Selling on QVC Home TV Shopping Channel? If Not, Try TheTalkMarket.com

Now, this is an interesting twist - I wish I'd though of it!

The Talk Market, (in beta...) is in the process of creating a video-based marketplace, where you, as a seller, can upload and customize your own informercials. Shoot a video of what you’re selling, then use Talk Market's free tools make them look like the "real thing" from QVC, only better and funnier.

Graphics! Animation! Music!

You can preview and download free soundtracks, customized motion graphics, and animations to give your videos that extra cool vibe. If you create your own soundtrack or animation, you can also share it with The Talk Market community. Should they catch on, you might be able to make a nice little side business providing custom clips. Who knows?

The company is financed by no other than Amazon. Now this is my second posting in a row about them -- amazing! Are we witnessing a stealthy takeover of the internet by no other then Amazon???

Not surprisingly, they use Amazon's Flexible Payment service, providing you with a free (but mandatory) Amazon Payments Business accounts. The upside, of course, is the exposure you get to the 60+ million existing Amazon users, who can easily make purchases with the credit cards they already have on file.

Does this look like a win-win for you and Amazon? Or just Amazon? Let me know!





Cybercast credit: The TalkMarket and Youtube

Want to Distribute Like a Big Studio? Try Amazon’s Withoutabox.com

Promises, promises.... Let’s see what REALLY is in this for YOU:

Submit your film worldwide

If you’re a filmmaker or screenwriter, now you can submit your work to festivals and competitions worldwide, quickly, easily, and economically. Only pay the entry fee. Everything else is free, like creating your Projects and Online Press Kits.

Order professional industry screeners

You can also order professional industry screeners to be shipped on-demand with your submission.

Build your audience

Withoutabox brings filmmakers, film festivals, and other industry players together in the ultimate business and social network. Participate and help grow it to build your reach.

Promote

Create and manage your complete Online Press Kit, with media-rich trailers, photos, bios, reviews, and more. Fully integrated with Filmsubmission and Audience. Also includes express syndication to Google Video.

Distribute

As a Rightsholder, you don't need to get permission from the big studios anymore. Withoutabox is opening channels to support direct distribution via Theatrical, Broadcast, DVD, VOD, Mobile, and more. The ultimate in Do-It-Yourself distribution? we'll see.

Pre-sell tickets!

Soon (how soon?) filmmakers, distributors, and exhibitors will be able book theaters and guarantee a profit before their film releases. With the patent-pending Critical Mass Ticketing, the show goes on when the audience demands it. You can even use Critical Mass Ticketing to arrange travel to your favorite festivals. How COOL is this???

Expose your film to Film Finders

Access premium rights tracking and personalized consulting worldwide. Since 1988, Film Finders has helped studios, producers, distributors, international sales agents, governments, and film festival programmers to represent and acquire feature films.

Experiment

If that’s not enough -- and if have any time left -- experiment with the cutting edge of new world distribution. Withoutabox is seeking intrepid filmmakers, distributors, and exhibitors who are eager to find new paths to profit through technology and innovation. Are you one of them?

Your Reality Show in 3D : Star in You Own HoloVideo

Musion Eyeliner is a one-of-a-kind (at least for now) high-definition video holographic projection system enabling spectacular freeform 3D holographic effects to be projected within a live stage setting using “Peppers Ghost” technology. (Don’t you just love these names people come up for really geeky stuff, to grab and keep your attention?)

More to the point, “Peppers Ghost” produces images of such high resolution and quality that make them feel unmistakably real, which is what happened when Gorillaz & Madonna performed the opening number at the recent Grammy Awards.

Musion Eyeliner is an open system that uses a specially developed foil in reflecting images from high-definition video projectors, making it possible to show virtual images of variable sizes and distinct clarity created using a proprietary software.

Dimensional Studios has amazed both clients and audiences not only with the uniqueness of the Musion Eyeliner Holographic Projection system, but its simplicity, practicality, and set-up.

See you -- your Peppers Ghost? -- in 3D soon?

Cybercast credit: YouTube

HBO Shows for Your iPod or iPhone

Summer is here. Enjoy.

The Wire





HBO's Season 2 of this gritty drama series focuses on the vagaries of crime and law enforcement in Baltimore, MD. Setting up in the wake of the first season's joint homicide/narcotics detail that exposed a major drug operation - the second season expands to include not only the familiar drug dealers, but a group of longshoremen and organized crime members.

Sounds like they're muscling in on Soprano territory... a HOT summer in the making?

Weeds

...Be gone??? I guess not.





In Season 3, popping up just next to Agrestic is a new, sprawling mega-church neighborhood called Magestic. This takes a heavy toll on the Agrestic residents, including our heroine Nancy, who begins to embrace her chosen occupation and, can also, finally, stop hiding.

3D YouTube Search - Now Available for Your Website

I’m avidly following CoolIris’s progression of its PicLens technology, I first wrote about in this posting quite recently.

To recap, PicLens, installed in your browser, enables you to enjoy online media in full-screen, 3D. Without the plugin, you still get a filmstrip-style presentation, that mimics the full-screen mode. See for yourself:





Let Your Site Visitors Enjoy Rich Media

Courtesy of the free Web Publisher available for both the Mac and Windows, your website visitors can now all enjoy full-screen PicLens slideshows. You can create a full-screen, immersive slideshow gallery for your website in only two steps:

Step 1. Select the images you'd like to include in the PicLens slideshow.

Step 2. You're done! PicLens Publisher will take care of the rest. It will create a sample HTML gallery of your images and their thumbnails that's ready to publish to your website.

Get the "Wow" factor by:

1. Easily creating immersive slideshows for all visitors
2. Generating the Media RSS, HTML, and JavaScript you need
3. Editing the generated code to add audio, video, and even your logo.
4. By supporting Media RSS and Media Binding Format (MBF)

NOTE: Adobe Flash 9.0.28 or higher or the free PicLens plugin is required to enjoy the full immersive slideshow experience of PicLens Lite.

Want to Get Even More "Wow"?

Visit the Webmaster's Guide to learn how to add audio and video, and fully customize the power of PicLens and PicLens Lite for your website. Count on at least one more posting, where I plan to demo a new site using PicLens!

Cybercast credit: YouTube

Netflix Player is coming from Roku for a mere $100

The Netflix box is finally a reality.

This the first product that allows subscribers to have movies and TV shows from the Netflix's Instant Viewing feature (aka "Watch-It-Now" I mentioned in my previous post) to be streamed directly to their TV screen. Previously, Instant Viewing was available only to PC users through the Internet Explorer browser.





You can access about 8,000 titles as of now.

I've been playing with the Netflix Player for about two weeks. For the most part there is a lot to like.

If you are looking for HD video quality and the polished interface of Apple TV or Vudu, you will be disappointed. This player is strictly barebones--you're not intended to do anything more than just dive in and watch the movies and TV shows you've already queued up via your online Netflix account.

That said, the Netflix Player has a major trump card in terms of price: it retails for $100, and delivers unlimited streaming to any Netflix subscriber on the $8.95 plan or above.

For the time being, Roku's affordable box is the only Netflix hardware on the market. However, Netflix has reaffirmed that three other hardware partners are scheduled to release competing products by year's end.

What do you think: is the Netflix Player a game-changing product that bests Apple TV?

Lycos as a VOD player? Who Knew?

Remember Lycos? Of course you do. Remember when you last used the site? Of course you don't. Perhaps that's exactly why the company's taking the site in a new direction: video on demand (VOD) rentals.

Started as a Carnegie Mellon University research project in 1994, Lycos was one of the first web search engines. By 1999 it was one of the most visited sites in the world. Then Yahoo and Google happened. While it still maintains respectable traffic worldwide, Lycos, now owned by Daum Communications, the second largest portal in Korea, is hardly more than an after-thought in the "Web 2.0" world.

In 2005 the company decided to shift its strategy away from search to online communities and broadband entertainment. This transition is continuing with the launch of Lycos Cinema.

An online video on demand service, Lycos offers both free and premium content. The free content is ad-supported, while the premium content takes a new approach: fees based on the number of "seats," that is how many people you want to watch the film with. Here is a sample clip from the "Little Shop of Horrors..."





That's the key component Lycos Cinema feels will set itself apart from the competition: social interaction. When you load up a movie, a chat room appears on the left hand side. Here, you can invite and interact with friends about the content you're all watching. It's a cute idea, at least in theory.

In reality there are problems:

First, the content is awful. It's not that I haven't heard of all of the films (only most of them), it's that there's no way I would pay to watch most of them.

Second, Lycos Cinema faces some stiff competition. In the growing field of VOD you have Apple's iTunes movie rentals, Amazon's Unbox rentals and Netflix's Watch-It-Now, among others. All of them offer much better content at similar prices with a much better experience. Even the free stuff on Lycos can't begin to compare with what the NBC and Fox-backed online video site Hulu offers.

The third problem, unfortunately, is that the site throws errors left and right. About half of the time most pages didn't load at all and instead spat out error code. Even if you wanted to rent a movie, you might not be able to -- it's a total crap shoot.

If you are able to get to the featured rentals promo page, you'll notice a top section that looks quite a bit like iTunes movie rentals' CoverFlow view. It's really kind of pathetic.

Lycos sold to Spain's Terra Networks in 2000 for $5.4 billion. It was resold in 2004 to the aforementioned Daum Communications Corp. for $95.4 million. At that rate it's due for another sale this year, priced down even more. Webcast anyone?

Cybercast credit: Lycos Video

Important Google Algorithm Change - Reassess Your Viral Video Marketing

I have just completed a post here about the awesome power of viral marketing. I have shown three examples of videos that have been watched over 1,000,000 times apiece!! In fact, one video has been viewed over 60,000,000 times on its own! The perfect example of friends telling friends. Mind you, those friends have been told for a very good reason, as the up skirt shots (sorry girls) are hilarious (and yes I admit, quite sexy), as is the evolution of dance.

But that is not the reason for this post. When video first came online it was relatively easy to get your videos on page 1 in Google. Then of course, everyone started to do it and Google changed their algorithm. It then became a lot harder to get your video on page 1 and you had to do a whole heap of other stuff, including probably the hardest of all, namely getting your video popular first, without the aid of a page 1 listing. Then Google bought YouTube. It took a while, but Google looks after Google.

Things have changed my friend -- just look at this for evidence:





If you click on the image, the full size image will open in a new window. There you have it. My two videos occupying no. 1 AND no. 2 spot for a lucrative search term. There are many more examples I can show you, but I'm not going to give all my secrets away here. Tell you what I'll do though, if you sign up for the pre launch list at TellAFriendzy (it's free), I will tell you the exact steps I took to achieve these spectacular results. Sign up today!!

Technorati Tags: tell a friend, tell a friend forms for marketing, tell a friend email, free tell a friend, tell a friend script, viral marketing, viral marketing examples, viral marketing and sports, viral marketing campaign, marketing viral, online viral marketing, viral marketing software, word of mouth marketing, word of mouth

Source: Viral marketing examples

Shooting for the Small Screen -- MetaCafe Tips #2

A lot of us produce videos for what's considered "small screen," that is internet, web, or mobile tv. So I've chosen this subject for this post from Metacafe's Production School Studio:



Shooting For The Small Screen - Watch today’s top amazing videos here


Here are some of the tips worth repeating:

1. Using a neutral density filter can make your life significantly easier if you find yourself constantly shooting outdoors in strong sunlight.

2. Put simply, the microphone on your camera sucks. You won't get good sound from it. Ideally, get a "shotgun" mic because it records voices without picking up background noise; but any mic is better than the one built into your standard camera.

3. MOST IMPORTANT - no matter how short your final video ends up, ALWAYS shoot multiple takes of key scenes. There are a number of reasons for this, but the most basic one is that it's very hard to tell in the viewfinder if the shot will look like the way you want it to.

Stay tuned -- I will keep posting the best "how-to" videos from the Video Production School!

Cybercast credit: Metacafe

Wanted: Your Video Masterpiece by LoftCity

Sign up with this shiny new web studio; set-up shop; produce your next masterpiece, or upload what you have; and they promise to distribute it for 50% of the take. It doesn't get easier than that, especially if they live up to their claims of being able to get it on mobile carriers like Verizon and AT&T, major media sites, your iPod or iPhone, etc., etc....

Plus the distribution is non-exclusive, which is definitely a heart-warmer!




Though the site is VERY new, it is - by first looks - crisply designed, functional, and easy to navigate. A number of people have already occupied a loft, although they seem to be bare to the bone, like mine;) Here is one from Alexia Anastasio, who at least has her picture hanging on the pixie wall.

I will report back about my experience as I dive deeper and deeper into this pool of bits, bytes, artistic creativity, and show biz. My first act will be to make my loft look semi-lived-in, then submit some of our current videos. How? Read the Open Call for Distribution on LoftCity or below:

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For Distribution

This Call is for submission of original and creative films to be distributed by LoftCity to web destination sites and mobile service providers.

If you have a film, a series, a video clip or a video art of any genre (the "film") and you wish to distribute it, submit it today to LoftCity and we will distribute it for you in the web and to mobile service providers.

LoftCity will distribute your film and will share with you the revenue it will generate.

Information about our distribution partners will be provided on an ongoing basis.

Using LoftCity's distribution services is subject to signing our Submission Agreement.

Brief & Guidelines:

· The film can be of any genre and in any format.
· You must have all the legal rights in the film for usage and distribution via LoftCity.
· The film can be anywhere between 30 seconds and 60 minutes in length.
· The film should be in English or with English subtitles.
· The film should not include any pornography, racism or offensive content.

Click here to learn more about LoftCity’s Submission Agreement and revenue share terms. Please read carefully sections 1 and 3 which refer to "Submitting a Film for Distribution".

Key dates

This is an open Call to which you can submit your film throughout the year. However, the sooner you submit your film the more you increase your chances for higher revenues.

Who can participate?

This Call is for all LoftCity beta participants.

We highly recommend that participants: upload their showreel and any other relevant materials (video, audio, photos and writings), detail their professional experience and create a profile using the "About me" section of the Loft.

How does it work?

There are two ways to submit your film.

Using LoftCity's Projects:

1. Open a project. Use the “Cast & Crew” tool to invite team members to participate in the project.
2. Produce your film.
3. The final film should be marked as “Final” in the "Editing Notes" tool.
4. Submit your film using the "Release" tool by selecting "Submit your film to: Distribution Only". The film will be submitted to the LoftCity team and will be published to the “Screening Room” under the "Distribution Only" category.

Using the Materials folder:
1. If you’ve already uploaded your film to your Materials folder, click on the film name and select the "Submit to" action.
2. Select "Distribution Only" from the drop down list. Accept our Distribution Agreement and click “Submit” at the bottom of the page.
3. The film will be submitted to the LoftCity team and will be published to the “Screening Room” under the "Distribution Only" category.

Technical requirements

The films should be up to a maximum of 500 MB.
We accept the following formats: MPG, MPEG, MOV, AVI, ASF, WMV, DIVX, 3GP and FLV.
More technical details can be found in the "Upload Files" section of our Help Center.

Legal

Your participation in this Call is subject to the LoftCity’s Submission Agreement. Please make sure you have all the legal rights to the film for usage and distribution via LoftCity.

The Project Manager is fully responsible for compensating his/her team members according to agreements set between them and for attaining all necessary rights to the submitted film.

We recommend you visit our Help Center, Terms of Use and Legal Tips sections to learn more

Further information: For further queries, please Contact Us.

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So sign up now and look for KingsleyVision (that's me) if you have a project in mind!

BTW, how do you like the motto "LoftCity, the first online film studio?" MyFlik from Mind's Eye Media has been online for more than a year, 60Frames for about the same time. And that's just what I know about. First? No. Better than the rest? That would be great!