The flip side of the quarterlife flop

Articles have reported that quarterlife, the online episodic that NBC licensed for television broadcast, was deemed unsuccessful when it attracted something like three million viewers on Tuesday night. In terms of broadcast television economics, that’s considered a failure, but there are a number of factors here, not the least is that it was set it up for failure from the start. But failure in broadcast does not mean the show itself is a failure, which by internet standards is quite successful in terms of the vibrancy of its online community which is evolving nicely.
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Open Television Network lauched to serve the fat middle of the long tail

The Open Television Network (OTN) was launched last month with the goal of providing a distribution network for the “fat middle” of the Long Tail, helping to build a “middle class” of media publishers. It’s a framework that allows small media producers to sell video through iTunes using RSS feeds. And that’s the clever twist behind their approach.
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Reframe Offers a New Model for Online Film Distribution

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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Kevin Anderton knows: keep it short, make it funny, and get it online

There’s been a lot of talk lately about D.I.Y. distribution among filmmakers. The discussion is fueled by the realization that the Internet with social networking and video delivery tools presents new opportunities to connect with an audience. Which reminds me how much things have changed since I started out on my journey as a filmmaker. Back in 1991 I remember talking with underground filmmaker Jon Moritsugu outside of the Eye Gallery in San Francisco after a screening of his underground hit, Hippy Porn. In some ways, everything has changed since then, and in other ways, things remain the same. This is an excerpt from my article, “DIY Distribution” (New England Film, July, 2007)

Beyond Theatrical: Handout

On Saturday during the “Beyond Theatrical: New Opportunities for Distribution” panel at the Roxbury Film Festival I promised I’d post a handout and here’s a link to the document: Macro-Trends-v2.pdf (PDF, 164KB). I welcome any comments or crtiticism you might have of the piece. It’s based on my article “Macro Trends in Media and Entertainment” that originally appeared in Imagine (Vol. 9, No. 90 (December 2005/January 2006).

Sell a Movie (or Fail) in Four Hours

In today’s New York Times, I read “ How to Sell a Movie (or Fail) in Four Hours” an article by Adam Leipzig, president of National Geographic Feature Films, providing an amusing and succinct description of the challenges studio executives face today bringing movies to market, he states, “If you think life is moving too fast - hyped up with BlackBerries, blogs, podcasts and instant messages - imagine what it is like to run a movie studio these days.” The macro changes in the distribution landscape might be a headache for studio executives, but I think it spells boundless opportunities for filmmakers who see the marketing of their films as an entrepreneurial process taking advantage of all that the internet has to offer.