Creativity in and Increasingly Easy World

I just read an interesting article on the Web titled: The Sundance Odds Get Even Longer, which tells about the odds of an independent filmmaker getting their film seen by the public. Basically, as technology makes it easier for the common man to film and edit motion pictures, the motion pictures are made and submitted to festivals and distributors. As the number of submissions rise, the percentage of films accepted drops, thus decreasing the odds of success. It is like having the number of fish in a lake quintuple in size in a short time--a lot more fish are going to go hungry.

The same problem is occurring in other fields of the arts especially books and music. Technology has made it easy for anyone to produce a book or even a musical piece. A large number of these people want to make money writing and composing, but the marketplace is finite in size, so the success rate drops as the number of players increases--more hungry fish.

So, what can or should be done about this? In my humble opinion: absolutely nothing. Filmmakers, writers and musicians just need to realize that it is a tough world out there and that they are competing with thousands of other filmmakers, writers and musicians for a piece of the consumers small (and dwindling) amount of disposable cash and, even more importantly, disposable time.

I truly believe that anyone who wants to create art has the God-given right to do so. They just have to be realistic about their chances of making money in the process.

Tags: filmmaking, art, creativity, realistic expectations

Media Simplex

Here is a suggested media distribution paradigm shift for blogs, podcasts, vlogs and short films: unapologetic product and product ad placement. Let me explain.

Right now, the whole world of media and media distribution is going chaotic as the people producing content (the aforementioned blogs, podcasts, vlogs and short films) are trying to figure out a way to make money, usually by using site advertising, subscriptions or secondary channel sales (logo-wear, books and sidelines.) A good example of this is a blogsite that has Google AdSense ads or products being sold by CafePress. Now, what if you actually imbedded the advertising in the media itself? For example, take a podcast and put a small (the length would be dependent on the length of the ‘cast) intermission in the middle of it. Inside this intermission put in an advertisement. Being that the ad is in the middle of the actual ‘cast means that the commercial will be in the middle of every copy of the ‘cast (assuming that someone doesn’t modify the cast, a modification which could be in violation of the licensing the ‘cast is being distributed under.) Thus, the more the ‘cast is copied; the more ears will hear the ad.

This works for blogs-put a banner or text ad in the middle of each post—as well as vlogs and short films. Advertising in vlogs and short films can be increased by using product placement within the piece as long as it doesn’t deter from the story.

One can take this paradigm in all sorts of directions:

Blogs – all blogs written in a given time period will contain a client’s ad copy. The time period and the minimum number of blogs produced in said time period can be agreed upon by client and blogger.

Podcasts – intermission ads will appear in podcast for an agreed-to amount of time and then swapped out for new ads. Thus the same podcast can be circulating on the Web with different ads depending on when the podcast was mixed or re-mixed.

Vlogs and short films – as with podcasts, the intermission ads can change, but the “placed” products will remain for the life of the film (though it would be possible to insert different products in cutaways and noddies.)

The bottom line here is that revenues from the media come not from sales of the media itself, but from the sales of advertising in the media. Licensing becomes a non-issue since copying and redistribution by third-parties becomes desirable—they become the distributors. Heck, they could even try to sell the media, but no one would buy it since it is already available for free.

So, the media producers win by getting paid to produce product and having their product reach millions of consumers. The consumer wins by not having to directly pay for the media product. The advertisers win by having a way of reaching large markets for relatively low price.

This idea works. We just need to sit down and iron out the details.

Tags: advertising, paradigm shift, revenue, web2.0

A New Direction and a New Question

I have decided to change the direction of the blog to one of civic responsibility--point of fact, my civic responsibility. From the events of the last few weeks leading up to yesterday's election, I think it is time that I start being a more responsible citizen by asking my government questions. I think I will start on a local level.

My first question of the local government (or any citizen who thinks they know the answer) is this: Mayor Borho mentioned that the plan is for Pratt (pop. ~6400) to grow to a population of 10,000 in the next five (5) years. How is this supposed to occur?

Facts, figures and details would be most appreciated. Speculation and personal attacks are discouraged.

Tags: Pratt, Kansas, civic responsibility

Unofficial Election Results

The election is over and Ms. Borho has won. The unofficial count:

Borho-831
Thome-209

Total Votes-1040
Total Eligible Voters-4290
(Source: Pratt Tribune)

Not bad for an off-year election, one with only one official candidate. Even though he lost, Raymond Thome garnered a sizable tally of about 20% of the total vote. I think that this number may be indicative of the mood a sizable chunk of the electorate is in. The City leaders should take note of this.

Tags: Pratt, Kansas, election