Gravityland debuts on March 3rd
March 1, 2008
There is a gradual revolution of quality original media emerging on the net. One example of this is Gravityland, scheduled to debut on March 3rd, a web series about people trying to get a grip on their world with a new episode every week. In addition to weekly episodes Gravityland will feature a blog with live video streams, viewer challenges, interviews, podcasts, and more, five days a week. Gravityland was created by multi-hyphenate John Herman and if it’s anything at all like his previous endeavors, we’re in for a special treat. 
coBRANDiT at the North American International Auto Show
January 23, 2008
There’s a change in the wind and I was impressed how GM invited a variety of bloggers to attend the press days of the 2008 North American International Auto Show. I was there shooting video and conducting interviews for coBRANDiT. Owen Mack also shot video. Ryan Eichler of Weber Shandwick did a magnificent job helping me find bloggers and GM execs for the interviews. coBRANDit put together this widget of the videos they produced. Most of the videos were edited by Jessse Buckley and Owen Mack, I edited the “Intro” and “E85″ stories. The pieces are examples of minimalist run-and-gun production, but more importantly, they are examples how “tiny media” can cover an event from a different perspective. Photo of Brian Dooley (HummerGuy.net).
Linking those who make media with those who need media
December 10, 2007
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.
Reframe Offers a New Model for Online Film Distribution
November 15, 2007
We’re finally right in the midsts of the digital media distribution inflection point. Several key trends that have pushed us along include: 1. the ubiquity of digital media and computation, 2. widespread adoption of high-speed internet connections in middle-class households, 3. dramatic improvements in video codecs (H.264), and 4. the popularity of viewing video on the web, fueled by sites like YouTube and Joost. We’re also at a point where a critical mass of media caretakers, rights owners, and media makers are seriously exploring the avenues available for them for digital distribution. There is no shortage of players who are trying to take old media business models and cash in on digital distribution (e.g. Jaman , iTunes , et al.) as well as a whole legion of start-ups experimenting with more interesting business model variations (e.g.Jalipo, Caachi , et al.) and then there are some folks who are thinking more along new lines (e.g. Participatory Culture Foundation , Renew Media , et al.).
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Philippe Lejeune’s video of my Podcamp Boston 2 sessions
November 2, 2007
Artist Philippe Lejeune shot and created a wonderful video page based on the two Sessions I did at Podcamp Boston 2. Thank you Philippe for creating the page, which elevates web video to a new art form (I’m referring to Philippe’s page, not my work). I would love to see an authoring tool that made it easier to create dynamic pages like these that’s easier to use than the existing Flash authoring tools and conceives of video as one of many elements in the design of a page, rather than something that’s relegated to a player like on YouTube. I’ve seen several progams written to construct pages dynamically similar to this, but none that I’ve seen are as easy to use as iMovie. Art leads technical innovation, maybe this is prescient of the next iLife tool, iVideoPage…
Boston Media Makers, July 1, 2007
July 1, 2007
Boston Media Makers meetings are held the first Sunday of every month at Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain. Meeting notes include Len Edgerly’s video of Friday’s iPod frenzy, Christopher Penn’s demo of his new camera stabilization device, and many interesting updates. Here are my notes:
Boston Media Makers, June 3, 2007
June 3, 2007
It’s been a media saturated weekend, first was at the Making Media Now Conference at Boston University on Friday and now its Sunday morning and I’m attending the monthly Boston Media Makers meeting held the first Sunday of every month at Sweet Finnish in Jamaica Plain. The image to the left provides a link to my meeting photos in Flickr.
Making Media Now (slides from Opening Remarks)
June 2, 2007
Here are my slides from the Opening Remarks I made at the Making Media Now: Filmmaking in Transition conference held yesterday at Boston University. A special thanks to Jennifer Kaplan, Bonnie Waltch, and all the people and sponsors who made this lively and engaging event possible.
Jenkins’ nine big ideas regarding YouTube (plus one more)
May 30, 2007
I’ve been a fan of Henry Jenkins’ writing and media analysis ever since I read Textual Poachers
Walter Bender talks about One Laptop Per Child
April 4, 2007
In a recently conversation with an MIT Museum audience, Walter Bender (President, Software and Content Development, One Laptop per Child and formerly Executive Director, MIT Media Laboratory) described the philosophy behind the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project and the progress to date.
