As part of our new Super Fan podcast series, we met with Chris Adams after last year’s Digital Hollywood conference to discuss his experience working with both movie producers and web producers. We focused on how these two very different organizational cultures need to learn from each other to realize the potential for online video and social media. Having done lots of work with both web based companies and feature film producers, Chris is able to provide excellent insights into the challenges these companies face in this era of new media. He understands the differences between the cultures and the need for help in bridging the gap.

In this podcast, Chris provides some great perspective on the organizational and personnel challenges these companies face in the transition to new business models. He describes the role that social marketing and super fans played in helping properties like Syriana and An Inconvenient Truth break out and build audiences. This podcast interview provides a behind the scenes view into where things are now and some of the major changes to come.

 

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Chris is founder and president of Orbit Media Group, where he consults with media and internet companies creating partnerships, programming and relationships between and to the benefit of media, entertainment and online brands. His current clients range from Facebook.com, one of the fastest-growing internet companies on earth, for which he helped to create and produce “Facebook Diaries,” the first-ever hybrid user-generated video/reality TV show to be distributed on Facebook.com, Ziddio.com, Comcast VOD and linear television and the IFC Channel, to HBO to Comcast, the largest cable and broadband company in the US to HBO to Glam.com, the number one site for women to film icons, to Born4Sports, a social network, marketplace and ecommerce platform for sports and sports lifestyle with presence in Europe, Asia and soon, the US.

Prior to launching his own consulting company, Chris co-founded Participant Productions in 2004 with Jeff Skoll, eBay’s first President. Participant’s vision is to create entertainment that inspires audiences to make social change. In this capacity, Chris developed and executed on the business plan, was intimately involved in finding and hiring initial executive personnel and managed the company overall. Participant’s first slate of movies — Syriana, starring George Clooney and Matt Damon; North Country, starring Charlize Theron; Good Night and Good Luck, starring David Strathairn and George Clooney, and the documentary Murderball - were nominated for an unprecedented 11 Academy Awards. Chris is also proud to have identified and helped to develop former Vice President Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth which won the Oscar for Best Documentary and Gore’s work participated in his being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In addition to the above-mentioned films, Chris developed and Executive Produced Participant’s first feature: American Gun starring Marcia Gay-Harden, Forrest Whittaker, Donald Sutherland, Linda Cardelini and Tony Goldwyn.

Technorati Tags: Chris Adams, Super Fans, social marketing, social media, Digital Hollywood

Chris Brown, CEO of Metabeam, met with me at Digital Hollywood and told me about his company Metabeam. Metabeam makes menus, and not just any menus, but dynamic menus that help us navigate our DVDs and empower fans in new ways. Properties such as Terminator 2, Crash, Stargate and a host of others use Metabeam’s interactive menu technology to add extra features and interactivity to the DVDs. This is an important technology that helps engage and enrich the experience for true media fans.

 

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Chris also told me about SimpleRom, an exciting new service for integrating DVD and web experiences. The services intent is to create a shift in the way that DVD producers migrate fans from existing content to new features, content and related fan fair on the Web. When a user puts a CD or DVD with SimpleRom in a Windows computer, the disc’s main feature (usually a video or music track) will begin playing in the user’s default media player software. Behind the media player, the user’s default Web Browser will display the Web page or url of designated by the DVD producer. SimpleRom is available on a pay-as-you go or subscription basis. The pay as you go plan costs $69 per disc image, monthly subscriptions run $99 per month.

Metabeam is also launching an interesting new service called ChatterFlix that allows users to chat while watching a synchronized playback of DVDs. ChatterFlix is definitely worth watching to see how it develops.

Technorati Tags: Metabeam, DVD, DVD menu, Digital Hollywood, Chris Brown, SiimpleRom

Chey Bell, host of Outside Voice, was hosting NowLive when I spoke with NowLive’s CEO Kevin Bromber. Chey and I had a good conversation about Digital Podcast, super fans, social media, podcasting and how people can promote their podcasts. If you have a show of your own it has some good tips for promoting your podcast.

About Outside Voice:

Chey’s show delves into the hot-button social and political issues of the week, Outside Voice delivers a fresh perspective, and a chance for anyone to participate in the discussion. You can chat with public figures, analysts, and entertainers as Chey conducts a virtual town hall meeting that is smart, timely, and interactive. Add your voice every Wednesday, 7pm- 8pm PST.

 

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Technorati Tags: Chey Bell, NowLive, podcasting, podcast promotion, social media, super fans, Digital Hollywood

Kevin Bromber, CEO & Founder of NowLive, met with me at Digital Hollywood to tell me about NowLive, a social broadcasting service that lets you run your own multimedia TV channel. And it wasn’t the usual interview as NowLive was in the middle of broadcasting live from Digital Hollywood, so we did the interview and it was broadcasted live. Chey Bell, host of Outside Voice, was the host at the time so she and I had a good conversation afterwards. I will post that half of the conversation on another podcast post.

 

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About NowLive in their own words

NowLive is a social broadcasting network that lets anyone create a live, interactive talk shows, take callers, share media, syndicate podcasts, and more. NowLive empowers you to connect any time with peers, fans, friends, and new and interesting people. Communicate and promote the things that matter to you most! Who uses NowLive? Celebrities! Join Adrianne Curry, Christopher Knight, Bobbi Billard, Christine Dolce (ForBiddeN), Somaya Reece, and more! Bloggers (sport, political, travel, fashion, music…) - take your blog to the next level and host a weekly call in show at your blog site. MySpacers: create an interactive party line with all your friends. As one of our members said, “It’s like MySpace on Crack”. Bands: Start an international live concert from your garage. YahooGroups: add live teleconferencing to the group. Fantasy Sport: Have the commissioner of your league host a weekly get together so teams can negotiate real time trades and brag about last weeks standings. Businesses: invite your customers to an online Q&A session; Friends & Family! - this is a great way for your friends or family to share great conversation and experiences from different locations, all within a rich-media environment.

Technorati Tags: Digital Hollywood, NowLive, social broadcasting, social media, online video, Kevin Bromber, Chey Bell

I met with CacheLogic’s Chief Marketing Officer John Dillon at Digital Hollywood. John talked to me about Cache Logic’s approach to content distribution. The company provides a native peer to peer content distribution network that competes with companies like Akamai and Limelight Networks.

 

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Cachelogic has developed what it calls VelociX, a media delivery platform that combines P2P technology with a global network of content caches built using the vendor’s P2P Management Solution. Content is cached on these servers and that means large media files — such as movies, TV programs, and games — can be downloaded over a broadband connection in minutes instead of hours.

The real benefits, however, start to kick in when the end users’ computers start contributing to the content distribution as well. It increases the capacity dramatically and cuts the costs at the same time.

A number of other companies have tried to provide similar services using a client only approach. CacheLogic’s base network acts like a super P2P network that is available even if local peers are not. That increases availability on the network and helps speed up the last segment download which can be a problem on P2P services based only on distributed clients.

If you need to move large files, CacheLogic is worth checking out.

Technorati Tags: CacheLogic, P2P, Digital Hollywood, CDN, content distribution

Alex Blum, CEO of KickApps, met with me at Digital Hollywood. KickApps like some of the other companies Digital Podcast interviewed at the show provides an on demand white label social network application. Unlike some of the other services, KickApps can be self administered and if you are willing to give up some advertising inventory KickApps can be used without cost.

 

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A KickApps-enabled website provides your visitors with a complete rich media community experience. Users are invited to upload media and create their very own “personal space” directly at your site. Site visitors are provided with easy to use media management tools to manage their personal space. Similarly, your site administrator is provided an array of easy-to-use media management and administrative tools to ensure that only appropriate content makes it on to your website.

KickApps has a rich feature set focused on social networking, community building and managing user generated content.

Sites that use KickApps have lots of features to choose from including uploading videos, audio and photos, user customizable profiles, guest books, blogs, feeds and a variety of widgets. They also go beyond technology and offer help via white papers such as their current whitepaper called Nine Steps to a Successful Online Community which you can download for free.

You can use KickApps for free if you allow KickApps to take part of the advertising. If you want to keep all the advertising for yourself, then you can use their paid version which is based upon a CPM model.

This is definitely worth checking out if you want to add social networking features to your site.

Technorati Tags: KickApps, Social Networking Application, Social Networking, Digital Hollywood

Rex Wong, CEO of DAVE Networks, met with me at Digital Hollywood. DAVE Networks provides white label social networks. That means that DAVE Networks provides the infrastructure to power sites like America’s Funniest Home Videos, Stargate’s Community and Dave.TV. The users of the sites don’t see DAVE Networks, they see the customer’s brand. The customers get the benefits of offering a wide range of social community tools to their users.

 

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The system provides the tools to deploy a custom social broadcast network, including

• Self publishing
• Video upload, download, rating, comments
• Blog, video blog, moblog
• DAVE points system
• A modular player can be customized with your brand and embedded in user’s MySpace, blog or web page
• User contests

Rex also told me about an exciting new project that DAVE Networks has launched called Next.TV. NEXT.TV, a competitor to the much hyped Joost, is a new Internet TV service that delivers over 50 channels of high quality TV content. NEXT.TV’s content is sponsored by advertisers so that you can get premium TV content for free.

NEXT.TV will be available initially in October 2007 on HP consumer notebooks. A version will also be available to the general public shortly thereafter for download of which you can sign up to be part of the Private Beta Program by signing up at www.next.tv.

Technorati Tags: DAVE Networks, Rex Wong, Next.TV, IPTV, online video, video, Digital Hollywood

David Becker, Chief Marketing Officer, of ExpoTv told me the ExpoTV story. I had not heard of ExpoTV before I met David, but I checked it out as soon as I could. ExpoTV is a place where regular people get to review products and make a few bucks in the process.

 

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ExpoTV is a great find. It has over 200,000 user generated reviews on everything from Art Supplies to Video Games and everything in between.

The site encourages users to post their reviews and ExpoTV will pay you to do it. The payments seem to range from $2 up to $10 for a review depending upon product category and how many more reviews ExpoTV needs for a given category. There’s also a pay for plays component to the payment as a bonus.

You can even get seen on 23 million TVs as ExpoTV puts together a TV show based on the submitted videos. ExpoTV’s Video On Demand Network is available through Comcast Cable, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Mediacom Communications, Insight Communications, Bright House Networks, VerizonFiOS, Bresnan Communications, Blue Ridge Communications, and PurDigital Media.

As for a business model, ExpoTV seems to have lots of options. Selling products right with the reviews seems like a natural. And if they don’t want to sell things themselves it seems like you should be able to put up really relevant advertising to people who are in shopping mode. The other big option is to set it up as a platform that other sites can use to put up a quick review of an interesting product.

ExpoTV is worth watching. Here’s a sample - Go Halo:)

Technorati Tags: ExpoTV, David Becker, User Generated Reviews, UGC

Definitely worth checking out.

Anne Keegan of Vividas met with me at Digital Hollywood to discuss streaming full screen high definition video.

 

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Vividas provides technology and services that enable video streaming live or on demand, full-screen and up to high-definition quality. Vividas’ technology allows the user to view content over a variety of bandwidths without needing to install software.

Vividas’ technology offers an array of online video streaming options. The technology can be used for pay-per view movies, live events, Internet television, corporate advertisements, movie trailers and more.

The Vividas PPV technology provides filmmakers an easy to implement, high-quality presentation that, unlike other competing technologies, requires no player download and plays instantly in full-screen on virtually every computer. Vividas technology has powered a number of previous online film successes such as “The Secret,” for which Vividas received a Webby Award nomination.

The Vividas technology completely changes the economics of movie distribution providing both the streaming and also the payment infrastructure. A great example of how Vividas can provide a pay per view infrastructure for movie producers can be found at Home:The Movie.

“As an independent filmmaker, we had to get through many gate keepers with ‘Home,’ the final one being distribution. Formerly, if a filmmaker couldn’t get through that gate, the film went on the shelf,” said filmmaker Dawn Scibilia. “Because of the Internet and Vividas, that final gate is nonexistent and we can deliver ‘Home’ directly to our audience. The quality of the video is good and will only get better, it’s an affordable solution and the fact that it plays automatically and in full-screen are all big pluses as well.”

And here are some links to some great high definition movie trailers that show off Vividas in action.

It’s exciting to see what Vividas is doing as it is the kind of technology that will ultimately completely change the video value chain. Watch out Hollywood.

Technorati Tags: video, streaming, video value chain, video distribution, pay per view, ppv, digital hollywood

David Bankston, Executive Vice President and CTO of Neighborhood America, sat down with me to talk about Enterprise Social Networks. Neighborhood America is in the business of helping enterprises create and manage social networks. They provide a software as a service based platform to enable uploads of user generated content, user web pages, and social networking tools.

 

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They have quite few customers in both the business & media sector and the public sector. The service powers sites like Fox News where Neighborhood America powers Fox News uReport section that enables users to upload content to Fox News. It also powers HGTV’s Rate My Space community site where users can share, comment on and rate photos of redecorating projects.

They have a very impressive list of clients using the service to power various aspects of their websites. If you need an enterprise class social network for your site, Neighborhood America should be on your list of potential vendors.

Technorati Tags: Neighborhood America, social networks, Digital Hollywood