Month: November 2011

Categories
Business & Marketing Item of Interest The Business of Production

Will ‘Arrested Development’ be a Cost Center or Profit for Netflix?

Will ‘Arrested Development’ Be A Cost Center Or Profit Unit For Netflix? http://t.co/U47hnHCz

MediaPost asks a very good question about the likely profitability to Netflix of reviving Arrested Development, but ultimately Netflix, like cable companies before it, may fund a program that isn’t profitable directly, but indirectly contributes to the bottom line of the whole channel.  Mad Men on AMC is unlikely to be directly profitable for AMC but it raises the profile and perception of the network and is worthwhile as a result.

Continue reading “Will ‘Arrested Development’ be a Cost Center or Profit for Netflix?”

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Business & Marketing Item of Interest Monetizing

Let’s Get Serious — Branded Video is about the Information.

Let’s Get Serious — Branded Video Is About The Information http://t.co/e8ccL5qs

I think branded video – where a company or brand puts up all the production money in order to present their brand.  This article from VideoInsider.com jumps from an “interesting” statistic, to examine what brands want, or need ,out of their investment in video.

Our research has shown that consumers are not typing brand names into Google to download commercials to their PCs.  They’re searching for information.  Through our research for a large electronics company, we learned that consumers weren’t searching for information about how to choose a camera, but were searching for information on how to use one to take pictures of babies, weddings, kids, etc.  That insight was invaluable in crafting our branded online video strategy for the company, which focused on providing consumers with information on how to take the best pictures — using their brand of cameras, of course — rather than a commercial about which of their cameras consumers can buy.

Good statistics and background in the article.

Categories
Assisted Editing Interesting Technology Item of Interest

Automatic Fact-Checking Coming to the Web.

Automatic Fact-Checking Coming To The Web – Complications Follow http://t.co/1aTaVRQo

My interest in this story is simply because I want to harness that power to speed the pre-post process or understanding what content we have, in order to better (and more quickly) use it. It also confirms my long-held belief that we are – at least for some kinds of work – be able to semi-automate first assemblies.

In this context:

My best guess is that this will be a growing part of the behind the scenes internet services industry. Google would be a natural contender, indexing as it does much of the data one would need to reach a reasonable judgment. But Google isn’t really in the judgment business. Sure, you’ve got their “best guess for Patrick Swayze age” if you search for it (59!), but evaluating natural-language claims, political or what have you, doesn’t seem like their business. They store and index data and surface what you’re looking for. I think it will be a startup, or someone in academia like Schultz, who provides the first germ of this and starts a movement, though his own contributions may in the end be minimal. The competition will, hopefully, be based on the accuracy of their evaluations, just as the search engines competed on speed and simplicity, or device makers on build and design.

Although let’s not forget what my friend Doug Luberts pointed to: Colossus: The Forbin Project

Forbin is the designer of an incredibly sophisticated computer that will run all of America’s nuclear defenses. Shortly after being turned on, it detects the existence of Guardian, the Soviet counterpart, previously unknown to US Planners. Both computers insist that they be linked, and after taking safeguards to preserve confidential material, each side agrees to allow it. As soon as the link is established the two become a new Super computer and threaten the world with the immediate launch of nuclear weapons if they are detached. Colossus begins to give it’s plans for the management of the world under it’s guidance. Forbin and the other scientists form a technological resistance to Colossus which must operate underground.

I’m mildly more positive.

Categories
Business & Marketing Item of Interest

The Definitive Post On Why SOPA and Protect IP are Bad, Bad Ideas

The Definitive Post On Why SOPA And Protect IP Are Bad, Bad Ideas http://t.co/Gy2NCyL7

That main issue, we’re told over and over again, is “piracy” and specifically “rogue” websites. And, let’s be clear: infringement is a problem. But the question is what kind of problem is it? Much of the evidence suggests that it’s not an enforcement problem and it’s not a legal problem. Decades of evidence from around the globe all show the same thing: making copyright law or enforcement stricter does not work. It does not decrease infringement at all — and, quite frequently, leads to more infringement. That’s because the reason that there’s infringement in the first place is that consumers are being under-served. Historically, infringement has never been about “free,” but about indicating where the business models have not kept up with the technology.

Thus, the real issue is that this is a business model problem. As we’ve seen over and over and over again, those who embrace what the internet enables, have found themselves to be much better off than they were before. They’re able to build up larger fanbases, and to rely on various new platforms and services to make more money.

The real problem is that the studios and record labels still think of it as an analog world, and have never made the adjustment to digital business models where abundance is free!

Categories
Interesting Technology Item of Interest

Apple wins patent on 3D object-recognition Technology.

Apple wins patent on 3D object-recognition technology http://t.co/1rg8SO3I

Apparently one of the patents Apple acquired when they purchased Polar Rose last year.

The USPTO has awarded Apple a patent on 3D object-recognition technology that goes well beyond the current face recognition already included in apps such as iPhoto and the iOS 5 camera application, allowing a device to “build” a 3D face or object by analyzing the curves, contours and shadows of a 2D image. Such technology would give Kinect-like detection and recognition capabilities to cameras such as those found in iOS and Mac devices.

The technique could be used, for example, to create biometric logins that only unlocked the device when the owner was identified (though as with other such techniques, keeping the device able to distinguish the actual owner versus a picture of the owner would be the key to real security). It could also be used to automatically take and upload timed pictures of users who were not the owner, or lock out machines when the owner’s face was not detected. Apple mentions also being able to identify persons who are not aware that they are being recognized.

Those who know me will realize that I’m thinking of how we can apply this technology to production metadata. Facial identification is a powerful tool if it’s accurate, and the ability to recognize more objects will give us even more metadata to feed into identifying and editing algorithms.

Categories
Business & Marketing Item of Interest

MPAA Costs Hollywood More Than US BitTorrent Piracy.

MPAA Costs Hollywood More Than US BitTorrent Piracy http://t.co/A67CYG6W Kind of silly exercise but it’s an interesting exercise!

Even TorrentFreak aren’t taking themselves seriously with this one, but by extrapolating how much more the MPAA studios would make if all the US BitTorrent traffic moved to NetFlix subscriptions, and comes to the conclusion:

Continue reading “MPAA Costs Hollywood More Than US BitTorrent Piracy.”

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Business & Marketing Item of Interest Monetizing

Congress seeks to tame the Internet.

Congress seeks to tame the Internet http://t.co/TxW4SJLf

A terrific article by Nancy Scola at Salon goes into detail why SOPA/PROTECT IP is such a bad idea for the Internet. I strongly recommend you read the whole article as it’s hard to excerpt just part, but I thought this was important:

When it comes to talking about SOPA, it is important to remember this: You can think that “intellectual property” infringement (not only of movies and music, but knockoff Nikes sold online) is bad for the American economy and still think the legislation is a disaster. Not only would the bill likely do little to address the problem of online content fraud and counterfeiting, but it takes aim at the core features of the Internet that have contributed a great deal to the American economy.

 

Categories
Business & Marketing Item of Interest Media Consumption

Sweet sanity: 75% of Americans say infringement files should be under $100.

Sweet sanity: 75% of Americans say infringement fines should be under $100 http://t.co/ftKhPLNA Now to get the message to Politicians

Frankly, when you can legitimately pay $7.50 a month for access to millions of tracks, the current statutory fine – up to $150,000 per instance – are way out of balance.  There are far worse things you can do – criminal acts – that incur less of a penalty.

Actually, one third of the respondents thought there should be no fine for what 70% of people apparently are already doing: downloading content that isn’t licensed to them.

Categories
Business & Marketing

Production CONN 2011

One of the inevitable trends about trade shows is that the big show is slowly eroding away, while smaller regional shows – like Production CONN 2011, Createasphere, etc – are growing in influence and quality. 

Continue reading “Production CONN 2011”

Categories
Business & Marketing Item of Interest The Business of Production

10 Signs Internet TV is Ready to Disrupt the Industry

10 Signs Internet TV is Ready to Disrupt the Industry http://t.co/OpURKa1o

The ten bullet points from Mark Suster’s talk at The Future of Television. There’s good detail in the text summary, and the full 10 minute talk is available on video.

1. The promise has been made for too long, People are cynical

2. The right factors are finally in place

3. YouTube is the new Comcast

4. The distributed ad platform enabled this industry to evolve

5. Internet TV is following the CLASSIC case of the “Innovator’s Dilemma”

6. Cable & Satellite packages will become music albums

7. Mass adoption of Internet video has already taken place

8. TV is the medium people prefer (whether we like it or not) –

9. Video is different than text. It requires unique, creative skills

10. This revolution is starting in Los Angeles.