For today’s Five Questions With…, we get some insight from Zadi Diaz, the co-creator and host of Epic Fu, one of web video’s longest-running series. She discusses the importance of net neutrality to online video creators and how HTML5 is helping move things forward. Read more »
The average, tragically unhip American knows of Jenny Slate from her work on Saturday Night Live. However, if you are not tragically unhip, then you perhaps knew that SNL barely scraped the surface of her talents, which especially shine when she works with her friends. Read more »
Today on the Net: A third of young Netflix users substitute the service for pay television, Jeffrey Katzenberg lashes out at 3-D skeptics, Project Canvas incorporates as YouView and Time Warner could lose subscribers in the third quarter. Read more »
In the first 24 hours of Weezer’s YouTube invasion, timed to promote their new album Hurley, the multiple videos featuring cameos by the band earned a combined five million views. But the promotion may not have had much effect on record sales. Read more »
Dailymotion is getting into the Halloween spirit this year by picking up the horror web series Camera Obscura. The 20-episode series will run exclusively on the site beginning Oct. 1, and Dailymotion may soon follow it up with more. Read more »
Let’s talk about Killin’ It With Paul Crik, the work of a self-help philosopher who supposedly offers a 21st century approach to living the life you want. He is ridiculous, yet entertaining — but is it an act, or is it real? Read more »
Until recently, the activity on the Team Coco YouTube account was relatively minimal. Looks like that’s changing in a big way, though, as today Conan O’Brien announced that he’d be taking questions on Facebook and answering them in video form on his YouTube channel. Read more »
The piano man with the giant headphones and hoodie is back: Merton the Chat Roulette Piano Improv Guy, whose improvized piano ditties went viral last March, just released a new video filmed in Denver, where he played live to passersby. Read more »
Google has acquired the Israeli video tour start-up Quiksee, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Rumors of the sale first started this weekend, but were confirmed today by a post on the Quiksee site, making this Google’s 28th acquisition since last August. Read more »
The band Weezer has been a YouTube enthusiast for ages, and to promote their new album Hurley (coincidentally, available in stores today!), they gave YouTubers like Mystery Guitar Man, Fred, and Hot for Words a chance to put the band in their videos. Read more »
Social networks, for the online and addicted, already take up a lot of time and brainspace — but what might happen when the interfaces intrude even more on “real life”? That’s the idea taken to the point of farce with Status Kill. Read more »
MeFeedia CEO Frank Sinton blogs occasionally about his iPad and baseball. But for today’s Five Questions With…, he talks about the value of SEO in the digital landscape, the need for standardized metrics and how he’s been sharing videos with his kids recently. Read more »
To be a fan of Fanboy Funhouse is to embrace geeky pop culture. The weekly pop culture commentary covers movies, comics and video games while also providing social media tips, reporting on robot news and mocking Hollywood douchebags. And there are puppets. Read more »
YouTube’s value isn’t always in introducing us to the newest and most popular videos, but in helping us track down long-forgotten ones. The site YouTube Time Machine serves up nostalgia via a randomized player that allows you to watch videos sorted by year of launch. Read more »
The first annual Vimeo Festival and Awards approaches, with today bringing the announcement of the submissions shortlist, determining the top 20 videos in nine categories — one of which will go on to receive a $25,000 grant and the attention of David Lynch and M.I.A. Read more »
Metacafe is announcing the acquisition of Action Sports, Inc., the defunct web video company whose properties include Go211.com. Fans of Go211′s snow, skate, surf and biking videos will be able to find that content as part of the upcoming Metacafe Sports section. Read more »
Timed perfectly for the eve of the Jewish New Year, Old Jews Telling Jokes, which launched in January 2009, today debuted its 200th episode in conjunction with a book published by Random House. Producer Eric Spiegelman reveals the show’s two secrets to success. Read more »
Wondering how confident MTV is that its Eventful campaign for Savage County will lead to a television premiere? Here’s how confident: They’ve hired Nina Bargiel, who masterminded the Streamy-winning Valemont transmedia experience, to create another interactive web-based narrative for the upcoming slasher film. Read more »
Two guys start filming their friend/younger brother as he starts an online relationship — that’s the genesis of the documentary Catfish. Nev Schulman, Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost tell us how digital storage impacted the film and why people don’t believe it really happened. Read more »
By no means is Philips the first company to turn to web video as a means for spreading their brand — but the “online sitcom” Nigel and Victoria, launching internationally today on YouTube, does bring a big burst of meta with it. Read more »
The final round of voting for Kia’s “Who’s Next” online talent competition begins Sept. 6, with one of four finalists getting $10,000 for best conceptualizing the slogan “a new way to roll.” And, oddly enough, the finalists actually represent YouTube talent. Read more »
The new Apple TV box isn’t the only way to stream digital content to your TV. So that’s why we want to know if you’re finding room for Apple TV in your home entertainment system — or if you’re happy with another solution. Read more »
Being popular on YouTube isn’t just a money-maker in its own right — it can also be a great way to get jobs with other companies. Today’s example: a new Break viral created to promote the release of Machete, directed by Freddie Wong. Read more »
if you’re looking for a example that defines the concept of “derivative television,” here you go: Alloy Entertainment’s First Day has TV-level production values, a strong lead actress and nothing to set it apart from a show intended for television, as opposed to the web. Read more »
The Double Rainbow meme is dead, and it’s assisted suicide, thanks to Microsoft. Over a month after Paul “Bear” Vasquez’s reaction to a double rainbow went viral, Vasquez is now starring in a commercial for Microsoft’s Windows Live Photo Gallery. Read more »
It’s Wednesday, the rent’s due and there’s already been plenty of news today. I can’t think of a better time to kick back and relax with some rad dance videos, including an epic celebration of “street dance” and an great montage of classic dance films. Read more »
During today’s press event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the iTunes store has sold 450 million TV episodes. How will its newly announced 99 cent rental program change the marketplace, especially with Hulu Plus around? It depends what’s on offer. Read more »
At this morning’s Apple press event, CEO Steve Jobs announced a new Apple TV that’s a quarter of the size of the original box, with all-HD content, cloud storage and Netflix and YouTube access. The $229 price is dropping to $99, with pre-orders available today. Read more »
Been wondering what permutation of his name and “late night show” Conan O’Brien would use for the name of his upcoming TBS series? Apparently, a bunch of people have, and in his first official video for Team Coco on YouTube, O’Brien reveals the new show’s name. Read more »
Like it or not, TV and film streaming on a subscription basis has been Netflix’s turf for a while now (sorry, Blockbuster). But Amazon may change that with a proposed web-based subscription service that it’s been pitching around to major studios. Read more »
Violinist and musician Paul Dateh’ss been playing the new media game since 2007, creating videos around his unique mix of classical, jazz and hip-hop sounds. And like any innovator, he’s kept busy with a string of recent projects, including Jon M. Chu’s The LXD. Read more »
San Fran residents, are you busy on Thursday, Sept. 9? Because if you’re not, GigaOM and NewTeeVee want to invite you out to the movies to see a sneak preview of Catfish, a documentary that explores online identity, relationships and love in the time of Facebook. Read more »
Getting seen is one of the toughest challenges for a web series, even a web series like the highly successful Guild. But looking at a survey conducted on The Guild‘s Facebook wall, making a music video seems to be a big help. Read more »
Recent coverage of popular and successful YouTube creators making a profit off their content has lead to a backlash regarding the quality of what’s being created. But dismissing YouTubers means dismissing their genius at audience engagement, doing all of web video a disservice. Read more »
The Arcade Fire’s new album release has been accompanied by relatively new uses of web video; today, thanks to some help from Google’s Chrome, the band’s track We Used to Wait gets an all-HTML5 “musical experience made specifically for the browser.” Read more »
With social media shown to improve ratings for awards shows and tech-savvy Jimmy Fallon hosting, it’s little surprise that last night’s Emmy Awards had enough going on to warrant two-screen viewing. But did seven different live-streamed angles on the backstage action improve the show? Read more »
For today’s 5 Questions With…, meet Peter Csathy of Sorenson Media, who talks about the importance of video quality, shares his favorite Social Network trailer parody, and reveals a recent vote of confidence in Sorenson made by its trustees. Read more »
A recent LA Times profile of “Chief TWiT” Leo Laporte reveals how much fun Laporte seems to be having as a professional podcaster — and also reveals that TWiT may make up to $3 million in revenue in 2010, thanks in part to crowdsourcing. Read more »
Today Google launched a web series for people who care about Google Trends but find the task of actually reading Google Trends too time-consuming and stressful. The Google Beat offers weekly updates on a few of the week’s most popular search terms. Read more »
For most YouTubers, the almighty viewcount reigns supreme — if your video doesn’t break five figures, it doesn’t matter how good it is. It’s an interesting yet at times exhausting attitude — which is possibly why the 0Views blog is so refreshing an experience. Read more »
