1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is holding back the industry?

Hoodlum has been evangelizing about multi-platform storytelling for over 10 years and the constant challenge is the “Lost in Translation” moments we have between the traditional content makers and storytellers and the technologists. Every day we take another step forward in bridging the gap, but every new client means there is an education process.

2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?

Transmedia. When transmedia is not used again, we will know that we have taken the next huge cultural shift, towards an environment where it is simply a given that content and stories are told on different platforms. At the moment, though, the term transmedia is either something that people embrace or is something that they fear.

3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)

I love data visualization, so it would have to be a company that allows me to search, sort and decipher information quickly in an aesthetically-pleasing way. The fact that we have the ability to use broadband to see information on screens in a three-dimensional way (and I don’t mean 3-D!) means we should not have to look at information that resembles a pamphlet on a screen again.

4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?

It would have to be Mark Zuckerberg’s interview at the 2010 Web 2.0 Summit. It’s hardly an original answer, I know, but how can you not be intrigued by the largest game changer of our time? I can’t help but think Facebook is like we are looking at the invention of the transistor radio and can only imagine where we are going to go from here.

5. WILD-CARD: Let’s say I’m an exec at a major media company, and I’ve just hired you to create a transmedia property around a project I’m working on. What is the one thing I could say to you which would prove I don’t understand multiplatform storytelling at all? And what is the one thing I could say which would prove that I do understand it?

Media Exec who is yet to be converted: “I know you are the world leaders in Multiplatform but I just showed my 16-year-old son your stuff and he says it’s too easy.” (Unless your son is Mark Zuckerberg.)

Media Exec who is converted: “I know you are the world leaders in multi-platform, tell me the story you are going to tell. I’ll leave you to interpret how we are going to tell it.”

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1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is holding back the industry?

Content that didn’t start out as a TV show is still undervalued by advertisers, despite being loved by viewers.

But it’s definitely changing. We’ve seen YouTube increasingly included as a ‘channel’ in advertisers’ TV spend as opposed to just getting included in online video budgets. Multiplatform viewing explodes the overly simplistic terminology we use today; when a video is watched by 10 million people every week — five million on a Google TV, three million on their PC and two million on their phone or tablet, what do you call that content? A TV show? A webisode? A mobisode (*shudder* — remember the mobile video industry trying to push that one)? No, you call it content with an audience, and advertisers target audience.

New content creators should be able to increasingly realize “TV CPMs,” which means that you will have a significant increase in your distribution options via YouTube and other services. You can achieve your professional and creative goals without ever having to talk with someone wearing a suit.

2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?

“Premium,” as applied to suggest that something which was filmed on a soundstage is automagically superior (e.g. “They should license more premium content”). Look, I’m not dissing the value of Hollywood and I also don’t think 60-minute scripted dramatic content is going to start appearing overnight from sources other than traditional media.

But I refuse to put content from any one source on a pedestal. If YouTube has proven anything it’s that given a level playing field and democratization of creation tools, anyone can build an audience of millions through good ideas and hard work. So I try and stay away from segmenting content into “premium” and “other.” New vocabulary will emerge as the media industry evolves.

3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)

How about whatever George Strompolos is up to? (Plug for former YouTuber!)

I believe the future of video is still in the living room, it’s just via a large screen connected to the Internet and increasingly with a second screen also available on your laptop/phone/tablet when needed. Accordingly I’d take $10 million and start a living room app development fund. What Android apps should be developed as an on-screen or accompanying experience?

Then I’d take the other $40 million and sprinkle it among all the companies which are helping creators go directly to consumers: Kickstarter (a personal fav), Topspin, Threadless, Etsy for example. Watch out though, guys, I take a board seat with my investment and I have LOTS of opinions.

4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?

Oh, I share a ton of videos (surprise!). I’m a total sucker for tilt-shift videos because I believe they are familiarizing a generation of viewers with a whole new visual language. Here’s a beautiful one of San Francisco (where I live), which I love not just because it’s beautiful but also because it’s a video response to one of New York City (where I grew up).

To see the YouTube community being inspired by one another and riffing on each other’s ideas, man, that’s why we come to work everyday.

5. WILD-CARD: Last month’s rumors that YouTube might acquire Next New Networks had many people reconsidering YouTube’s relationship with the production world (even though, of course, both NNN and YouTube were quick to state that those rumors were speculative). Looking forward at 2011, how is YouTube as an organization strategizing that relationship?

It’s really simple: We’re not a media company — we’re a media catalyst. It’s our goal to see content getting created, help it find the largest audience possible and make the content creators lots of money so they can reinvest in their vision.

To do this, we’ll build tools and a technology platform, but we’re also going to think about other adventurous ways we can be a productive partner. For example, in December we gave $1000 gift certificates to 500 YouTube partners so they could buy new video production gear.

In 2011 you’ll see us be even more creative and broad in our support of content creators because our business is going great and we believe more than ever in the ability for great content to be successful on YouTube. Whether it was produced by one person in their backyard or 1,000 people on a Hollywood backlot, we’re going to help you accomplish your goals.

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1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is holding back the industry?

We started Dynamo because we’re passionate about independent film and video, and we think the biggest barrier to great independent production is the lack of alternatives to the ad-supported distribution model. Companies like Blip.tv have done a great job creating a more level playing field for ad-supported web shows, but the shows that can make a real living on ad dollars are still few and far between. It’s even harder for feature-length content.

The metrics for success in the ad-based world are completely out of whack. Why should it take hundreds of thousands or millions of views to make a buck? If you have good content and you can build an audience, even if it’s an audience of a few hundred, then you should be able to earn real money distributing your content on the web.

2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?

“Free.” Does that count as a buzzword?

Sure, we love our Twitter and Facebook and YouTube and other free services as much as the next guys, but as many online observers have commented before: If you’re not paying for something, chances are you are the product being sold.

All the advantages of distribution on the web should enable a better bargain for the viewer: Pay just a little, and get far more value than you could through any other medium. The promise of the Internet was that it would open countless new doors for independent content creators, but most are still waiting for these doors to open. Some of the highest-quality programs online still struggle with low ad rates, despite the fact that their viewers now sit through almost as many ads as they see on television.

3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)

OK, let’s have a little fun with this. We’re big believers in stretching investment dollars as far as possible, so we’re going to spread it around.

First we’d start with $25 million to Myspace. (Stop laughing and hear us out.) First of all, $25 million would probably get us a pretty big chunk of that operation these days. They may be struggling to redefine themselves, but they did invent the concept of a personal space on the web where people could easily showcase their creative efforts. So what if we combined a re-invented Myspace with Dynamo’s ability to build a real revenue stream? It might just be crazy enough to work.

After that we’d probably spend a few million to buy TechCrunch back from AOL. That’s another one that looks like it would go for a fire-sale price right about now.

With the rest we’d find every promising web show and give them a real budget, with the only caveat that they distribute through Dynamo. If you think about it, a few bucks for an entire season of your favorite web show is a bargain by any measure. Shows could even choose to distribute just a few special episodes through Dynamo and put the rest up for free. The show creators would still earn more than they ever could through advertising, and we’d make our investment back in no time.

4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?

Rob says: Kevin Pollack interviewing Felicia Day, but only after several great Larry King impersonations from other guests.

Will says: Old episodes of Posh Nosh. If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out.

5. WILD-CARD: The Dynamo micropayment player, which you first introduced at SXSW 2010, is still currently in beta, but has been used for projects like an Anyone But Me exclusive music video. Do you feel like you’re on track with the development of the player, and looking forward, what are your plans to increase its reach?

We’re pretty excited about the fact that we’re already paying out thousands of dollars to independent filmmakers and web show creators each month. Right now, a majority of our users are coming from the film industry, as Dynamo is an obvious alternative to selling DVDs and an easy way to put your work online immediately. In the next few months, we’ll be introducing some features to make the system even easier for web series and other short content.

When we first demonstrated the player publicly, we received hundreds of sign-up requests, but only accepted a handful of early users each month. We knew that we would have to throw out assumptions and respond to a lot of early user feedback, which ultimately made Dynamo a much better system when we began inviting more users a few months ago.

One of the biggest challenges was designing Dynamo Player to serve the unique needs of a wide variety of publishers, from feature film distributors to web series producers. For instance, enabling publishers to include several videos into a single program is a necessity for web serials, while the ability to upload a 4 gigabyte HD file is a necessity for feature films. The great thing about having a creative and innovative user base is that they don’t just use the most obvious features like those. Our users tend to experiment with all of the features Dynamo offers, so we are constantly getting useful feedback and improving the system. Constant communication not only means we’ve always got new features in development, but that we are able to building lasting relationships with users as well.

We’ve proven the model and gained some traction around the idea that people really are willing to pay small amounts for good content (as long as you make it easy, fast, and secure), and now we’re focused on building partnerships with existing video distribution platforms, larger libraries of content, online learning companies, and some of the most popular online video destinations.

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1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is holding back the industry?

The lack of definition, accessibility, and value of metrics.

We’ve all heard “what is a view” and “what is the value of a view,” but I’m also thinking steps beyond just views. What about a video embed and it’s value? What is a “retweet” really worth? A “like” or a “share” on Facebook? How easily trackable and accessible are these stats and what is the value of all of them? All these stats have value, some more than others, but right now they’re just undefined and many times inaccessible.

I’ll give you a personal recent example. For the episode of BlackBoxTV I wrote back in December I can go on my Facebook wall and see that seven of my friends posted the YouTube link on their walls — but I only see that because they’ve specifically tagged me in their re-posts. I can also go to each post and see the level of engagement (likes and comments), but I really have no easy way of seeing if anyone else (friends or not) has re-posted/shared the episode on their own walls and not tagged me.

I know there may be privacy issues, but I don’t need to see who exactly has posted the video, just the number of times that YouTube link has been shared with likes and comments. Statistics like these should have incredible value to any type of online campaign, whether it be branded, studio, or independent.

2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?

I’ll go with two:

“Webisode.” Hate it, always will. I do understand, though still dislike, its use in defining web content that is derivative of existing longer-form content (TV or film). The word just makes my skin crawl when I hear it to define original short form content on the web. They don’t call them Telesodes and they didn’t call it Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Moviesode VI.

“Ninja.” Specifically its use in describing how someone can do everything in a given practice. e.g “Social Media Ninja,” “Marketing Ninja.” I’ve always thought of ninjas as these covert agents/assassins without morals and honor who would do whatever it takes — lie, cheat, sabotage, poison, back stab — to get things done. A ninja of anything doesn’t sound like something the industry needs more of as we try to legitimize. Also if you’re really a ninja of anything, why would you announce it to the world?

3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)

I’d put $15 million into an advertising network that is specifically working with independent video creators that already have a significant audience to monetize against — a network that would help them raise the CPMs they are getting or even attach branding.

I’d put $20 million into several distribution studios that are collecting, nurturing, and pushing out content (like Machinima.com).

I’d put the remaining $15 million into companies that are doing app development focusing on interactive video content.

4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?

Future First Person Shooter, by Freddie Wong. From what I can tell it’s his most viewed video ever (BY FAR) and it’s only been out a few weeks. It spoofs Call of Duty: Black Ops and the attention to detail is impressive. Considering that Freddie has also had great videos this year with Andy Whitfield (Spartacus: Blood and Sand), Shenae Grimes (90210) and Kevin Pollak, it goes to show you that star power doesn’t compare to tying into an audience as large as first person shooters, especially using the biggest selling game of the year.

Also, Mama, a short film by Andres Muschietti. This is actually pretty old, but I was showing some filmmaker friends of mine this as a great example of absolutely gripping and thrilling short form content (which I am a huge fan of). It’s gore-free but still incredibly intense. So turn the lights off and turn the volume up!

5. WILD-CARD: In the traditional television world, the writer is in charge of the creative vision for a project. In the film world, the writer is subordinate under the director and producers. What’s the status of the writer in the new media world today, and how do you think it might evolve in the future?

It’s hard to say since most new media shows have the same people directing and writing, so it varies from project to project. It really comes down to who is the producer with the creative control.

Today you see that a vast majority of scripted (especially serialized) web content is shot all at once. Meaning before you start production, you have the entire season/feature/whatever all written out. You then shoot everything in one production run, release it over a block of time, and wait a while (if not forever) for the next run.

In scripted television the writer’s control comes as a necessity because the episodes are shot week to week, and at any given time you have four or six episodes at different states of production. The same time a specific series is shooting Episode 5, they’re prepping to shoot Episode 6, they’re editing Episode 4, they’re polishing the final draft on Episode 7, and they’re writing the first draft of Episode 8. It’s very much a machine because it has to be, production is ongoing and absolutely cannot stop.

For the future, as more scripted shows get bigger and locked into longer release schedules — e.g. weekly content over 24 weeks — while factoring in possible interactivity and being reactive to audiences, you’ll see that the creative visions will have to reside with the writers, just to keep up with production.

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1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is holding back the industry?

There are quite a few issues (such as the definition of a “view”) which threaten to undermine our industry if not dealt with carefully — but perhaps the most important issue is net neutrality. I’m aware that people are tired of hearing me talk about it, but deals are being made right now that will have a serious impact on an independent web creators’ ability to distribute their own work online. Everyone working or aspiring to work in this industry needs to contact their Senators and Representatives immediately, and express how important real, true net neutrality is. SaveTheInternet.com is a great resource for facts and information about this issue.

2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?

“Red Carpet Premiere.” I like a party as much as the next person, but sometimes it feels like more care is given to the planning of the premiere party than to the story and execution of the actual series. A red carpet doesn’t magically make something great. Awards and parties are a lot of fun, but we all need to be careful not to lose sight of the real goal — making innovative, quality entertainment. When that happens, we will truly have something to celebrate.

3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)

My kneejerk reaction would be an upstart company designing and programming next-generation apps for mobile devices. It’s exciting to see how people are using new platforms to tell stories. However, if I really had $50 million to invest, I would like to give MacArthur-style grants of $500,000 to 100 different projects to create sustainable series online. They could be anything — scripted, drama, comedy, news, experimental formats, ARG, etc. — the only stipulation would be that they’d have to run consistently for at least a full year (hat tip to Steve Woolf for that parameter). A year’s worth of material, limitless possibilities…I would be very interested to see what kind of audience you could build over the course of that year.

It’s disconcerting to me that online series are seemingly written off if they don’t have an instantly large audience. It’s not TV, it’s not the movies — this is a new art form with a different kind of audience, different distribution strategies and a much longer tail. Shane Dawson and Phil DeFranco didn’t gain millions of subscribers overnight. They worked hard, over a long period of time, and they earned those regular viewers. Just because the barrier of entry is lower online doesn’t mean it’s easy.

4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?

I think one of the greatest videos to ever hit the Internet is the Phil Davison for Stark County Treasurer speech. It’s like the guy had a plan, he was going to be different than the other candidates, and his plan went horribly, horribly wrong. I even shared this video with my mom. I simply don’t understand why “Auto-Tune The News” hasn’t done anything with this one!

But in terms of ongoing scripted series, I think Black Box TV is the best thing out there. At Big Fantastic, we’ve literally been talking about doing a Twilight Zone-style anthology series online since 2007, but have been too busy doing other shows to make it happen. What Tony [Valenzuela] is doing is really worth paying attention to — he’s creating a bridge between the independent YouTube personalities and the world of scripted drama.

5. WILD-CARD: Over the past few years, the Big Fantastic team has worked with folks like Vuguru and Seth Green on a pretty diverse array of content. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from those experiences, and how have they affected your plans for the future?

In the nearly five years we’ve been doing this, we have been extremely fortunate to work with so many amazing people, and we’ve had the opportunity to tell our stories on a relatively large scale. One important lesson is to believe in what you’re doing (as cheesy as that sounds), because if you don’t love what you’re doing, it simply won’t be worth it. Everyone knows that there is currently less money in New Media than in traditional media — but the reward of seeing your ideas come to life can be far greater than a paycheck from a job you don’t love.

Another lesson is: never take your audience for granted. We’ve watched as shows like The Guild and Epic Fu have held onto the rights to their series, and have had the chance to satisfy their fans by continuing to make new seasons year after year. One of the best things you can do is engage your audience, activate your base as often as possible, and keep giving them reasons to come back for more.

So in the coming year, we look forward to continuing to work with great partners on series new and old, but we will also have a renewed focus on our own, independent series. We’ve been calling this the “wild west” since 2006, and incredibly it actually still is — almost anything is possible online, and it’s still just as exciting as it was back then. If you’re willing to dream big, and work your ass off in pursuit of those dreams, the Internet is a very rewarding place to be.

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1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is holding back the industry?

The misconception that the Internet is for amateurs. The Internet is a wide-open frontier for creative people to be creative and places like that where people can really take a chance and try new things, where they can expand our notions of storytelling and create new and interesting ways to entertain. There’s so much information and entertainment on the Internet, 99 percent of which you probably have no interest in, so it can be overwhelming to sort through it all to find the gems. There is no gatekeeper. It is the wild west of entertainment, and because of that, people creating good, entertaining content are often lost in the shuffle.

2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?

Web series. The industry has been flooded with “web series” over the past few years and since there is no gatekeeper panning for the golden nuggets in all the muck, the market is simply over-saturated. It’s easy to lose interest. Imagine if there were 500,000 TV shows that existed at once…would you still watch TV? No, you’d probably go watch a web series! Regardless of medium, most people just want to have some type of emotional response to their entertainment — to laugh or cry and be moved in some way. That can happen on the Internet, on TV, in a movie theater. Anywhere. Just tell us a good story.

3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)

Roku! Their model is awesome. It’s clean, functional and has a platform open to developers and producers. Content is king. They definitely have the edge in the set-top box market place.

4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?

Besides the Bed Intruder Song and Kanye West’s twitter account? White Collar Brawler is great — it’s a reality show about two best friends who quit their day jobs and train to become boxers. The final episode? They’re going to fight each other. We can’t wait.

5. WILD-CARD: What, in your experience, have you found to be key in creating interactive experiences? What’s the one pitfall for others to avoid?

For us, the key has been to keep the content fun and accessible and to touch base with the viewers and tear down the wall that usually exists between creators and their audience.

As for our Interactive Adventures, keeping it simple is key. When you go to a movie, you know it’s going to be between 90 and 120 minutes; you know TV shows are 30 or 60 minutes. You go in prepared for a story to unfold over the expect time frame. On the Internet, those constrictions [don't] exist, so the audience never knows quite what to expect. That’s a good and bad thing. We don’t like to overwhelm our viewers with too many choices and story lines; we try to keep the story contained. Our favorite approach is having a single story line with several choices throughout. If the wrong path is chosen, the viewer is placed back to the prior choice-point and directed down the correct path of the story, leading to one, ultimate goal. For us, the major pitfall to avoid is two-pronged: keep the story from becoming convoluted and keep the goal clear.

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1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is holding back the industry?



My biggest frustration in digital entertainment is with big companies who use their position to stifle innovation. Large brick-and-mortar retailers threaten not to carry DVDs of movies that are released the same day for digital download. Cable companies threaten not to carry content that is available online. Internet providers threaten not to carry the digital bits from companies that offer competing media. If a traditional method of distribution is feeling new competition, figure out a way to make the old one more valuable to the consumer or how to shift your business towards the new consumer demand. Don’t stifle innovation in hopes of maintaining archaic business models. It’s fat-cat syndrome — the failure to look over your shoulder and see that competition is always coming. You can either innovate or get passed by.



2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?



Cord-cutting. [Ed. note: Ouch.] Traditional cable is just one way to get content, just like antennas were before that. It doesn’t matter if consumers use cable, satellite, internet or any of the other methods for transmitting data. They still want quality entertainment, good service and a fair value. Sure, some might move from cable to Internet-streamed content; others might move from cable to satellite or a telco provider.  Only the people who have lost interest in television or have had significant financial setbacks are truly cutting the cord.  Competition is a good thing, and the value of a consumer has only gone up over the years.  We must find ways to hold or increase the value of a consumer’s eyes, no matter where they get their entertainment.  


I do think that over time we’ll see Internet connectivity become more of a utility than a service. Just like the power lines in your house, the more Internet you use the more you’ll pay.  But the idea that the internet companies might have a say as to what you plug into that internet connection seems as ludicrous to me as the thought that the power company might specify which appliances I plug in inside my home.  In that light, the internet is probably the best way to deliver entertainment to a consumer in the future. Media companies who offer the best choices of content and the best service will thrive, no matter what the delivery method is.



3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)



I wouldn’t give any company $50 million.  The coolest startups with the best ideas could get a significant boost from $1 million.  That said, I’d love to see Slacker offer a tiered service including their current custom radio solution, but for a higher subscription cost include on-demand songs and song cashing.  Why Slacker?  They have a deep library and a pretty good recommendation engine.  Great recommendation for instant play-listing in music is the Holy Grail.  Combine that with the ability to listen to any song any time, and you’ve got a darn-near perfect service.  

Really, any of the good music services could offer something like this: Pandora, Mog, Rdio… Last FM. But subscription music is going to change how we consume music completely, much like Netflix has done for movie rentals. I think it’s going to take a long time for TV to get there with online subscription.  No subscription service for television has a large enough content offering yet.  


In the earliest startup phases, I get excited when I see innovations in recommendation.  The biggest problem I see in the shifting entertainment landscape is the fact that consumers don’t know how to find content, and more importantly, they don’t want to.  Content should find them.  Great recommendation engines will foster that. I also get pretty excited when I see companies who try to solve the problem of attaching good meta data to the ever growing user-generated content library.  No recommendation engines work without good metadata.



4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?



I regularly recommend Ted Talks to people — almost any one of them will inspire you to think about things in a new way.



Also, my 12-year-old daughter Sarah and her friend Samantha made and edited a video last month with their cell phones that made me want to give her the money to go make a full feature.

The technology of capturing and editing has gotten so amazing and intuitive that any creative mind can create a piece that might change the world.



5. WILD-CARD: Rovi’s shown a new commitment to the TV app space recently; in the battle between apps and browsers in the connected TV space, why do you feel apps are a superior approach? And is it possible for both sides to co-exist?

Don’t confuse Rovi’s desire to compete in every entertainment space as a shift towards apps. In fact, we have great debates at Rovi about the value of apps to the consumer. Apps have a tendency to compartmentalize entertainment. If I’m in an app for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, as a fan I can get deep information about the show. But in that app, I probably can’t discover all the other shows that are similar, or the other shows the stars of Boardwalk Empire have been in. Consumers want to discover across networks, across genres and across providers. Comcast’s Xfinity app is very good, but doesn’t allow me to find great stuff on YouTube. Showtime’s Dexter app is very cool, but doesn’t allow me to discover other exciting thrillers like Silence of the Lambs.

Several of Rovi’s partners have created very nice apps-based televisions, and we want our software to be available on those televisions. We created apps. Other partners use embedded guide software, and we created powerful embedded guides for them. And yes, other partners are looking at delivering services through browser technology, on the fly and as consumers demand it.

There is no doubt that once the industry can deliver a user experience that is fast and rich that it will be superior. Rendering user interface in the cloud and delivering it the moment the consumer requests it gives us great power to make sure the search results and recommendations are perfectly up to date, and allows the TV manufacturers to keep the memory and resource requirements on their hardware at a minimum. We see cloud-based services delivered to browsers on the television as a great enabler of exciting services in the next few years.

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1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is holding back the industry?

A lack of education and outreach from the community to change the widely held belief that there isn’t anything good on the web. I hope that we take up the challenge here and focus on changing the way people think about online content. I think that as an organization like the IAWTV continues to evolve, we’ll be in a great position to lead the charge in getting out the word that there’s more and more exciting and worthwhile content being produced all the time.

2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?

Tweeps. In fact, most of the Twitter-based words are like nails on a chalkboard to me, and as we know, they’ve exploded in the past year or so. It’s probably my background in linguistics rearing its head, but I pity the historian who has to sift through our culture centuries from now.

Having said that, I do have a soft spot for “twoosh,” thanks to @ZacharyLevi.

3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)

This is a tough question. There are a bunch of companies making strides into the future regarding how we consume entertainment and engage with it. I’ve always gravitated towards fantasy/science fiction genres, and we are really on the cusp of a new frontier here in new media: There are several companies I would immediately hand that money to, but I can’t mention them yet.

In lieu of that, Hulu is a forward-looking company that recognizes it must constantly evolve to remain relevant to users. I’m also intrigued by the newly launched Path, operating on the principle of Dunbar’s Number, which strives to provide users with an exclusive “quality network” via the fifty friend restriction. And for now, since you can only capture and send visual images, you are literally seeing the world through your friends’ eyes.

Finally, as an actress and new media producer, social networks have fundamentally changed the way I interact with my fans and friends, so I would still invest in Facebook and Twitter. Specifically, I have to credit Twitter for making our Elfquest fan fiction project possible.

4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?

I can’t believe I’m going to admit this, but it’s the truth: Secret Kitten. Nothing soothes the stress of a hard day like a pile of kittens.

I’ve also been sharing a lot of links for the series Riese, currently on Syfy.com. The creators have really impressed me with their world-building skills and fierce attention to details, and the show, with some nifty new editing and a V.O. by Amanda Tapping, has only become stronger since it initially debuted. The series finale is this Tuesday, so I hope everybody checks it out.

5. WILD-CARD: You recently successfully used crowd-sourcing to fund your Elfquest project — how was the experience of seeking out fan donations, and do you think it’s a sustainable model for creating web content?

Crowd-sourcing with IndieGogo was a wonderful experience. We set up our page and within two days we were halfway to our goal, ultimately reaching it in one week. By the end of our campaign, we finished 40 percent over our initial goal. We were a unique case since not only could Paula and I draw on our own followings as actresses and producers, but there was also a thirty-year buildup of fans all over the world who were thrilled to donate to a series we all love. Thanks to crowd-sourcing, we got a tremendous amount of press and excitement for the project, which we will shoot in early 2011.

I do think that crowd-sourcing is a viable means of raising money, and IndieGogo now emphasizes that the projects can be anything, not just entertainment-focused. My only concern is that it could burn out if creators are always tapping the same pool for donations. For example, I know five series currently raising money via this method, and as much as I’d love to, I can’t donate to all of them.

But if your project is unique and you are targeting a specific audience with your campaign, I think it can be very successful. I’d also like to stress that using a crowd-sourcing site, while making many aspects much easier, isn’t a magic money tree: As with all endeavors, you still have to hustle and promote your project.

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1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is
holding back the industry?

Portable bandwidth. As Justin.tv CEO Michael Seibel noted on the livestreaming panel at NewTeeVee Live, there’s so much interesting event-based content happening that doesn’t take place in front of a broadband-connected computer. Getting bandwidth out to where events are taking place is what needs to happen. Your options currently are to use a mobile phone on a 3G network or roll a satellite truck. Mobile phone quality is simply not good enough and satellite trucks begin at $5k just to roll one. There needs to be more cost effective portable technologies that can stream video over broadband speeds from anywhere.

Solving this problem will enable livestreaming for a host of applications such as citizen journalism, outdoor festivals, field research, cycling races, high school & college sports, road trip adventures, sailing, nature tours and a ton of long-tail stuff that I could never imagine.

2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?

The term “live stream” used to annoy me when I worked at Ustream. It wasn’t because I thought it was an inaccurate representation or anything, but because our competitor was savvy enough to grab the domain name and re-brand itself as a generically accepted term for the industry. It’s quite brilliant, really.

3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)

LiveU or a solid competitor. LiveU solves the portable bandwidth problem. They make devices that can bond up to 14 cellular data modems across multiple network carriers letting you transmit up to full 1080i HD video back to any live stream service or CDN. Both Ustream and Livestream use LiveU’s “live packs” for event broadcasts. These packs need to become cheaper and more ubiquitous. LiveU just raised a C round of $11 million 10 days ago, though, so maybe they don’t need another $50 million.

Mushroom Networks is another company that makes devices that bond multiple cell phone data modems, though they don’t optimize for live video. Maybe they could use the $50 million to do that.

4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?

I share produced videos much more than live streams. Maybe that’s indicative of the fleeting nature of live content or me just not wanting others to find out the kind of live videos I like.

The last live video: the TEDxSOMA event in September.

Produced video: Life on Facebook

A LIFE ON FACEBOOK from maxluere on Vimeo.

A LIFE ON FACEBOOK from maxluere on Vimeo.

5. WILD-CARD: The livestreaming market has exploded over the last year or so, with tremendous growth for live-streaming companies and other entities like YouTube trying to move into the space. What is it about live-streaming that’s lead to such a tremendous uptake? And what role do you think live-streaming will eventually play in the online video marketplace?

A few things: Ubiquitous broadband combined with inexpensive, yet powerful home computers lay the foundation. The proliferation of mobile phones with cameras and broadcast streaming apps is a big factor. On top of that, the explosion of Twitter and Facebook as a way to share and discover content has been a boon to all the major live streaming platforms. Also, celebrities embracing these services, I think, has brought in new viewers and helped legitimize live streaming as a mainstream outlet for entertainment.

I do think live streaming will continue to grow, especially as mobile device quality and portable bandwidth increases. As boring as it sounds, we’ll see tons of people stream their daily commutes to work just as readily as people upload cat videos to YouTube today. And in one of those commute videos we’ll discover the next Susan Boyle or Merton.

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Below, she talks about the difference between user-generated content and professional web production, and explains exactly why she (still) thinks TV is dead.

1. What’s the one big issue/law/attitude/restriction that you think is holding back the industry?

I don’t think anything is holding back anyone. I think only the innovators are going to continue pushing the envelope with tech and content delivery and the content itself. Personally, I’ve begun to stretch and bend the storytelling form itself because with Internet delivery. I can lay out the story, deliver the story in a multi-level fashion. There are others who have been doing this in different ways and I think it’s a practice that should be expanded.

The delivery of scripted content on TV or in a movie theater is very linear and “two dimensional.” Online (as we all know), there are multiple ways to allow the audience to experience your story. In fact, I wish the computer screen were a holographic cube that sat on your desk with intersecting lines into which you could stick your fingers and touch the points of the story you want to see/expand.

The challenge for innovators is educating those people who want to support innovation, but aren’t in a position to risk thinking too far outside the box, to have the courage to see the “safety” of being innovative online. The “safety” being that with innovation you keep pace with internet users, your target audience (obviously).

2. What industry buzzword do you never want to hear again?

Not a buzzword, but a mindset, an assumption about online scripted content. There’s still this belief that user-generated content from YouTube three years ago is the model or the “standard” for Internet content: The length of video, the quality of the camerawork and editing, etc. There’s a place for all that and I’ve seen some terrific material come that route, but for professional filmmakers, the Internet is this amazing opportunity to really push ourselves creatively and produce projects that exceed what we could do under traditional media restrictions.

But, just because we don’t have to rent a camera from Panavision, pay for film and processing, or rent editing bays, it doesn’t mean we don’t have to pay the people who do this professionally. Great cinematographers, writers, directors, and actors can produce remarkable work that can affect and sometimes change lives and they have rates of employment just like anyone else working.

This is not to take anything away from UCG or from the current YouTube stars, for example. I very much respect what they’re doing and am continuously impressed and inspired by their ability to cultivate audiences. I hope to meet them all someday.

Professional scripted content is just a different type of content and sponsors and studios and even smaller production companies should understand the distinction and not assume that a cast and crew filming an hour-long film can be done with any budget similar to a popular video blogger’s last 60 minutes of content. It’s just a very different type of project.

The Internet is a distribution portal, not some planet where suddenly nobody needs to make a living.

3. If someone gave you $50 million to invest in a company in this space, which one would it be? (Mentioning your own doesn’t count.)

A consumer electronics company that’s looking beyond 3D to the next level of home entertainment (i.e. holographic delivery of content). I believe that there will not be a “tipping point” for the sale of 3D TVs, where everyone has one. Rather, the next time families invests en masse in a new home entertainment device, I believe it will be holographic delivery of content. I know there are some working furiously on AR tech for next-level filmed content delivery on mobile devices and I think holographic delivery will be the rage in the home.

4. What was the last video (that you weren’t personally involved with) that you liked enough to spread to others?

I’m Here, a Spike Jonze short sponsored by Absolut. Great sponsor presentation, great UI getting into the film, and good film. Many well-done elements in one project.

5. WILD-CARD: When Chris Albrecht and Liz Gannes first spoke with you in 2008, you declared that “TV was dead.” Two years later, do you still feel the same way?

Absolutely. TV production and distribution is not a growth industry. The business grid as we knew it in traditional media used to be absolutely the only game in town. That business grid has been irreversibly altered and a new business grid has emerged that is growing at such a rate that it will overwhelm the old one very soon. Now there are many business models for shows, many distribution points and entirely new ways to deliver the content technologically.

TV as we knew it is absolutely dead. There are still shows in production, still ad buys being made, but the numbers these shows get are a small fraction of the ratings these same type of shows used to command. The amount of TV shows produced annually decreases every year. The amount of people employed by TV shows is far less than it used to be. All these decreases are steady from year to year. Traditional TV is not “in a slump,” it has been steadily declining.

What will supersede traditional TV production and delivery is more multiplatform shows that have different designs not only in their very structure, but in the manner of delivery. Needless to say, all this will be done through IP addresses and viewing shows via a cable or satellite connection will fade away.

But, hey, AM Radio is still around.

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