LOS ANGELES, CA – February 3, 2009 – Broadband television network KoldCast TV today announced that it begins immediate distribution of new web series, OzGirl.

“OzGirl” is an exciting new social web series, from filmmaker Nicholas Carlton, designed to push the boundaries of web storytelling. The series’ primary character, Sadie (Sophie Tilson), is a young, bubbly, aspiring photographer that has just moved to big city Melbourne after growing up in the quiet countryside. She moves in with her cousin Megan (Shanrah Wakefield) who is a former child star who grew up on Australian television, playing character Jenny Carter in Australia’s longest running sitcom. Constantly mobbed by fans, Megan has graciously taken Sadie under her wing in order to teach her a thing or two about city life. Tune in as Sadie juggles everything from career to her love life in this social web adventure. http://www.koldcast.tv/video/ozgirl_teaser

OzGirl will be provided with a TiVo(r) feed, pursuant to KoldCast’s recently announced distribution deal with TiVo.

About KoldCast TV

KoldCast TV, launched in March 2008, is a Broadband Television Network delivering entertainment programming, on-demand, to a global audience, across a wide demographic, via the Internet. Entertaining video content, both short- and long-form (coming shortly), is globally streamed in full-screen high-definition and standard definition beauty via KoldCast’s own line of Advanced Media Players and delivered globally by Limelight Networks’ CDN. Original web series, music, comedy, sports and lifestyles programming create the nucleus of the KoldCast TV Network. KoldCast is recognized by its content partners for its value-added and personal approach to partner relationships, and its commitment to the marketing, promotion and organized discoverability of shows selected for broadcast on its Network. For more information, visit www.KoldCast.TV .

Media Contact

Gregory L. Samuels, VP, Content Management

MediaInquiries@KoldCast.TV

www.KoldCast.TV

** View the FULL press release at http://www.prweb.com/releases/KoldCast_TV/Broadband_tv_network/prweb1954654.htm

I had a meeting the other day with the director of branded entertainment for a major production company and this topic came up and is something that I have been thinking about for quite some time throughout my research on web series and during the development of OzGirl. Where does the value lie? With the content or with the website?

Let me break it down – there are two components to web video – the video content and the website/player. OzGirl is currently playing on Bebo, we have over 20, 000 subscribers at the moment, but we don’t own the Bebo website. We don’t own those subscribers and don’t have *direct* access to them. But we have built a relationship with them on Bebo’s open media platform using their social tools. They have provided an incentive for us to invest in their site because they have the userbase with the right demographic for our show. So who has the upper hand? Who “owns” these users?

Traditional media players will tell you Bebo. On paper they have the traffic. They have 1.8 million uniques a month, and of course are able to attract major advertisers in this market because of the constant flow of traffic. I will argue though that the value lies in the brand and the relationship content creators establish with their audience. OzGirl and all the other shows on Bebo, YouTube and MySpace are providing engagement and retention for the sites. That’s right – without the content creators none of these media based sites have a reason to be visited.

To make money on the web you need to set up your website, create traffic and sell advertising against it. Right? Yes – but of course you need content. YouTube is making millions of dollars off of content they don’t create or invest in AT ALL.

When the industry matures what will eventually happen is content aggregators such as YouTube will bid on content just like TV shows and cinemas do (yes, theatres bid on every film). Within the current state of the industry content creators are somehow expected to continue to churn out content and hand it over to aggregators (aka distributors) for free without any compensation. This must and will change. I don’t believe the web video model is vastly different from the cinema distribution model.

I also believe that the value is in the brand and franchise you establish. Take ‘The Guild’ for example, which started on YouTube for free. It garnered hundreds of thousands of views, if not millions and is one of the most popular web series of all time. Season 2 saw Felicia Day (the creator) sign a non-exclusive deal with Microsoft which gave them a 4 week advance in episodes to be played on their platform. Felicia had already established ‘The Guild’ as a brand. She built a loyal audience who were willing to follow her around. The same thing happened with LonelyGirl15 as they switched platforms from Revver to VideoEgg and eventually to their own custom platform (which sucks but that’s another story).

The content aggregators are not currently giving the creators their due credit. I think they are taking them for granted. It’s the creators who create engagement and the experience for the users. Not the platform. Yes in cases like Bebo they manage an underlying social network site, but do you think without Bebo’s Open Media Platform and Media-centric business plan users would stick around for the social networking features? My guess is no.

In my dealings with some of these tech companies I have found some of them to be quite arrogant and ignorant of the fact that it is shows like OzGirl which will enrich the user experience of their websites. So before I go off on a tangent I should conclude this part by saying I believe that, in the same way the film studio system is set up, content creators and content aggregators and platforms are completely co-dependent on each other. This isn’t the way the aggregators run their businesses now but it will be.

So this leads to the question:

Does Exclusivity Work?
No. Not on the internet. When a movie is playing, where do you go? To your nearest cinema. You expect it to be playing there. And you have every right to. What if I told you that you could only go to one cinema to see that movie because the movie makers decided that in order to maximise their profit, they would build their own cinema and get everyone in the country to drive up and pay to see their movie.

Ridiculous isn’t it. Yet content creators still want to build their own communities from scratch. It’s plain stupid. You need to go to where users are already, where they spend their time and interact. I spend a few hours on Facebook and Bebo every day. That is my habit and routine. If a web show told me I had to visit their own website to watch their show I’d tell them to piss off. Because I want my content where I want it, when I want it and how I want it. I don’t want to be dictated to.

Why start your own party when you crash a party? Apparently Web 3.0 means the death of the homepage (and portal). Information will be syndicated and aggregated across utilitarian sites such as Facebook and Twitter. I absolutely subscribe to this view. Content creators – use existing mediums and venues out there to build your audience. Don’t re-invent the wheel. And don’t try to because you’re not that good at making the wheel. Leave the aggregation and platform development to the tech guys.

In the early days of development we got offered a substantial amount of money for the exclusive rights to the show. The website was a startup video site which wanted to channel the traffic exclusively to the OzGirl home page (ozgirl.tv). All other platforms such as YouTube, MySpace, etc would have promos and adverts aired instructing users to visit the home page. Now this was a very tough decision for me… it went against everything I as a hardcore internet user believed and WANTED to see on the net. Because if I was the end user I simply wouldn’t bother. I don’t want to readjust my routine and visit a new website.

It seems that this mentality it still prevalent within the industry. But I strongly believe that the Web is about freedom and choice. Users should be free to create mash ups of the work. To engage in it and take a piece of it home and into their lives. To remix it and play with it, copy it to their profiles and share it. Wherever they want. So the question then becomes how do you make money from this airy-fairy philosophy?

You will ultimately make more money this way. Product and brand integration is exactly that, it’s integrated into the content. It’s not web page, or player dependent. Because IT IS the content. Syndicating your show to all platforms then allows you to aggregate your views and charge a higher CPM. Or you bake your pre-roll ads in. Make your advertisements independent of websites and players. Run competitions at the end of each video, or sell your merchandise within the videos. There are dozens of options. When an advertiser wants to reach a MAXIMUM audience, syndication is the key to giving them what they want and getting you what you want.

If your content is everywhere, your brand is everywhere. You will have a better bargaining chip than the aggregators. That’s the position you want to be in. Make full use of the platforms out there, but don’t just depend on one, extend your brand everywhere.

So I’ve decided to start blogging again. Blogging is a bit like going to the gym. You get all enthusiastic about it and start doing it for a week or two but then stop because you get tired. It requires discipline and strength to sit down and write articles and I’m almost positive I’m an undiagnosed case of ADD so I’ve never really gotten into it. I also finding blogging and writing about myself extremely tedious, boring and narcissistic and oh, who really gives a shit, right?

So with that in mind I have bought my-own-name.com (nicholascarlton.com – yes I shamelesly self-promote) and will begin regularly blogging about myself because I’m important, have something to say and you should listen (or read). No doubt you have already made my website your homepage, subscribed to my RSS and Twitterfeed. Or you’re at least reading my Facebook status and are appraised on my every move. So I’ll explain this move in slightly more than 120 characters – I’ve been toiling away for months working on my web series, OzGirl (http://ozgirl.tv). It’s been a hard, long and exciting ride thus far and after speaking to a lot of people and experimenting in this new industry of web video I’ve began to believe that perhaps I do have some thoughts and experiences that I should commit to paper (or server). If for nothing else than to give me a perspective on events. Maybe fellow filmmakers will get something out of it.

So in this blog I will talk about my experience developing OzGirl, filmmaking, new media and how it relates to filmmaking, the ever expanding business of web video, the commercial aspects of it and the role traditional media and filmmaking has and what it means to filmmakers like me.

I started work on OzGirl at the beginning of October, this is the fourth month that I have been working on it and I will begin this blog by summarising the events and developments of the show thus far:

• For various reasons I am unable to provide a budget for the show, however it was most definetly low budget.
• The show was written but not scripted, everything was improvised.
• 99% of the shoot was with a one person crew, I was the DOP, Sound Recordist and Director.
• 24 episodes were shot, each episode runs for approximately 4 minutes. So in essence we shot a 90 minute feature film.
• The show was shot in 19 days across October, November and December.
• Following the release of the trailer we received 17, 000 subscribers to our Bebo show page.
• We have begun to receive commercial offers and major production companies, distributors and advertisers have submitted their interest in our show.

Firstly I should mention that whilst I was the only permanent crew member on the show the show was most certainly a collaboration between myself, the excellent and amazing cast of Sophie, Shanrah and Richard, a certain Scottish giant, Lisa Bedwell, a Tasmanian, my Dad who has been handling a large portion of the business side, and of course a lot of my friends who have given their input.

But the show wasn’t made on a Hollywood budget. We didn’t have a make up artist or a 1st Ad, and 1st 1st Ad and a 2nd 1st Ad. We made the show with the resources we had available to us. Nothing more. We creatively wrote a story around what was immediately available. One of my all time heroes is Robert Rodriguez. Read “Rebel Without a Crew” and learn how he made his feature, “El Mariachi” on $7, 000. A lot of people think this is a joke, and yes the print that ended up in theatres receieved a million dollar grade and sound mix. But he still put together a $7, 000 film and received major Hollywood interest.

So what am I saying? I think my first blog on OzGirl should have one message: anything is possible. Be creative and keep fighting to achieve what you want to achieve. You don’t need a 50 person crew, or a 10 person crew, or a 5 person crew. You don’t need $50 million.

Hope you like it!

Hey everyone,

Here is the trailer for my web show “OzGirl”. This is the first of many more promotional videos and photos that will be published in the lead up to the launch of the show (which as of yet does not have a release date). We are considering a mid-December launch. Anyway… enjoy!

Production begins tomorrow on the internet series I’m currently working on entitled “OzGirl” which will tell the story of a country girl adjusting to live in the big city. We have just figured out the schedule to shoot 24 episodes over 11 days. Each episode will run between 2 – 3 minutes, so essentially we will be shooting a “mini-feature” in 11 days which is going to be insane. The cast is mostly in place, and we plan to shoot it mockumentary style with the actors visiting real locations and interacting with live people in character.

I’m still debating whether a December or January launch will be more beneficial. We plan to wrap on November 19th, and obviously there is a lot of marketing and campaigning to be done. I have no idea how the series will fair in its 3 month run of 2 episodes a week. Will we make money out of it? Most definitely not, but it should be an interesting experiment in seeing how big (or small) a viewership we are able to capture.

One of the other challenges has been in designing the story. Whilst 2 videos are released a week, a lot of the story takes place “off-screen” on blogs and through the character’s postings on Facebook and MySpace, and we are attempting to incorporate an interactive aspect to the show.

I’ve decided to steer clear of the (now) cliched, cute-girl-video-blogging series that is easy to do and has been done well before (LonelyGirl15, RedEarth88). I intend to shoot this in a similar style to “The Office” and other mockumentaries out there. Another notable exception to this series is that you’ll find no murder mysteries or death. This is 100%, good old-fashioned melodrama at its best.

I shall be posting pictures and trailers, and all the usual stuff soon.

The emergence of professional produced, internet-designed shows such as Pink the Series which has received 2.8 million views and Spinning Jenny, signify the need for filmmakers to step up and recognize the internet as a medium for professional content not just amateur video. Internet video will no longer be seen as a stepping stone for television “mainstream” success, but rather the holy grail itself. It is going to be young filmmakers with an intricate understanding of the social web, web 2.0 that are going to make it big.

As a filmmaker myself, I can understand the challenge of letting go of everything you have been taught and to embrace a new style of storytelling. Passive entertainment is gone. It’s history. Seriously. Audiences want to be able to interact with characters and influence stories. Does this mean that cinema will disappear one day? Probably not anytime soon – but it is important to think of this as the next evolution in storytelling. As filmmakers, we are still in the storytelling business – but the medium has simply changed. Just as stories were once told by word of mouth, then by playwrights, then by radio, and then by film. Embrace Web 2.0, the Social Web.

If your video content is not integrated with Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube – it isn’t truly web video. Consider “Quarter Life” produced by NBC and created by Edward Zwick, the show was pre-filmed in its entirety and simply “aired” on the internet. That is not social. That’s still television networks ramming down your throat what they think you want to see. As people’s lives get more and more public, they expect a level of interactivity from their entertainment.

People are going to be turning to the internet for their entertainment, and advertisers are going to want in. When creating a show, consider how you might integrate product placement. Know your market and think like an advertiser. If you get between 100, 000 to 2 million viewers an episode, companies are going to be knocking on your door giving you money.

1. The credit crunch.
With the world economy in the state that it is, advertisers will be seeking cheaper and more accountable mediums to reach their target audience. Advertisers want a higher rate of return and the internet is going to be like the second coming of Christ. Consider that a 30-second Super Bowl spot costs $3 million, who in their right mind is going to fork out that kind of cash today? Recent developments by large corporations in their attempts to create commercials “disguised” as viral videos, such as Nike’s Ronaldinho video have proven successful generating over 25 million views. With the return of the next slate of TV shows, NBC’s popular “Heroes” garnered slightly less than 6 million viewers (down 5 million compared to last season – more on that later). When compared to the budget of a typical television show costs between $800k and $2 million, the cost of producing an internet video seems like peanuts – averaging only $20k a video. And the internet’s reach is so much wider.

2. Shift in viewership and quality
With ratings going down, piracy going up, and the stock market taking a dive – television networks are basically screwed. Most people no longer want to watch pre-programmed television – whilst “Heroes” received terrible ratings in its latest season it still remains the most popular downloaded series. We are seeing websites such as Hulu.com really take over, and this is signifying mainstream acceptance that the internet is becoming the new home for video content. In previous years, the most popular internet videos were “viral videos” with cats playing on pianos, and dogs talking – and this is changing – audiences now expect to see professional content with relatively high production values (ie. CollegeHumour’s Sarah Palin trailer). If you are a filmmaker with professionally created, internet-designed content and have an audience – expect a knock on your door soon.

3. A level playing field
Where previously independent filmmakers struggled to get distribution, the internet has created a level playing field. Steven Spielberg has no higher chance of finding an audience on YouTube than you do. The biggest hurdle once facing filmmakers has been completely dissolved because the internet is ubiquitous. Release a video on the internet, and hundreds of thousands of people will instantly be notified via YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. Obviously there are no costs involved, no prints to pay for, no cinemas to fill, no quotas. Web filmmakers need no longer worry themselves with distribution woes, and can now focus on content creation. Anyone can get their content out there.

Remember that as a web filmmaker you are in the advertising industry – create a regular web show that receives a substantial amount of viewers and you have created a platform for advertisers to directly speak to their target market.