Kaltura: Wiki meets YouTube by way of Yochai Benkler

One of the most interesting presentations at the Web Video Summit today was Shay David, Chief Technology Officer of Kaltura, talking about their business, which they summarize in one phrase as “Wiki meets YouTube.” Their site provide a set of tools that allows groups of users to collaborate online in the creation and remixing of rich media. They are capturing the synergy between two macro trends, peer production and video sharing. Kaltura offers an SDK and is engaging partners to build collaborative video authoring capabilities into their sites. Among their goals is to build the largest network of remixable materials. I think this would be of interest to video journalists, documentary filmmakers, and mission based organizations. I also find it very interesting that Shay is inspired by the ideas of shared cultural production which have been eloquently articulated by Yochai Benkler.

The RIAA thinks you are a criminal

Have you ever made a copy of a CD you own onto your computer so you can listen to it in iTunes or your iPod? Well, going after Jammie Thomas
was just the tip of the iceberg, now the RIAA claims that making a copy of a CD you own onto your computer is illegal. This goes too far. A ridiculous, desperate act. Now is the time to stop buying music from any of the record labels that make up the RIAA. There’s plenty of good independent music out there to keep you going while the RIAA sorts out its evil ways.

Linking those who make media with those who need media

The web video explosion is creating demand for content and service exchanges that work at internet speed. Two among the many players in this space are bid4vid and Cutcaster. Cutcaster was established a year ago as an exchange for professional video and photos that allows buyers and sellers to set licensing terms and price, and helps media makers find the right price based on current market conditions. bid4vid is a nascent Los Gatos, California start-up, might be on to something, they are building a video exchange linking those who make media with those who need media. It’s too early in their evolution to know how well it’s going to work out, but it’s certainly a good idea. Right now their web site is very sparse, but more information should be available soon.

Organizing a gel collection

As you collect more and more gels and diffusion, organization and storage becomes important. I store my gels and diffusion using the following two holding methods (as far as rolls go, those usually live in their original boxes).
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Time viewers spend on then net is rivaling TV time

An IBM survey of consumer behavior, reported by the Hollywood Reporter in the article “Study: TV is taking a back seat” by Georg Szalai, documents that the time consumers spend on the Internet is rivaling their TV time. I took away two interesting data points from the article: First is that “consumers are divided over their preferences for free online content with ads or subscription fee-based content without commercials. About a third is for free content, but about 20% are willing to pay for the HBO-style model” according to the IBM report. Second is the stark numbers documenting television’s decline as our primary media device, according to the survey, “19% of respondents said they spend six hours or more each day on personal Internet usage. That compares with 8% who said so about the TV. One to four hours of TV usage was reported by 66%, compared with 60% for the Web.” Any netizen understands this trend, and it reflects my own experience, but it often takes numerous reports of stark numbers to wake up the sleeping giants. And when they awake, it will be an awakeing of “Jurrasic Park” proportions, although, in the end, the smaller, smarter, nimbler little creatures win out in the end. We’ll see how it plays out.

Phillippe Lejeune’s videos

Philippe Lejeune shoots videos of art exhibits and media events and then presents them on the web in a unique style, check them out at Videos Without a Blog and Art Education in the Digital Age. I always enjoy his perspective on events. Philippe also teaches a drawing class.

Short films fare better in new distribution paradigm

Shorts have always gotten short shrift in distribution, with features pushing them aside, however, the web is changing the rules and paid downloads looks like a good way for shorts to have some life in distribution and earn a little cash for their makers. One evidence point for this trend is a recent story in Variety, “Sundance expands online plan” by Michael Jones reports that the 2008 Sundance Film Festival will be pay filmmakers in the shorts program for Internet downloads through iTunes, Xbox LIVE and Netflix. According to the festival, year some short films saw revenues in the “tens of thousands of dollars,” even after iTunes and the Sundance Institute took their fees.

Boston Media Makers, Meeting Notes, December 2, 2007

It was another inspiring, interesting, and entertaining meeting of the Boston Media Makers , which has become carved in stone in my calendar for the first Sunday of every month. We meet at Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain with founder and master of ceremonies Steve Garfield.

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