Producers Lining Up Funds First
The slumping economy is forcing the new-media business to grow up fast. New-media producers and creators at last week’s NATPE conference are not going to make shows unless they secure the funding first.
The financial crisis and the consumer shift in viewing behavior to the Web, DVRs and alternate devices has intensified the pressure on both old and new Hollywood creators to hammer out fresh business models. That means creators are less apt to produce shows on spec in the hope the advertisers will follow.
Brands need to get on board first, said Jordan Levin, the CEO of television and new-media production shop Generate.
His firm produces and distributes the Web show “Pink: The Series,” which has been popular but doesn’t have an advertiser attached. Though Generate will look to make some money on the back end with a DVD deal for “Pink,” Mr. Levin said he’s going to stay away from putting up money for shows if advertisers aren’t on board from the get-go, he said.
Generate inked a deal last week to develop scripted TV shows for 20th Century Fox Television. That’s more akin to a traditional TV deal, and it also means Generate will be paid upfront.
The creators of the iconic “LonelyGirl15” series are striking similar deals these days, said Greg Goodfried, one of the founders of EQAL, the digital studio behind that Web hit.
Mr. Goodfried and partner Miles Beckett self-financed “LonelyGirl15” and own the intellectual property rights. That business model is less appealing in a recession, which is one of the reasons EQAL now has a production and development deal with CBS to create shows for the Web, such as “Harper’s Globe,” a companion Web program for CBS’ midseason replacement series “Harper’s Island.”
To land advertisers in advance of production, new-media producers and distributors are working together more to present the right mix of content and audience reach to potential advertisers, said Keith Richman, CEO of Break Media, an online video property targeting young men. “This year it’s all about making money, and people aren’t taking bets on things that won’t sell and won’t attract advertisers,” he said.
Advertisers are cautious, too. “We’re not sure if the Web is scalable. It’s very segmented,” said Donna Speciale, president of investment and activation at MediaVest Worldwide. But she also believes that “niche needs to be the new mass.”
“We have to test online and experiment, and clients are willing to do it,” she said. “They’re more particular this year, but agencies have to keep pushing and it’s not going to be easy.
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/02/lining_up_funds_first_pays_for.phpETA: Edited to link to the original article
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I'm no expert, but while it helps to have a link to the source article, it is generally not good practice (or fair use under copyright) to copy and repost an article entirely. This article links to vidopp which did the same thing, copying from and linking to tvweek.com where Daisy Whitney appears to be the original author. Unless vidopp has some deal with tvweek, this is unfair use by them as both pages display advertising.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/02/lining_up_funds_first_pays_for.php
As I understand it, fair use here on this blog would be to post a short quotation with a link back to the original source, in this case tvweek.com
Nevertheless, this is an interesting trend in this evolving web video series business.
QtheC raises an interesting point about copyright law and the new digital age. Most bloggers tend to think that if one links back to the original that's good enough. In fact, my copyright Professor actually said once, when in doubt claim 'fair use' and make them pursue the matter. I would say he was joking, but he wasn't really the wacky type. There is a legal rational behind such a stance, the Supreme Court itself defined 'fair use' as an affirmative defense so who knows.
ReplyDeleteThe question of what constitutes fair use has always been a murky one, which unfortunately the Court has managed to side step clearly defining on the few instances that the issue has been raised.
Generally speaking, as long as one attributes the work and its used for one of the four permissible reasons the 'fair use' rational is sufficient. Unless of course you are talking about the AP which just likes to threaten people.
BTW I took the additional step of notifying the author and getting permission to put up the story, so either way, we're good.
If you obtained permission from the author and the copyright holder (if that should be different) to republish the story then that is great.
ReplyDeleteFollowing the example of other blogs or claiming "fair use" is not a good idea so obtaining permission is essential to avoiding a take down notice from the copyright holder. We ask all authors to avoid copyright infringement for that reason since it would come under the "do no harm" concept of the blog.
But once again, if permission was obtained from both the author and the copyright holder (if that should be different) then it would be legally justifiable. In most cases however it is better to interpret the essential parts of an article and link the original simply because it avoids such legal complexities.
We remind all authors to avoid any perception of copyright infringement where ever it is possible to do so or where you are confident you have a solid and justifiable legal argument.
can i just lol for a minute here
ReplyDelete"Mr. Goodfried and partner Miles Beckett self-financed “LonelyGirl15”"