by Guest Author on December 21st, 2009
[Ed. Note: This is a guest article from Break Media's CEO Keith Richman who spent a little time hunting down some underdogs—the Best Web Videos of 2009 that didn't break through. Their flagship site Break.com is known for its male-friendly and click-worthy comedy vids, so his list leans a little in that direction. Most are virals, or really not-so-virals, with a few foreign commercials in there, though it's nice to see a web series make his list.]
The end of the year is a natural time to take stock of the most popular online videos that captivated us all year long. But just because a video is funny, creative, and/or clever doesn’t mean it will automatically become a web sensation. Web video content creators (everyone from college kids in their dorm room to marketers creating branded videos) are learning the hard way that there is a lot that goes into creating a viral video, beyond just putting something good out and hoping for distribution via organic word of mouth. In fact, the surprise viral online hit is increasingly becoming an anomaly, and without a strategic plan in place, even the coolest, and most novel videos online will have difficulty achieving blockbuster numbers.
To illustrate this, I’ve compiled a list of a few of the top videos posted online this year that I think could have been much bigger hits. Why didn’t these videos go viral? It’s simple: no distribution. If you’re a web video content creator, producer, director, or publisher, you need to consider distribution and marketing for your video as the essential way to gain visibility online. So what does that mean? Well, first of all it’s important to make sure your video is placed on the destination site(s) that will reach your target audience. Decide if it’s best to post it first on a niche site where you know your video will be well-received, or if it’s better to take a broader distribution approach (usually it’s the former). Know the correct channels that will target an aggregated audience of loyal followers, especially if your video is the first installment in what will be a recurring web series.
And yes, social media is part of the equation. Determine which social media platforms you are going to use to plug your video. Twitter and Facebook are obvious but effective choices. Marketing will be a key component to making sure your video gains traction online.
Here is a collection of original videos, branded videos, and user-generated videos from across the Web that make my list of “the best videos of 2009 that nobody ever saw”:
by Adam Wright on November 24th, 2009
New Media, Transmedia, Web Video, Web Series, Web Television, whatever you want to call “it,” “it” is the future. Anyone reading Tubefilter, which has a mission “to grow the audience of web television,” knows this. Considering this, the traditional media complex is not going anywhere anytime soon. Too often the traditional media industry belittles internet video, which is why it is refreshing to see a media mainstay, like the Writer’s Guild East pursuing an active role in promoting new media.
The Writer’s Guild 2.0 initiative could very well help close the divide between traditional and new media. This initiative corralled a slew of new media signatories (full list below) and brought them together to form a New Media Caucus within the guild.
Latest list of WGAe’s new media signatories:
9am Meeting – Original animated web series.
AGBK – A Brooklyn-based production company involved in the creation and production of web series, short films for the web, branded entertainment/web commercials and music videos.
Allevon – Original animated web series. (In production)
CJP Digital – CJP Digital produces several web series – all live action, including The Temp Life
Concierge: The Series – Original live action web series.
Confirmed Bachelors – Original animated web series.
Dinosaur Diorama TV – Production company – creator of several live action web series, The Burg.
Duder – Original live action web series. Webby nominated. 22 complete episodes online.
The Hayley Project – Original live action web series.
Hedge Fund – Original live action web series.
Heroic Pictures – Producer of live action web series, Issues: The Series.
Jamtown Films – Production company specializing in talk show style web series and children’s programming.
Life After Lisa – Original live action web series.
Louise Log– Original live action web series. www.thelouiselog.com
New Jill TV – Original live action web series.
Undead New York – Original animated web series. (In production)
Unleashed – Original animated web series. www.unleashed.tv
Untitled Chioke Nassor – Original content including web series and short films for the internet.
WGA East Executive Director Lowell Peterson described the situation as dynamic. It’s a different space for most guilds and most unions — it’s in transformation, in growth, nothing is resolved economically,” he said. “The folks that are creating content are almost by nature experimenting in this form, both what they put up online and on mobile, and economically.” Continuing on, Peterson stressed the need for organizing the space. “I think it is important to have a guild of content creators step into this space listen to what people say and hopefully have a seat at the table.” The question remains, what can the WGA East do and (what have they already have done?) to really help both legitimize and further new media content creators?
by Adam Wright on September 23rd, 2009
For the uninitiated, Advertising Week is billed as ‘North America’s premier gathering of cutting edge communications leaders.’ So, one might assume that a panel at such a cutting edge conference named ‘The Future is Now: Digital Video’ would celebrate the ascendance of broadband content. Unfortunately, the conversation seemed more focused on beating the drums of fear for a threatened medium, broadcast television, than about video as the future of entertainment.
by Gennefer Snowfield on August 11th, 2009
One of my core specialties is web series strategy, promotion and branded entertainment experiences that augment show content. As such, I work with a number of web series, many of whom overlap in genre. In a recent DM conversation with a web series producer on Twitter, he mentioned that one of the shows I’m working with is a competitor of his because they are both sci-fi series.
The fact is that most consumers don’t even realize the wealth of web TV that is currently out there, so the underlying issue isn’t competition… it’s discovery. Even as someone immersed in the web series space, I’m not familiar with every single show, or all of the channels for viewing them, which seem to pop up daily.
But online content producers can actually surmount this hurdle collectively by banding together to build the web TV category overall, attract new viewers, and dare I say, share fan bases. Although we’re seeing more longer form content being produced — and consumed — online (according to the recent Pew report), overall webisodes are much shorter than traditional TV, making it even more feasible for viewers to adopt several series within the same genre. And with the added benefit of being able to watch them on their own time.
So, where do you go from here?
by Guest Author on August 5th, 2009
This is another guest editorial on Tubefilter News, which serves as a complement to our last guest article, “Confessions of Indie Web Series Creators: Things They Wish They Knew.” This time we have Steve Hein, a veteran web producer and the Vice-President of Digital and Short Form Content at 20th Century Fox Television. We convinced him to share some advice from his vantage point as an executive at one of the Big Six.
1. Don’t make cheaper television. Recognize that the web requires a different kind of storytelling. Making cheaper, shorter versions of things that look like TV is a recipe for disaster. Tackle interesting subjects in interesting ways. TV is already online. How is a cheaper shorter version more competitive or compelling?
