Are you a celebrity or do you manage a celebrity brand? Are you looking to humanize your online identity? Well then this is for the both of you. There is not much content targeted for celebrities to consume, so I thought this would help a little bit for the artists looking to manage and grow their following online. These 7 tools will get you started on your road to connecting your community.
WhoSay is a service that helps artists, athletes and iconic personalities connect with their fans. When you see someone posting via WhoSay, you’ll know that it’s real, authentic messages, photos and videos coming from your favorite people. As an artist you own your content, as it is then ‘pushed’ to your preferred networks as a WhoSay post. WhoSay is growing their business model with their celebrities to create more opportunities for online monetizing.
Celebrity endorsements in social media. I have never worked with Ad.ly but have colleagues who have. Test it out for yourself.
Started as platform for musicians, however the digital game is enabling musicians, actors, directors, writers, and any form of artist to use mp3, video, and various forms of intellectual property to connect with their audiences. Topspin connects you to your fans by creating tools that help you market, sell, and track your results across the web.
iTunes is self explanatory. They had a record earning this 2011 Q1 for over $1.5b! You can sell anything digital on here. Awesome. Use it.
This is the most artistic community on the web, besides those awesome people over at DeviantArt.com. Like every single artist in the world, seriously. Maybe Tumblr will squash Twitter? I really really like this and yes it is necessary to have this, a twitter, and a facebook.
Obviously the most gigantic network on the planet. Literally. People keep saying 500 million users, but that was last year. I’d say at about 750m now and 1 billion by the end of the year. It’s not stopping. I guess if you don’t want your product social, then don’t use it. Oh yeah, and Facebook Credits are basically the new monetary system.
Not sure how long this will last, but it’s good for now. My twitter followers have already trickled to my other networks, so the dependance on this platform is sketchy. They are currently in turmoil at the offices and there hasn’t been much innovation. However, I hope they turn it out. Ironic to me it seems that what everyone says about Twitter is actually true about Facebook, while all the negative comments about Facebook actually reflect more on Twitter’s actions. None the less, it’s a great tool and I hope someone Facebook’s this MySpace.
If you have any suggestions on tools that celebrities, artists, or individuals looking to grow their online social presence, then please leave them in the comments. How have your experiences been with these tools?
The Future of Independent Digital Movie Making is now. As we take each step, there is a new form of technology that is enabling people to create more efficiently. The issue is that studio’s like Warner Brothers & Paramount are not willing to adapt. The connectivity of the internet and growth of technology are creating a limitless opportunity for independent entrepreneurs of the future.
Here’s the path a film usually takes to get to your local theater:
Someone has an idea for a movie.
They create an outline and use it to promote interest in the idea.
A studio or independent investor decides to purchase rights to the film.
People are brought together to make the film (screenwriter, producer, director, cast, crew).
The film is completed and sent to the studio.
The studio makes a licensing agreement with a distribution company.
The distribution company determines how many copies (prints) of the film to make.
The distribution company shows the movie (screening) to prospective buyers representing the theaters.
The buyers negotiate with the distribution company on which movies they wish to lease and the terms of the lease agreement.
The prints are sent to the theaters a few days before the opening day.
The theater shows the movie for a specified number of weeks (engagement).
You buy a ticket and watch the movie.
At the end of the engagement, the theater sends the print back to the distribution company and makes payment on the lease agreement.
“Each print typically costs about $1,500 to $2,000 to make, so the distributor must consider the number of theaters a movie can successfully open in. Many of the 37,000 screens in the United States are concentrated in urban areas. A popular movie might fill the seats in several theaters in the same city while another movie would have a much smaller audience. Since opening a movie on 3,000 screens could cost $6 million for the prints alone, the distributor must be sure that the movie can draw enough people to make the costs worthwhile.” – howstuffworks
This old method includes an army of gatekeepers and middlemen that are only focused on Profits and Losses at the end of the day. Let us take a look at an alternative model of movie making.
The Alternative Future of Movie Making
Someone has an idea for a movie
They create an outline and use it to promote interest in the idea via the internet
They build a community by targeting people they think would be interested
People are brought together to make the film (screenwriter, producer, director, cast, crew)
They utilize the community by providing them tools to collaborate in producing, micro-financing, marketing, and distributing.
The community is the distribution, marketing, and finance
Theaters then license the property based on targeted-geographical data analysis to guarantee sales
At the end, the people have a part and say in what they are choosing to view
The content creators benefit by connecting and creating with their audience.
The cost of traditional film and distribution is inefficient in terms of delivering valuable content to a targeted audience.
The Platform
The future platform is in P2P/IP TV. Imagine your video console, computer device, or digital top box that deliver’s ALL content to you. Like Kid Cudi says, “The Evolution of the revolution”. Let us face it, children are going to be projecting HD via their iPhone5 during recess. This technology has been in the talks for year, but now people are empowering themselves with on-demand control. You can already get started with AppleTV & Boxee.
Youtube is just one example of how a “lo-fi” production like iJustine or Natalie Tran can drive an average of 500,000 to 1,000,000 views per video post. Which ranges from $5,000-$20,000 per month depending on your demographic based on those views per month.
This model is only one of the models until developers start creating dynamic algorithms and technology starts to adapt towards the user viewing the content. Imagine interactive roll-over product placement pieces that fluidly allow you to engage simultaneously. Think of all the meta-data from your Facebook account & Google Searches that have been data-mined since your early internet days. Thus enveloping a choose your own interactive adventure, per say. As the restraint of technology, ideas, and accessibility decrease, then innovation will become abundant.
Reason why I’m writing this
I’m sharing this article for many reason.
1. Put things into perspective from my perspective.
2. I am creating a movie and this is a perfect blog post entry
3. Sharing these ideas could be beneficial for movie makers and entrepreneurs
