Networks gets a three-month exclusive window to distribute the video and then it shares distribution rights with the band and/or the band's label, which ultimately owns the video. Next New Networks will produce one of these a week, in collaboration with a different band, as well as a "making of" video with behind-the-scenes footage and Verizon brand integration. As head of programming Tim Shey points out, a lot has changed between 1981 and today, in particular a band's ability to produce really good-looking video on a shoestring. For Next New Networks, producer of series such as "Barely Political" and "Channel Frederator," it's another source of cheap, brand-friendly programming. The company has raised $23 million from the likes of Spark Capital, Saban Media Group, Pilot Group, Velocity Partners and Goldman Sachs, and needs to build its footprint and ad revenue. How did the bands do for $99? Here's "The Sun Song" from La Strada, filmed in subzero temperatures on a ferry to Ellis Island and in what appears to be a Brooklyn backyard.

And the "Making of La Strada":

By Georg Szalai Feb 19, 2009, 07:00 AM ET Online TV firm Next New Networks and Verizon FiOS are launching an online network Thursday called $99 Music Videos to showcase the talents of emerging musicians and filmmakers. The companies say they are looking to create an MTV for the digital and iTunes age against the backdrop of strong consumer interest in online music videos. The network pairs musicians and filmmakers to produce original music videos for no more than $99, potentially giving them exposure to new fans. The network launch kicks off with an original video for "The Sun Song" by La Strada, directed by executive producer and Webby Award-winning filmmaker Jack Ferry. New videos will premiere every Thursday at 99dollarmusicvideos.com. Directors also include Dan Meth, Ana Veselic, Kathleen Grace and Matthew Semel. Upcoming music talent includes Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard, Via Audio, Plushgun, the Depreciation Guild, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Lowry and Savoir Adore Frances. The forces behind the network include MTV's original creative director Fred Seibert, a co-founder and the creative director of Next New Networks; Felicia Williams, former entertainment content manager at YouTube and Next New's director of creative development; and Ferry. "$99 Music Video stands for everything that's exciting about Web entertainment today in bringing together rising star bands, creative filmmaking and a low-cost vibe to create original, fresh content," Seibert said. "I was there at the start of MTV, and this has the same feeling all over again." Verizon is the exclusive launch sponsor for the network, which initially will consist of two shows: a behind-the-scenes look at the videos and the finished videos themselves. Viewers can rate the videos and submit their own.

By Georg Szalai NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Online TV firm Next New Networks and fiber-optic service Verizon FiOS are launching an online network Thursday called $99 Music Videos to showcase the talents of emerging musicians and filmmakers. The companies say they aim to create an MTV for the digital and iTunes age against the backdrop of strong consumer interest in online music videos. The network pairs musicians and filmmakers to produce original music videos for no more than $99, potentially giving them exposure to new fans. Verizon is the exclusive launch sponsor for the network, which initially will consist of two shows: a behind-the-scenes look at the videos and the finished videos themselves. Viewers can rate the videos and submit their own. The network launch kicks off with an original video for "The Sun Song" by La Strada, directed by executive producer and Webby Award-winning filmmaker Jack Ferry. New videos will premiere every Thursday at 99dollarmusicvideos.com. Directors also include Dan Meth, Ana Veselic, Kathleen Grace and Matthew Semel. Upcoming music talent includes Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard, Via Audio, Plushgun, the Depreciation Guild, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Lowry and Savoir Adore Frances. The forces behind the network include MTV's original creative director, Fred Seibert, a co-founder and the creative director of Next New Networks; Felicia Williams, former entertainment content manager at YouTube and Next New's director of creative development; and Ferry. "$99 Music Video stands for everything that's exciting about Web entertainment today in bringing together rising star bands, creative filmmaking and a low-cost vibe to create original, fresh content," Seibert said. "I was there at the start of MTV, and this has the same feeling all over again." (Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)

Next New Networks, which tallied a staggering 300 million views last year with "Obama Girl" and other initiatives, has a new trick up its sleeve: 99 Dollar Music Videos, which showcases music videos with double-digit budgets. The site's goal is to match directors and bands, giving directors exposure while offering bands a finished product they can embed anywhere, while Next New Networks racks up ad views for its sponsors. The site's founders, one of whom was the original creative director at another erstwhile music video startup, MTV, hope it will become MTV for Web 2.0. Two of the brains behind the operation are Next New Networks co-founders Fried Seibert (formerly of MTV) and head of entertainment Tim Shey. Their big idea is to explore a new spectrum on the video continuum somewhere between the user-generated videos on YouTube, which are usually made without any input from or access to the band, and old school, big budget MTV-style videos that cost too much for most internet applications. We caught up with Siebert and Shea to find out how 99 Dollar Music Videos will work, where the idea came from, how you can get your video on the site (no, they won't send you $99). This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Eliot Van Buskirk, Wired.com: Can you tell me about Next New Networks, which launched this site? Fred Seibert, Next New Networks, formerly of MTV: We formed it with a group of people who had a common point of view: that new mediums demand new brands.We saw people trying to adapt existing brands into internet television, but new brands on the internet was where we thought the action was going to be. We hope to be the equivalent of Turner Broadcasting or MTV Networks for the internet. Wired.com: Can you expand on why traditional companies are at a disadvantage online? Is it just legacy thinking? Seibert: Existing companies don't see themselves in the internet business, they see themselves in whatever business they're already in, and they're wondering how the internet is going to affect their business. The same thing was true with the launch of cable. ABC, CBS and NBC didn't see themselves in the cable business -- they just wondered how it was going to hurt them, and that put them at a disadvantage. Whereas

Turner Broadcasting, MTV Networks, A&E and others looked at the new medium fresh, and said, 'Okay, how can we build a business here?' We look at the internet exactly the same way. We weren't adapting anything. In the last two years, we've honed our techniques in super-distribution, promotion and marketing to develop these audiences into robust television communities to the point where our company had 300 million targeted video views last year. I was one of the first employees of MTV. I was the original creative director, and in fact I maintain a relationship with them to this day. But there is this continually large community on the internet that is always looking for new music videos. After two years of developing our expertise, we realized that we were at a point where we thought we could be helpful to the bands and to their record companies, but mostly to the audience. Wired.com: Was there a precise, "Eureka" moment when this idea came about? Tim Shey, Next New Networks: About a year ago, one of the employees of Next New Networks sent me a video she'd done (to the right), I think using iMovie. She was friends with a band called The Vettes, down in New Orleans. They're a really popular band in the South, and they needed a music video. Michelle, being a go-getter, put together a music video on her own time. It went outside any process by which I'd ever seen a music video get made; it was like those fan videos on YouTube, but this one was more collaborative with the band. The band loved it and immediately embedded it on their MySpace page. For me, that was the moment. There's all these emerging bands, there's all these emerging filmmakers, and the whole YouTube revolution is like desktop publishing twenty years ago -- if you've got a great idea, the means of production are there. We've worked with thousands of animators and filmmakers on IndyMogul, not to mention all our other networks. A lot of them want to make a music video, and lots of great bands need music videos. If we can match those two things up, and become a venue where the videos debut, it could be a pretty fun thing. We met Jack Ferry (now of Next New Networks), and he'd worked on a couple hit viral videos and popular web series. He had a similar idea, and told us 'I want to make $99 music videos.' Fred and I loved that immediately. Wired.com: How are you going to make sure people only spend 99 bucks? Shey: That's part of the fun, that we might break the rules. One of the inspirations for this is definitely IndyMogul, one of our other networks with a show on it that shows you how to make special effects for under 50 bucks. If they're making an exploding head, or a gunshot wound -- how much money do they really have to spend? Part of the fun of IndyMogul is seeing if they are able to do it for the price; sometimes they fudge things a little bit, sometimes they go over, and that's part of the story. So far, all the music videos have come in under budget, but we do make them turn in their receipts, and we do hand them an envelope with $99 at the beginning of the shoot, so there are some things to keep the rules going. But part of the fun is seeing if people are going to play by the rules. Seibert: Many of these directors are emerging directors, just like they are emerging bands. They don't have a lot of resources, and they don't have a lot of time, so the limitations on there are actually one of the things that attract directors to the equation. They realize that they can put their real talent and skill set into play, rather than spending a lot of money.

Wired.com: Yeah, and I guess they don't have to worry about being outdone by somebody who spends a thousand dollars. Are there going to be explicit mechanisms for matching bands and directors, or how is that going to work? Shey: For the first few months, we want to get this idea out there, so we commissioned videos and recruited directors from our networks who were really excited about the idea, matching bands with directors that have a similar sensibility to ensure that they have good chemistry. But the goal is for this to become a venue where people meet each other. We already have a mechanism where anybody can submit their own $99 music videos, so bands and directors can get together on their own. We also would love to create some sort of clearinghouse for bands and directors to set up profiles and meet each other. If this is a hit, there are a lot of things that can go from there, and that's happened on a lot of our other sites already. Seibert: Our goal isn't 'Oh, look what bands we can put together with directors we know.' The issue is to facilitate the process for the bands and directors to be able to get further, faster -- and for us to create an entertainment network out of that. (Interview continues below.)

Wired.com: Going back to the $99 envelope you hand out when you organize the video, is there a way for people to sign up to get that? Obviously, the potential for fraud is there, but if I'm a director, can I get 99 bucks from you guys? Seibert: What we can't do is start assigning directors to bands, without the band being a part of it. There was a director who I really like, but the band took one look at his videos, and loved his stuff, but said 'that isn't really what we're about.' The only way this is going to be successful creatively is for the bands and directors to be in love with each other. Part of our gig is to facilitate that love, as it were. Shey: We're hoping they can scrape together $99 -- it's more about the spirit of making it. This is an amount of money that any band or any director can pull together, if they've got a vision. One of the music videos in our initial run was made for $6.

Wired.com: I assume you guys are a preferred YouTube partner at this point, with 300 million views... Seibert: We have been from the beginning. We're actually one of the first preferred YouTube partners. Wired.com: So is the point for the bands and directors to get exposure, or do they get a share of the ad revenue you get from YouTube as a preferred partner? Seibert: This is not about us developing and acquiring programs to own. In the final analysis, the band gets a video, to do with it what they want. If they want to sell it, god bless them, if they want to give it away -whatever it is they need to do. We're thrilled to facilitate that process and, in the meantime, build our network. Shey: And if the band has a song for sale on iTunes, we're linking to that as well. Wired.com: How does the sponsorship aspect work? Shey: Our shows are structured like television, so that allows us to put media in between the shows. And when we do deeper sponsorships, that will involve everything from a presence on the website to, sometimes, some integration within the episodes themselves. In the case of $99 Music Videos, there is the chance for sponsors to get mentioned within the video programming. (Interview continues below.)

Wired.com: Is the video is the new song? Is this what bands should be releasing, or is it still a parallel thing, the way it has been in the past? Seibert: I think that they exist together and apart, simultaneously. Music videos themselves, at the best moments, become cultural artifacts by themselves. The post-Web 2.0 moment is this place where bands that have been making their own music now for 30, 40, 50 years, technology has enabled them not only to make videos on their own -- or to find 99-dollar friends to make them -- but are able to put them out into the world on their own. They can become standalone artifacts or they can become completely integrated with the song.

Shey: We're going to be using all of those Web 2.0 promotional tools -- a twitter account that promotes all the videos that people can re-tweet, a Tumblr blog that will put all the videos out, and we're present on YouTube, iTunes and Yahoo. Everything's embeddable, so we'll be in a lot of places. And a lot of the bands are pretty savvy, so they'll be putting the videos on their MySpace pages. We're really trying to embrace the way fans spread music and media, using everything we've learned over the last couple years, to help the bands shout with a louder voice than they have on their own. Wired.com: Is there any reason for having a huge video budget these days? Seibert: I was involved in the beginning of music television. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was the recordbreaker, with a million and a half dollars. Within the same two year period, we had a thing called "Fish Heads," which was literally stop-motion of fish heads. [We cannot embed the video here due to Warner Music Group's policy of muting or deleting its videos]. That must have cost someone $200. At the same time, we had a video from Flock of Seagulls, which cost about $5,000. It's just like recordings; there are bands like The Eagles, which spend millions and millions of dollars making records, and there are punk rock bands that spend hundreds of dollars making records. I don't think music, on any level, is defined by budgets one way or the other. It can be expensive and wonderful, or expensive and crummy. It can be cheap and crummy or cheap and wonderful.

Take an indie artist on the rise, a filmmaker with extremely limited resources, and give them both one day and $99 dollars to create a music video. What’s the final product? A $99 music video. If you think that scenario leaves room for drama, action, and potential genius, then you’re thinking like the minds behind the scenes of the brand new $99 Music Videos Network. Starting today, the destination site, from Next New Networks and Verizon FiOS, will debut one new music video and one making of the music video each Thursday and distribute it via YouTube and iTunes. The network hopes to bring together up and coming artists with independent filmmakers to create $99 works of music art. Today’s big release is La Strada’s new video for The Sun Song, and the behind-the-scenes footage documenting how it came to be. If it sounds like a show straight out of MTV’s programming line-up, that probably has to do with the fact that Fred Seibert, MTV’s original creative director, is behind the effort. He’s joined by Felicia Williams, formerly with YouTube, and Webby Award winner and series creator Jack Ferry. Together the creative minds hope to support both musicians and filmmakers, and promote original content to a wide audience through a variety of social outlets like YouTube, iTunes, Twitter, Tumblr, and Verizon’s Facebook page. Check out this week’s big debut and let us know what you think of the project in the comments.

Make Your Own Music Video For $99 Feb 20, 2009 Story by: Maria Burks Next New Networks and Verizon FiOS have partnered up to create the $99 Music Videos online entertainment network, which will showcase music videos created by musicians and filmmakers on a $99 budget. The network launched yesterday, and featured the original video for emerging indie pop band La Strada’s “Sun Song”. The goal of $99 Music videos is to give musicians and filmmakers an opportunity to showcase their work at a low price while still getting their product out to a large audience. Another perk for the contributing artists is that even after their video is aired, the band still holds the ownership rights to the material. Melissa Schneider, executive producer of $99 Music videos told CMJ that “The spirit of the series is fun, quirky, and clever music videos made by professional filmmakers, with the energy and immediacy of web video.” The website contains two parts: the videos themselves, and brief behind-the-scenes featurettes documenting the creative process. “We've found the $99 Music Video concept has gotten both the filmmakers and musicians excited,” Schneider said. “Creating a cap on the budget turns the process into a creative challenge.” The website accepts contributions from anyone willing to create a music video, but the rules state that it must be a collaboration between a band and a filmmaker using $99 or less, allowing only 24 hours for shooting and 24 hours to edit the material. Tim Shey of Next New Networks told CMJ that the purpose of $99 Music Videos was to “show people that great music videos are about ideas and execution, not budgets.” Jack Ferry, the creator of $99 Music Videos credits CMJ for helping him find most of the bands featured on the site. “We saw roughly 35 different bands during the music marathon this past year. We discovered many great NYC bands and we just started approaching them” he said. The filmmakers featured on the site include those already working for Next New Networks, some local filmmakers Ferry knew from attending NYU film school, as well as filmmakers whose work Ferry had seen online. www.99dollarmusicvideos.com

Next New Networks is seeking to tap into its music DNA with the launch of a new video site with a funny name: $99 Music Videos. The idea is to offer emerging artists and filmmakers a low-cost promotional vehicle—as anyone can submit their video (provided it cost about $99 to produce), and fans can rate their favorite submissions. The N.Y.-based digital content production and distribution company has signed on Verizon (NYSE: VZ) as the exclusive launch partner, promoting its FiOS internet service with banners and graphics throughout the site. It’s not clear whether this is an extended partnership, or if the site will need to drum up new sponsors over the coming months—but launching with ad dollars already in hand gives $99 Music Videos some breathing room while it tries to acquire a bigger audience. Next New Networks’ Co-founder and Creative Director Fred Seibert was MTV’s original creative director and subsequently held the role of president of MTV Networks Online. Last month, the company rolled out Barely Digital, a video site that spoofs the new media and tech space. Rory adds: This is an interesting attempt to marry music discovery with online video in a way that advertisers may find attractive. But the company isn’t entering unchartered waters. Several years ago, a site call Music Nation (http://www.musicnation.com) launched an almost identical site that called for unsigned bands to upload their music videos as part of a contest that awarded the winner with a record deal from Epic Records (though there was no cap on production costs). The site had difficulty building an audience and attracting advertisers and has since changed course, re-formatting the site as more of a community where emerging musicians and fans connect.

The name is a little misleading for a video site. The videos don't cost $99 to watch. The site (www.99dollarmusicvideos.com), which launched today by Next New Networks, will host videos made from the collaboration of budding video producers and bands that cost less than $99 to make. Next New Networks says it hopes to appeal to "to a new generation of filmmakers by demonstrating innovative techniques to produce innovative music videos using limited resources." The best videos sent in will get prime time placement on the homepage of the site. The reason I think this site has a chance is that video is huge among the twenty-somethings; and yes, so are bands. And while bands can post their home-made videos practically anywhere on the web for free, there's really no place that specializes in low-budget videos, as $99 Dollar Music Videos is proposing. Sure you can post your video anywhere from MySpace to Facebook to YouTube, but it gets lost in many other categories of content. The site it being developed by, among others, Fred Seibert, MTV's original creative director. Seibert is saying it feels like old times. "I was there at the start of MTV and this has the same feeling all over again . . ." That may be overstating the potential of the site just a little bit, but Seibert's involvement is notable. Next New Networks is perhaps best known for its Barely Political property, which is responsible for creating the "Obama Girl" videos. To me the only thing more boring that watching some unknown band's crappy looking video is watching a "the making of" video of that video, and, yep, $99 Music Videos has those too. But I'm just a regular Joe--young musicians and filmmakers may flock to the site to check out the work of their peers, and look for new collaborators.

The name is a little misleading for a video site. The videos don't cost US$99 to watch. The site (www.99dollarmusicvideos.com), which launched Thursday by Next New Networks, will host videos made from the collaboration of budding video producers and bands that cost less than $99 to make. Next New Networks says it hopes to appeal to "to a new generation of filmmakers by demonstrating innovative techniques to produce innovative music videos using limited resources." The best videos sent in will get prime time placement on the homepage of the site. The reason I think this site has a chance is that video is huge among the twenty-somethings; and yes, so are bands. And while bands can post their home-made videos practically anywhere on the web for free, there's really no place that specializes in low-budget videos, as $99 Dollar Music Videos is proposing. Sure you can post your video anywhere from MySpace to Facebook to YouTube, but it gets lost in many other categories of content. The site it being developed by, among others, Fred Seibert, MTV's original creative director. Seibert is saying it feels like old times. "I was there at the start of MTV and this has the same feeling all over again . . ." That may be overstating the potential of the site just a little bit, but Seibert's involvement is notable. Next New Networks is perhaps best known for its Barely Political property, which is responsible for creating the "Obama Girl" videos. To me the only thing more boring that watching some unknown band's crappy looking video is watching a "the making of" video of that video, and, yep, $99 Music Videos has those too. But I'm just a regular Joe--young musicians and filmmakers may flock to the site to check out the work of their peers, and look for new collaborators.

-- Next New Networks and Verizon launch 99 Dollar Music Videos, a site that produces cheap online videos to showcase emerging artists. THR

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — Next New Networks and Verizon on Thursday launched a website where little-known bands and film makers can unite to create "music video masterpieces" for 99 dollars or less. Online television company Next New Networks will stream selected low-budget productions at 99dollarmusicvideos.com with support from sponsor Verizon, a US telecom titan promoting its FiOS broadband Internet service. The website debuted with a sepia-toned music video of Brooklyn band La Strada performing an original "The Sun Song" with backdrops including The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York City. "Wow!" a website visitor with screen-name 'Deb' wrote in a chat forum beneath the video. "This is excellent... loved the band... am a fan now!" New videos will be posted to the website every Thursday, its creators promised. Creators of the network include MTV's original creative director Fred Seibert and Felicia Williams, a former entertainment content manager at popular video-sharing website YouTube. The low-budget music videos will be available at Google-owned YouTube. "I was there at the start of MTV and this has the same feeling all over again," Seibert said of the website launch. "99 Dollar Music Videos stands for everything that?s exciting about Web entertainment today in bringing together rising star bands, creative filmmaking, and a low-cost vibe to create original, fresh content." Verizon is the website's sole sponsor and is to work with Next New Networks to promote the videos at hip Internet venues such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr, and Tumblr.

Next New Networks is seeking to tap into its music DNA with the launch of a new video site with a funny name: $99 Music Videos. The idea is to offer emerging artists and filmmakers a low-cost promotional vehicle?as anyone can submit their video (provided it cost about $99 to produce), and fans can rate their favorite submissions. The N.Y.-based digital content production and distribution company has signed on Verizon (NYSE: VZ) as the exclusive launch partner, promoting its FiOS internet service with banners and graphics throughout the site. It's not clear whether this is an extended partnership, or if the site will need to drum up new sponsors over the coming months?but launching with ad dollars already in hand gives $99 Music Videos some breathing room while it tries to acquire a bigger audience. Next New Networks' Co-founder and Creative Director Fred Seibert was MTV's original creative director and subsequently held the role of president of MTV Networks Online. Last month, the company rolled out Barely Digital, a video site that spoofs the new media and tech space. ad_icon Rory adds: This is an interesting attempt to marry music discovery with online video in a way that advertisers may find attractive. But the company isn't entering unchartered waters. Several years ago, a site call Music Nation (http://www.musicnation.com) launched an almost identical site that called for unsigned bands to upload their music videos as part of a contest that awarded the winner with a record deal from Epic Records (though there was no cap on production costs). The site had difficulty building an audience and attracting advertisers and has since changed course, re-formatting the site as more of a community where emerging musicians and fans connect.

Online video programmer Next New Networks launched a new video channel today, focused on superdistributing music videos for up-and-coming artists that were made for $99 or less. The new online video network, 99 Dollar Music Videos, opened today with a new music video from Brooklyn-based band La Strada. Every Thursday, the network will have two new videos -- one completed music video, and one "making of" video highlighting how that piece was put together for $99 or less. New videos will be syndicated across Next New Networks' distribution partners, which include Hulu LLC, Metacafe Inc., AOL LLC, MySpaceTV, Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), and YouTube Inc. Next New Networks co-founder and head of network development Tim Shey says the company's distributed model and reach helps to take the guesswork out of reaching large audiences on the Web. "Anyone can put a video up on YouTube and get one view or a million views," Shey says. "But every time a great band puts a video on Next New Networks, they're helping to build the audience and build the community." The project was created and produced by filmmaker Jack Ferry (who also directed the first video), with input from Fred Seibert, MTV's original creative director, and Felicia Williams, former entertainment content manager at YouTube and Next New Networks' director of creative development. Ferry says the inspiration for the channel's concept came partly from the success of his viral video hit "Knock Knock," which cost about $40 to make and was shot in one afternoon. "It goes to show that you don't need to spend a lot of money to have something successful on the Web," Ferry says. "We want to show that you can you do this without spending real money. $99 is just enough money to buy a couple props, but still not real money." For the new network, Next New Networks partnered with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), which has signed on as the exclusive launch sponsor. In addition to placing ads against the video, Verizon has committed to promoting the series through the carrier's Facebook fan page and through communities on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, MySpace, and Flickr. Shey says Verizon's participation in 99 Dollar Music Videos was a milestone, if only because this marks the first time that Next New has launched a new channel with a sponsor from Day One. 99 Dollar Music Videos already has booked talent for future videos, including Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, Via Audio, Plushgun, The Depreciation Guild, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Lowry, Savoir Adore, and Frances. But the network encourages directors and bands to submit their own $99 videos, as long as they follow a few rules: 1. It must be made for $99 (or less). 2. It must be shot in one day (24 hours). 3. It must be edited in one day (this doesn't include rendering, digitizing, or exporting -- just the creative part of editing). 4. It must be a collaboration between the band and the filmmaker.

Online TV firm Next New Networks and Verizon FiOS are launching an online network Thursday called $99 Music Videos to showcase the talents of emerging musicians and filmmakers. The companies say they are looking to create an MTV for the digital and iTunes age against the backdrop of strong consumer interest in online music videos. The network pairs musicians and filmmakers to produce original music videos for no more than $99, potentially giving them exposure to new fans. The network launch kicks off with an original video for "The Sun Song" by La Strada, directed by executive producer and Webby Award-winning filmmaker Jack Ferry. New videos will premiere every Thursday at 99dollarmusicvideos.com. Directors also include Dan Meth, Ana Veselic, Kathleen Grace and Matthew Semel. Upcoming music talent includes Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard, Via Audio, Plushgun, the Depreciation Guild, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Lowry and Savoir Adore Frances. The forces behind the network include MTV's original creative director Fred Seibert, a co-founder and the creative director of Next New Networks; Felicia Williams, former entertainment content manager at YouTube and Next New's director of creative development; and Ferry. "$99 Music Video stands for everything that's exciting about Web entertainment today in bringing together rising star bands, creative filmmaking and a low-cost vibe to create original, fresh content," Seibert said. "I was there at the start of MTV, and this has the same feeling all over again." Verizon is the exclusive launch sponsor for the network, which initially will consist of two shows: a behind-the-scenes look at the videos and the finished videos themselves. Viewers can rate the videos and submit their own.

Back in 1981, Fred Seibert helped create MTV. Now he'd like to recreate it on the Web with a new network devoted to music videos made in a day for $99 or less. That's the theme of the latest "network," called $99 Music Video, from Web production studio Next New Networks. "I was there at the start of MTV and this has the same feeling all over again," said Mr. Seibert, a co-founder of NNN. The idea is to give signed and unsigned bands the opportunity to create a video and have it distributed and promoted by Next New Networks and a new Web site, 99dollarmusicvideos.com. This, of course, isn't too unlike what thousands of bands are already doing, but Next New Networks is giving the DIY videos a marketing push to separate them from the clutter of YouTube and MySpace. Verizon FiOS is sponsoring the series, with the message, "$99 music videos are best experienced with Verizon FiOS internet." Next New Networks gets a three-month exclusive window to distribute the video and then it shares distribution rights with the band and/or the band's label, which ultimately owns the video. Next New Networks will produce one of these a week, in collaboration with a different band, as well as a "making of" video with behind-the-scenes footage and Verizon brand integration. As head of programming Tim Shey points out, a lot has changed between 1981 and today, in particular a band's ability to produce really good-looking video on a shoestring. For Next New Networks, producer of series like "Barely Political" and "Channel Frederator," it's another source of cheap, brand-friendly programming. The company has raised $23 million from the likes of Spark Capital, Saban Media Group, Pilot Group, Velocity Partners and Goldman Sachs, and needs to build its footprint and ad revenue.

In an attempt to develop an equivalent to MTV for the Web video generation, online television studio Next New Networks today debuted a network devoted to the creation of music videos, with Verizon on board as the launch sponsor. Called “$99 Music Videos,” the network will premiere new videos every Thursday at its site (99dollarmusicvideos.com) and on YouTube, iTunes and other Web destinations. Verizon’s advertising will focus on pitching its FiOS high-speed Internet service. The campaign also will include brand integration in the episodes. Verizon will help promote the series, Next New Networks said. The network was created by Next New Networks’ founding partner Fred Seibert, who was the original creative director at MTV. Also on board is Next New’s Felicia Williams, who was formerly YouTube’s entertainment content manager. The purpose of $99 Music Videos is to give musicians and filmmakers the opportunity to produce and run high-quality original music videos for no more than $99, with the aim of connecting independent talent with fans. Music videos are among the most popular types of online videos.

Web TV network creator Next New Networks today is expected to unveil a new online network for musical artists and groups to showcase videos created on a shoestring budget. $99 Music Videos will attempt to give musicians and filmmakers the opportunity to produce and broadcast high-quality original music videos for no more than $99. "We wanted to find a way to be useful to the musicians and their fans," said Tim Shey, cofounder and head of entertainment at Next New Networks. "And while there are others ways to experience this content online, we have the advantage of dedicating ourselves to it entirely." Verizon FiOS has signed on as its exclusive launch partner, which will guarantee the brand runof-site ad placement on the new network, along with branded vignettes during each "making of" segment that offer a look inside the $99 creation process. The Verizon campaign messaging, "$99 music videos are best experienced with Verizon FiOS Internet," is designed to boost viewer awareness around Verizon's fiber-optic Internet service. In addition, the campaign will include integrated branded sponsor elements within episodes that detail the making of each music video, as well as companion media placements and integrated sponsor graphics on the network Web site and distribution points such as the network's YouTube channel. An independent producer of online TV networks, Next New Networks creates, packages, brands, markets and syndicates episodic programming for the Web. Since its inception in March 2007, the company has launched 16 networks--12 of which are still running and are regularly updated on a weekly basis. "We've had to cut some networks that didn't work," said Shey, noting one in particular that was dedicated to brides. "It's all about the audience ... When we program networks based on what we thought was a great sponsorship opportunity, that doesn't work out so well." But while Next New Networks is not particularly old, its team brings plenty of experience to the table, including company co-founder and creative director and MTV's original creative director, Fred Seibert; Felicia Williams, former entertainment content manager at YouTube and the company's director of creative development; and the series creator and executive producer, filmmaker Jack Ferry. "Fred's been thinking about music for over 30 years," Shey added.

New videos will premiere every Thursday on the network's Web site, and distribution channels including YouTube, iTunes, and more. Next New Networks and Verizon will also work together in creative ways to promote the series through channels like Verizon's Facebook fan page and communities on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, MySpace and Flickr. The company's other "micro networks" include Veracifier.com, a network for political reporting and commentary; PulpSecret.com, which is dedicated to comic book news and culture; daily auto news network Fast Lane Daily; DIY filmmaker network Indy Mogul; lifestyle network ThreadBanger; and the recently launched tech comedy network Barely Digital. Headquartered in New York, Next New Networks is privately owned, with investors including Spark Capital, Goldman Sachs and Velocity Interactive.

Online studios Next New Networks and Revision3 are both launching music shows. But rather than confront the labels on their own turf and get into sticky rights issues, both startups are going the indie route. This will be NNN’s first foray into music, whereas Rev3 has already experimented with shows like XLR8R, a companion to the magazine of the same name. Next New Networks today released its new 99 Dollar Music Videos channel, one of the most innovative ideas we’ve seen yet from the New York City-based startup. Basically, NNN hooks up emerging bands with emerging filmmakers each week, gives them $99 to make a music video, and releases a making-of show as well as the video itself.

NNN starts off with an exclusive hosting of the video for three months, but after that the band owns all the rights and can modify and redistribute the video wherever they want. And as a first for NNN, the network has a sponsor at launch: Verizon FiOS. The first video, for a band called La Strada and made by 99 Dollar coordinator Jack Ferry, is embedded above. Watch for yourself and see if a cheap music video from a band you’ve probably never heard of is compelling enough content. Meanwhile, Revision3 is going to license and distribute Sun Studio Sessions, an existing web video show that tapes interviews and performances by up-and-coming artists recording at the famous Memphis recording studio. The San Francisco-based company told us this week that it was working to line up advertisers and figure out a release schedule for the show, which it expects to launch sometime in the first half of this year.

Next New Networks, the folks who introduced Obama Girl to the world, announced today that Verizon has signed on as the launch sponsor for its latest TV-on-the-Internet channel, $99 Music Videos. The new online network will pair up independent bands with filmmakers to produce music videos for less than $100 in less than 24 hours. One new video will debut each week, along with behindthe-scenes footage providing a deeper look at how the video was made. Tim Shey, cofounder and head of entertainment programming at Next New Networks, said Verizon will use its exclusive agreement with $99 Music Videos to promote its high-speed FIOS package. "Music fans are a big audience for Verizon, because watching music videos is one of the most popular things people do online," he said. "This is a great opportunity for them to position FIOS as a platform for fans, performers and music lovers." The sponsorship is a coup for Next New Networks as well, Shey said, because some advertisers are still hesitant to commit to a platform like $99 Music Videos, which is essentially a mix between Internet and network TV. "For a company that does a lot of TV advertising and a lot of Internet advertising to be interested in a medium like this is a very big win for us and gives us a boost from day one" he said. While Shey did not disclose the length of the agreement, he said that Verizon would have 100 percent share of voice on the network for "a pretty significant period of time." And the sponsorship involves a fairly deep level of integration. Each new video will contain a Verizon-branded bumper of 15 to 30 seconds, and messages throughout the network will position FIOS as the best way to view the network. The Verizon brand will also appear on the network's YouTube channel in the form of overlay ads. Shey said Verizon would also be integrated into the network's content. All Verizon creative on the site will be customized for the medium; Shey said his team worked with Verizon to create the content. "It's not like TV where advertising is a distraction," Shey said. "When you're watching one of our videos, you're really paying attention. We'll have a really great, engaged audience, and they'll be the only sponsor there." Next New Networks, which was founded in 2007 and is based in New York City, produces a number of "TV for the Internet" networks. Among them is Channel Federator, Barely Political (which created Obama Girl) and TMI Weekly, a show co-hosted by Time Out dating columnist Julia Allison.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Online TV firm Next New Networks and fiber-optic service Verizon FiOS are launching an online network Thursday called $99 Music Videos to showcase the talents of emerging musicians and filmmakers. The companies say they aim to create an MTV for the digital and iTunes age against the backdrop of strong consumer interest in online music videos. The network pairs musicians and filmmakers to produce original music videos for no more than $99, potentially giving them exposure to new fans. Verizon is the exclusive launch sponsor for the network, which initially will consist of two shows: a behind-the-scenes look at the videos and the finished videos themselves. Viewers can rate the videos and submit their own. The network launch kicks off with an original video for "The Sun Song" by La Strada, directed by executive producer and Webby Award-winning filmmaker Jack Ferry. New videos will premiere every Thursday at 99dollarmusicvideos.com. Directors also include Dan Meth, Ana Veselic, Kathleen Grace and Matthew Semel. Upcoming music talent includes Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard, Via Audio, Plushgun, the Depreciation Guild, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Lowry and Savoir Adore Frances. The forces behind the network include MTV's original creative director, Fred Seibert, a co-founder and the creative director of Next New Networks; Felicia Williams, former entertainment content manager at YouTube and Next New's director of creative development; and Ferry. "$99 Music Video stands for everything that's exciting about Web entertainment today in bringing together rising star bands, creative filmmaking and a low-cost vibe to create original, fresh content," Seibert said. "I was there at the start of MTV, and this has the same feeling all over again."

Verizon Communications will promote FiOS Internet as the launch sponsor of Next New Networks' $99 Music Videos site, set to launch Thursday. The Web site will premier a music video every Thursday, each purportedly made for less than $99 in less than 24 hours. $99 Music VideosIt's "a perfect match for FiOS Internet," Verizon senior vice president of marketing John Wimsatt said. "Verizon FiOS is all about letting people do more with their Internet connection, such as creating and enjoying high-quality video and making digital media part of their everyday lives." The telco's marketing message for the campaign is "$99 music videos are best experienced with Verizon FiOS Internet," and the sponsorship also includes Verizon-branded segments explaining how the videos were made. Next New Networks, founded in March 2007 by former MTV Networks executive Herb Scannell and others, has launched 16 online-only "networks" that have served more than 400 million video views to date. The company's investors include Spark Capital, Goldman Sachs and Velocity Interactive. Tim Shey, co-founder of Next New Networks and head of entertainment, said $99 Music Videos is the first site the startup will launch with a sponsor out of the gate. He declined to specify the length of Verizon's advertising buy but said "it's a significant sponsorship." The $99 Music Videos site will debut with a video by La Strada, with other bands on tap including Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, Via Audio and Plushgun. The videos are selected by filmmaker Jack Ferry. Contributors are "compensated basically with promotion," Shey said. "For the most part, this is about bands getting their name out there." Next New Networks plans to capitalize on the under-$99 gimmick by detailing the receipts from the videos' creators. One music video was made for $6, Shey said: "The guy bought a beer at the band's concert."

Next New Networks, a Web TV network creator, has unveiled a new online distribution network for artists to showcase videos, MediaPost reports. The new service, called $99 Music Videos, lets users produce and broadcast music videos for—you guessed it—99 bucks each. Verizon FiOS has signed on as its exclusive launch partner, the report said, in exchange for ad placement on the new network, as well as branded vignettes during each "making of" segment that let viewers in on what happens behind the scenes. Verizon, for its part, will run an ad campaign that attempts to position FiOS as the ideal broadband connection for watching the videos. New videos will premiere every Thursday on the network's Web site and other distribution channels including iTunes and YouTube, according to the report.

Music videos are perhaps the pinnacle commercial form of video art - forever testing boundaries and pushing cinematic techniques with always-distinctive styles and often obtuse symbolism. The democratization of the means of video production AND now the lines of distribution have opened the gates of music video creation to a whole new class of hyper-creative and highly motivated young creators. But, amidst the deafening noise of prolific internet-age creativity, these works of art often go unnoticed in the ether. So, who better to harness the power of this growing community and give these videos a home than the people who championed the music video in the first place with the original launch of MTV. Enter $99 Music Videos. Next New Networks (a new media founded by MTV’s first ever creative director, Fred Seibert) teamed up with Jack Ferry (creator of viral comedy award-winning short Knock Knock) and Melissa Schneider (producer of Michael Eisner’s The All-For-Nots) to create $99 Music Videos, an online music network that connects the next generation of filmmakers with emerging bands to create original music videos for only $99. Every Tuesday the networks will air “Making of” videos to introduce the band, director, and see how the video was made. Then on Thursdays, they’ll premier the latest music video made for under $99! We had the pleasure of talking to Jack, Melissa and Next New Networks’ Head of Entertainment, Tim Shey, about the concept, it’s challenges and its future… But first, the concept in their words…. And the resulting genius…

Tilzy.TV: What inspired the concept for $99 Music Videos? JACK FERRY, CREATOR & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: It all came about because of “Knock Knock.” It’s a comedy sketch I made with some buddies of mine one evening. We posted it online (YouTube, Myspace) and it got Millions of views. We spent like 40 bucks on it! I always wanted to make music videos, so this gave me an idea. What if we took cost out of the equation, made it more of a creative CHALLENGE? Can we still make something cool if we could only spend 99 dollars? I chose $99 because (I don’t know, for some reason) $100 sounds like real money and $99 doesn’t. It’s just enough to get something made. From this, “$99 Music Videos” was born. Tilzy.TV: What does $99 include? I can’t rent a camera for less than that! You must be providing SOMETHING on top of that??!? JACK FERRY, CREATOR & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: You certainly can’t! Typically, the filmmaker provides the video gear and the band provides the instruments. In this day and age, it seems almost everyone has access to a video camera and a computer (which you can use to edit on). You can use any type of camera, get creative. One filmmaker made a video using stills from his digital camera. Can’t afford to rent lights? Use the sun! Incidentally, we shot some stuff with La Strada indoors, but it didn’t really work in the edit. So, I’m taking my own advice, here. That whole video uses the sun as our light source. For our “playback” device, we used my video iPod and my boombox. Tilzy.TV: Tell me a bit about the process of pairing filmmakers with musicians. MELISSA SCHNEIDER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jack and I have been scouting bands ever since CMJ. We’ve probably seen about 70 or 80 live bands in the last several months. I’m not exaggerating! But since you’ll typically catch 3 or 4 bands per show, it actually adds up pretty quickly. When we spot a band we like, we approach them. Most of the them get the concept, love the idea, and jump right in. Then, we meet with the band personally, figure out the type of video they want, then pair them with the appropriate director. Because we went to NYU (Jack studied film there, I studied Theatre), we know tons of filmmakers. Plus, Next New Networks employs tons of filmmakers and animators. So, we have a huge variety of talent. Outside of that, we’ve been contacting filmmakers whose work we’ve spotted on the web, in order to extend that network. But it’s all been growing very organically.

And now that the website has launched, and we don’t need to keep the project “secret,” it should be a lot easier to get new talent involved. Tilzy.TV: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced getting the production off the ground? JACK FERRY, CREATOR & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: As it turns out, making a cool music video for only 99 bucks is hard! For instance, for the La Strada video, I really wanted to do something thematically linked to Ellis Island immigrants. (I don’t know. It just works with their sound.) Anyway, I couldn’t rent a boat, obviously. So, we bought tickets on the Ellis Island / Liberty Island Ferry. Only 12 bucks! Then, we kinda had to act like tourists shooting a home video on the boat and at the islands. It was a bit guerilla-style. We didn’t apply for permits. We did get shut down (briefly) while shooting in front of the Statue of Liberty. But once we filled out a permit form, they let us get back to shooting. They were really awesome about it, actually. It didn’t even cost a penny for the permit! We never would’ve gotten away with that if we had a big crew. But we used a small camera and there were only three of us (four, if you count Melissa, who was shooting the Behind-the-Scenes), so we didn’t look too suspicious. Tilzy.TV: Does this concept ever get tired? What will keep me coming back each week for more? MELISSA SCHNEIDER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: We will feature unique, creative music videos every week. With our variety of filmmakers and bands, I hope it’ll never get tired. The thing is, it isn’t about the money. It’s about the creativity of the videos. Since all the filmmakers and bands are so talented, every video will be a uniquely cool experience. Tilzy.TV: The press release touts the fact that this concept was “developed by the same creative mind that made MTV rock (Fred Seibert).” What will you borrow from the old model of MTV, and how does the web make this? What does Next New Networks bring to the table? TIM SHEY, NEXT NEW NETWORKS: All of the right things were really there in Jack’s idea from the start, and so the Next New Networks team brought all of that additional thinking — the things that have worked for our networks to date, our experience building communities, our distribution and promotional capabilities, and our creative ideas around interactivity — to the idea of a music videos network. What’s different this time around is that we have the Internet. There’s a huge community of filmmakers and musicians online, not to mention music fans, that we can tap into and really serve with this network. If we do this well, they’ll become the biggest marketers, distributors, and contributors to this network. Tilzy.TV: You mentioned that this will become a social network/market for filmmakers and musicians. What sorts of interactive elements will facilitate this community? TIM SHEY, NEXT NEW NETWORKS: We hope that it could — and if we see the kind of response we hope for, we’ll be adding features to facilitate that. We’ll have more to say on that soon, but right now we’re concentrating on the launch and making sure the network builds a great audience.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Online TV firm Next New Networks and fiber-optic service Verizon FiOS are launching an online network Thursday called $99 Music Videos to showcase the talents of emerging musicians and filmmakers. The companies say they aim to create an MTV for the digital and iTunes age against the backdrop of strong consumer interest in online music videos. The network pairs musicians and filmmakers to produce original music videos for no more than $99, potentially giving them exposure to new fans. Verizon is the exclusive launch sponsor for the network, which initially will consist of two shows: a behind-the-scenes look at the videos and the finished videos themselves. Viewers can rate the videos and submit their own. The network launch kicks off with an original video for "The Sun Song" by La Strada, directed by executive producer and Webby Award-winning filmmaker Jack Ferry. New videos will premiere every Thursday at 99dollarmusicvideos.com. Directors also include Dan Meth, Ana Veselic, Kathleen Grace and Matthew Semel. Upcoming music talent includes Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard, Via Audio, Plushgun, the Depreciation Guild, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Lowry and Savoir Adore Frances. The forces behind the network include MTV's original creative director, Fred Seibert, a co-founder and the creative director of Next New Networks; Felicia Williams, former entertainment content manager at YouTube and Next New's director of creative development; and Ferry. "$99 Music Video stands for everything that's exciting about Web entertainment today in bringing together rising star bands, creative filmmaking and a low-cost vibe to create original, fresh content," Seibert said. "I was there at the start of MTV, and this has the same feeling all over again." (Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)

Next New Networks launched its latest entertainment network, $99 Music Video, dedicated solely to that genre of programming that once drove MTV (the company that NNN co-founder Fred Siebert helped start.) Consisting of music videos and making-of videos produced in less than 24 hours for under $100, the micro-network hopes to capitalize on the huge popularity of the music video genre on the web (one that drives a large percentage of traffic on YouTube.) Verizon has signed with a "pretty significant" sponsorship commitment as exclusive launch partner, says Tim Shey, co-founder and head of entertainment for NNN. Next up for the web production outfit is to develop a mobile optimized site for all its properties, according to Mr. Shey. NNN content is already available on the iPhone via iTunes subscriptions.

NEXT NEW NETWORKS AND VERIZON have started a website for bands and film makers who no one has heard of can meet up to create cheap music videos which few will watch. Next New Networks will stream selected low-budget productions at 99dollarmusicvideos.com with support from sponsor Verizon. People behind the network include MTV's original creative director Fred Seibert and Felicia Williams, a former entertainment content manager at Youtube.

NEW YORK - Online TV firm Next New Networks and fiber-optic service Verizon FiOS are launching an online network Thursday called $99 Music Videos to showcase the talents of emerging musicians and filmmakers. The companies say they aim to create an MTV for the digital and iTunes age against the backdrop of strong consumer interest in online music videos. The network pairs musicians and filmmakers to produce original music videos for no more than $99, potentially giving them exposure to new fans. Verizon is the exclusive launch sponsor for the network, which initially will consist of two shows: a behind-the-scenes look at the videos and the finished videos themselves. Viewers can rate the videos and submit their own. The network launch kicks off with an original video for "The Sun Song" by La Strada, directed by executive producer and Webby Award-winning filmmaker Jack Ferry. New videos will premiere every Thursday at 99dollarmusicvideos.com. Directors also include Dan Meth, Ana Veselic, Kathleen Grace and Matthew Semel. Upcoming music talent includes Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard, Via Audio, Plushgun, the Depreciation Guild, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Lowry and Savoir Adore Frances. The forces behind the network include MTV's original creative director, Fred Seibert, a co-founder and the creative director of Next New Networks; Felicia Williams, former entertainment content manager at YouTube and Next New's director of creative development; and Ferry. "$99 Music Video stands for everything that's exciting about Web entertainment today in bringing together rising star bands, creative filmmaking and a low-cost vibe to create original, fresh content," Seibert said. "I was there at the start of MTV, and this has the same feeling all over again."

It's funny that music videos continue to thrive now, when they don't have many television networks interested in broadcasting them. In fact, with the advent of outlets like YouTube and Pitchfork.TV, I watch more videos now than I have in years—and in my days as a publicist, I found them to be an invaluable publicity tool. They were always a good excuse for another press release! With digital cameras getting cheaper and better, and everybody and their brother fashioning themselves the next Wes Anderson, it's easier than ever to make a video for not much money. Enter $99 Music Videos, which like Danish woman-haters Dogme 95 wants to impose monetary constraints on bands and filmmakers making music videos: 1. It must be made for $99 (or less). 2. It must be shot in one day (24 hours). 3. It must be edited in one day (this doesn't include rendering, digitizing, or exporting - just the creative part of editing). 4. It must be a collaboration between the band and the filmmaker. Also, keep track of the video's expenses. We want to know how the big bucks were spent. We know what you're thinking: "This is crazy! Only one day?? How is it possible to make something awesome for only $99?!" The site will also make its own $99 videos to post each week, complete with behind-the-scenes documentaries showing how it was done. Their mission: Most musicians and filmmakers are unable to spend thousands of dollars on a music video. But in the age of digital filmmaking, you no longer need those kinds of budgets. If fact, amazing original music videos are being made for the web every day for next to nothing. It was in this spirit that $99 Music Videos was born.

We wanted to get back to the basics about what it is to make a music video. It should be collaborative, creative, and immediate. Cost should not be an obstacle. How about this piece of pre-show-goofing-around poo from Genesis? Back to the basics, no doubt! And it sucks. It looks like it cost $12. Often, the good videos were the ones like "Thriller" and "Sledgehammer" that cost a lot of money, but needed big budgets to realize their ambitions. The artists and filmmakers collaborated and everyone came out (more or less) happy. Much like Dogme '95, I admire the purity of the constraints that $99 Music Videos espouses, but I think it hearkens back to some phony ideal that never really existed. I'm afraid that Vincent Moon et alia have created an aesthetic where "stripped-down" somehow equals "creativity," and that is not the case at all. Worse, that idea sets up a false continuum, wherein pesky things like budgets are anathema to good art, which is the kind of thinking that gave us a glut of mediocre mumblecore movies masquerading as artistic purity and verisimilitude. Having said that, obstructions can inspire creativity, and the first video on the site, set to the music of Brooklyn (of course) band La Strada, is pretty well-done. It certainly doesn't look like it was done for 99 smackers, and it's upbeat and charming, not sullen and dour for extreme meaningfulness. If they keep this level of quality up, my concerns will be unfounded. $99 Music Videos [Official site]

Next New Networks and Verizon FiOS have announced the launch of a new online entertainment network, $99 Music Videos. Today’s launch kicks off with an original video for La Strada, and upcoming guest talent includes Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, Via Audio, Plushgun, The Depreciation Guild, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Lowry, Savoir Adore and Frances. New videos will premiere every Thursday on the network’s website and distribution channels like YouTube and iTunes. The concept behind $99 Music Videos is simple — and quite routine for many small indie bands — making a cool music video on a limited budget. In this case, for $99. Like those reality redesign shows, the budget may be limited, but the possibilities are endless. Not necessarily on the production level, but the idea of reaching the thousands of Verizon fiber-optic Internet sunscribers (we’re assuming this means Verizon phone subscribers as well) is an almost unheard of opportunity for bands at this level. In addition to connecting great independent talent with new waves of potential fans, $99 Music Videos also appeals to a new generation of filmmakers by demonstrating innovative techniques to produce innovative music videos using limited resources. On the heels of the recent “revelation” that Facebook not only owns all content on their site, but can use it however they please (including to license or sell to third parties), the idea of the nation’s fastest broadband internet company joining forces with the leading online television company to showcase emerging bands, musical artists and filmmakers might be met with a bit of skepticism. Especially the part of the press release that reads: In addition the campaign will include integrated branded sponsor elements within episodes detailing the making of each music video, as well as companion media placements and integrated sponsor graphics on the network website and distribution points such as the network’s YouTube channel. Next New Networks and Verizon will also work together in creative ways to promote the series through channels like Verizon’s Facebook fan page and communities on platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, MySpace and Flickr. But we were informed by $99 Music Videos Executive Producer, Melissa Schneider, that aside from the Verizon sponsorship, the content is wholly and completely owned by the band and only licensed exclusively for a three month period.

“The bands have complete ownership of the video,” Schneider told us via e-mail. “During the video’s premiere period, which is 3 months, the band is not allowed to sell or license the video to a third party. They can post the video and promote it all over the place. After the 3 month period, the band/record label can do whatever they want with the video. Sell it, make a DVD to sell, send it to MTV, etc. It’s theirs to do whatever. And we hope that they can get everything and anything for it. The filmmakers and Next New Networks own none of the copyright to the video. Jack Ferry, the show’s creator, myself and Next New Networks worked hard to make sure that the video and its terms are all about the band and that they get to keep the work. The Verizon sponsorship is there to allow for the networks infrastructure to work, like the website and video players. The nature of the show is that the band and filmmakers have to use everything they have to make the video. That includes equipment. So if you only have a flip camera that’s what you use to make the video. We want the videos not to be about money, but about how creative you can get when money is not an option. Since you’re only really limited by your own creativity!” $99 Music Videos will feature different combinations of musicians and directors each week. Directors include Jack Ferry, Dan Meth, Ana Veselic, Kathleen Grace and Matthew Semel. The network will initially consist of two shows: a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the video, and the finished pieces themselves. Viewers will rate the videos as well as have the chance to submit their own $99 music videos, making the network a destination for bands and filmmakers to connect with each other and the independent music and film communities. The network was developed by pioneers in the music, television and online entertainment space including Fred Seibert, MTV’s original Creative Director, Felicia Williams, former Entertainment Content Manager at YouTube and Next New Networks’ Director of Creative Development, and the Series Creator and Executive Producer, Webby Award honored filmmaker Jack Ferry.

The companies say they are looking to create an MTV for the digital and iTunes age against the backdrop of strong consumer interest in online music videos. The network pairs musicians and filmmakers to produce original music videos for no more than $99, potentially giving them exposure to new fans. The network launch kicks off with an original video for “The Sun Song” by La Strada, directed by executive producer and Webby Award-winning filmmaker Jack Ferry. New videos will premiere every Thursday at 99dollarmusicvideos.com. Directors also include Dan Meth, Ana Veselic, Kathleen Grace and Matthew Semel. Upcoming music talent includes Jeffrey Lewis & the Junkyard, Via Audio, Plushgun, the Depreciation Guild, Project Jenny, Project Jan, Lowry and Savoir Adore Frances.

aprilini: La Strada - The Sun Song (via 99dollarmusicvideos) YAY WORK! If you guys have been at all curious what I’ve been up to for these last several months, wonder no more! I’ve been working with the rad people at Next New Networks on this project, $99 Music Videos. It’s pretty cool, it’s all about a band and a filmmaker getting together and creating something for $99. Pretty special. GO LOOK! (also, how awesome is this song? La Strada has their debut EP coming out in a few days and I am very excited to hear it.)

SAN FRANCISCO - NEXT New Networks and Verizon on Thursday launched a website where little-known bands and film makers can unite to create 'music video masterpieces' for US$99 (S$151) or less. Online television company Next New Networks will stream selected low-budget productions at 99dollarmusicvideos.com with support from sponsor Verizon, a US telecom titan promoting its FiOS broadband Internet service. The website debuted with a sepia-toned music video of Brooklyn band La Strada performing an original 'The Sun Song' with backdrops including The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York City. <A HREF="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/event.ng/Type=click&FlightID=18805&AdID=22536&a mp;TargetID=3299&Segments=1,81,564,999,1779,1780,1784,1891,2000,2061,2099,2141,2 355,2410,2428,2438,2731&Targets=1720,3299&Values=25,30,50,61,82,90,100,110,13 0,150,155,196,266,942,955,990,1636,2253,2762,2807,2862,2918,3999,4072,4074,4082,4083,40 84,4085,4086,4118,4119,4132,4335,4337,4342,5633,5640,5663&RawValues=&Redire ct=http:%2f%2fnewslink.asiaone.com" target="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://adimage.asia1.com.sg/2003/dot.gif" WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 BORDER=0></A> 'Wow!' a website visitor with screen-name 'Deb' wrote in a chat forum beneath the video. 'This is excellent... loved the band... am a fan now!' New videos will be posted to the website every Thursday, its creators promised. Creators of the network include MTV's original creative director Fred Seibert and Felicia Williams, a former entertainment content manager at popular video-sharing website YouTube. The low-budget music videos will be available at Google-owned YouTube. 'I was there at the start of MTV and this has the same feeling all over again,' Mr Seibert said of the website launch. '99 Dollar Music Videos stands for everything that's exciting about Web entertainment today in bringing together rising star bands, creative filmmaking, and a low-cost vibe to create original, fresh content.' Verizon is the website's sole sponsor and is to work with Next New Networks to promote the videos at hip Internet venues such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr, and Tumblr.

Next New Networks, an independent producer of online television networks, announced a partnership with Verizon to launch $99 Music Videos, a new entertainment network that will feature online music videos produced for less than $99. The series will showcase emerging artists and their creative process as they produce the videos on a shoestring budget. The series will initially feature bands chosen by the producers, but Next New Networks' representatives said they will be looking out for any videos made for less than $99 to run on the network. Bands must provide itemized receipts to prove their video was made within the parameters. Next New Networks will monetize the channel through the Verizon sponsorship, with branding and companion media on distribution sites. Next New Networks said Verizon's leadership in broadband delivery through the FiOS offering made the telco a good fit. "The $99 Music Video network also provides Verizon an opportunity to showcase our unmatched Internet services to a growing segment of the broadband community," said John Wimsatt, senior vice president of marketing for Verizon. "Verizon FiOS is all about letting people do more with their Internet connection, such as create and enjoy high quality video and make digital media a core part of their everyday lives." Next New Networks will promote the $99 Music Video series across sites like YouTube, MetaCafe and Break Media, as well as reach out to blogs and music sites interested in independent music production. Next New Networks's leadership has background in the music industry, and leveraged that experience in crafting this offering. "$99 Music Videos stands for everything that's exciting about web entertainment today in bringing together rising star bands, creative filmmaking, and a low-cost vibe to create original, fresh content," said Fred Seibert, creative director and co-founder of Next New Networks. "I was there at the start of MTV and this has the same feeling all over again as we launch a popular new destination for music videos. Music videos are meant to be fun, fresh and authentic, and the $99 Music Videos format gives deserving artists the freedom to create while reaching out to new fans."

The $99 Music Video The principle applies to much more than social media. Verizon FiOs and Next New Media have partnered to create The $99 Music Video Project. Not only did they impose a cost limit of $99, they put even more restrictions around the project. Specifically: 1. It must be made for $99 (or less). 2. It must be shot in one day (24 hours). 3. It must be edited in one day (this doesn’t include rendering, digitizing, or exporting — just the creative part of editing). 4. It must be a collaboration between the band and the filmmaker. Many will balk at these restrictions, but according to Melissa Schneider, executive producer, “Creating a cap on the budget turns the process into a creative challenge.”

It’s true — music videos have been getting ridiculous lately. Some time around when Michael Jackson’s Black or White budget rivaled that of major motion pictures, and the good old live concert video went out of style, people forgot that the video shouldn’t overshadow the song. 99 Dollar Music Videos challenges independent bands and directors to make a solid video using just under a hundred bucks. So far, La Strada has theirs up, and the product is simple and effective, like videos used to be. Lined up for future experiments are Via Audio, Plushgun, Lowry, and many more. Tags: innovation, Music, videos, websites

Next New Networks launched an online music networks where artists and groups can buy promote wares for cheap. For example, one firm on the site promises to create high-quality original music videos for $99.

99 Dollar Music Videos La Strada - The Sun Song directed by Jack Ferry. This is the first music video that is part of the new show by NNN called 99 Dollar Music Videos where as you might have guessed from the clever name $99 are spent on creating a music video. [Doesnt include labor] I especially love the behind the scenes video for this delightful song

In case you dont make it to the end of the behind the scenes clip this is what they spent their money on.

Fred Siebert, one of the guys behind the creation of MTV, is looking to do it again, this time on the web with the creation of a network called "$99 Music Videos". $99 Music Videos is exactly what it sounds like; a network dedicated to broadcasting music videos that were created for under $100. The website is put on by web-production studio Next New Networks, which will also be responsible for producing the actual videos. The whole shebang is sponsored by Verizon FiOS, which apparently has come up with the overly brilliant slogan for the site, "$99 music videos are best experienced with Verizon FiOS internet." The company is targeting small bands (both signed and unsigned) that are looking for new ways to promote their music. One video will be produced per week, and the band gives the company a three-month exclusive window to distribute it before ultimately sharing distribution rights and owning the video themselves. In addition to the actual video, Next New Networks will also produce a "making of" video so us kids at home can see how all the magic happens. Curious to see how it all works? Check out one of the videos for yourself after the break. A video:

The making of:

This is the first video from $99 Music Videos, which gives musicians and filmmakers the opportunity to produce and broadcast high-quality original music videos for no more than $99. From the press release: In addition to connecting great independent talent with new waves of potential fans, $99 Music Videos also appeals to a new generation of filmmakers by demonstrating innovative techniques to produce innovative music videos using limited resources. $99 Music Video will feature different combinations of musicians and directors each week. Directors include Jack Ferry, Dan Meth, Ana Veselic, Kathleen Grace, and Matthew Semel, The network will initially consist of two shows: a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the video, and the finished pieces themselves. Viewers will rate the videos as well as have the chance to submit their own $99 Music Videos, making the network a destination for bands and filmmakers to connect with each other and the independent music and film communities.

More info about the project here.

COMMENTARY: $99 Music Videos Look, if McDonalds can concoct some sort of double hamburger product for one dollar, then why can't you make a music video for $99. The folks behind 99dollarmusicvideos.com have set out to prove that they can make videos as watchable as McDonald dollar burgers are edible. And unlike Micky D's, where you have to take their word that it's indeed cow meat between those two buns, 99dollarmusicvideos promises to provide behindthe-scenes clips and a final tally that will show how they made every bargain basement video. First video up on the Verizon FIOS-sponsored site is for a band called La Strada by a director named Jack Ferry [watch the video here; watch the making-of here]. Any line producer worth his or her day rate can quickly add up all the elements in the making-of piece that would easily cost more than $99, even if amortized over several videos. And, the provided final tally doesn't mention a single production cost, instead listing the cost of food and a few incidentals. So, basically the trick in making a $99 video is: • • • Don't count any of the production expenses (Basically, assume that you will own or have free usage of lights, a green screen, cameras, a means of playback) Pay nobody for their time Don't get permits

Gee, aren't recessions fun? Here's my final take: • PRO: Even the most bitter curmudgeon should admit this is a clever concept. The fact that every video will have a B-roll on the making-of these cheapie videos should yield some entertaining moments. That in and of itself could make for good reality TV sorta viewing. There's also the possibility they expose some worthy bands and directors. AND, it's definitely worth noting that the people behind the site are no joke. For example, the site's executive Fred Seibert was the first employee and creative director of MTV. He was the dude who told you that you wanted your MTV. (He's also had more über-successes on his resume than I have balls: He was involved in the launch of Nick-At-Nite, founded the cartoon studio Frederator, and, most relevant to this whole thing: co-founded the new media company, Next New, that is bringing us the $99 video). CON: Yeah, I know "great ideas" are free, but there's a reason that only a handful of super low budget viral videos actually manage to infect the populace. Most of the ideas aren't so good and the executions thereof often ain't much better. And, shouldn't people in the video industry at least be paid the same wages as those little kid laborers who made my Nikes? To bring my opening analogy back: McDonalds might be able to make a burger for a buck. You sure you wanna eat it?

•

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my deep thoughts on data moshing...

Next New Networks Corporate



Coverage Highlights




Online video is white hot. It's being used in many ways and delivered anywhere your target audience is. The U.S. election was a watershed mark for streaming video in terms of the length of time and number of viewers. Marketers should be device indifferent since users may view your content on mobile devices, computers, and flat-screen televisions. To better understand the state of online video, consider the following: •Almost 80 percent of U.S. Internet users watched videos for roughly five hours in December 2008, with an average duration of 3.2 minutes per video, according to comScore. •65 percent of online video views were streamed between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, making this video primetime due to the faster Internet connections available at work, reported Nielsen Online. •In 2009, online video advertising is projected to grow 45 percent to $850 million, according to eMarketer's latest forecast. •5 percent of mobile subscribers accessed mobile video on their phones each month, according to Nielsen in its Q3 2008 Mobile Video Report. •About one-third of online retailers offer video on their sites, according to Vovici Corp.'s September 2008 research for Internet Retailer. Online Video's Five Subject Categories Consider your target market's needs when creating online video content because they can have a major impact on the video's optimal length and its shelf life. An SIIA Information Industry Summit panel advised attendees to think about whether their audience snacks on short videos or engages with longer formats. Here are five popular types of video content you can use: •News, including weather. Viewers often look for short tidbits to be informed about what's happening in their world. Think about the type of news most relevant to your target audience. •Sports. Typically, these videos consist of clips highlighting a single sports play where the audience is highly engaged. •How-to and research information. Viewers often look for answers to specific questions, so make it easy for your videos to be found. This content can be evergreen. •Entertainment, including comedy, music, TV shows, clips, and movies. Everyone looks for fun diversions. While entertaining content can be short, users are also watching longer formats, such as complete television shows and movies.

•Social media, including user-generated content. These videos often focus on humor. Eight Ways to Use Online Video Regardless of whether you're a retailer, media company, or brand marketer, think holistically about how to incorporate video into your communications strategy. Here are eight ways to use online video to extend your marketing mix: •Extend news coverage and other media events. While established brands like CNN dominate, any Web site can create its own channel. •Provide product-related information to aid use, including how-to for complex products that require training or further help. For example, Janome sewing machines partnered with Threadbanger. •Create videos for product placement. Develop or partner with a video series that highlights your product and engages your target market, like Starburst has done with Nite Fite. •Portray products in a real environment to help customers experience the product without seeing it in person. Extend your Web site to give customers a more retail-like environment. •Show real customers giving their honest reactions, like an infomercial. •Sponsor an ongoing video series created by a third party to associate your brand with special personalities or other brands, such as Degree's integration with TMI Weekly's Little Black Dress episode. •Extend other forms of content you're already creating, such as Webinars, analyst presentations, and quarterly meetings. •Use video to connect with remote staff or customers. Keep in mind that you need to drive traffic to your videos. Matt Cutler, VP, marketing and analytics of Visible Measures, suggests releasing related videos at the same time and crosspromoting them to help concentrate views over a short period to optimize distribution of related videos. The goal is to help your video reach top-viewed status that increases video views. Four Ways Online Video Contributes to Profitability Media companies, brands, and e-tailers can benefit from using online video. Here's how it can add to the bottom line: •Advertising vehicle. From a consumer perspective, quantity and length are an issue. Product placement and sponsorship are other ways to create revenue on media sites. •Paid products. Depending on the availability of the information or event, viewers may be willing to pay for downloads. •Product sales support. Retailers can gain by using videos to better illustrate product use prior to purchase and to support product use and community building after purchase. •Branding enhancement. You can enhance branding through the use of online videos that engage viewers, like the Blendtec blender videos. Seven Online Video Metrics

To ensure that online video meets your marketing goals, track the following factors to ensure you're on track: •Viewers. How many people have seen your video? What's the pass-along rate? Is it going viral? •Views and Time. How many times are the videos viewed? How much of each one is viewed? •Interaction. Since online videos tend to drive user interaction, assess comments for frequency and content and watch how viewers are using the video to create mashups and the like. •Branding. Have your branding metrics improved as a result of online video use? •Revenues. How have the videos helped support sales in terms of supplying direct identifiable sales leads or adding to the prepurchase research phase? Also, consider whether videos have helped reduce returns through post-purchase support. •Costs. What is the expense of developing the video and related Web site support? How does this compare to the benefits you are realizing? As online video evolves, there are bigger audiences to be had and increasingly more exciting ways to get their attention. The cost of creating and serving video has come down. It is time to get creative by using video to extend your marketing reach and complement your marketing plan.




Online television juggernaut Next New Networks announced today that its strategy of "superdistributing" audience-targeted content through non-exclusive distribution agreements has topped 300 million views in 2008, marking 200 percent growth since 2007. Next New, which produces 13 targeted channels of content, has distribution deals with a number of online video properties including Hulu LLC , Metacafe Inc. , AOL LLC , MySpaceTV, Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), and YouTube Inc. Lance Podell, CEO of Next New, says 2008 was a "breakthrough year" for the online TV network and cites the surprising success of the group's co-branded content environments on YouTube and Yahoo as the secret to its success. "We've found that the unilateral way of distributing content isn't as effective as two groups working together to create a robust, online environment," he adds. But not all that growth came from online; Podell tells Contentinople he was most surprised by the network's success using video-on-demand platforms such as Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s iTunes and TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO). The numbers "show that podcasting has come a long way. Podcasts are interesting enough now that people are actually compelled to download the content," Podell says. In addition to the group's staggering audience growth in 2008, Podell says Next New has "cracked the code" with online advertising and monetization by offering integrated, co-branded content coupled with traditional pre-stream and mid-stream ad buys.

"We're an interesting alternative to television," he says. "TV production is expensive and in the current economy we're an efficient opportunity for brands, who can't afford traditional television advertising, to connect with viewers. With 300 million views, we're already a real force. Now, I need to make sure we're offering what they're buying." Podell says the advancements in Web-enabled HDTV will give Next New additional momentum in 2009. "For me, it's compelling from a business perspective because I think there's a psychological connection with people and their TV. What's missing with traditional television are all of the options you get with online content. Bringing the Internet to TV allows you to have the best of both worlds." In 2009, Podell says the group plans to "launch new networks, create a more robust feel to our current networks and to take the core brands and fill them with additional content that's related." He also says Next New will produce longformat programming--a departure from their current short-format solution-customized for Hulu. "In the coming year, online TV, with its growing, passionate and loyal audience, remains a clear bright spot in the market and an exciting, established alternative to broadcast and cable TV for engaging with consumers," Podell adds.




    Written by Liz Shannon Miller  Posted Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 12:30 PM PT    

Spreading Holiday Cheer (and Self-Promotion)
  With  the  economy  continuing  to  crumble,  it’s  little  wonder  that  even  Hollywood  turned to e‐cards this holiday season — according to Variety, such a move has saved  major studios up to $40,000 on printing and mailing costs. But what these old‐school  production companies are doing is nothing new for the online video community.   

  NextNewNetworks’  video  card  is  fun,  though  be  warned  that  you’ll  come  away  craving cookies like crazy. The montage of baked goods frosted in stop‐motion is also  a  clever  reminder  of  just  how  many  different  shows  they  produce,  and  how  many  diverse audiences they target. From a promotional standpoint, it’s some pretty sweet  multitasking.    The  Lonely  Island  released  their  holiday  message  a  few  days  ago,  but  frankly  I’m  a  little  underwhelmed.  For  Christmas,  you  see,  the  Lazy  Sunday  boys  got  us  all  I  Like  Sportz, a new music video…that we can download from iTunes for only $1.49. Gee,  thanks.    And  the  Jonas  Brothers,  masters  of  utilizing  online  video,  reached  out  to  their  fans  with  this  a  cappella  message  spreading  good  wishes  for  the  New  Year.  Given  the  band’s roots in Christian pop, it’s curiously short on religion, but it does pointedly hint  at their upcoming 2009 projects, which they are, of course, “super excited about.”    There’s nothing wrong with coupling a message of Yuletide greetings with a personal  note  reflecting  on  the  organization  doing  the  greeting,  but  utilizing  a  fairly  low‐ budget medium as a means of spreading holiday cheer means that not everyone feels  obligated to drop in a little self‐promotion to justify the cost. I Can Haz Cheeseburger  keeps things pure with this message compiling some great video and images of cats  chasing their own tails. It’s the best Christmas present I’ve gotten from the Internet  this year.    Because NewTeeVee Station was too busy covering other people’s shorts to create a  greeting  card  for  you,  hopefully  this  wrap‐up  will  speak  for  all  of  us  here  in  communicating  good  feelings  for  the  season.  But  in  case  the  message  didn’t  come  across, dear reader: In these dark winter days, may your streams buffer quickly, your  videos go viral, and your holidays be filled with cheer.           

As I read the news about some of the major players in the online video market and hear talk of massive views and venture funds flowing, I can't help but think of a line from one of my favorite movies, "The Big Lebowski": "Where's the money, Lebowski?" For anyone who hasn't seen it lately or, God forbid, who has never had the opportunity to witness Jeff Bridges' bit of slacker genius, a synopsis. In a case of mistaken identity, Bridges' character is hounded by a group of European nihilists seeking to recoup money they feel is owed to them. The line is their refrain: "Where's the money, Lebowski?" What news prompted this memory? First, one-time political comedy site turned greeting card shop JibJab raised $7.5 million in a Series C round, pulling in dollars from previous funder Polaris Ventures as well as new investors Sony Pictures Entertainment and Overbrook Entertainment. Then its Santa Monica, CA, based neighbor, DECA, also took down $10 million to continue pursuing its brand of Internet programming, such as Boing Boing tv and smosh. Last but not least, NextNewNetworks, home of "Obama Girl," reported it saw views increase from 100 million to 300 million, year over year. However the only news about dollars flowing into the market from an advertising point of view, rather than financing, came out of a CES panel featuring my colleague, Brian Terkelsen, an EVP from sister agency Starcom Mediavest. On a video advertising panel, Terkelsen voiced quite openly what many in the market feel, "Advertisers aren't being aggressive enough in general. They helped grow TV to where it is now, so I think it's partly up to them to drive video. If we don't challenge the industry to do things differently, we're screwed." So it's wonderful that worthy players such as DECA and JibJab have found support in the venture community to continue to pursue their businesses. And same goes for Next

New with its audience figures that demonstrate there's an audience consuming its content. These data points suggests there's a foundation in place for the delivery of content and associated marketing over the Internet. But in the next six months, even with the dire economic straits in front of us, the focus must shift from developing programs to bearing out the value of those programs. And this can be done in myriad ways. For one, a compelling transmedia offering that ties together TV and Internet programming for a major marketer. For another, greater simplicity in valuing online video versus a TV buy. Or as I mentioned in my 2009 predictions, a breakout Internet-based hit, really going mainstream, could also fit the bill. But if none of these come to fruition, we may find ourselves in the unenviable position of having to answer that probing question, "Where's the money, Lebowski?"







                               

    NEW YORK (Fortune) ‐‐ Amy Poehler is one  of  the  hottest  properties  in  comedy  today,  a  close  second  to  former  "Saturday  Night  Live"  co‐star  Tina  Fey.  Anyone  who  caught  Poehler  impersonating  Hillary  Clinton  or  rapping about Sarah Palin knows how good  she is.    On Saturday she took her final bow as part  of the "SNL" cast, but she's got a few other  projects  in  the  works,  including  an  original  online show for tween girls, "Smart Girls at  the  Party,"  produced  by  Web  video  newcomer ON Networks.    ON,  whose  backers  include  AT&T  (T,  Fortune  500)  and  Accel,  is  also  producing  an  upcoming series with David Lynch, the creative mind behind TV cult hit "Twin Peaks."   

But for all its high wattage, it's just the latest entry in a crowded field that includes  Google  (GOOG,  Fortune  500)'s  YouTube,  Hulu,  the  joint  venture  from  NBC  (GE,  Fortune 500) and Fox (NWS, Fortune 500), and a passel of upstarts such as Next New  Networks  (best  known  for  its  infectious  Obama  Girl  video)  and  Revision3,  whose  team includes Digg founders Kevin Rose and Jay Adelson.    It's  a  given  that  viewers  today  watch  what  they  want,  when  and  where  they  want.  But  what's  good  for  the  consumer  isn't  always  great  for  business,  and  revenue  models across all traditional media are facing challenges as content migrates to the  Web.  The  ubiquity  of  information  on  the  Web  is  imperiling  newspapers,  while  television is plagued by digital video recorders.  Distribution is key    The  nascent  world  of  Web  video  has  its  own  obstacles.  YouTube  still  benefits  from  being first‐to‐market, with more than 82 million unique users in October compared to  9  million  for  runner‐up  Hulu,  according  the  Nielsen  Online.  But  neither  of  these  players  have  figured  out  how  to  lure  advertisers  away  from  television  shows  and  other traditional media as a place to build brands.    Niche players such as ON Networks think they may have cracked the code. Its model:  Unlike  Hulu  and  YouTube,  ON  Networks  develops  its  own  shows,  working  with  professional talent and video producers to develop scripts with exclusive advertisers  in  mind.  While  ON  posts  its  shows  on  its  own  Web  site,  the  key  to  its  strategy  is  broadly distributing them to other sites.    ON's shows fall into advertiser‐friendly categories such as family, travel and food. The  idea  is  to  line  up  a  single  sponsor  for  a  show  ‐  much  like  Procter  &  Gamble  (PG,  Fortune 500) once sponsored soap operas or Mutual of Omaha was the sole backer  of the television show "Animal Kingdom."    ON won't disclose audience sizes for its shows, and the numbers so far are too small  for tracking by Nielsen Online. To lure advertisers, ON emphasizes the quality of its  network  of  partner  sites,  which  includes  the  mobile  platform  Buzzwire  and  Apple  iTunes.  In  most  cases,  no  money  exchanges  hands  between  ON  and  the  sites  that  carry its shows.    According  to  ON  chief  content  officer  Jen  Grogono,  broad  distribution  of  its  shows  was  part  of  the  plan  from  the  beginning.  Web  video  players  that  bet  solely  on  downloadable video players or portals, where users have direct access to a menu of  shows, are only now racing to make their content available on multiple sites.    Distribution is a key piece of the revenue puzzle, but as YouTube has shown, it's not  enough to just attract eyeballs. Advertisers want to sponsor videos that complement 

their  message  and  draw  viewers  they  want  to  attract  as  customers.  This  is  where  original, scripted content has an advantage.    In the case of "Smart Girls," Poehler approached ON about creating a show and ON  sought a sponsor in Mattel's Barbie. Mattel (MAT, Fortune 500) not only gets a high‐ quality audience, with ON distributing the show to targeted partners like Imbee.com  and  Blinkx.com,  it  also  gets  an  affiliation  with  Poehler  and  the  show's  uplifting  message.    Barbie is never mentioned during the show, but viewers are hit with plenty of Barbie  references  anyway.  These  include  polls,  quizzes  and  Barbie‐related  ads  that  appear  within the video player.    ON  then  provides  Mattel  with  a  number  of  useful  analytics,  including  whether  a  viewer  saw  the  show  on  a  computer  or  a  mobile  phone,  how  many  episodes  were  watched, and what the click‐through rates were on the accompanying ads.    "Brand advertisers are thinking more like direct marketers," said ON's Grogono. "We  need to break out a set of services that wrap around our shows."    Gartner Group media analyst Allen Weiner says On Networks has "got a great model,  they're definitely among the elite in this space."  Signs of a slowdown    But trolling the site reveals a large number of its shows lack sponsors. The perception  of  the  industry  as  experimental  makes  it  a  tough  sell  during  uncertain  economic  times.  But  most  point  to  the  fact  that  the  audiences  are  still  too  small  to  merit  the  effort for many advertisers.    "The  model  is  working  ‐  it's  profitable,"  said  Grogono,  who  declined  to  be  more  specific.  But  she  also  acknowledges  that,  as  Weiner  put  it,  "things  are  going  to  happen, but not as fast as anyone has hoped."    Indeed, earlier this month eMarketer scaled back its 2009 growth forecast for online  video‐ad  spending  to  $850  million,  a  45%  increase  over  this  year.  The  research  firm  had been predicting 49% growth.    Even  so,  Web  video  is  expected  to  grow  faster  over  the  next  five  years  than  any  other  online  ad  format,  according  to  eMarketer.  Come  2013  Internet  video  could  generate $4.6 billion, or 11%, of the total $42 billion in online ad spending.    Despite  the  numbers  and  the  concern  that  advertisers  are  slow  to  buy  in  to  the  promise  of  a  highly‐targeted,  engaged  audience,  Poehler's  embrace  of  the  medium 

may  be  prescient.  When  the  industry  finally  comes  into  its  own,  maybe  we'll  look  back and note how smart she was to lead the way. To top of page      

             

 




As someone who until recently was a resident of Washington for twelve years, it's fun watching D.C. have its biggest moment in a long time. When I was there, getting friends to visit from places like New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco was a pretty rare event, but this week, I'm seeing many of them converging on the city and having a blast discovering old hangouts I know like the back of my hand. D.C.'s a great place, and it's a special thrill seeing so much attention focused there right now. Not only because of the inauguration and a new administration, which always brings a fresh batch of people and interest to the city every four to eight years, but because this is the first big focus on D.C. since the spread of HDTV, and on every channel, D.C.'s never looked more interesting, more multicultural, and more ready for its close-up. I've gotten a kick out of watching the new season of 24, with lots of location filming around Washington (and their highly entertaining decision to not even attempt to try to portray the FBI, Secret Service, or distances in downtown D.C. with any amount of realism); HBO's and CNN's coverage all weekend has done the impossible and actually made Washington look glamorous (much thanks to Obama and countless celebrities and excited visitors from all over the world); and tonight, Anthony Bourdain's show hits Washington to visit local places like Ben's Chili Bowl and hang with one of the most innovative, fun chefs in America, Cafe Atlantico's Jose Andres. Longtime residents of D.C. are pretty used to not getting a lot of respect or attention from other cities, but we were also intensely proud of the city and what a unique place it was -- many of us felt it was the best place to live on the East Coast, all things considered. In recent years, it's gotten even better. The city has plenty of problems -- the local government's always struggled to have adequate money and services, and as a Democratic stronghold, it felt like the Bush administration did everything it could to make that worse. But watching the rebirth of neighborhoods I lived and worked in like Shaw, U Street, Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan, Chinatown, and Capitol Hill over the last ten

years, and remembering what things were like in 1992 when I first arrived, was nothing short of mind-blowing. This coincided with the rebirth of many other cities' downtowns and the real estate boom, but now, when the recession casts doubt on whether that progress will continue, D.C. has a chance to be a beacon to the rest of the country. The influx of new administration-related jobs. which will attract lots of people who will actually want to live in downtown D.C., will keep the growth going and new businesses opening, and, as a recent New York Times story notes, likely continue to revitalize historic minority neighborhoods like Shaw, Petworth, and Columbia Heights. With all this momentum, D.C. during the Obama administration could become a model for the kinds of diverse, progressive urban communities we may need to create in every city to get the country back on track. I wonder if Obama's had a chance yet to read Van Jones' The Green Collar Economy; Hilda Solis, his choice for Labor Secretary, probably has. The book links the uplift of communities like D.C. with opportunities to reinvent and green the economy, and D.C. should be one of the first cities where this can happen. There will be a lot of other pressing things on Obama's plate -- just this moment, I hear of NASA scientist Jim Hansen's dire warnings about climate change, for instance -- but for all the people in D.C. who have been making things better the past decade without a friend in the White House, just having Obama in the neighborhood will change everything.










What spreads faster than economic gloom and doom and is more infectious than professional anxiety? That phenomenon known as “25 Things.” Just in time for Facebookʼs fifth birthday, the record-breaking waste of time may have reached critical mass this week. Itʼs certainly been the topic of much conversation, including on BoomTown. Elsewhere this week: BoomTown provided continuing coverage of the Yahoo (YHOO) merry-go-round. This time, PR head Jill Nash announced her departure. As the companyʼs chief communications officer, sheʼs had a challenging twoyear run. New CEO Carol Bartz definitely has some PR ideas of her own, including offering cash prizes to employees who provide info on their colleagues who leak information to the press. Not a huge deterrent yet, apparently–it didnʼt take long for BoomTown to get info on both Nashʼs farewell memo and Bartzʼs bounty system. Next, New Networks, the publisher behind BarelyPolitical and its hugely viral Obama Girl videos, has widened its purview to include the tech sector with BarelyDigital, which the online network has envisioned to include regular shows, tech news remixes and the like. Itʼs rumored that Obama Girl will be making a cameo appearance or two. If the first two features are any indication, the future looks pretty funny. In another round of executive musical chairs, Time Warnerʼs (TWX) AOL ad head Lynda Clarizio will be leaving the online service, to be replaced by former Yahoo ad exec Greg Coleman. Microsoft (MSFT) is launching a slick new celebrity site on MSN called Wonderwall, created, designed and produced by BermanBraun Interactive, a Hollywood company run by former Yahoo media chief Lloyd Braun. And speaking of musical chairs, MSN is clearly upping its content ante–earlier this week, it hired Yahooʼs recent media head Scott Moore, who used to work at Microsoft. MediaMemo asked: What happens when one of the worldʼs richest men lets loose a swarm (a small swarm) of mosquitoes at a high-end conference? Nothing too exciting, really, but when you consider that the stunt was the publicity-generating part of Bill Gatesʼs talk at TED, which was a discussion of malaria and some of the problems the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is facing head-on, it gets pretty compelling. Kindle 2.0, the new generation of the device dubbed the “iPod of the book world” will be unveiled Monday at a New York press event, but how many of the devices have been sold thus far? Amazonʼs (AMZN) not telling, but Citigroup analyst Mark

Mahaney estimates the number at 500,000–and believes that the Kindle will be a $1.2 billion business next year. Obviously, a lot will depend on Monday and the new deviceʼs reception. MediaMemo also took some time out this week to wish Facebook a happy fifth birthday, and to stack its track record next to Googleʼs at the same age, with interesting results. Even the pros are getting hit hard these days–in its quarterly earnings report this week, News Corp. (NWS) missed its estimates, recorded an $8.4 billion write-off and lowered its guidance. CEO Rupert Murdoch admitted that the downturn is worse than he thought. He also admitted that he spent $2.8 billion too much for Dow Jones. (News Corp. is the owner of Dow Jones and this Web site.) Digital Daily followed the trial of four Google executives this week on criminal charges of defamation and breach of privacy after a much-publicized two-year investigation. Google (GOOG) insists the charges are unwarranted and “akin to prosecuting mail service employees for hate speech letters sent in the post.” Clearly, the ultimate outcome will have a huge impact on the future of a free, open Internet. MySpace said this week that it has identified and ousted 90,000 registered sex offenders–and those are just the ones brilliant enough to use their real names. Thereʼs no way of knowing how many are actually using the service or how to prevent them from re-registering once theyʼre deleted. A free an open Internet, indeed. DD also pondered the future (or lack thereof) of the Motorola (MOT) handset division. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha says the company is committed to making the business work, but its products are looking boring and outdated, and a turnaround would be prohibitively expensive to execute. In the words of one analyst, the companyʼs problems are “gruesome.” On the other end of the spectrum, Microsoft continues to vehemently deny reports that itʼll be producing its own smartphone. In a report this week, analysts from Broadpoint.AmTech speculated that the device could be uncrated later this month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Meanwhile, itʼs been up in the air for two years whether or not iPhones will ever be uncrated in historic Georgetown. Apple (AAPL) has been around the table a few times now with preservationists wary of the architectural impact of an Apple store, no matter how much the business traffic is needed in the neighborhood. Looks like perseverance may have finally paid off, though–Georgetownʼs Apple store could open later this year. In Personal Technology this week, Walt Mossberg took a look at a program called Foxmarks, which sets out to synchronize bookmarks among all of your browsers and all of your machines. Sound a little too handy to actually work well? Walt found it does a pretty good job, with a few caveats. In Mossbergʼs Mailbox, Walt responds to readers who want to know more about doing “techie” maintenance on their PCs to keep them running well, whether or not to buy a 15-inch MacBook Pro, and options for email within Windows 7, which wonʼt ship with a built-in email program. In the Mossberg Solution, Katherine Boehret tests Google Latitude, an opt-in program that lets users track one anotherʼs movements on their smartphones using GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell towers. Kind of like Gawker Stalker, only with permission and without Lindsay Lohan (unless you happen to be Lindsay Lohan). Last but not least, Silicon Valley lost one of its own this week. The widely admired and much loved Mike Homer, whose rare, severe illness was a rallying point for many over the past months, passed away last weekend and was laid to rest on Thursday. More next week.

   

       

   

     

 

 

 

           

      About a year ago, I discussed different strategies for making video ads go viral. Since  then,  most  agencies  and  brands  have  gone  beyond  the  one‐hit‐wonder  viral  video  craze,  and  are  now  looking  to  create  richer,  deeper,  online  brand  content  experiences.    A  lot  has  happened  over  the  past  year.  New  digital  studios  like  Deca  and  Eqal,  to  name  a  few,  have  consistently  put  out  great  new  original  programs.  Despite  the  economic turmoil, brands have become a lot less timid about partnering with content  creators. And, above all, new distribution technologies and measurement companies  are helping to make everything a bit more manageable.    But even with some small wins in the brand content space this past year, there's still  a lot to be figured out. While we may all have started to master how to expertly seed  a  video  to  get  viral  status,  creating  original  Webisodic  content  and  seeking  out  an  audience requires a whole new level of expertise.    Last  week,  I  spoke  with  Sarah  Szalavitz,  a  cofounder  of  the  small,  but  big‐brained  company,  7  Robot.  Although  it  launched  only  this  past  year,  Sarah  and  her  partner  Damien Somerset have worked with successful companies like Next New Networks  and  Generate,  and  have  built  a  credible  expertise  in  an  area  that  arguably  could  replace content as king: community and audience.    Christine  Beardsell:  Describe  7  Robot  and  what  makes  you  different  from  other  companies working in the content space right now?    Sarah  Szalavitz:  7  Robot  develops  cross‐platform  user  experiences  optimized  for  participation,  search,  and  community.  Or,  another  way  we  like  to  put  it:  We  transform  storytelling  into  story  sharing  ‐‐  building  engagement  into  content  creation.   

We launched 7 Robot because we saw a gaping hole in the market; there was not a  lack  of  content,  but  instead  a  lack  of  an  audience.  Sure,  people  were  watching  TV  shows  online  here  and  there,  but  the  overwhelming  majority  of  videos  viewed  on  YouTube are still people watching their kids, their cars, or cats!    The  media  business  is  shifting  radically.  We  believe  that  value  is  accrued  in  building  community, instead of just intellectual property. Today it is not enough to tell a great  story. The questions is: How are you going to get people to watch it, participate and  share it, as well as measure its success? 7 Robot fills this need by taking advantage of  social  media  tools  and  technologies  to  allow  the  audience  to  become  part  of  the  distribution or story sharing process ‐‐ and in turn, helping to build its value.    While content creation once ended with delivery, today, it is only the beginning.    CB: Building an audience from scratch for a new Web show is not an easy task. Can  you share some of your strategies?    SS:  Yes,  it's  very  hard  to  build  an  audience  from  scratch.  Even  if  the  content  is  the  best content ever, it takes commitment, passion, and a lot of work. It is essential to  set long‐term goals and grow your brand incrementally across the platforms where  your audience gathers.    We advise our clients to be wherever their brand's audience is; if they are Twittering,  on Facebook, and on YouTube, you should be in all of those places too.    Then  we  conquer  one  platform  at  a  time  and  focus  on  those  with  the  most  traffic  first.  YouTube  is  still  one  of  the  most  important  platforms,  since  it  is  where  most  people  still  watch  video.  Therefore,  we  are  intimately  involved  with  the  features  YouTube offers ‐‐ ranging from thumbnail selection to annotation and AdWords. Each  of these features offers opportunities to build an organic audience.    CB: Can you give me an example of a show you have successfully built an audience  around?    SS: Our most successful story (and one we can contractually talk about) is ZapRoot.  We  have  built  a  large  and  loyal  cross‐platform  audience,  which  has  made  us  one  of  the most successful green series on the Web ‐‐ garnering over 20 million views.    With  ZapRoot,  we  discovered  early  on  that  we  created  more  value  by  focusing  on  building  a  user  experience  that  included  our  community,  rather  than  on  producing  perfect  videos.  As  such,  we  spend  more  time  and  money  on  engaging  with  our  community  than  we  do  on  making  the  videos.  In  fact,  the  occasional  imperfection  allows  the  audience  to  participate  and  make  the  show  better,  which  helps  build  loyalty and encourages sharing. 

  CB: What's the most important advice you can give to creative marketers and brands  that are developing brand content shows and trying to build audiences?    SS:  For  one,  building  an  audience  takes  time  and  energy.  Be  committed  to  six  months. And be prepared to spend as much, if not more, on building your audience  as  you  do  on  producing  your  content.  The  adage,  "build  it  an  they  will  come"  no  longer holds true in a world of infinite choice and distraction.    Second, don't build your own social network. If integrating into one is good enough  for Radiohead, it's probably good enough for you. And similarly, don't build a video  player! Chances are, Google has still done a better job than you could. Instead, spend  that money on building your brand and community!    Lastly,  the  content  monarchy  is  in  decline.  Content  may  have  once  been  king,  but  today, community and audience reign supreme.                 







The little codec that could, DivX, announced a series of partnerships today that will use the protocol in set-top boxes for Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). DivX Inc. (which is not related to the late, lamented DIVX system used by Circuit City to produce degradable DVDs) announced or extended partnerships with Broadcom, D-Link Systems, Jaman.com, and Next New Networks. Support for DivX, which is known for its compression scheme, would reduce the amount of bandwidth required to send content over IPTV, which would be both faster and cheaper. DivX extended its partnership with Broadcom and certified Broadcom's BCM7403 chipset for set-top devices for full 1080p DivX HD playback, and will also support DivX in Broadcom's 35xx chipset series. DivX and Next New Networks, which distributes video content on the Internet through networks such as IndyMogul and Channel Frederator, announced a partnership to give users access to Next New Network programs through the DivX Connected platform. Similarly, the agreement with Jaman.com will give users access to selections from Jaman.com's library of foreign, independent, short, and documentary films. That's all great, but you need something to see them on. The announcement with D-Link was that the D-Link DSM-330 DivX Connected HD Media Player, which DivX said was the first piece of equipment to support DivX Connected, would be available in the US in the first half of 2008. It first shipped in November to the UK, France, and Germany. The companies did not say how much it would cost in the US. The companies also did not say when set-top boxes based on the Broadcom chipset, or content from the two providers, would be made available.







                                          Despite  layoffs  at  Web  video  studios  and  sliding  advertising  forecasts,  the  future  is  not as bleak as it might seem for online networks that produce targeted shows.    Last  week  research  firm  eMarketer  lopped  $1.3  billion  off  its  projections  for  2008  online ad spending, revising them to $23.6 billion. But the Internet ad business is still  growing at about 11% this year, and the online video ad sector will climb 45% next year  to $850 million, eMarketer said.    Broadcast  and  cable  networks  along  with  premium  sites  like  Hulu  will  command  a  large  share  of  that  $850  million  pie.  Smaller  players  with  original  content  such  as  Revision3,  Next  New  Networks,  For  Your  Imagination,  ManiaTV,  60  Frames  and  MyDamnChannel will snag a piece, too.    Many of these independent Web studios are on pace to turn a profit next year.    MyDamnChannel even expects to break even this quarter.    “Content  quality  matters  a  lot,  as  does  robust  distribution  and,  when  possible,  partnerships  with  larger  media  companies  with  ad  sales  strengths,”  said  Will  Richmond, analyst with VideoNuze.com.    Here’s a report card for 2008 and an outlook for 2009 for those six studios.    60 Frames 

  Top  five  shows:  “Douchebag  Beach,”  “Who  What  Wear  TV,”  “Wassup  2008,”  “Carpet Brothers,” “Tuned in With Nic Harcourt”    Views in 2008: Collectively 60 Frames shows have been viewed more than 50 million  times this year    Growth  in  2008:  The  company  had  zero  views  at  the  start  of  the  year  when  it  launched.    Sponsors signed in 2008: McDonald’s, Sprint, Saks, Procter & Gamble    Lessons learned: “Always focus on quality,” said Brent Weinstein, CEO of 60 Frames.  “If you deliver quality content, sponsors and audience will follow.”    Challenges for 2009: The goal for the year ahead is building on what 60 Frames has  learned so far this year, Mr. Weinstein said.    For Your Imagination    Top  five  shows:  “Break  a  Leg,”  “Kyle  Piccolo,”  “DadLabs,”  “Real  World  Green,”  “Gardenfork”    Views in 2008: Those five shows generated nearly 7 million views.    Growth in 2008: “Break a Leg” grew 15%, “DadLabs” 25% and “Gardenfork” 50%; the  other shows launched this year.    Sponsors signed in 2008: Hasbro, Warner Bros., OxiClean, Kaboom, IFC, Kathy Hilton  My Secret, Holiday Inn Express, Coors Lite, Primo Water, Midtown Comics, Theory    Lessons  learned:  “The  more  you  can  target  your  audience,  the  more  likely  your  content  will  be  sponsored,”  said  Paul  Kontonis,  CEO  of  For  Your  Imagination.  “Infotainment is where it is at.”    Challenges for 2009: The challenges in the year ahead are delivering audiences in a  crowded  market  and  educating  agencies  and  brands  about  online  video  sponsorships, he said.    ManiaTV    Top five shows: “Arcade,” “Dave Navarro’s Spread TV,” “All Access,” “Comedy Road  Show,” “National Lampoon’s Lemmings.”   

Views in 2008: Those five shows generated 127 million video views for the year.    Growth in 2008: For all its shows, ManiaTV has generated 148 million views, up 10%.    Sponsors  signed  in  2008:  ManiaTV  signed  52  advertisers  including  Axe,  Doritos,  Wrigley, AT&T, Yellow Pages, Dell, Sony PlayStation, Nikon and Adidas.    Lessons learned: “There are a lot of moving pieces to our business, so you must have  a full package of production, packaging, distribution, ad sales, reporting, technology,  scale and the partner relationships across the board in order to succeed,” said Peter  Hoskins, the company’s CEO.    Challenges  for  2009:  “Help  our  advertisers  weather  this  economic  storm  and  continue to be their safe haven on the Internet,” he said.    MyDamnChannel    Top five shows: “You Suck at Photoshop,” “Wainy Days,” “Harry Shearer,” “Horrible  People,” “My Damn Channel Music Nights Presented by SoCo”    Views in 2008: Those five shows generated about 27 million views, with “You Suck at  Photoshop” leading the pack with 16 million views.    Growth in 2008: MyDamnChannel’s audience grew sevenfold this year.    Sponsors  signed  in  2008:  Southern  Comfort,  Puma,  Lincoln,  Universal  Pictures,  Lionsgate, HBO, TMZ, Adobe, Skype, Swedish Fish and Fuse.    Lessons learned: “Web series with name talent builds more revenue than one‐offs,”  said Rob Barnett, CEO of the company.    Challenges  for  2009:  The  goal  for  the  year  ahead  is  to  expand  and  ink  strategic  partnerships with major media companies, Mr. Barnett said.    Next New Networks    Top  five  shows:  “Barely  Political,”  “Fast  Lane  Daily,”  “Channel  Frederator,”  “Viropop,” “Indy Mogul”    Views in 2008: Nearly 200 million views total for the year for those five shows.    Growth in 2008: Next New Networks’ shows have more than doubled in views.   

Sponsors  signed  in  2008:  Next  New  Networks  said  it  signed  “dozens”  of  sponsors  this year including Mars, Janome, SpikeTV and Lionsgate.    Lessons  learned:  The  key  take‐away  from  2008  is  the  importance  of  a  regular  audience,  said  Lance  Podell,  CEO  of  Next  New  Networks.  “Our  channels  built  loyal,  regular audiences by providing consistent programming that is easy to access via our  distribution network. [Audience] feedback is a core part of the programming.”    Challenges for 2009: “To get the advertising community to view online video as the  primary, not secondary way to reach teens and 18‐ to 34‐year‐olds,” Mr. Podell said.    Revision3    Top  five  shows:  “Tekzilla,”  “SYSTM,”  “Diggnation,”  “Totally  Rad  Show,”  “Scam  School”    Views in 2008: Those shows should reach nearly 41 million complete views this year,  translating into 1.2 billion minutes of engagement for the year, Revision3 said.    Growth in 2008: Those shows doubled in views for the year.    Sponsors signed in 2008: Revision3 signed 60 new sponsors, including the Air Force,  EA, Sony, Anheuser‐Busch, Dolby and Virgin America.    Lessons  learned:  “Focus  on  a  core  audience  and  demographic  and  super‐serve  them,”  said  Jim  Louderback,  CEO  of  Revision3.  “Be  everywhere,  but  make  sure  everywhere includes YouTube.”    Challenges for 2009: “Keep growing revenue and viewership,” he said.                 

Metacafe Inc., a short-form online video site boasting 38 million unique users per month, shoots and scores with yesterday's launch of its NBA channel featuring game highlights, top plays, and weekly recaps. Scott Bushman, the VP of content and business development at Metacafe, says the NBA is one of the most forward-thinking sports leagues in terms of its digital distribution of content. "Working with them to get this deal done was a collaborative process in which we both brought value to the table," he says. "They're an important partner for us, and we're working together toward a common goal -- making it easy for people to find, enjoy, and share NBA highlights online." The channel, located at http://www.metacafe.com/nba, features basketball highlights from every game of the 2008-2009 regular season and 2009 NBA playoffs, a daily recap of top plays from around the league, a weekly recap, and a post-finals highlight package focusing on the best-of clips from the season. Bushman says it's too early to judge if the NBA channel is a slam dunk, but says sports has long been one of the most popular content categories on Metacafe. "It's really too early to say which type of content proves most popular, but our viewers definitely seem to like the play-of-the-night highlights... dunks, assists, steals," he adds. Metacafe continues to dominate the short-form entertainment content platform, signing more than 70 deals in 2008 with professional content creators -- including companies like 60Frames Entertainment Corp. , Aniboom, Comedy.com, Fear.net, JibJab, Howcast, Next New Networks, Revision3 , and Young Hollywood. Bushman says Metacafe's vision in 2009 is to help create a short-form industry carving a place online alongside its long-format counterparts -- TV and movies -- as another option for online video entertainment. "We believe the short-form environment is different in every way from the long-form online TV environment -- the content, the viewer experience, the advertising model," he concludes. "We'll continue to seek and strike partnerships with premium content providers like the NBA over the course of this year."

On Wednesdayʼs “Naked Media” live show (soon to be available on demand at NakedMedia.org), Web TV entrepreneur (and long-time TV animation executive) Fred Seibert talked about how TiVo brought a lot of viewers to the programs on his Next New Networks, home of everything from car enthusiast shows to Obama Girl on “Barely Political” to shows for people crazy for comic books. He said that TiVo, hungry for content to distribute to TiVo subscribers, had struck deals with Web content providers like his company. Fred gets distribution to a new audience (and more views for ads). TiVo gets more content to subscribers paying their monthly fees. TiVo, thus, becomes a box that not only allows time-shifting of traditional TV and ad-skipping, but also viewing of quality Web content on the TV as well. Thatʼs something a lot of consumers donʼt realize. Later, at the Future of TV conference in midtown Manhattan, TiVOʼs VP and GM, Audience Research and Measurement Todd Juenger said he didnʼt like the traditional ways of classifying audience for advertising measurement purposes, that demographic groupings, such as women ages 18-49, were a far-fromperfect proxy for what advertisers really want. Procter & Gamble, where he once worked, is interested in women who want to use a particular product in a particular way: women interested buying a detergent with a particular smell, for example. Thatʼs much more important than their age or any other group measurement. Beer companies would love to know if a household tends to buy Budweiser or Miller — something, Juenger said, TiVo can tell when it maps the household to data from a grocery story shopping card such as that provided by the company Experion. TiVo, thus becomes not just a measurement box, but the means by which an advertiser can serve ads more perfectly targeted to a household. But TiVo, while a triple threat, also faces a threat. I asked Juenger whether the

Internet was threatening his company just as his company threatens ad revenues for broadcast and cable TV. He said he felt there was room for it all, that TV screens are the better experience and that TiVo was bringing programming to people over those screens. Well, yes. But. What about the increasing improvement in screens of all types, the desire for people to watch what they want wherever, however? Later at the conference, both a Fox executive and ABCʼs Rick Mandler pointed out that while the audience was still miniscule, the viewership of their programs on computer screens was growing (and they could build players for computers that didnʼt allow ad skipping). Seibert said he would provide his programming on any screen where people were demanding it. Thereʼs not yet enough viewership on mobile screens like iPhones, he said, but as soon as there is, heʼll be signing distribution deals. And, when there is, where will TiVo be? If TiVoʼs main value proposition is showing stuff on a TV hooked up to its machine, and that becomes irrelevant because Hulu or ABC.com or the Roku box hooked up to Netflix, or Apple TV provides the programming on-demand — what would that do to TiVoʼs business? In the opening segment, “Shallow Thoughts,” on Naked Media, Dorianʼs shtick was on people being unprepared for the switchover to Digital TV over the air — something Shelly Palmer addressed at the Future TV show.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- MyDamnChannel's "You Suck at Photoshop" is a nearperfect series for the web: short, funny and low-budget, it both doesn't require viewers to commit to a series and actually provides some useful information for those of us who do, in fact, suck at Photoshop. But the series isn't immune from the one of the most vexing problems facing producers of web video: how to build a loyal audience and keep it coming back. In the short history of web series, most have struggled to replicate the TV model where audiences come back -- and even build -- from the first episode. And retaining audiences is key, given that brands marketing around web video are paying according to that old TV model: for eyeballs. Online audiences are spotty, fickle and distracted. Even the best web series have trouble getting numbers when they're not getting front-page promotion on a major video portal such as YouTube or MySpace Video. To illustrate the problem, Ad Age asked web-analytics firm TubeMogul to compile viewing stats for the first eight episodes of 50 of the highest-profile web series: EQAL's "LG15: The Resistance" to Crackle's "Hot Hot Los Angeles" to Michael Eisner's "Back On Topps." What it found is that the series lost 64% of their audiences, on aggregate, from the first to the second episode. The decline becomes less steep from there, but it shows why many series don't last past the 10th episode; by then there just aren't many viewers left. TubeMogul stats include the largest video sites such as YouTube, Dailymotion,

Metacafe, MySpace and Yahoo, but don't include Hulu and iTunes sales. Typical for a web series is a big first episode, partly because portals like to promote new series, followed by choppy up and down numbers. Take Mr. Eisner's "Prom Queen," which went from 405,000 views for episode one to a mere 38,000 for episode two. Finding reliable audiences That was fine when web video was still in the experimental phase, but brands advertising on the sites are increasingly asking for guaranteed audiences, meaning producers have had to move past the "post and pray" method in hopes a video goes viral. Producers say even the mighty YouTube isn't the font of views it once was. A year ago, for example, a "featured video" -- one chosen for the home page by YouTube editors -- might deliver 500,000 views. Today, few break the 100,000 mark. "If you are just throwing your video on your site, the revenue shares coming back to you are not going to make you rich," said MyDamnChannel CEO Rob Barnett. To get brands involved in video, you have to deliver guaranteed views, and increasingly, that means paying for distribution. It's a change in approach in part driven by the economic model for online video, where the video itself is as much an ad as it is entertainment. Brands are eager to underwrite a series that reaches the right audience, but they're asking for guaranteed audiences in return. "The basic principle is there aren't enough views to go around," said Tremor Media CEO Jason Glickman.

Tremor, like Broadband Enterprises, has developed a side business of syndicating shows across their ad networks, making the ad unit a video player, much like Google is doing with "Family Guy" creator Seth McFarlane's web series "Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy," which has racked up nearly 30 million views since July on Google's AdSense network. Broadband Enterprises recently entered the content-creation business as well to provide advertisers with both content and distribution. It's a big shift from early web series, where any promotional budget was used to launch of the first installment of a series, only to see a huge drop-off for episode two. "You get press and great placements at launch, but then the noise drops off and the word-of-mouth drops off," said Paul Kontonis, CEO of For Your Imagination, producer of "Break A Leg" and other series.

Gaining steam first "Some people don't go to a web series until there are enough there to watch a bunch," said Thom Woodley, co-producer of "The Burg" and Vuguru's "All For Nots." "The strategy should be to do a soft launch and then get people to the sixth or seventh episode." The argument for paid syndication allows the video to go where the viewers are, and makes it easier for producers to deliver the audience promised to an advertiser. The argument against is the audience isn't as committed, and is less likely to become the kind of devoted follower advertisers are seeking. Lance Podell, CEO of Next New Networks, said the company categorically doesn't buy advertising to distribute shows, instead relying on cross-promotion, PR and search optimization to build audiences. But the company is also dependent on hits; its most popular videos are Barely Political's "Obama Girl" videos, according to TubeMogul.

   

   

   

      Very few people have found success in the world of online video. Sarah Szalavitz is  one of them.    Passionate  about  the  stories  she  wanted  to  tell  and  how  she  wanted  to  tell  them,  Szalavitz  left  her  position  as  director  of  content  development  at  Veoh  Networks  to  launch her own company, 7 Robot.    Szalavitz has been in the stories business since she was old enough to tell them, and  7  Robot  is  arguably  just  her  latest  chapter.  “When  I  was  in  kindergarten,  I  won  the  best‐storyteller award,” she says, “so it was sort of what I've been trying to live up  to…and  I  guess  the  thing  that  draws  all  of  my  experiences  together  is  they  are  all  uniquely about storytelling.”    Szalavitz  founded  7  Robot  with  partner  Damien  Somerset,  both  an  award‐winning  filmmaker  and  expert  in  digital  technology,  in  July  2007.  At  launch,  Szalavitz  and  Somerset  envisioned  7  Robot  as  more  of  a  production  company.  As  the  co‐founder  and CEO, Szalavitz now primarily works with brands, networks and platforms to help  them develop an engaged community around their content.    “We realized there was not much of a market for selling content yet,” Szalavitz says.  Instead, clients were hiring her to help them figure out how to build an audience for  their  content.  “The  goal  of  our  company  is  to  transform  storytelling  into  storysharing,” she says.    She is first and foremost an advocate for the digital storytelling space, according to  Jordan  Levin,  one  of  her  clients  and  founding  partner  and  CEO  of  production  and  management  studio  Generate.  “[Sarah's]  been  largely  working  with  both  our 

production  front  and  our  talent  side  in  thinking  about  the  distribution  ecosystem,  from a macro level of what that strategically looks like to a very granular level of how  deals need to be constructed,” Levin says.    Unlike most companies in the arena, at less than two years old 7 Robot is profitable  and has never accepted venture capital money. In addition to helping other content  companies build audiences, 7 Robot is also developing content franchises they own,  using their projects as test subjects with platforms, technology and media. Once fine‐ tuned, they apply the new practices to building communities for clients.    Among  7  Robot's  properties,  it  produces  and  owns  ZapRoot,  a  green  pop‐culture  Web  series  Szalavitz  created  with  Somerset  while  at  Veoh  and  now  distributes  through  Next  New  Networks.  According  to  Fred  Seibert,  Next  New's  creative  director  and  co‐founder,  ZapRoot  distinguishes  itself  from  the  plethora  of  environmental  programming  online  because  Szalavitz  has  found  a  way  to  “activate  [the environmental community] and get them involved with the programming itself.”  ZapRoot has a viewership 10 to 100 times greater than its competition's, with close to  half a million viewers per episode.    Seibert attributes Szalavitz's success to a few key differences between her and other  industry players online. “She has taken a lot of the skills that I have seen in television  producers and television people, and applied them to the interactive world in a way  that  most  television  people  or  movie  people  haven't  taken  the  time  to  learn,”  he  says.  “But  more  importantly,  she  has  a  real  on‐the‐ground  understanding  of  this  interactive world and how it's different than the passive media world, which just sort  of shoves information at you.”    Szalavitz's success also is due in part to how vocal and genuine she is about what she  believes in, Levin says. He describes “seeing her argue with people of great influence  and  power,  and  it  comes  from  a  place  of  believing—genuinely  believing—in  the  world view that she espouses.”    That's probably because she sees arguments as stories and stories as arguments, in a  way. She has degrees in political science and law, and that's all a matter of telling— and selling—tales as far as she is concerned: “There's very little difference between  politics and film and law in that they're all trying to tell a story that motivates people  to behave in a particular way or do a particular thing.”    In the traditional media world, positions of leadership and power are designated by  letters  such  as  CEO  or  VP.  But  those  labels  are  much  less  meaningful  in  Szalavitz's  new‐media  world,  which  she  describes  as  “a  new  movement  of  micromedia  companies that fill a particular purpose, and are lean and mean and operate in a way  that  allows  people  to  achieve  more  but  work  differently,  and  hopefully  live  differently.” 

  In her world, one is defined more by what one does successfully than by a title, and  that's  where  her  rank  shines  through.  (Co‐founding  a  profitable  startup  company  doesn't hurt, either.)    “What  interests  her  is  industry  building,  not  in  helping  herself  first  and  foremost,”  Levin  says,  adding  that  her  approach  is  rooted  in  protecting  the  online  world  from  “being wholly and universally controlled by a relative few voices.”    To that end, in addition to her work at 7 Robot, Szalavitz organizes Delicious Digital, a  series  of  Sunday  brunches  for  people  who  work  in  digital  storytelling.  Participants  come  from  throughout  the  industry,  including  studio  and  ad‐agency  executives,  actors and musicians.    “It was formed to create a place for people who are interested in digital storytelling  to get together and share their resources, their experiences and maybe make some  deals,” Szalavitz says. “It's not a place where people are coming and giving speeches.  Instead, it's brunch where you sit down next to people, chat and play musical chairs.”    Szalavitz  takes  as  much  personal  satisfaction  from  the  projects  that  arise  out  of  Delicious Digital as any studio executive would with a money‐making property. As she  puts  it:  “Honestly,  it's  one  of  the  most  rewarding  things  I've  done  in  this  space,  because a lot comes out of it for other people.”       

   

Barely Digital



Coverage Highlights

With the presidential campaign over, the producers of the Obama Girl videos have a new target for parody: technology. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Barelypolitical.com Amber Lee Ettinger, who played in the Internet “Obama Girl” parodies, will make appearances in satirical jabs at technology. Related Net Watch: A Hit Shows Big Interest in Racy Material — and Obama (June 15, 2007) The Obama Girl character, played by the actress Amber Lee Ettinger, became a bona fide Internet hit when she showed affection for then-Senator Barack Obama in mid-2007. Since then, YouTube has counted more than 13 million views for the first of the low-budget music videos, “I Got a Crush on Obama” — twice as many views as any of the campaignʼs official videos. The clip, showing Ms. Ettinger dancing in a bikini in front of a photo of Mr. Obama in the ocean, helped crystallize the view of the candidate as a pop culture figure and, to some, a sex symbol. Dozens of subsequent videos parodied the presidential debates, Mr. Obamaʼs competitors, and even the federal stimulus package. “The videos became part of the political conversation,” said Ben Relles, the creator of Barely Political, the producer of the segments. Political zingers, of course, may not draw as many video views now that Mr. Obama has moved from campaigning to governing. While Barely Political will

keep writing the Obama Girl character — she was in Washington last week filming an “inauguration dance party” video — it is establishing a spinoff channel called Barely Digital to give technology the same treatment. The videos are financed by Next New Networks, an online video venture that hosts Internet channels devoted to cars, comic books, do-it-yourself fashion and other subjects. Lance Podell, the chief executive of the company, said that Mr. Obamaʼs technological sophistication “provides for an interesting liaison” between the networks. The first Barely Digital videos parody the iPod with a Hipster Pod, “a new device that tricks people into thinking youʼre hip,” and mock YouTube users who argue pointlessly in the comments threads of videos. The producers arenʼt counting solely on digital appeal: the Obama Girl will be making cameo appearances. BRIAN STELTER


































Barely Political



Coverage Highlights













Obama Girl still hasn't met her man. After flying in from New York to cover the Inauguration for Barelypolitical.com, Obama Girl (real name: Amber Lee Ettinger) went shopping and hosted a party. But she never came face-to-face with the candidate-turnedpresident she famously serenaded in "I Got a Crush ... on Obama" and other Internet videos (including a new one released before the Inauguration). "He's pretty busy. I don't think I'm gonna meet him this week [but] maybe someday," Ettinger, 26, told PEOPLE during a pause in the festivities in Washington, D.C. Still, her admiration for the new leader of the free world is undiminished. "He's hot. He's just hot," says Ettinger. "Not all presidents are hot, but he has charisma. And when I watch him on TV he has this swagger about him, and it's not quite cocky. I hope he doesn't get cocky." Kidding aside, Obama Girl says she is happy to keep her distance from Obama; in real life, she admires him, but isn't infatuated. "I'm very respectful of him and his entire family," says Ettinger, who has launched a singing career. "I've met his campaign manager, and his chief speech writer," she says. "And his chief speech writer told me they love the videos and they play them in the office. And I said, 'Oh, one day I'd love a note from him.' And he was like. 'Oh yeah, I'd probably be the one to write it.' And I was like, 'Aw, all right, not cool!' " says Ettinger.

   

     

     

   

Ben Relles created Obama Girl, one of the pop culture artifacts of the 2008 election, Relles, along with actress Amber Lee Ettinger and his team of collaborators, gave YouTube one of it's first original smash hits with their video I've Got A Crush On Obama. I spoke with Relles and Ettinger just after last week's inaugural. Were you a fan of Barack Obama when you created the "I've Got A Crush On Obama" video or was it strictly business? Ben: When we first did the video I thought it might help him and I thought he was a great candidate. After the first few videos we were acquired by an online television company called Next New Networks. Now we are able to produce consistent videos. It's also enabled us to build our team - which now includes people that support Obama and some who don't. Amber: When I was first pitched the idea I liked it in part because I saw Obama on Oprah and was impressed by him. As the year went on I started to learn more about him. And by election night when he won I was kind of caught of guard and started crying and was just totally ecstatic like a lot of people. Were there any videos that never were released? Ben: We had a few that were scrapped. There was an ObamaGirl15 series that spoofed LonelyGirl15 where Amber vlogged about him that was tossed out for being a little creepy. Same with To Catch a Political Predator. Do you think you effected the election in any way?

Amber: Nah. I think online video affected the election. But I don't think me dancing to Obama songs impacted how people voted. I do get people telling me all the time the first time they heard of Obama was our video and I hope in some small way it helped Obama. Ben: When we did the first video Obama was trailing Hillary Clinton by a significant margin. Then it just started to become really clear that he was a frontrunner. Online video kept playing an increasingly important role. From democratizing the process by giving user generated videos like ours an audience to the candidates figuring out how to use online video to the thousands of clips that surfaced on YouTube and accompanied almost every major political story. I don't think our video substantially helped Obama, but I think it is part of the bigger story of how online video played was a part of this election in a way it never had been previously. Any reactions from people along the way that really surprised you? Amber: Bill O'Reilly interviewed me and said he liked what we were doing. That surprised me. And at the YouTube awards Will.i.am said he watches our videos. That was fun to hear. Ben: We met Karl Rove the other night here in DC. I heard he enjoyed it.

Ben Relles recently launched Barely Digital. Lee Stranahan is a writer and filmmaker who has collaborated with Relles and Barely Political on videos like No, You Can't.







                                   

 

                             

 




Amber Ettinger, better known as "Obama Girl," has teamed up with Stickam for coverage of the presidential inauguration. Live coverage will be streamed live Monday at 8 p.m. EST from InauguralFest, and viewers will be able to see what she is doing all day at the inauguration starting at 10 a.m. EST Tuesday. Integrated Media Measurement, an online research firm, found (PDF) that women between the ages of 15 and 48 tend to watch a television show and surf the Web an average of 17.5 minutes per day, while men do the same for just 15.7 minutes each day. Women between 30 and 39 average 23.3 minutes of simultaneous Web and TV usage each day. More importantly for marketers, women tend to multitask more as they get older, while men multitask less often. According to Amanda Welsh, head of research for IMMI, "women are more inclined to multitask than men" while using the Web. Professional social network LinkedIn announced Monday that it has partnered with IBM to bring social-network functionality to Lotus Notes, an enterprise client that provides email and instant-messaging services to users. The social-network plug-in will provide Lotus Notes users with contact and networking information about those they're contacting (as long as they are using LinkedIn) and browse LinkedIn's news feeds. The companies plan to unveil the new plug-in at Lotusphere later this year and hope to release it to Lotus Notes users by June. Juniper Research released a report Monday saying event-based sales should increase the value and monetization of mobile dating and chat room sites. The report said that although subscription revenue will still contribute the most revenue to online dating sites over the next five years, charging customers to contact one another or providing virtual gifts will become increasingly important in their business models going forward. Juniper also found that free services that charge for contact are becoming more popular and could become the standard sometime during the next 10 years. Navitell, a Belgium-based start-up that develops software that adds location-specific multimedia content to mobile phones, announced Monday that it has raised approximately $2.6 million in a round of funding that was led by FPIM. According to the company's executives, they plan to use the funding to expand their set of personalization services.

   

 

               

     

 

 

 

   

 

 




         

Internet sensation “Obama Girl” was early to jump on the Barack Obama bandwagon and is continuing her unlikely ride to fame - even tapping Fox News personality Bill OʼReilly for new material. Amber Lee Ettinger - who stars in the racy “Obama Girl” videos - superimposed herself in OʼReillyʼs seat for her latest cyber video, “Red States, Blue States.” “Thank you so much for meeting me, Barack. I had to wait a really long time,” Ettinger coos to Obama during their “sitdown.” “It took a little while. Iʼve had a few things to do,” Barack responds in a clip taken from OʼReillyʼs preelection interview. Ettingerʼs latest video, released by barelypolitical.com earlier this week, already amassed more than a million hits on YouTube yesterday. The video features Ettinger, 26, dancing around in shorts, tank tops and a bikini all the while “dueting” with the commander-in-chief in superimposed clips. Watch the Obama Girl + Obama Duet An amused OʼReilly had Ettinger on his show earlier this week. “Now, donʼt you owe me a lot of money for purloining my interview and putting yourself in my chair?” OʼReilly asked. “You looked a lot better than I did.” OʼReilly told her that somebody who wasnʼt as generous as himself would be angry that she “stole” that interview and is making money off it. But Ettinger said he should be flattered because he did a “great” interview and “thatʼs why we used it.”

By Mark Shanahan & Paysha Rhone
Globe Staff / January 20, 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C. - For some celebrities, like Lindsay Lohan, the red carpet can be a chore, even at a party celebrating the historic Obama inauguration. LiLo, it's safe to say, was paid a bundle of dough to appear at Norman Lear's "Declare Yourself" bash the other night, but the actress would only play peek-aboo. Looking wan and rail thin, Lohan arrived late - after almost everyone else and then posed for just a minute before waltzing away in her spike heels. (She did reappear later, sitting on stage while her girlfriend Samantha Ronson DJ'd.) Other celebs, though, are soaking up the circus-like atmosphere, and even having some fun. Pausing to talk to reporters at the same star-studded shindig, Jamie Foxx broke into song, doing a dead-on sample of Ray Charles's "What'd I Say." The Oscar winner then started in on "Shout!," offering $100 to anyone who could name the song's writer. "The Isley Brothers," someone yelled.

Foxx tilted his head and grimaced. "Damn, I need $100 over here," he called out to a buddy, who promptly handed over the Benjamin. Other stars celebrating the youth vote at the Renaissance Hotel included Ben Affleck, Sarah Silverman, Maria Shriver, Bootsy Collins, Hayden Panettiere, John Cusack, Olivia Munn, "Top Chef" Spike Mendelsohn, McCain supporter Rick Schroeder, Herbie Hancock, John Legend and glamorous girlfriend Christine Teigen, and host Jessica Alba and her husband, Cash Warren, who seemed humored when a reporter referred to Alba as his girl-friend. "She used to be my girlfriend," said Warren, grinning. "Now she's my wife." The choreography on the carpet was temporarily interrupted when Maroon 5's muscle man accused a paparazzo of trying to take video of Adam Levine relieving himself. To the amusement of everyone, a loud argument then ensued and the videographer was made to erase any evidence of the band's bathroom break. With so many parties and so little time, many guests bolted before Maroon 5 hit the stage. Some, including Foxx, went to catch Usher and Nelly perform at Fur, and some dropped by the Latino Ball, where Rosario Dawson was rocking a floor-length purple gown. (Others there included Shakira, in a fluffy green number, and, of course, JLo.) Still others made their way to Young Jeezy's Presidential Status party, where the crowd included Jay-Z, Akon, Bow Wow, and Wale, among others. We also ran into one of the 44th President's biggest fans, Amber Ettinger, better known to most Americans as "Obama Girl." A YouTube sensation since her "I Got a Crush . . . on Obama" video went viral in '07, Ettinger is bouncing all around town, reporting on the inauguration for a satirical website. Last night, she was at a party at Ibiza. "It's been really amazing and flattering to hear people say I helped him get elected," said Obama Girl, who's managed to parlay her 15 minutes into a CD, a jewelry line, and a radio show but not a one-on-one meeting with the presidentelect. "I just think he had an amazing campaign from start to finish. . . . I don't think my video could have that kind of impact." Yesterday started early with an Entertainment Industry Foundation breakfast attended by Martin Luther King III, "Spiderman" actor Tobey Maguire, "Superman" actor Brandon Routh, and Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. Maguire was hosting a party of his own last night at Cafe Milano - an Artists and Athletes Alliance/ Service Nation soiree - and the guest list was believed to include

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jessica Alba, among many others. (Maybe Bill Murray got the time wrong because he was in for lunch yesterday, along with Sharon Stone and Bo Derek.) The bash didn't disappoint: We spotted Maguire, a Chanelwearing Jennifer Lopez with husband Marc Anthony, Moore, Kutcher, David Arquette, Fran Drescher, Luke Russert, comedian Jeffrey Ross, Isaiah Washington, Queen Noor of Jordan, Washington Redskins QB Jason Campbell, and retired baller Jalen Rose in the crowd. Meanwhile, director Spike Lee hosted a daylong symposium at Howard University yesterday with a panel that included Sean Combs, Queen Latifah, Rev. Al Sharpton, congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., Harvard's Henry Louis "Skip" Gates and Charles Ogletree, and former Harvard prof Dr. Cornel West. As for Oprah, we spied the talk show queen at the Four Seasons yesterday after her sold-out show, which she taped at the Kennedy Center. The itinerary for Bay State bigshots included several events, but none bigger than the optional black tie bash hosted by John Hancock at the Willard Hotel. In addition to Boston Mayor Tom Menino, boldfacers making the scene included Hancock bigwig John DePrez, Red Cross CEO Deb Jackson, Home for Little Wanderers chief Joan Wallace-Benjamin, former Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston head Linda Whitlock, Boston chamber prez Paul Guzzi, WCVB producer Karen Ward Holmes, veteran news anchor Liz Walker, Tufts Health Plan CEO John Roosevelt, and attorney Fletcher "Flash" Wiley. The hottest tickets last night were the Manifest Hope and Huffington Post hoohas. The former was hosted by It artist Shepard Fairey, who'll have a solo show soon at the Institute of Contemporary Art. Also expected to attend were REM singer Michael Stipe, actress Heather Graham, and performers Moby and Santagold. The Huffpo party, described as the first-ever interactive ball whatever that means - was held at the Newseum, and the Twittering tumult included Sheryl Crow, will.i.am, Sting, Halle Berry, and Tom Hanks.

                                                                               

The
Web
site's
live
concert,
streamed
from
San
Francisco,
was
part
concert
and
part
 variety
show.
 
 At
the
YouTube
Live
event
billboard-ranked
musicians
and
the
most
popular
online
video
 stars
performed
together
on
the
same
stage.
 Story
continues
below
 Advertisement
 
 Will.i.am,
Akon,
and
Tay
Zonday
were
in
attendance.
 
 YouTube
Live
brought
mainstream
musicians
together
with
online
celebrities
to
show
 that
the
distinction
between
the
online
world
and
the
real
world
is
getting
very
blurry.
 
 "It's
a
whole
new
machine
now
because
the
new
machine
smashed
the
old
machine.
 What's
the
difference
between
me
and
Chocolate
Rain?
What's
the
difference
between
 Chocolate
Rain
and
Christina
Aguilera?"
asked
Will.i.am.
 
 13
million
people
have
viewed
Snosh,
two
guys
lipsynching
the
theme
song
from
a
video
 game.
12
million
people
have
viewed
Obama
Girl.
11
million
have
viewed
15-year
old
 Fred.
 
 The
mainstream
stars
are
very
aware
of
the
online
celebrities.
 
 "I
am
a
big
fan
of
fred,"
said
Katy
Perry.
 
 "I
am
psyched
to
see
Chocolate
Rain
Tay
here.
It's
bizarre
to
go
backstage
and
see
all
 these
guys
in
person,"
said
one
of
the
guys
from
Mythbusters.
 
 So,
while
the
line
between
the
online
world
and
the
real
world
is
blurring,
the
message
to
 publishers,
studios
and
other
celebrities
is
becoming
very
clear:
 
 "The
internet
is
here
to
stay."
said
Perry.
 (Copyright
©2009
KGO-TV/DT.
All
Rights
Reserved.)



 

 




 

 

 










                         

         




Like never before, inauguration experienced online
Posted 1/21/2009 8:30 AM NEW YORK (AP) — In an inauguration defined by a sense of change, the experience of watching Barack Obama take office was fittingly revolutionary. Like never before, Americans watched the inauguration of an incoming president online through live video streaming across their computers. And wholly wrapped up in following Inauguration Day 2009 on the Web was reacting to them — blogging, vlogging and tweeting. Essentially every major news outlet offered live feeds on their respective websites in what was potentially the most Web-driven coverage of a significant news event yet. It was partly out of necessity, since many viewers were at work in front of their computers — and away from TV sets — for the midday swearing in. It was also a notable benchmark in the fast evolution of online video. At the time of the last inauguration, YouTube didn't even exist. Akamai Technologies Inc., which delivers Internet video for many websites, said the inauguration was a record for them, with 7.7 million people watching video streams at the same time. So much video meant bandwidth was stretched considerably for many sites and many servers. On the whole, the webcasts appeared to function well, albeit with some lags. Keynote Systems Inc., which tracks website performance, said the Internet's top 40 sites slowed down by as much as 60% when the ceremony started at 11 a.m., and many news sites saw even sharper declines in performance. Many sites streaming the festivities gave four different perspectives on the ceremony, giving the viewer the option of watching the primary feed, the crowd amassed along the Mall or other views. The Associated Press' Online Video Network provided a webcast for many news outlets, including AOL News.

Several outlets looked to combine traditional coverage with new media interactivity. CNN partnered with Facebook (for users of the social networking site) to include status updates from friends alongside the webcast. The result was that it (kind of) felt like you were watching along with your friends. As of 3:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, CNN.com said it served more than 21.3 million live streams globally since 6 a.m. That was nearly four times the amount of live streams on the site on Election Day when there were 5.3 million lives streams. Mimi Wong, a 28-year-old public defender from Brookline, Mass., watched the CNN.com webcast at work with her colleagues. "It was pretty cool," said Wong. "I was actually kind of surprised that the connection was so good." Current TV, the user-driven TV network co-founded by Al Gore, likewise combined streaming of the event with Twitter messages or "tweets." Messages from viewers played at the bottom of both Current's broadcast and webcast. Other webcasts were offered by Hulu.com, C-SPAN.org, Joost.com, Ustream.tv (whose feed was available on iPhones, too) and the Presidential Inauguration Committee itself. But not everyone had a seamless experience watching online. Lyndsey Lewis, a 22-year-old student at the University of Florida, wanted to catch the inauguration online at her school library before heading to class. She checked the webcasts from numerous sites, including CNN and Hulu but was frustrated by the interruptions. "There were so many pauses that I missed really crucial moments of the inauguration," said Lewis. "I didn't expect it to be TV quality, but I definitely thought it would be a lot better than it was." Loath to leave behind his BlackBerry, Obama is easily the most tech-savvy president and the country's first president of the Web 2.0 era. Shortly before taking the oath, he also issued a tweet of his own: "We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you." The inauguration committee offered official inaugural news updates, transportation notices and invitations by cellphone text messages.

"There's just a lively discourse on our website," said Linda Douglass, a spokeswoman for the inauguration committee. "It's very satisfying because our goal here is to make people feel connected to the party and to the events in Washington and to their government." Several sites aimed to let people in on the celebrations in Washington. The Huffington Post hosted a ball Monday night in Washington that included blogging from attendees, live video on the website and photos. Second Life and Wee World also hosted virtual inaugural balls so that even if you were far away from the festivities, your avatar could be partying the night away. A number of sites offered bells and whistles to their coverage. The Washington Post provided satellite imagery of the District of Columbia area and culled a user-generated photo mosaic of Obama through submissions on Flickr.com. (The photo site also began to see pictures pour in Tuesday from Washington and elsewhere, documenting the day.) YouTube partnered with C-SPAN to gather inaugural addresses from presidencies past. One of YouTube's stars, Obama Girl, streamed her take on the events live on Stickam.com. MSNBC.com created a video explorer to let users search transcripts of the past 18 inaugural speeches, matching words with the corresponding video. MSNBC.com and CNN.com both touted Microsoft's "photosynth" technology, a 3D panorama of the inauguration. CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric followed the network's prime-time special with an hourlong webcast on cbsnews.com. A more laid-back Couric reported live from the Commander in Chief Ball and apologized if she seemed "a little cuckoo" after being on the air for so long. A digital transition was also evident at the official site of the president. At noon ET, WhiteHouse.gov unveiled a new design. It announced: "Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov." Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

         

     

   

 

 

         


 
 
 
 
 
 

















'Obama girl' comes to D.C. for inaugural
by Mark Silva What would President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration be like without "the Obama girl?'' Amber Ettinger, who gained some level of notoriety during the presidential campaign with her video odes to Obama, has issued a new one entitled, "Red States, Blue States." See it above. Ettinger and her "Barely Political'' Web-team also have come to Washington to cover the inauguration. She will cover the Inaugural Fest, attending the Inauguration itself, the Hawaiian Inaugural Ball, several Inauguration parties and will host her own: The Obama Girl After Party on Tuesday evening.




                                                 

   

       

 




 

 

 

 

 
The celebrities were everywhere at the YouTube Live event at Fort Mason on Saturday sipping wine, looking great on camera and chatting just like regular folk. There was Michael Buckley talking a mile a minute and, oh my god, that Esmée Denters is so pretty. Obama Girl, well, what can you say about Obama Girl? What! You've never heard of them? You better get with it. They are YouTube celebrities - stars of their own cyber videos. In this new media world fraught with self-glorification, everybody is a star. That was essentially the point of the celebration that brought together hundreds of videographers, performers, sponsors, advertisers and a few narcissists from the Web site's nebulous user community. "They are just average, everyday people who want to share their talents and express themselves to the world," said Aaron Ferstman, the spokesman for the San Bruno-based video-sharing Web site. "This was an opportunity to get them together." The gathering was, of course, captured on live streaming video and broadcast on, you guessed it, YouTube. The party was a roiling menagerie of musicians, comedians, jugglers on stilts and folks taking video of themselves. Celebrities like Soulja Boy Tell'em, Akon and the Black Eyed Peas had face-to-face communications with their cyber brethren, and some of the live performances on stage were as good as, if not better, than the online versions.

YouTube has become a worldwide sensation since it was created in 2005 by three former PayPal employees. Google Inc. purchased the company in 2006 for $1.65 billion in stock. Users upload an average of 13 hours of video on the site every minute of every day, the equivalent of 57,000 full-length Hollywood movie releases a week, Ferstman said. Although many of the personalities found on YouTube are celebrities only in their own minds, some actually have become famous for their work on the site. Michael Buckley has generated millions of views with his "What the Buck" show that humorously skewers celebrities. Some 12 million people know 26-year-old model Amber Lee Ettinger, otherwise known as Obama Girl, who starred in a series of videos indicating she had a crush on the president-elect. "It's so awesome that we were invited to this," Ettinger said Saturday after she flew in from New York for the event. "It's been a pretty surreal year and a half for me. It's exciting to watch it build and grow." The real power of the YouTube phenomenon is manifest in Esmée Denters, a 20-yearold want-to-be singer who recorded herself on a Webcam at home in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, and the next thing she knew she had a million viewers. She was recently signed to cut an album under Justin Timberlake's label. "I'm so thankful," she said as she prepared to sing at the YouTube event. "I dreamed about becoming a singer, but I could have never dreamed what happened with YouTube." The "Yes We Can" music video by William James Adams, who goes by the name of his record label, "will.i.am," was so popular on YouTube that many believe it won the youth vote for Barack Obama. Adams said he made the video because he was inspired to make it, not because he wanted to make money or gain fame. It's the same spirit, he said, that has made YouTube so popular. "I did it strictly on my own because I just wanted to inspire people," said the Grammywinning artist, dancer, songwriter and founding member of the Black Eyed Peas. "When inspiration calls and you talk through that conch, there is an eight-out-of-10 chance the call is going to be answered." E-mail Peter Fimrite at [email protected]. This article appeared on page B - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle

 

Next month celebrates the fourth anniversary of a pop culture phenomenon: YouTube. In four short years, one small Web site revolutionized the media. Coincidentally, four years ago was also the second inauguration of George W. Bush. Looking back on that last election, it is hard to fathom how different it was from this past one. Celebrities have always endorsed their candidate of choice, but this past year, YouTube took this sponsorship to a whole new level. Black Eyed Peas front man will.i.am took one simple quote from Barack Obama and turned it into music video that scored over 15 million views. On a similar note, politically active Leonardo DiCaprio produced a video in which a myriad of celebrities tried the reverse psychology approach of telling teenagers not to vote. Whereas will.i.am openly supported Obama, DiCaprio and crew focused on encouraging teenagers to vote for any candidate, so long as they exercised their privilege to choose. When it comes to celebrity endorsements, it is hard to forget YouTube sensation Amber Lee Ettinger, or "Obama Girl." The 26-year-old shot to fame with her jazzy, albeit tasteless video, "I Got a Crush... On Obama." Parading around in tight clothing and crooning about her desire for the married candidate, Ettinger gained notoriety with her, um, overzealous, support. It's hard for me to decide whether or not the rise of YouTube is overall beneficial to the American public, and particularly, the 2008 election. On one hand, YouTube serves as a means to mock the candidate. Take Tina Fey's spot-on Sarah Palin impression - while it might have been popular in the preYouTube era, it certainly wouldn't have been watched millions upon millions of times. In contrast, YouTube has been a great platform for candidates to reach their audiences. Speeches are easily accessible, and even the inauguration itself was posted for those who could not see it live. There were even debates in which United States citizens personally asked the candidates questions - via YouTube submission. There is no doubt that the times they are a changin'. Like every new technology, YouTube has conjured both positive and negative results. Ultimately, it is up to the American people to use it responsibly and in a way that is respectful to both them and the candidates in question. Obama Girl, take notes.

       

According to popular opinion, the 2008 US presidential election was the most lively and exciting in US history. In particular, the candidacy of Barack Obama got so many people who traditionally are cynical about politics to be fired up, and believe in the process again. Before long, the rest of the world was also caught up with the Obama frenzy, and responded accordingly. This became evident when Obama officially won the elections, following unprecedented celebrations around the world. Before most people could get to know Obama, one person had done already discover him: Obama Girl (Amber Lee Ettinger). She became a media sensation around the world, with her viral video: "I Got a Crush on Obama," which in 2007, was the most watched clip on YouTube. [It has been viewed over 12 million times, as of this writing.] Ever since, she has not only won many fans but also become a media darling, with huge interests on her videos and activities. When I interviewed her last year, in the middle of the primary elections, she was optimistic about Obama's prospects, and they did materialize with his election as the 44th president of the United States. I invited Obama Girl for another interview, especially to have her take in the aftermath of the elections. She not only shared her overwhelming joy, but added that she is already set to attend the inauguration on Jan. 20 in Washington D.C. Before the inauguration, however, she contends that she is bent on keeping her fans funky with brand new videos. I initiated the interview in November 2008, and after back and forth correspondences, with the facilitation of BarelyPolitical.com, Obama Girl answered all my questions on Jan. 14. OhmyNews: How did you like the last interview with OhmyNews? Have you visited our site ever since? Of course! I was thrilled at the opportunity in Fall 2007 to introduce myself as Obama Girl to your readers. At the time, "I Got a Crush on Obama" was new to the Web and it was an exciting time to join the political discussion. Looking forward to seeing how you all cover his presidency. You were undoubtedly one of the spotlights of the 2008 presidential elections, and some people only got to know Obama through your famous song "I Got a Crush on Obama." Looking back now that he has finally won the elections, what can you say? That first Obama Girl video led to many other video hits on the Web for Obama Girl and BarelyPolitical.com. Then I got to go on TV shows like Saturday Night Live and Good Morning America, and be in magazines like People and Newsweek. This has been such an incredible year in politics, and I am glad to have been a part of it. I still can't believe Barack Obama has been elected the next president!

How many votes do you think you helped Obama to get. Were they enough to impact the outcome of the elections? Some people have credited Obama Girl for helping Barack Obama win the presidential election. I wouldn't say I was the deciding factor, but people do tell me that a lot! I'm flattered with the credit and am proud to have been involved in this momentous election. Where were you when Obama was declared the 44th President of America? What was your first reaction? Did any friends call you? What were their opinions? On election night I hosted a party in New York City with my friends to watch the results come in. When I heard he won, I couldn't help but burst into tears! My friends were all there and we were so excited for the change for the new President-elect Barack Obama. It is 2009. Should we expect another big surprise from Obama Girl that would get everyone clicking on YouTube as was the case in 2008? Obama Girl will definitely still be around after the inauguration, so I think it is safe to say that you will be hearing from me. Stay tuned! What will you say about other spoofs and parodies in the course of the 2008 presidential campaign. Did they in any way impact your own satires? I think that the Tina Fey and the other political impersonators were fantastic this year. It was great to see political satire move beyond old media to new forms of entertainment, like the online videos we do with Barely Political. Do you plan to attend the inauguration on the 20th of January? Yes. We'll be in Washington D.C. actually Sunday through Wednesday. Are you going to release any songs before the inauguration? Yes! We have a new song coming out a few days before the inauguration. Has your role as Obama Girl come to an end, or does it continue all the way during the Obama presidency? Oh sure, looking forward to new videos in the works for Obama Girl and BarelyPolitical.com. If you were to make three wishes to President-elect Obama, what would these be? I wish for President-elect Obama to have an easy transition to the white house. I hope that the move from Chicago to D.C. is easy for him and his family so that he can get down to business and run the country. And would be nice if he sent me an email! And if you were to say three things to McCain and Palin, what would these be? First of all, I would thank them both for giving the people at BarelyPolitical.com so much funny material to work with during the election. Thank you, Sarah Palin, for your accent and unique hairstyle. And to John McCain, I would say better luck next time. Any further comments? I just want to say thanks to you and all the fans for supporting Obama Girl this year. I have been very privileged to be a part of this exciting time in the history of the United States, and owe that to every loyal viewer who has watched the videos.




Video Odes to Barack Obama
PETER THORNE REPORTING January 18, 2009

It all started with a beautiful unknown who became universally identified as Obama girl. She kicked off a trend and a whole new genre of music. We're talking about video odes to then candidate Barack Obama. In an amazing PIX research project, we searched the far corners of the web to find the very best Obama tunes. Check out our top ten and let us know if we got it right. 
 


As Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th US President, his Number 1 fan has posted a new video tribute to her 'crush' on YouTube, winning nearly 700,000 viewers in just over a day. Obama Girl, or model Amber Lee Ettinger as she is better known, first became a celebrity last year with video tribute "I Got A Crush ... On Obama". Using digital trickery, the vid seemed to show a bikini-clad Amber running through the surf with her hero while singing about how much she fancied him. Of course, it wasn't all Amber's work - the idea came from comedy duo Leah Kauffman and Ben Relles at satirical video site barelypolitical.com. But thanks to Amber's impressive, ahem, hanging chads, this particular video has been watched a whopping 12million times. And more clips of the babe flashing her cleavage and revealing briefs with 'Obama' written on the back threatened to turn the Web into a blue state. The beauty became an overnight sensation, appearing on news networks and boosting sales of I Got A Crush ... On Obama t-shirts. Now the sexy New Yorker is back ... with what looks like a love song duet to mark the inauguration. Watch the hilarious video above and see more Obama Girl videos in our links above right.




After staging the hugely successful ROFLCon in Boston last Spring, Tim Hwang and a gang of fellow Harvard brainiacs have found themselves with a hit meme on their hands: Getting the stars of the Internet in a room together. ROFLCon was a weekend conference dedicated to Net culture. Tron Guy and the "I Can Haz Cheezburger?" web master were there. As were a slew of other Internet rock stars, nearly 800 conference goers, and a giddy press. If you didn't think ROFLCon was the place to be that weekend, you are using the Internet totally wrong. The organizers are now staging a series of smaller day-long conferences and parties called ROFLThings. The first ROFLThing was in San Francisco over the summer and there are plans to do one in Toronto in the future. New York's is coming to town this Saturday with as much buzz as the others. With the emergence of i-culture fests like SXSW Interactive and Internet Week New York as well as celebratory gatherings like The Webbys and YouTube Live, the sudden flourishing of internet celebrity gatherings seems inevitable. I chatted with Hwang, who's out of school now. "We decided to keep the ROFLCon name for big events," he says. "The whole thing started as a joke originally, like, 'I wonder if we could do this conference with an incredibly lame name.'" Of the special guests in attendance, Max Goldberg, "You're the Man Now Dog!" founder and heroic Internet person, is scheduled as a "Featured Attendee" at ROFLThing NYC. After all, making a four-star animated gif on YTMND.com ranks up there with memorizing the "Single Ladies" dance or seizing a cocktail bar

piano for a rousing rendition of the Growing Pains theme song. It's probably the coolest, most useless thing anyone can do. What does it mean exactly to be "featured" though? "I think 'featured attendee' is merely a label for a handful of people who have some sliver of Internet notoriety," says Featured Attendee Rex Sorgatz. "As far as I know, we won't actually be doing anything in particular, except socializing." Related content William F. Buckley, Jr. on Hillary, McCarthy & God (With Guest Interviewer Peggy Noonan)Staying AliveImperfect StrangersStrapped Scribes' SummitMolten MovementOPANA: A BRIEF HISTORY Related to:nypressnew yorkroflconroflthingobama girlben rellesyoutubeTay ZondayLisaNovaTroy HitchMatt BledsoeRex SorgatzMatt GoldbergTim Hwang According to Hwang, several of the Internet celebrities attending actually have artistic representation. Whether or not you'd consider them famous or "Internetfamous," most everyone on the bill can boast millions of hits or views. At ROFLThing NYC, some guests get a full hour and a stage to meet their fans. "In a presentation entitled 'You Suck at You Suck at Photoshop,' we will be discussing how YSAP has changed the course of web history from a geo-ecopolitical perspective, with citations and supporting evidence from Howard Zinn, Desmond Morris and Paul Krugman," jokes Troy Hitch of last year's breakout sensation, You Suck at Photoshop. Creative partner Matt Bledsoe chimes in, "We will also reveal how we got so many people to 'download' our sperm." The man behind Obama Girl, Ben Relles—who prefers not to be called ObamaGirl's handler—will be there with The Obama Girl, Amber Lee Ettinger. "I think it's a blast meeting people you've only seen previously online. For example, at YouTube Live we met Tay Zonday, LisaNova and several other YouTube personalities that were great to hang out with instead of watch on a two-by-three screen. Some are exactly like their online persona. Some are completely different. He adds, "Amber and I both recognize that without the Internet, there is no Obama Girl." OMG, that is so true and unexpectedly deep. For some of us, we live on the Internet. So when we move the Internet offline, it's sort of like dying and LARPing in Heaven.

Surviving the Obama Comedy Crisis: A Report From the Front Lines
January 17, 2009, 1:32 pm Guest Humorist | Daniel Kurtzman For those in the business of political mockery, the last 16 years have been a glorious golden age. If Bill Clinton was a full-employment act for political comedians, then George W. Bush was a welfare program. But when Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Tuesday, the era of easy presidential punch lines may be coming to a close. As it has been widely noted in humor circles, Obama remains a tough target. So far, the most memorable Obama mockery has ranged from the utterly atrocious (see: the “Barack the Magic Negro” song parody debacle) to the mildly amusing (Fred Armisen’s competent but guffaw-free impersonation of Obama on “Saturday Night Live”). What’s in store for political humor in the age of Obama? Will he be the president who presides over the bursting of the comedy bubble? Or can he find a way to bail out the comedy industry too? There’s no better way to find out than directly from those on the front lines of the comedy crisis — the comedians, joke writers, and satirists tasked with the urgent work of fortifying our nation’s strategic humor reserves: Joe Grossman, writer, “Late Show With David Letterman”: My best guess is that the late-night hosts will have to reinvent their shows now that political humor will cease to exist. Most likely, you’ll see Letterman replace all of his comedy material with cooking segments, household safety demonstrations, poetry readings, and public service announcements imploring America’s teenagers to practice sound physical and social hygiene. Either that, or the Obama administration will prove fallible, and mockery of government will continue as it has for most of recorded history. Could go either way. Michael Colton and John Aboud, screenwriters, VH1 talking heads, and writers for Fox’s upcoming animated comedy “Sit Down, Shut Up”:

Barack Obama is a transformational figure who represents the fulfillment of the American dream and the end of all humor. His wisdom and judgment will erase every single social and political discontent that fuels comedy, including marital strife, the inconveniences of air travel, and D.M.V. wait times. He will cause humans to cease breaking wind. We forecast the last joke in America will be told on Aug. 5, 2009 — a tepidly received one-liner conflating Leon Panetta with the foodstuff “pancetta.” Kevin Bleyer, writer, “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart”: On the contrary, I’m thrilled about an Obama presidency. During the Bush years, all my jokes were written by a team of Chinese pre-teens in a Shanghai sweatshop. Not that they didn’t do a superb job — I thought their take on seating the Michigan delegation was especially insightful — but I’m just happy to have my job back. Peter Gwinn, writer, “The Colbert Report”: We do face a serious problem, because now that George Bush is no longer president, nothing is funny in the entire world. I expect that in 2009, most of my own comedy will consist of reading Laffy Taffy wrappers out loud: “Why are rhinos so wrinkly?” “Because they’re hard to iron.” That joke right there will always be comedy gold, at least until America elects a rhino president. Charlie Kadau, senior editor, Mad magazine: Why am I optimistic? Look who Obama has included in his inner circle — the Clintons! Talk about a humor stimulus package! Baratunde Thurston, self-described comedian, vigilante pundit, and Web and politics editor for The Onion: For the first few weeks, I plan to scream for joy and hug strangers on the street as I’ve done continuously since the night of Nov. 4. Then I plan to keep writing material that uniquely illuminates this country’s socio-political reality while causing laughter and self-urination among my audience. That’s what political comics do. Too many people had one Bush-is-dumb joke and thought that made them the next Mark Twain. The arrival of a president fluent in English should raise the bar. Raymond Lesser, editor, the Funny Times: I don’t think Obama will be hard to make fun of. Cartoonists and comedians just need to get to know him better. But I think he’ll be much more like Bugs Bunny than Bush, who has pretty much turned into Elmer Fudd. (Or am I thinking of that other great hunter, Dick Cheney?) Anyway, people love Bugs Bunny and wind up laughing much more with him than at him. Rusty Ward, writer, BarelyPolitical.com: When Lex Luthor first encountered Superman he faced a difficult dilemma, how do you stop a man who is unstoppable? Comedians face a similar dilemma in 2009: how do you make fun of a president who is unmake-funnable? Eventually, Lex discovered kryptonite. I’m confident BarelyPolitical will find Obama’s comedy kryptonite (his Hawaiinite, if you will) but if by some

chance we fail to do this we’ll fall back on our strengths: Hillary Clinton impressions, girls dancing, and grown men running around the city in animal costumes. Katie Halper, comic, blogger and co-founder of Laughing Liberally: I’m freaking out because it’s hard, not to mention forbidden, to make fun of your messiah. In all honesty, I’m not nervous that Obama won’t make any material-inspiring mistakes — he already has. His vote on FISA was disappointing (although it does show Obama’s in touch with the American people and listening to everything we say). And unless a native American lesbian Wicca priestess delivers part two of Obama’s invocation, Rick Warren will not represent inclusion (although the pastor does resemble a big tent). But how can I stay mad? All Obama has to do is smile at Fareed Zakaria or go topless in Hawaii, and my ire and satire melt away. Oh, Obama, I hate myself for loving you. Jay Jaroch, writer, “Real Time With Bill Maher”: There will be no humor in the new order. You’ll learn that in the re-education camps. Steve Young, TV writer who blogs at steveyoungonpolitics: I see comedy entering a more difficult, more painful era. For the past eight years of Bush and Cheney and the intern years of Clinton, we were pretty much stenographers. Come Jan. 20, comics and writers will actually have to make up satire instead of relying on cut-and-paste inanity lifted directly from political speeches and off-the-cuff remarks of the newsworthy. Thank God we’ll still have Joe Biden, and with Bill O’Reilly continuing to be a nightly factor, it’s not like we’ll have to generate all the nonsense ourselves. Elaina Newport, co-founder of the Capitol Steps comedy troupe: Of course, every time we lose a president we worry, “Will the next one be funny?” I remember being quite distressed to lose Bill Clinton — how could George Bush possibly be as good for comedy? But they always come through! In the case of Obama, I’m thinking that this might be the scenario: he’s the straight man, surrounded by comedy gold in the form of Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton — and I think we’re also entitled to several second-round draft picks. For now, we are having fun with the fact that the press is so enamored with Barack, in the form of our song “Obama Mia.” And Hillary grits her teeth and tries to be happy to be Barack’s Secretary of State, in the song “Ebony and Ovaries.” But it’s true, the worst thing for comedy would be a quietly competent president. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen! Sam Means, writer, “The Daily Show”: How do I plan to survive the Obama years? Law school. ————————————————Daniel Kurtzman edits the Political Humor page of About.com, which is part of The New York Times Company. He is author of the books “How to Win a Fight With a Conservative” and “How to Win a Fight With a Liberal.”

I was randomly perusing RedState today, when I saw a list of Barack Obama's New Years Resolutions by someone calling himself Absentee. The list was really funny (I especially liked the doodles in the margins), so I immediately wanted to steal the premise. I hit a major roadblock, however, when I tried to think of a single Republican who matters anymore. Instead, I have obtained snippets of many different political figures' New Years resolutions. Let me know if you think I've missed any. New Years Resolutions Rod Blagojevich - Get copy of "Writing 'For Dummies' Books...For Dummies" and write "Deriving Personal Gain From Political Appointments...For F---ing Dummies." Read it, go back in time, warn self. PUMA - Every member must get Tommy Christopher to autograph a copy of "The Audacity of Democracy." Rahm Emanuel - Learn to stop crying privately when people makes cracks about my middle finger. Rahm Emanuel - Actually end people whom I have told "I will f---ing end you!" Hillary Clinton - Get rid of boxes of "Dream Tickets" I ordered in July for that announcement party. Keith Olbermann - Get production staff to pepper their "ambient laughter" with compliments about my handsomeness. Or fire them. Sarah Palin - Pass bill giving me right of prima nomine, where I get to name every Alaskan's first-born. Trailmix, Timpani, Pteradactyl, Triangulate, Rexico, Barack...no Katies!

John McCain - Stop standing in front of green or blue backgrounds. John McCain - Welcome any and all comers to my lawn. Caroline Kennedy - Roll out that "I'm Caroline Kennedy, byatch" I've been practicing in front of the mirror. John Edwards - Reminisce fondly about that $400 haircut. Turn down some strange. Joe the Plumber - Score a cameo in that "Sham-Wow!" infomercial. Erick Erickson - Stop endlessly re-writing my apology to Tommy Christopher, and just send it, already. Joe Biden - Start saying "Are you retarded?" until I actually hit one. Joe Biden - Go up to Rahm Emanuel and say, "Pull my finger!" Eliot Spitzer - Find out who does Edwards' hair and turn her out. Turn down some strange. Alan Colmes - Stop taking advice from Andrew Ridgely and start listening to John Oates. Turn down some strange. Obama Girl - Borrow Blagojevich's time machine, trademark the word "girl." Obama Girl - Publish paper on string theory. Reverend Wright - Get the "K" key on my keyboard unstuck. Bill Clinton - Stop doing this:

Don Fowler - Shut the eff up one time. Ted Stevens - Design "Bridge to Nowhere" prison tat, just in case. First, find out what a "tat" is. Brian Simpson - Become able to "quit" Tommy. Chelsea Clinton - Text sexy cellphone pics to McCain. Now, who's ugly, byatch? Ron Paul - Google myself. Michelle Obama - Stop leaving "Whitey Tape" and real birth certificate lying around.

After much confusion, it is becoming clear what works in online video IN THE spring of 2007 Jason Kilar was trying to beef up the video offerings of his employer, Amazon, the worldʼs largest online retailer, when he got a call from a headhunting firm. Would he consider running Hulu, a new joint venture by two “old media” giants, NBC Universal and News Corp? The idea was to enter the confusing online-video market by starting a service from scratch—and doing it properly. Mr Kilar said yes. He showed up in his new office in Santa Monica, near Los Angeles, and with his small team started scribbling ideas on the “whiteboard” wallpaper. The excitement as well as the confusion had started in 2006, when a young website, YouTube, shot out of nowhere to become that yearʼs “next big thing”. Within months, YouTube sold itself to Google, the worldʼs largest internet firm. YouTube had risen so fast by making it easy to watch and share videos in any web browser, and by making it almost as easy to upload home-made videos to its site. Such “user-generated content” seemed to be the future. In one sense this turned out to be correct. YouTube went on to dominate web video as measured by the number of videos that users watch (see chart). Its social and even political importance are hard to overstate. From “Obama Girl” videos and tutorials about tying shoelaces or folding origami to Yoga and aerobics instruction, YouTube has changed lives. But there was a catch. Advertisers, by and large, will not touch user-generated content with a barge pole. Its quality is variable, to say the least; its content occasionally off-putting. No brand wants to be near it. And much of it is illegal—pirated from large media

companies and uploaded by fans. Media giants, led by Viacom, were suing. So there was a threat of costs and no promise of revenues. YouTube is undoubtedly a phenomenon, but it is not a business. So others showed up hoping to fill that gap. Until recently, says Shahid Khan, a video analyst at IBB Consulting, there were only question-marks. Did a new service need user-generated content as well as professional videos? Was it better to aggregate the content of many media companies or to be an outlet for just one? Would people prefer to download films or television shows to their computers, then transfer them to their iPods, as Apple was betting? Or would they prefer “streaming” a video just once? If so, might they be persuaded to install a bespoke video application onto their computers, or would they insist on watching videos inside their web browsers? Would they pay to watch, or would advertising provide the revenues? Almost every permutation has been tried. From Amazon to Apple, from Netflix to Joost, from ABC to CBSʼs TV.com, companies old and young started serving videos over the internet. Into this mess Mr Kilar tried to enter with the service that was to be Hulu. The bloggers at first scoffed: it turns out that Hulu can mean “cease and desist” in Swahili. But then they started paying attention. Tune in for the answers Today, even though advertising is destined for a depression, Hulu appears to have clarified much of the confusion. Mr Kilar will not say what revenue or profit Hulu is making. But it seems to be successful by any measure. Although Hulu is still far behind YouTube (see chart), users have been flocking to it, watching 216m videos in December. Just as importantly, Huluʼs inventory for advertisers appears to be sold out. So Hulu is in the rare position of being able to increase inventory (through new content and more views) and make money from it. Hulu now has more than 100 advertisers, including big brands such as McDonaldʼs, Bank of America and Best Buy. It therefore appears that Mr Kilar has, in effect, answered a lot of the questions. He contemplated user-generated content, then decided that “the world didnʼt need yet another” YouTube; so Hulu has only professional content, and advertisers love it. He also talked with his bosses at NBC Universal and Fox and agreed that aggregating the content of many was “something potentially much larger” than piping out the videos of just two. Hulu now offers content from more than 110 partners. Mr Kilar also bet on streaming via the web, rather than letting users download. Rivals such as Joost have made the same choice. Films and TV differ from music, says Mike Volpi, Joostʼs boss, in that people watching tend to sit still, whereas people listening tend to move; and people usually watch a show only

once but listen to a song again and again. There is a place for Appleʼs model of downloading and buying videos—children, for example, like to watch the same TV programme many times—but that market is likely to be smaller. Mr Kilar was also early to choose the right way of streaming video: through the browser, with a simple and sleek design. He began, he says, with the idea that the site should “not look like Tokyo at night”—in other words, it should be as simple as YouTube is cluttered. And the service should be so easy to use that “my mother would be proficient on it in 15 seconds or less, with no help from me.” Mr Kilar, who began his career at Walt Disney, wanted Hulu to offer the same rich-but-clean experience as Disneyʼs theme parks do. Accordingly, he decided against making users download a special piece of software, which would not have “passed the mom test.” This turned out to be correct. Joost started by offering video through its own software application, but lost out to Hulu and did an about-face. A few weeks ago it discontinued its downloadable application and began streaming only through the browser. This late conversion was Joostʼs “biggest flaw”, says IBBʼs Mr Khan, and now leaves it far behind. The browser-based approach favours streaming rather than downloads, but that does not mean that the paid-for download model is dead. Mr Khan thinks that some viewers will want to own content, and that may become a premium option on free services such as Hulu. But the bigger lesson from Huluʼs success is that supporting streamed video with advertising, rather than charging for downloads, turns out to work very well. Huluʼs ads are few and short, with a subtle countdown timer that makes them even more bearable. In some cases viewers can even choose which ad to watch, so it is more likely to be relevant to their interests. And people tend to remember the advertisements they see on Hulu much better than they recall television ads, says Mr Kilar, so advertisers are pleased. It is too early to declare Hulu the winner. It “has done a very good job,” admits Joostʼs Mr Volpi, but “the die has not been cast yet.” Mr Khan thinks Amazonʼs offering may become more compelling, and that TV.com, formerly a provider of television listings and now a streaming site owned by CBS, may yet come from behind. But for the moment it appears that YouTube proved that people would watch videos online—whereas Hulu is proving that advertisers will foot the bill.




KELLNER: Tech stuff Obama should fret about
Mark A. Kellner Sunday, January 18, 2009 If all goes according to plan and schedule, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States at noon Tuesday. History will certainly be made with the swearing in of one of the youngest chief executives in U.S. history and the first black to hold the position. I've read about the meal he'll have after the ceremony, and the menu sounds great. I just hope he doesn't get indigestion afterward: There's enough tech stuff brewing to promote a bout of heartburn. Some tech worries for the new commander in chief - and the rest of us: At the top of my list are Micro SD cards, with the "SD" standing for Secure Digital, a card format that's rather popular for cell phones and some cameras. There's a tremendous boon in being able to put as much as 16 gigabytes on a card that's smaller than a postage stamp and shorter than a paper clip's length. But there's also a tremendous danger: Such devices, which truly are tiny, can be easily concealed, connected (via an equally small card reader) to a computer's USB port, and used to transport sensitive data out of a building. Of course, installations with high-security needs already ban such devices, as does most of the Department of Defense, which suffered a computer virus attack imported via a larger "memory stick" last year. But in some offices there may be little or nothing to stop a disgruntled employee from spiriting out a sneak peek at next year's budget or this year's white paper and handing it over to a reporter, friendly or hostile. Or give it to someone else. Data security will likely be a top priority for the new administration, and, in my view, it should be. Next up is the potential for online social media to enhance - and obstruct - the next administration's agenda. There's nothing like Facebook or Twitter to make mass communication to a defined niche as nearly instant as possible. Old-fashioned telephone trees or call-down lists can't cut it, and e-mail can get lost in a sea of spam. But if I get a Facebook status message from you, that can be important and informative. A

short clip on YouTube can have tremendous reach, as the "Obama Girl" video ably demonstrated. Given that Mr. Obama has put his weekly addresses on YouTube and that Facebook's millions played a not-insubstantial role in the election, it would appear that he and his team are aware of what social media can do. The question is how this will be harnessed for good, and how it might be abused by less friendly forces. Here, too, information security will play a role. Again, I'm sure this is being thought about, but it's an area of potential concern: Messing with a presidential video could create problems. A third area where attention should be paid, in my view, is the question of broadband access. South Korea and Japan are doing better jobs of providing high-speed broadband to their citizens than the U.S. is, as a whole, and this needs to change. If you don't believe me, let's talk after Tuesday's expected mass gridlock. Having a solid, high-speed and high-capacity broadband infrastructure would let more of us work from home, at least part time, and that could help when roads are clogged or gas prices soar. It appears Mr. Obama is in sync with this. On Jan. 10, in an Internet address, he said part of the new economic stimulus would go to "build the new infrastructure we need to succeed in this new century, investing in science and technology, and laying down miles of new broadband lines so that businesses across our nation can compete with their counterparts around the world." Along with access to the global network, we need to figure out access to information: Google's plan to digitize most of the nation's out-of-print books, and many of its more current ones, is a great idea. But should this move from the commercial to the noncommercial realm? Fair handling of copyright questions could resolve this. It'll be a full tech agenda, and I've barely scratched the surface. We can hope, however, that the issues will be addressed aggressively and with both consumers and business people in mind.

ThreadBanger Fast Lane Daily Garage 419 TMI Weekly Indy Mogul Channel Frederator



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It's Sew Easy To Make & Mend
Feb 1 2009 SEWING is no longer a Cinderella subject and customising your own clothes is an easy way of stamping your sense of style on them. You can buy beautiful fabrics pretty cheaply from places such as Remnant Kings and Mandors, along with a host of trims, buttons and linings. You'll need a sewing machine, pins, scissors, needles, thread, tape measure and a sturdy table to work at. Patterns can be picked up from charity shops, haberdashery stores and the internet. Look out for Burda, Vogue, New Look and Simplicity who have easy-to-follow patterns with no tricky techniques to master. Books such as the Reader's Digest Guide to Sewing are useful or join a club, like Glasgow-based Stitch and Bitch, for inspiration. WEBSITES Craftster.org is an online community for offbeat craft projects. It has tutorials on everything from making a prom dress from scratch to transforming a pillowcase into a ra-ra skirt. www.threadbanger.com are an online network for people who make their own fashion. Join the handcraft revolution at knitonthe net.com, or Burdastyle.com provides free downloadable patterns.bootyvintage.etsy.com borntoolatevintage.com and misshelene.com specialise in selling vintage patterns. Sewmamasew.com offers free patterns and tips, plus a huge selection of fabric. Ebay is crammed with yarn, knitting and sewing patterns while Reprodepot.com stocks unusual buttons, ironon patches and pretty ribbon and patterns. Another user-friendly site on how to sew, make and design your own clothes is crafts ofchaddsford.com/sewingclothes.htm




     

   

 

 

       

 

   

       

 

 

By Stef McDonald, Sprig.com You just spent the weekend cleaning out your closet and have a pile of stuff that either doesnʼt fit your body or doesnʼt suit your lifestyle. What do you do with the leftovers? These seven ideas will help you save money, save the planet and just feel good about yourself! 1. Repair It. Paying to have an ill-fitting pair of pants tailored to your size is less expensive than buying a new pair—ditto for stretching a pair of shoes or giving them new soles. Simple fit issues can be fixed by your local tailor or shoemaker. (Donʼt know where to go? Ask for a recommendation from your favorite local boutique.) A good tailor can also adjust the style of a piece, updating flare legs to straight or minimizing puffy sleeves on a blouse.

2. Rework It. If it pains you to part with that XL R.E.M. tee from college, channel your inner crafter. Thread Banger and T-Shirt Surgery are among the resourceful websites that offer do-it-yourself instructions for restyling pieces like jeans and T-shirts that are easy enough for sewing novices (really—some donʼt even require a needle and thread). 3. Swap It. Before you go on a shopping spree to fill in the holes in your newly-clean closet, consider swapping. “Circulating items is definitely a green idea,” says Melanie Charlton Fascitelli of Clos-ette, a New York-based closet organizing company. Host a clothing swap party at home with friends (and friends of friends). Ask each person to bring all of the clothing and accessories she no longer wants. Then either make a big pile in the middle of the room and have a free-for-all or separate clothing into categories for easier “shopping.” You can also swap online from sites such as Clothing Swap, Swap Style, and Swap Thing, which allow you to trade clothing with other registrants. 4. Sell It. Yep, you can make money selling your castoffs! Start by checking with consignment shops in your area. Ask to speak with a manager or buyer about what theyʼre most interested in acquiring. (Keep in mind that many consignment shops shop sell seasonal clothing, so you wonʼt have much luck getting rid of a puffy jacket in June.) They do the selling for you and either offer instant store credit or a percentage–usually about half–of the resale price on items that move. For a more hands-on approach, you can sell on eBay, either with bidding or a simple “buy it now” price. Never done it? Itʼs really a simple process; just upload a digital photo and description and pay no more than a few bucks per item. Save trips to the post office and lower your carbon footprint by ending each of your auctions on the same day. Items of lesser value are best sold locally on Craigʼs List, where you can set up a window of time for potential buyers to shop for and haul away your goods. During fair weather months, you can plan a yard/gate/garage sale or, better yet, arrange a group one with neighbors. 5. Donate it. The possibilities for donations are endless. Start with your local thrift store, homeless shelter or womenʼs shelter, which accept tax-deductible donations and serve your community. And check out these sites for donating particular items. Dress for Success: Accepts business-appropriate clothing for female job-hunters. You can also find a local group that does the same (check their directory for more info) here.

Glass Slipper Project: This Chicago-based group re-circulates dresses for girls in need of prom gowns. Brides Against Breast Cancer: This non-profit collects contemporary wedding gowns to benefit those suffering from metastatic breast cancer. I Do Foundation: Resells your donated wedding gown then makes a contribution to the charity of your choice with partial proceeds from the sale. Pick Up Please: Supports Vietnam Veterans with the sale of donated items, including clothing and accessories. Soles4Souls: Collects shoes for victims of natural disasters, including Hurricane Katrina the Thailand Tsunami. Nikeʼs Reuse-A-Shoe: Recycles materials from worn and donated sneakers for new shoes or for materials used to build playgrounds and sports courts. 6. Give it A New Purpose. Nothing needs to end up in a landfill. If itʼs not worth selling, swapping or donating, you can find new uses for items that would otherwise end up in the trash. Torn cotton shirts become dusting and cleaning rags. Other garments can be used to stuff in handbags or shoes to retain their shape when not in use. The legs of jeans or sweats can be cut and used as covers for packing shoes. 7. Donʼt Give Up! Even old hangers can use a new home! Return excess wire hangers to your local dry cleaner for re-use and donate plastic hangers to your local thrift store. Down to the bottom of the pile? The last of your unwanted items can be distributed free through Freecycle.

       

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

         




                                                                                       

                                         







     

 

   

 

 

                   

 






















       

 

 

 

                 

 

 

 

         

 

Stephen Hutcheon January 1, 2009 - 10:54AM Google's all-seeing roaming cameras have captured images of a clandestine high-altitude road test featuring a fleet of new Porsches. The images were unearthed by the Garage 419 blog on the Google Maps Street View feature, near the end of Mount Evans Road, Idaho Spring, Colorado. The road is the highest paved road in North America and ends at a point just 40m below the 4267m high summit of Mount Evans. Car manufacturers routinely take new cars out on test runs prior to launch.

These are deliberately kept below the radar to ensure that the auto world's equivalent of the paparazzi don't get a chance to grab shots and spoil official launches. The Porsche have been identified as Caymans, Boxsters, a 911 Turbo and Targa. The image set shows men throwing tarps over the cars in an attempt to conceal them from the oncoming Google Street View car. Mount Evans Road, which climbs 2133m in 45km, is frequently used by car manufacturers for high-altitude testing. Street View images are shot by a fleet of distinctive cars mounted with tripods carrying a special camera which takes 360° horizontal panoramic photographs. Launched in 2007, Google's Street View footprint expanded rapidly the past year and now covers seven countries, including large parts of the United States and Australia. The images from Mount Evans were added last year, but it's not clear when they were taken. Often, it can be several months between the time images are captured and when they are made publicly available on Street View.



















     

 

 

 







         

 

 

 




I have a running google document of ideas and things I have been meaning to mention on the blog. I thought Sunday would be a good mish mosh day of cool finds and random others. Many of you may know about this, but I really love the Runnerʼs Lounge blog. Lots of great running information. They recently had a great round up of how to run your best half marathon blog posts. Shane turned my on to Nonsociety. I donʼt really recommend it, but must admit I definitely stop by a few times a week. They do have a series of very useful videos called TMI Weekly. Definitely check out their best Websites of 2008. A few of them I knew about, but some are amazing resources. Particularly search me , zeer (buy better groceries)and shop it to me. How did I not know about these? I also wanted to mention my the Revlon Run/Walk for Women spring dates (May 2nd in NYC and Mary 9th in LA) were recently announced. This event is near and dear to my heart because was the first “race” I ever ran and the first time I actually ran more than a mile. My friend Heidi and I have now done it together 5 times. It is the perfect beginner race because it is so fun. Good cause, celebrity hosts, tons of freebies–including lunch–at the end, no competetiveness at all! It is definitely for casual runners because there are about 50,000 people, so you have to be able to deal with walk/jogging the first 1/2 mile. For the NYCers, you can take a free Pilates classes at Park East Pilates and a free yoga class at Yoga Works. Mention Time Out if you need to.

Oh is anyone planning on attending the Blogher conference in July? I get the newsletters, but I havenʼt seen too many bloggers mentioning it. I am not sure if I will be around in July, but I would definitely like to visit Chicago and, of course, meet some of you all! Today has been a pretty great Sunday. I met Gena for a great Pure Core class, I will review it this week, but all I have to say is “dude whereʼs my yoga?” Haha! Then I had a great brunch with a friend at Jane. Jane is definitely my favorite brunch place lately. It was impossible packed despite itʼs ample seating. Fortunately, they take reservations, and I had one. It would have been pretty miserable to wait in such a packed area on an extremely bitter day, even if I would be smushed among the very attractive 20-something clientele. The atmosphere is trendy, the decor of West Elm sensibility, and dance music was pumping even at 12:30 in the afternoon. What I really like is that the brunch prix-fixe includes a great list of cocktails. I selected the Raspberry Champagne Cocktail. I love that they are served in very small champagne flutes, rather than huge goblets. That way you get just enough, but not too much, alcohol and sugar for a weekend afternoon. Their menu has lots of options ranging from very healthy (egg white omeletwith spinach and goat cheese) to super indulgent (brioche vanilla bean french toast), as well as a range of options in between (roasted shrimp ranchero baked eggs). They also offer an amazing bread basket that comes with strawberry butter. I usually opt for a protein-based entree, so I can enjoy a generous slice (or two) of the delicious raisin walnut bread, the perfect way to satisfy my sweet/starch tooth. They also have a good selection of lunch items, which I truly appreciate because I did not like eggs, pancakes, waffles (except eggos) until I was 24. These days I have come to like many things that I wouldnʼt go anywhere near (tomatoes) until my early twenties. Happy weekend!




                           

 

 

 










                 

 

 

             

 




 

It's been a little more than two years since Publicis said it would buy Digitas for $1.3 billion, and it seems fair, even now, to wonder whether the vibrant independent digital organ that was Digitas could have been rejected by patient Publicis, the big holding company that at the time had arguably the smallest digital footprint of its competitors. Even through the dot-com downturn, Digitas was usually considered in a class by itself because of its direct-response heritage, its firm belief in strong analytics and a client roster that any agency would envy. It was a shop filled with gearheads who talked about CRM tools with the same passion traditional agencies talked about Cannes Lions. But in the early 2000s, the agency, which began life as the direct marketing agency Bronner Slosberg Humphrey, was different in another way, as well: While many other digital agencies got scooped up by major agency holding companies, it held on as a small, public company, which, at the time of the Publicis acquisition, meant it had only four U.S. offices and no global footprint. Despite its strengths, the shop's future looked limited. "Our belief was that we needed to be in media at scale and that we needed to be global," says David Kenny, the former Digitas CEO who now, along with Jack Klues, serves as comanaging director of Publicis's VivaKi, a unit formed this year with the mission of bringing scale not only to Digitas, but to all of Publicis's digital assets.

Yes, the idea of being acquired by Publicis looked great on paper. Now, two years in, it's safe to say, as Digitas CEO Laura Lang says, "It was really the right thing to do." Because the shop had a transformational year in its own right and simultaneously helped the fortunes of the much larger holding company it is now part of, it is OMMA's 2008 Agency of the Year. No AOY story is complete without stats, and here are some noteworthy ones: With 25 new clients in the United States (including nine at its Digitas Health unit) and more than 10 new ones in its expanding overseas markets, the company saw 100 percent new business growth year-on-year. New clients include Crest toothpaste from Procter & Gamble, AstraZeneca's Crestor and Pulmicort, and AOL; it also expanded its relationship with Mars Snackfood's Starburst brand. Starting as the brand's online media planning shop, it took on digital strategy and creative duties this year. The media team, under executive vice president and global media director Carl Fremont, doubled. Maybe all of this is to be expected from a company that suddenly goes from being a digital agency with a handful of offices to one with the resources of a huge communications conglomerate at its disposal, resources that helped it move this year into far-flung locales such as Brazil, Sweden and Singapore. "They opened the checkbook," admits Lang, a long-time Digitas exec who was promoted to the top post this year. (Even Digitas is not entirely immune to the dismal economic climate, though: Due to reductions in client spending, it cut 2 percent of its U.S. workforce in mid-December.) In 2008, Digitas did more than grow. For one, it became more creative, as evidenced by edgy, outlandish campaigns such as the "Share Something Juicy" effort for Starburst. Clients still come to Digitas because of its analytics and CRM capabilities, but today, the shop is becoming stronger at producing mediainfluenced creative; messages that live within their audiences' milieu, rather than, as Lang puts it, delivered "to consumers in the cracks between the content they were consuming." "Share Something Juicy" is primarily consumer-generated content wrapped up in a larger campaign idea - just as Starbursts are meant to be shared, so is content, particularly the kind those in the 18-24 demo are prone to distributing. The campaign has resulted in a host of Web natives sharing something juicy, and its success in driving click-throughs, visit duration and video consumption has beaten expectations. Agency of the Year 2008 (Gold): DigitasDigitas' Starburst work also included sponsorship of a series of animated videos called "Nite Fite," which feature two characters arguing key questions of the day - such as whether or not Rush is a

heavy metal band. (Okay, maybe not exactly "key.") The series has so far resulted in more than 2.5 million YouTube views, and a healthy number of video responses. "Their strategy was not about building a Web site. It was about being out there on the Web," explains Carole Walker, vice president of integrated marketing communications, Mars Snackfood U.S. On a broader level, 2008 was the year Digitas put a stake in the ground as a producer and curator of Web content. It launched The Third Act, a brand content arm aimed at helping clients produce and distribute content in a world where old production and distribution models are being upstaged. To that end, it did something the old gearhead Digitas probably never would have: It sponsored an event called the Digital Content NewFront. A play on the old TV network upfront, it invited key thinkers in online content and even competing agencies, to discuss the role brand content plays when marketers are no longer bound by the strict production and distribution hierarchies of old media. It's all part of what Fremont describes as the shop's endeavor to answer the question: "How do we join [the consumers'] world?" The shop's mantra - "creativity drives performance" - weds its CRM heritage to its increasingly creative leanings. Breaking out of its CRM box is only one reason Digitas earned our top honor. The other is that even if Digitas is only a small part of its holding company, it has been able to make the entire agency group stronger, not just by being owned by it, but by becoming truly a part of it. The relationship between Digitas and units such as Starcom Mediavest and VivaKi are anything but arm's length. Says Klues, "I would say there are things that are part of their culture I knew we'd value as a media business, but I just didn't know how much." He adds, admiringly, "Before getting to know Digitas, I would've given us pretty high marks." Kenny says the close relationship between Digitas and entities such as Starcom and ZenithOptimedia was fueled by those groups' willingness to embrace Digitas. "What was a pleasant surprise was how much they were willing to change their businesses to accept Digitas," he says. This strong sense of partnership plays out in a number of ways. One is in making Publicis's clients happier. Klues notes that having Digitas in the fold has made for a stronger partnership between Starcom and Samsung, and the shop has also done things such as push Kraft's sponsorship of Dancing with the Stars, which was originally engineered by Starcom, so that it's much more a part of all of the digital touch points for fans of the show. Klues credits the shop with "having truly activated" both Starcom and Zenith. In addition to Kraft and Samsung, Starcom and Digitas share clients including p&g and Mars; ZenithOptimedia and Digitas share clients including Delta Air Lines and Whirlpool.

Another way in which Digitas's partnerships benefit Publicis is that the shop has played a core role in redefining Publicis as a holding company steeped in digital know-how. Lang sits on the board of VivaKi, and, as the lead digital agency of the unit, it is playing a central role in developing technologies that can be used across all of Publicis's digital assets. While the goal is to co-develop platforms with major media partners ranging from Microsoft to Disney, it's not entirely beyond the realm of possibility that such platforms could also be used by competitors. As with Digitas's other intra-holding relationships, it works both ways. Digitas has been able to leverage other Publicis digital assets, such as the mobile marketing company Phonevalley, to bring campaigns onto other platforms. We've emphasized many concrete rationales for naming Digitas OMMA's Agency of the Year, but maybe the best reason to have done so is this: Digitas seems to be the root cause of the digital competition between Publicis CEO Maurice Lévy and WPP's Agency of the Year, but maybe the best reason to have done so is this: Digitas seems to be the root cause of the digital competition between Publicis CEO Sir Martin Sorrell. At ubs' annual Global Media and Communications Conference in December, Sorrell used the forum to clear up what he called "a misunderstanding over our digital businesses" in terms of their relative size. Sorrell said digital marketing now accounted for almost a quarter of the Group's revenue and that its "digital prowess" was three times that of its nearest competitor - you guessed it, Publicis. Kenny claims that Publicis is Google's biggest customer; at the usb conference, Sorrell said WPP's GroupM was its "largest single agency customer." But, through a program that started at Digitas, it's Publicis who has truly cozied up to the search giant, operating a talent exchange in which Google and Digitas employees have temporarily swapped roles. (That deal, according to Kenny, was the precursor to a similar job swap between Google and p&g.) Whichever holding company you choose to back, one thing is clear: Publicis wouldn't even have been part of the equation if it weren't for Digitas.

 

 

                         

 




Since 1998, Frederator Studios has become one of the largest and most prolific independent cartoon studios. Through their affiliation with Nickelodeon, Frederator is currently producing four television series and has more than 100 projects in active development and production for features, books, television, and video. Their most recent project to hit the airwaves was an animation showcase called Random! Cartoons, which premiered on the Nickelodeon and Nicktoons networks in late 2008. I recently conducted interviews with Fred Seibert, the head of Frederator Studios, and several Random! Cartoons directors to learn more about the studio, several recently-released and upcoming shorts and just what makes an animated cartoon "random." Fred Seibert, head of Frederator Studios Andrew Farago: How do the Random! Cartoons differ from your previous Frederator showcases? Fred Seibert: Random! Cartoons was a series unique to its moment in time. Like with all the others, we relied primarily on artists and animators who wrote their own films. Common to all of the shorts series was my production companion, veteran Larry Huber. What a Cartoon! was nurtured inside of an existing studio, Hanna-Barbera, and depended on the support of the great staff that had built the company. We made 48 shorts with 40 different creators across

the world. Veterans like Bruno Bozzetto and Ralph Bakshi, newcomers, including Genndy Tartakovsky, Craig McCraken and Butch Hartman, and complete indies like New Yorker John Dilworth. Oh Yeah! Cartoons was our first project with Nickelodeon. Executives there were eager for us to introduce them to the talent bubbling in the industry. We created a mini-studio within Nickelodeon, and our 51 original shorts had 33 filmmakers, many with multiple shorts. Random! Cartoons was 39 shorts created in an industry that had learned our methods and where all the networks and studios were making shorts of their own. New production techniques like Flash and CG had become viable. And, unlike our first two series, the talent pool had "grown up" with a healthy industry eager for new voices. The competition for cartoons to be great had never been more intense. One of the clearest differences this time around was the complete diversity of the creators, a must in a worldwide environment we now live in. For the first time, we had pictures from creators [who were] Korean, Mexican, African-American, Japanese. And, not at all incidentally, after 99.75% of our shorts being made by men, we had nine women creators. These shorts are among the most exciting we've ever done. AF: How did you recruit the artists and directors for the Random! Cartoons? FS: Cartoons came into Frederator in three ways. Eric Homan is our vice president of development and led the effort to reach out to creators everywhere. Eric and I started together at Hanna-Barbera more than 15 years ago, and he's got a deep reservoir of good will among cartoon talent everywhere. He's a passionate regular at industry events, festivals and colleges, and, as president of programming at Channel Frederator, virtually around the globe. Eric led our development team of Melissa Wolfe and producers Kevin Kolde and Larry Huber to encourage creators to come into Random! We love working within the walls of Nickelodeon Studios, and then with the other crews in town, talking to people looking for the chance to make their first

commercial cartoons. We made six Random! cartoons with returning creators, but that's 33 creators we've never had a chance to know before. New this time around was our effort on the Internet. We started Frederator's blogs in those prehistoric days of 2004, and the more we posted about new Random! pitches, the more new pitches cascaded in. The launch of Channel Frederator in November 2005 just added to the fray. AF: What goal are you trying to accomplish with these shorts? Have any of the Random! Cartoons been tapped as potential ongoing series? FS: Random! Cartoons fulfilled my goals from our first day. We've met some incredible talent and I'm sure we'll be working with everyone again many times over the years. There are already two series in production (Fanboy & Chum Chum at Nickelodeon, and Adventure Time at Cartoon Network) [and] we're developing even more for series or feature films. AF: All of the Random! shorts I've seen so far proudly label themselves as "Made in Hollywood" at the end of the credits. Is all of the animation for these shorts handled in the U.S., and is all of the work being done at one central location? FS: Lots of cartoons are made in the United States, contrary to popular opinion, and as you say, we're darn proud of it. On the case of Random!, two thirds of the production is done stateside (most in California, but some in New York, Boston and elsewhere), with writing, boarding, design and color, direction, casting, recording, scoring and post production. Animation is often done across the world, from Canada to Asia. Our Random! Cartoons production home base is at Nickelodeon Animation Studios [in Hollywood]. AF: One thing that I've really enjoyed about the various Frederator anthologies (KaBlam! was a favorite back in my college days) is the range of style, format and tone that the studio is willing to try. Do you keep a general target audience in mind when creating each short, or do you expect certain cartoons not to go over well with certain audiences? FS: We love it when viewers love our cartoons, and everyone on our team wants to find audiences for their shorts. We've always felt that style and tone are just two of the elements a filmmaker uses to make his or her film, and we don't feel limited by trends of the moment. We look to whatever inspires the creator, figuring it'll inspire everyone else too. We make shorts for all kinds of audiences,

and we're cognizant of where they run and who's watching, like The Meth Minute 39 shorts for adults on the Internet. Random! Cartoons is made for Nickelodeon and all the creators know their audience is kids. But, they're not limited by kids. In the end, our creators make funny cartoons with great characters, and we don't talk down to those kids, we make ourselves laugh and I think it's why so many of our cartoons have broad, popular appeal. A note of clarification: Frederator didn't produce KaBlam! (though I sure wish we had). The very talented producer/writer Bob Mittenthal produced Kablam!, with Will McRobb & Chris Viscardi. I was initially involved with Action League Now!, but had to drop out when I went to Hanna-Barbera. AF: Has the current economic downturn altered any of Frederator's plans for the next year or so? FS: It's always challenging for everyone in a down economy, and Frederator's not exceptional. We're finding it harder to find financing for projects, but we feel more than lucky to be doing as well as we are today. In the final analysis, like all production companies making popular films, we're only as successful as our ability to make cartoons our audiences love. AF: What is Frederator's current relationship with Nickelodeon Studios? FS: Frederator's in the midst of a long run, special relationship with Nickelodeon. For 12 years we were exclusive producers, now we're "first look," with four series on the air, three in production (two at the studio) and a number in consideration. We happily continue to be network consultants. AF: In the summer of 2007, you, Kevin Kolde and Eric Gardner founded Frederator Films, with the express goal of creating feature films under a $20 million budget. Do you have any features in progress at the moment? FS: Frederator Films has a number of studio and independent pictures in various stages of development or production. You'll be the first to hear about them.