New Media – The Disruptors: Creators of Web TV LIVE and Produced Web Series

This past week, I had the absolute best time attending two industry events, Digital Hollywood and the Beverly Hills Film TV and New Media Festival. Not only did I meet some very intelligent people, listened to what is next in the industry and hopefully contributed to the mix as a panelist at these events. In between these two events, I was also doing a class with the Web Series Network on a hot topic for all New Media / Webseries creators: monetization of their content.

My background as a marketer / sales executive has taught me one big lesson – WIIFM. What’s in it for me? This has been at the base of every product launch I have been involved with on a strategic level. WIIFM. Web series creators don’t have the years of expertise that I do in marketing and sales so for them – marketing their product is not what they want to do, they want to create. However, with budgets being as they are on original content projects, you don’t have the luxury to wait until your project is in post to have marketing pick up the next step and get the buzz going.

You have to build the buzz before and during the production process.

But this is just one of the challenges that a “new” industry is facing. If you attended either Digital Hollywood or the New Media panel on Sunday that I was on you would have heard more about this disruption and change in the industry. There are so many people out there who are trying to figure this out from brands and agencies to creators and producers. The answer is there is no cookie cutter way to do business – you have to make it work for what your audience is as you are creating for an audience online – and if you aren’t making content that is bringing an audience, then you will have a hard time monetizing it.

New Media Panel - Patrick Bardwell, Slebisodes, Stephanie Piche, Mingle Media TV, Danny Ramm, Quick Bites, Joe Mantegna, Actor

At our panel at Digital Hollywood, Thursday October 21 st 2010 TrackAdvUp-27

Social Media, Brands and Target Markets: We talked about how to use Social Media and build out a fan base and following, integrate products into the media you are creating and how knowing your demographics and power of your audience with a brand is crucial.

On Sunday the 24th of October at the Beverly Hills Film TV and New Media festival’s New Media panel, we talked more about this same subject but as it relates to monetization of the media you are creating. So many people in the audience were creators with no “fans” or audience yet and had a finished product…

On Saturday, I met with a group of webseries creators who wanted to learn more about how to pitch sponsors on their project. Rich from the Web Series Network, put together the event as a first step in helping bring more education to creators/producers/writers of New Media/Webseries projects. We covered the basic techniques to some tips that I use to get meetings (and Monday – got an email from an attendee saying he tried one of the techniques I shared and he got the meeting so he was excited). More and more, web series creators and producers are going to have to equip themselves with business knowledge from a trusted source, someone who has the credentials and can guide and support them as they go to the next level.

Some of the resources available for web series creators are communities online where they can network and get support of others who are out there. The largest online community is the Web Series Network, run by Rich Mbariket. You can share your project, post up questions or give your opinions on numerous topics. The best part is you can speak your mind and network with others. There’s also a growing list out there that I am happy to share with you for other resource sites – so be sure to ping me on Twitter or post on this blog post for more info.

Crowd Sourcing Your Project: Get Involved w/ Malibu Hill The Movie

If you ever wanted to get involved with film, video or new media creation, then a good way to get your feet wet is to participate in projects that are using some form of “crowd sourcing.”

Marc Street, the Hero, in Malibu Hill the Movie

As a marketer, I will have to confess, the project I am writing about and hoping you’ll want to follow and share has a lot of the elements I like in a film… and it is just getting started.

I love scary movies….. and hot men. Okay, I confess, there are more elements (like a good story for starters) but in the marketing of it – these are two things that will catch my eye, the genre and the leading man/woman… and yours!

Meet Marc Street… (follow him @MarcStreet on Twitter)

A friend of mine, Prince Boucher, is hoping you’ll want to not only follow and be a fan of this production, but you’ll tell your friends about it too. (Follow Prince @PrinceBoucher on Twitter). Prince is one of those exciting, forward-thinking talents that believes the power of social media will be how we produce entertainment like “Malibu Hill” and other projects.

Prince is uses the funding project site called IndieGoGo. This is a really great site that helps filmmakers “pitch” their project with clips and info as well as giving you the option of donating time, items, or money to be a co-creator on this project.

For as little as $10 you can help this film get funded and when it is released get a digital version (cheaper than going to the movies!!) Click here to go to IndieGogo for Malibu Hill the Movie.

If you’d like to find out more about Malibu Hill the movie (premise: everyone is walking away from their homes due to the rising number of foreclosures, but one place, a cabin in Malibu, doesn’t want it’s inhabitants to leave). Oh yeah, follow @MalibuHill on Twitter and fan the movie on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/malibuhill.

Here’s a teaser for this film:

Finally, be sure to at least check out more photos of the hero (Marc Street) and submit your idea for his character’s name and meet Prince – he’s got a welcome video that will give you some more info.

Have Kids in School? Know a Teacher who needs funds for school supplies? Find out about BING & DonorsChoose Tonight!

Mingle Media TV is proud to announce that we will be broadcasting a new Live Web TV Series focused on causes for good, entitled “Your Causes.”

This new series will feature Bing’s “Teacher Appreciation” campaign as it’s first episode and will air LIVE TONIGHT LIVE on our network at 8 PM EST with special host Danielle Smith from ExtraordinaryMommy.com who will be interviewing team members from Bing and Donors Choose LIVE and will be viewable at http://www.minglemediatv.com/YourCausesSpecialSeries.html,  while simulcasting LIVE on the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android platforms.

Bing and DonorsChoose.Org Team Up To Fund Teachers & Students

On average, teachers spend more than $1,000 out of their own pockets to fund classroom projects, and with impending budget cuts this number is expected to rise even higher. With the DonorsChoose.org program, Bing has set up a special tribute site where visitors can share their favorite story about a teacher, which then triggers a donation code, which will provide $5 of funding toward the project of their choice.

Watch Your Causes TV for this special featuring Bing’s program for teachers this Tuesday evening at 8 PM PST / 5 PM EST at online MMTVN show channel http://www.minglemediatv.com/YourCausesSpecialSeries.html and chat live with Danielle and her special guests from Bing and DonorsChoose.org along with the other members in the audience via text and video chat during the live broadcast.

For more info about this program, please visit http://www.bing.com/education or watch the LIVE broadcast on Mingle Media TV.