I don't want people to get the wrong idea about what I said. I personally believe that when you gather people you should try to sell them something. Otherwise, eventually how will you afford to continually make the content to bring them to the gathering space. Advertising is another way to go, sponsorship is another way to go. My way is just one way. I believe that websites will pay huge money very soon for viable entertainment content that can drive people back continually to their website. After all, that is the goal of every website to get a customer base and find a way to bring them back every two weeks. That gives them an opportunity to sell to them.

Whether to prove my point, make some money or just be in the first group to do it, I’m in pre/pre production on my first strictly entertainment webisodic production. We will launch it on our own for 12 webisodes to build an audience and then try to commission a dozen webisodes to a major player in fashion. True to my rants, the show tentatively called “R&J” will have nothing to do with selling anything. That’s a job for the garment company to do when the viewers arrive. My job is strictly going to be bringing people regularly to their website. It’s just entertainment that could be seen on any website or TV station. I planning on making this show to compete head to head with television and potentially be bought by television one day. More to come on R&J.

It’s an exciting time for entertainment makers.
Steve

There we have it people, a man who chews his own words and spits them out at you in an idea that he is already making a reality :)

I figured you must have been up to something, you were up against web guys and still sticking to your guns. But even so, i look forward to this series. Didn't someone say in one of the early film fellas that "the more you get told it can't be done, the more someone is likely to do it" ?

I guess that i have had the same happen to me. After shooting for so long, i had network TV buy videos off of me to run on their network stations that had only previously been seen on the web. So in that respect, it worked out perfectly.

You mention about bringing people back every 2 weeks. At the moment, i try to bring people back everyday and work on a 72hr turnaround from shoot to screen. Its tight and tough, but generates huge traffic.

That's amazing, how you can blast content out every 72 hours. I applaud you for it. I'm hard pressed to get my content out every two weeks. It's not so much the shooting but the editing.

You're my hero, let's give em hell and show them how fun it is to be able to make your own content and profit form it.

Late nights, early mornings, an evolved workflow and keeping things simple (equipment wise) keeps the 72hrs a nice average. Some things take longer for sure, i have one that is in month 4 of production. But as far as 1:30 to 4 minute features go, i try to stick to that fast turn around. I think i'm going to have all grey hair by the time i'm 30 though :)

If you ever need to 'terminal test' some zacuto gear, shooting in extreme places, in sometimes extreme heat and near/on/in the water - i'm your man! haha
My spider brace shoulder mount is on its last legs :)

All right, you deserve some real gear. And you are such a loyal follower, send me an email at steve@zacuto.com and I'll send you some gear. Let me know the gear you are using and mounting and I'll come up with something for you.

wow! emailing right away :)

Can I get some free gear too?

Very wise man Stoner Ace.
Two concepts here:
1. Consumer entertainment show, i.e. to compete with television
2. Niche program show, i.e. FilmFellas
I don't think in a niche market you can have the same formula as you have in consumer advertising. First off, we sell more expensive products then the consumer market and we are only looking for a couple of sales. Our markets are tiny but well defined with almost everyone being a viable customer. One or two sales is a profit maker on the cost of a webisode. But personally I’m not that really interested in the profit in it. It’s a brand builder and it also sets your business aside from the rest with having a honest dialogue with your constituents and some of that gets put in the marketing budget and some in the advertising budget. It’s not all about sales. Plus a show is much different than an ad impression. It brings your customers into an experience, educates them and brings them back regularly again and again. Ads don’t do that. Nothing does that. The other thing you have to realize is with people coming to watch a series you can have other videos for them to watch, product, demo & instructional videos. The series is what brings them in and then they look at others. Those are the impressions that really make the sales. If you populate the videos on facebook, Vimeo, Exposureroom, YouTube (we are getting between 500 – 600K views a year). The total cost of production is $X and how much will 600K views produce in sales a year, that’s a good question, it’s too new to tell. But that’s a lot of niche eyeballs we didn’t have last year looking around at our stuff. To me it’s worth it because the cost of production is so cheap for us, we have everything. But today I was talking about expanding our business to have a production division as we used to and we figured we could deliver “WineFellas” for about 5-7K per webisode. So a business would have to pay 14K a month for a bi monthly web series. I think aggressive companies will jump at this?

Now the consumer entertainment show is different, comparatively it’s low in cost compared to advertising that it’s almost a no-brainer for a company to do. Let’s say you give them 26 yearly webisodes for $1M, that’s a pimple on to their ad budget. And can bring 200K plus viewers per show (to a great show) with the proper web marketing campaign. We are talking about a major retailer. We’ll see, I’m sticking my neck out there and doing a spec one as we speak. The key to the success to a consumer show is putting the right messages around the video to attract these viewers to buy. You have to be clever and have contests, loss leaders, free stuff, social networking component. Our show, R&J, which is a Tween marketed show will have a community service campaign that pays rewards (but gives great publicity and gets the parents involved), social networking for the actors and viewers, and many other ways to get the viewers involved. Again you have to create a dialogue with your customer that they don’t currently have right now. This is a serious change and may be hard for some corporate types to grasp. That’s the fun part.

At one point you just have to blaze the trail, that's why we call it The Wild West.
Steve

Brian,
I think maybe I didn't say how I felt very well. When I said I don't like filmmakers having a day job. What I meant to say is that I want filmmakers to try to make there day job in the film/video business. Doing weddings, corporate work, gaffing, being part of a production company, etc. This way you get experience and become a better filmmaker so when you get the opportunity to make a feature, short or webisodic show, you have more experience. I see so many filmmakers only wanting to create shorts and films and not pay their dues doing corporate work. For 20 years Jens and I did corporate work, some really fun and creative work, never really having the opportunity to do our own creations. Finally, with FilmFellas, I get the opportunity to do what I want and with our other show "R&J" in development, even more so. It’s been a long road but I'm elated to be able to have this opportunity to just create my own vision. I see what you guys see.

Also, If you or anyone ever needs or wants to talk about your projects, advice, I’m here and happy to offer what I know.

As far as jobs at Zacuto, right now we are good, but our situation changes every 3 months, so keep in touch if you are interested.

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for the reply and thanks for checking out my videos... great comments, and coming from you it really means a lot!

I am actually one of the lucky guys who has a day job as a lone wolf video producer/shooter/editor as my corporate day job (US Army clients etc), as well as freelance gigs on the side, and if there’s any time left over I’ll try to do something creative... I’d love to be able to push my creative work ahead of the corp/freelance, and theoretically, if your business model gets picked up and pans out, could potentially do so… I think that's where your model of internet being the vehicle for distribution allows for people like me to be able to make a film and get it out there in front of a worldwide audience (and potentially get paid for it) regardless of budget restraints etc. On top of that, the knowledge-base on sites like vimeo and exposure room are incredible… The feedback is invaluable and the exchange of information for free is phenomenal. Worldwide internet visibility with feedback is really raising the bar for filmmakers because it's such a vast industry with so much to learn and the breadth of knowledge shared through these channels allows filmmakers to progress and get better at their craft much more quickly than in the past.

As per, Film Fellas, I think that this type of branding for Zacuto is great… You’re dealing with an ever-changing industry and you’re addressing current issues as well as the potential of the future and its impact on the industry. Also, you’re putting a literal face to Zacuto, as well as bringing in your client base to be part of the Zacuto family (ie Philip Bloom & other filmmakers) is really a great brand. It’s very cool to see and hear what other professionals are thinking about in an open discussion like Film Fellas… The internet is great for information in terms of forums, but everything must be taken with a grain (bucket) of salt… and Forums/blogs etc don’t put a face/voice to the information, which is much more personal and much more persuasive. This is where ideas like Film Fellas need to be adopted by other businesses, to put a face to their trade and speak less about marketing and advertising and more about their industry and the future of the industry, and by doing so, indirectly advertising. I know as a consumer, the reason I went with Zacuto gear over all the other countless brands was because of the branding and the personal customer service I was provided. Not to mention the great reviews on the bloom blog (if he’s not on the payroll he should be!) So when you’re talking about this whole idea of internet marketing and the business model of having internet “hits” turn into profit, I think it goes without saying that this can be applied to any industry, but this model combined with kind of face to face branding & customer service you provide is just a no brainer win-win for the business owner and the consumer.

I’m glad you’re finally able to make Film Fellas as your creative project. It’s a well deserved show and I think it’s really informative and a great idea. So, Kudos to you for your innovative marketing and info sharing techniques through film as well as the great branding. What’s the next film fellas espisode on? And how do you get on Film Fellas?! Thanks again, Steve!

Brian

Wow, that's a lot of nice shit in there Brian, don't even know how to say thank you for that.
Give me a call next week unless you are coming to CineGear today and tomorrow and we can talk about FilmFellas, love to have you on the show.
Steve

P.S. find some passion point and create a show for them. Harley guys, stamp collectors, golfers. Find a website and see if they would like to have that dialogue centered around their business.

Yes, it's viable if you have celeb status, in general people don't want to pay for content on the web.
Steve

LOVE YOUR VIDEO!

Holy Crap it was good, and from what I can tell you piggy-backed a photo shoot to save money. Smart!

How did the magazine respond? Did they love it and want more or do they think it was just a neat trick?

I think it was awesome and just loved how your worked all the fashion into a memorizing little narrative.

Edward

Thank you Edward!

I think they love it, but they don't know how to finance this kind of work. I think they must to upgrade their commercial department, because this work is very interesting to audience and brands.
How turn the content into profits? That's the question they have to answer themselves. Of course we can help them if they want to listen externals opinions. For now everything that means no traditional advert on -line is growing slooooowly...

Lucy,
I didn't mean that people should not have day jobs. I think that came out wrong. What I meant to say is that I would like it if their day jobs were in the film/video spectrum, like shooting weddings, corporate videos, webisodic programming, being a production company.

The thinking is that even know it's not exactly what you want to be shooting, you are improving you skills as a filmmaker everytime you go out and shoot. Then when you make you indie film or video, you will be a better shooter, director, editor.
Steve