Hollywood & The Web A Relationship That Can Last

Over the past few years the web has become a major entertainment hub for both everyday people and major Hollywood studios. This is mostly due to the low production costs and instant worldwide distribution. In a matter of minutes your content can be viewed my millions of people and help launch or reestablish a career.

First I want to take a look at those who have used the web as a means of creating a career for themselves. Back on October 17, 2010 three friends got together and filmed the first episode of what would become Epic Meal Time. They took an idea of creating the most ridiculous food combinations and mixing in a little Canadian stereotype and created a hit show. Each episode earns millions of views, merchandise options like T-shirts, flavored maple syrup and bacon flavored spreads. The popularity of their channel earned them appearances on late night TV and a live show tour that typically sells out in minutes. Most recently Epic Meal Time moved its show from YouTube to the Internet TVstation Revision 3 who was actually just purchased by Discovery Communications.

Another great example is how Freddie Wong has taken advantage of YouTube and how it has helped create his career. FreddieW uploads videos showcasing his and partner Brandon Laatsch Visual Effects abilities. Freddie and Brandon’s work has brought them opportunities to work with companies like Microsoft, Electronic Arts and McDonald’s.

Of course, it wasn’t always fun and games for those who took to the web as their means of sharing their content. For the longest time Hollywood was scared of the web and didn’t know how to approach it. One of the first real companies to do so was CBS with their webseries Clark and Michael. It followed fictional versions of Michael Cera and Clark Duke trying to get their TV series produced. This was a bold move for CBS especially since they did it in 2007 when no one was really viewing the web as anything more than for web searching and emailing.

Now days just about every company is the web to release behind the scene videos, exclusive content and anything else they think people want to watch. However, most of them aren’t taking full advantage of what the web truly offers. Most recently Hulu and Netflix have been stepping their game up with original series like Battleground and Lilyhammer.

Netflix is also taking advantage of their internet streaming service and using it to bring shows like ArrestedDevelopment and Jericho back to life. These shows didn’t have long lives on their respected networks, but have such a strong fan base that bringing them back to life would be profitable for Netflix. Plus, there are no network constraints or limitations.   

Finally, I think the big thing that really has Hollywood watching what is happening with the web is the award shows that have taken life to honor those who release content on the web. The Streamy’s and Webby’s are the two biggest awards for the Internet and over the past few years some big Hollywood names have been nominated and won these awards. When your big players are taking advantage of the web and you are really holding back because you don’t know how to use it says something.

I know that when I begin my career I am going to be taking advantage of the Internet any way I can to help promote my content and create original content for it. It is a cheap and effective way to get an idea out there and show people what you are capable of doing. 

Going Digital and Why It Helps Make You A Better Filmmaker

If you were to take a closer look at the landscape of Hollywood today you will notice something different. These days it seems like more and more musicians, actors, writers, directors and producers are getting their start on site like YouTube and Funny or Die. Those new outlets have given people a voice that no one can really ignore and are being rewarded for their talent. People like Justin Beiber, Freddie Wong, Epic Meal Time and many others all got their start by uploading a video to the internet and letting the viewers do the rest.

Now one might say that the main reward is getting noticed and getting that big Hollywood deal everyone dreams of, but in reality there is a lot more behind it. By adopting the Do-It Yourself attitude most of these people are getting a crash course in the entertainment industry. With one simple video they will experience things like copyright infringement/protection, digital distribution, creating something that has a lasting impact and taking advantage of a growing technology.

Last year YouTube wanted to give their uploaders a crash course on copyright infringement with their “YouTube Copyright School.” With a short 4 minute video YouTube gave uploaders the dos and don’ts of using music, images and video that fall under copyright law. This simple video would help you avoid having your work taken down due to it infringing on someone else’s work. YouTube itself took advantage of itself by giving everyone this video. One of the things YouTube did to protect itself is that if you were found to be in violation of copyright infringement you were mandated to watch the video and take a short quiz before you can publish a new video.

Another great thing about using YouTube as your means of distributing your content is that they allow you to take advantage of their partner program. By being a YouTube partner you are able to get paid for all the content you upload to your channel. This allows users to make money through advertisements, likes and comments. YouTube is giving their users a way to monetize their channel and help them create better content. Of course, this isn’t going to allow everyone to experience the full perks of being a YouTube partner, but it is a start to getting people noticed and rewarded for their hard work.

However, just like with everything else new Hollywood has taken a stand for and against the internet. Now up until a few years ago Hollywood feared and hated the internet due to it allowing anyone free access to their content. Most of those means weren’t “legal” so Hollywood took advantage of what was out there. Services like YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, iTunes and Amazon offered Hollywood a way to get their content to the masses and get paid for it. Still you can tell the entertainment industry is afraid of the internet and as President of Participant Television Evan Shapiro put it, “The current and perhaps scariest Bogey Man yet is the INTERWEBS.” Little by little the entertainment industry is taking advantage of these new outlets. These outlets are the future of the industry.  

All of this wouldn’t be possible either if it weren’t for technology helping people get their content out there. Professional cameras are available to anyone for a few thousand dollars and even Hollywood is using them. Back on May 17^th 201o the season finally of House was shot on the Canon 5D Mark II. Most recently the Canon 5D Mark II helped out on a little movie entitled The Avengers. By taking advantage of these great and somewhat cheap cameras just about anyone can create professional looking content.

I don’t know why the entertainment industry is slow to fully taking advantage of the internet and the technology out there. The means of copyright protection and distribution services like YouTube and Hulu offer allow Hollywood to take more risks on creating more original content. Instead of worrying about bottom line they can use the internet as a means of testing material before committing huge sums of money to a project. I honestly look forward to how they will continue to embrace everything available to them. 

Kickstarter has been impressing me lately and honestly I really want to back Brydge. 

The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises Marketing Campaign's are Top Notch

Yesterday, the folks over at Warner Brothers kicked off their latest marketing campaign for The Dark Knight Rises. Upon heading over to thedarkknightrises.com you are greeted by a folder from the Gotham Police Department on their investigation into the anonymous vigilante known as "The Batman."

Inside you get to view the warrant to arrest John Doe aka “The batman” and his list of charges, the wanted poster from the Gotham Police Department and a letter from the Office of the Commissioner stating that the search for “The Batman” will continue on Harvey Dent Day. From there the real marketing campaign takes off. The last few pages of the file are a list of locations worldwide where you can view the bat symbol as graffiti. They suggest that people suggest photographic evidence of the graffiti by emailing it or using a hash tag on Twitter.

Now the reason I am bringing this up is because the people who create and manage the marketing for the Batman franchise are amazing at what they do. They have created two of the greatest campaigns I have ever witnessed. They find new and interesting ways to get the fans involved and reward them for their participation.

Back in 2007 when marketing for The Dark Knight kicked off with the viral marketing campaign with the fictional political campaign of Harvey Dent by using the caption, “I Believe in Harvey Dent.” Users went to a website to show their support for the fictional District Attorney for Gotham City. Soon after they launched a vandalized version of the website done by The Joker called, “I Believe in Harvey Dent too.” From their emails were sent out to have fans interact by submitting pictures to slowly reveal a photo of The Joker.

The marketing campaign gained momentum at Comic-Con 2007 where a scavenger hunt lead fans to unlock a teaser trailer for the film and a new photo of The Joker. Soon they would kick this scavenger hunt off worldwide and allow people to submit pictures of themselves as The Joker to receive a copy of the fictional The Gotham Times. On February 2008 they would kick off an I Believe in Harvey Dent tour where tour buses would travel worldwide to promote Dent’s candidacy for district attorney.

Marketing for The Dark Knight Rises kicked off in May of last year when the official website was launched. Users were greeted by an audio file of chanting and were encouraged to tweet the link. When enough people promoted the website a pixel of an image was removed until is officially revealed the films villain Bane. Next various magazine companies would receive CIA documents concerning a "Dr. Leonid Pavel.” If you went to see Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in IMAX then you were able to watch the first six minutes of the film linking to those leaked CIA documents.

Now with the current viral campaign on its way one can only imagine what it will lead to. In all honestly it really doesn't matter because these two campaigns have been amazing thus far. I have never seen such dedication from people to unlock or take part in events then I have with the marketing for The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. The folks at Warner Brothers have really out then themselves time and time again. Also, I have yet to see anyone really come close to what they have done.    

Pulp Fiction vs. Siri

Pulp Fiction is one of my all time favorite movies and the first Tarantino film I saw. This mash-up between Jules and Siri is pretty great.

How Snoop & Dre Got Pac on Stage

I hope you love this as much as I did. Also, I love the new ideas this technology opens for films. I just hope George Lucas doesn't steal it so he can re-re-re-release the original Star Wars films.

Are Movie Trailers Going Too Far?

I don’t know about you, but there are different levels of hype for me when it comes to movies. Most of the time I get excited just by seeing a certain star or director is attached to a great idea. However, most of the time I am iffy about an idea and wait for the trailer to sell me that this concept will work. Just like everyone else seeing a movie trailer is a key ingredient into convincing me to spend my money to see a specific film.

Studios have 60 to 120 seconds to either confirm that the film will be good or prove to me that any doubts I had should be casted aside. Unfortunately, it seems like these days studios prefer to take that elated time and spoil most of the film for me. Now I know most people won’t notice that they just saw major plot points and events happen on screen, but when I do it infuriates me.

I remember being excited for Funny People because I felt Adam Sandler was about to get his career back on track. The trailer reassured me that this film was going to be funny and be worth my hard earned $14 dollars. So I went to see it and when I walked out I was mad because the trailers spoiled the film by including all the funny parts and plot points. If I had known that I would have just re-watched every trailer instead of wasting my money.

For some reason Hollywood believe this is good practice. A few years ago there would only be one or two trailers for a film. Now days you have a teaser trailer, two to four trailers and if it calls for it a red band trailer if the film is rated R. It also seems like studios no longer believe they can sell a film with a 60 second trailer since most are longer than two minutes.

Jason Evans of the Wall Street Journal asks, "Why spoil one of the big surprises in the movie? The obvious answer is… money! Hollywood uses trailers to put butts in seats. If the marketing people think they have to spoil the film to sell tickets, they have no problem doing it.” Trailers are supposed to make you want to figure out the major twist in a film not give it away. They are supposed to make you want to know if a character survived and not show them walking away from disaster.

Another major problem Hollywood is facing with trailers is with those for best-selling book adaptions. You already are dealing with fans of a series who want the material done right. They already know the major plot points and the ending. Only thing is you have to show them that you casted their favorite characters correctly and are following the story as best you can.

Emine Saner of The Guardian brings up, “David Nicholls's novel One Day has already sold more than a million copies; perhaps that's why the team who turned it into a movie didn't worry about giving the plot away. How else to explain why the trailer appears to summarize the whole story? In three minutes you learn, for instance, that the two main characters meet at university, flirt, fall out, get married (not to each other) and get together when they're older.”

Hollywood is going down a dangerous path with how they are presenting their films. Even though countless people might not realize a trailer is spoiling a film for them, those of us do tend to avoid said film then. Now can I avoid watching trailers for The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises so that I am as excited as I was when they started filming? Yes.

I’m just saying that trailers these days are over stepping their boundaries and honestly hurting business more than helping it.

[Image via EOnline]