It is free.

Again if you have a b or c level idea you don’t mind shooting and then losing for 10k go for it. If they want a hut how about calling my agent and taking a pitch and business proposal?

Why it verges on being a scam is that it is the producers who are funding Hitvidi’s start. Think about it. Hitvidi is paying AFTER the producer delivers the product. If that wasn’t bad enough, there’s no guarantee that the producer will win the contest. The producer is gambling with probably very little chance of winning. And if they do win, they will very likely barely break even.

As Hitvidi likes to talk about “how the world works”, okay, let us talk about how the world of TV production works. Successful producers never produce their own money. The money they use to produce either comes from clueless suckers (a.k.a. “investors” … a.k.a. conned dentists, doctors, lawyers, and rich widows), advertisers (which are EXTREMELY hard to land), or from distributors. A network (broadcast or cable) is essentially a distributor. They KNOW they can sell ads and have a LONG history of successfully selling ads on shows. Producers go to these networks and pitch their shows to them. If the network likes their pitch, they’re given development money to make a pilot. If the network likes their pilot (or it airs as a “special” and gets good ratings … which is how “Mythbusters”, “Dirty Jobs”, “Jon & Kate Plus Eight”, “Ice Road Truckers”, and many other cable shows got their start), they’re given money for either a full or, if they have some doubts, a half season of shows. If the show performs acceptably, they get a renewal and everyone is happy forever and ever.

Note who is taking the risk. The network. Not the producer. The opposite is the case with Hitvidi.

But my guess is that Hitvidi doesn’t have any advertisers lined up yet. And the reason why they don’t have a single advertiser is because they don’t have a single product (a.k.a. a show) to show them. They’re hoping to get that FREE from producers that enter their “contest”. Looking over their website, this seems to be the case. And look over their website. No industry name attached to it. Heck, no name of any individual attached to it. Click on their “About Hitvidi” link and you’ll see no one there.

Not only no named individual but no show is listed on their website. Hello??? Where’s your track record of shows? You say you’re the “the place for hit shows”. Okay. Where are they? I see none on your website. Hit or flop. None. And where’s your record of landing advertising contracts with major corporations? Heck, where is one with even a one-man tobacco shop? Given this, let me be major cynic here and speculate that you, Hitvidi, might be hoping to shop the entered shows around during the “judging” period and only declare ten winners after you land advertisers for the shows. Those shows landing advertisers being declared the contest winners. If that is the case, this IS a scam. You pay nothing upfront and only pay the producers AFTER you have made a sale.

Now if Hitvidi is really a distributor, then it should act as one. They should drop the contest and solicit pitches. They should also tell what kind of shows they’re looking for. The ten best pitches get $10,000 each to produce a pilot for their shows. Or better yet, I’d suggest three winners that get $33,000 each or even just one winner that gets $100,000. The more a producer can spend, the higher the production values the show will have. That’s reality. And this way the producers risk only their time doing the pitch and nothing else.

But Hitvidi will have to offer more than just money to attract good producers. They will have to explain how they will promote the shows and, most importantly, demonstrate that they have advertisers lined up and waiting. If they don’t have a stable of advertisers, they can only allude to possible ad revenue share but must be honest about its chances. And those chances are VERY slim in these recessionary times. If that is the case (which I suspect it is), they should simply admit that they are really hoping that one of the shows will become a hit and that such will be what they’re hoping will launch their company. Then producers know the score. The realistic producers will only expect to get $10,000 (or $33,000 or $100,000) for making a pilot and not get their hopes up for anything else. A mere credential (insignificant at $10,000 and minor at $100,000) that they can list on their production website. If this is the case and they’re honest about it, I think they’ll get some decent pitches from experienced small production companies … like Marabella Productions (http://marabellaproductions.com/).

So, Hitvidi, what is it?

And this contest does feel sort of like those contests-dressed-as-jobs that are posting around lately. The ones promising directors $5k in pay to create online ads for big advertisers. Then you learn you have to make the ad on your own dime, and you only get paid if you win a contest. One job post I noticed recently “paid $5k”. You got forwarded to a contest to create an online video ad for a popular university. Can you imagine some recent graduate from that school looking for a job and coming across that?

These are funny times. Very funny times.

That puts a succinct ribbon on it.

I have yet to see a Video Creator’s Contest that is a “Win, Win.” for both the sponsor and the video producer.

Why can’t we just win the $10,000?

On one hand, there is no advantage to making anymore than the minimum number of episodes since you’re paid $10,000 spread over the number of episodes you make. If this is true, a producer should find out what is the minimum (5? 1?) and only produce that. Forget about trying to make a “smash hit” since, let us be honest, for only $2,000 a episode max for a mere five episodes that isn’t going to happen. Yes, it could. I could also theoretically be elected President. In fact, I’d be more willing to wager that I’ll be occupying the Oval Office than making a cheap smash hit.

And who cares how much the producer keeps as their own profit? What is this? Socialism? What should only matter is the popularity of the show. And who cares what the music video producers get for their show? Are you wanting only music videos?

As for rights and “how the world works”, you’re not ABC, NBC, Fox or anyone close to them. If you think you can operate as them do then PAY like they do. You don’t so you need to give up a LOT more to get content. Offering peanuts to wear a straight jacket is almost delusional. Oh, I’m sure you’ll get some willing to bite but them producing a smash hit is where the delusions come in.

Your “take or leave it” attitude doesn’t help your pitch.

If you want to attract producer, I’d suggest creating an incubator studio. Your website then lays out all that it offers. Not just what equipment but what personnel they will have access to and can be helped by. Wannabe producers then pitch their shows (just like in Hollywood) and you select the best. This is a return to the studio system but that wasn’t that bad of a system and might make for a good model for an incubator studio.