OddFuture – No Budget Domination

Kids are bored. Their steady diets of radiology, twitter trends and overly padded athletic events is creating a generation of Avatar risk takers.

So let me introduce OddFuture (Odd Future Wolf Gang Crew Kill em All) a group of California misfits who have capitalized on the status of the crippled recording industry to kick down the doors using nothing, but free social media platforms to galvanize an audience of indoor kids across the world.

The band, which is the brainchild of the aptly named Tyler The Creator has creating a wild feeding frenzy among record companies, based off of little more than a series of mixtapes and no budget music videos that are more disturbing than a Sarah Palin White House bid. A group of rowdy, unruly, punk/skate/rap/minimilist grime/ musician/entertainer/filmmaker/web developer/ conundrum from Odd Future have literally ignited the internet with disturbing images of teenagers doing excessive amounts of drugs while brandishing fire arms and threatening to dress like Nazis. In recent weeks, they have appeared in the Guardian (UK), The Fader, The NY Times, Village Voice and an unfathomable amount of blogs across the WORLD, which have lead to sold out shows in LA, New York, London to name just the last month.

And all of this from a basement.

The hustle is impressive, but what’s shocking is how effective their model for success has been. By attacking the status quo directly, through channels like interactive blogs and websites, they were able to garner such an intense amount of support within months. The group has literally created a small media empire that is completly self-sustainable and synergistic. They have literally proven that record labels are useless to them, which is why labels have all begged to sit down with the crew.

Love it or Hate it, the ability to successfully create an underdog/rebel with the potential to win will always make people pay attention.

-Vic Reznik

Mark Burnett Tells Stories

Mark Burnett has produced some incredible television in his day. Who can deny his TV supremacy given the TV franchises he created and the role he played in showing the entire entertainment marketplace that non-scripted-super-produced-TV-programming has a huge audience. You might have heard of shows such as SURVIVOR (10 years and running), THE APPRENTICE (6 years and running), ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER (three years and running) and many more TV credits.

He’s offers some great nuggets on the art of storytelling with social media guru Brian Solis. Awesome that he also acknowledges a “Hero Has With A Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell. It is indeed a must read to any storyteller that’s interested the journey of story in itself.

Lastly, Mark and Brian discuss the dynamic social experience that revolves around TV programming. In itself, TV is social media. The social-to-passive TV arena will be an interesting space to keep an eye on as our digital entertainment experience continues to evolve.

@MitchKapler

Sony’s Crackle Goes POP!

Sony’s Crackle Taps Google for Platform Expansion

In October, Sony’s Crackle the multiscreen video-on-demand (VOD) content network featuring Sony film and TV titles, and Crackle original productions, launched its first mobile application on the Android mobile platform and additionally. released an optimized version for Google TV. Crackle is conspicuously absent from Apple products though they claim a partnership is in the works.

Until now, you could only access Crackle on their home site, Playstation, and on Crackle’s branded channels syndicated on bigger VOD players such as Hulu and Youtube.

While Hulu, Youtube, Netflix, and the studios’ online homes have quickly captured users as the major destinations for online video, Crackle has had a relatively snail-like uptake since acquired by Sony in 2006 (known then as “Grouper”). In hindsight, it looks as though Crackle has been quietly watching and crafting a competitive platform strategy while these other destinations’ picked their dance partners and have enjoyed larger audiences.

Other competing content networks, such as Joost, have not had the luxury to wait and watch. Crackle owes its resilience to its plum position as the default new media extension of Sony Pictures- it was a long-term investment by Sony who could afford a few years of underperformance.

With these latest moves, Crackle is coming-out in a big way. They brokered a larger overall partnership with Google, beginning with the Android application. As the first subscription video application on the platform, Crackle has chosen the “freemium” model, like Hulu Plus, to attract subs: the basic download is free and allows for basic content access, hopefully enticing an upgrade to monthly subscription. This model has momentum- in fact, as Gigaom reports, one-third of top-grossing iPhone applications are Freemium.

Crackle position on Google’s Android allows for better positioning. On the Android, in contrast to the iPhone, Crackle does not have Hulu or Netflix to compete with- for now. This will lead to expected increased traffic and consumer awareness of Crackle- now that it is accessible on more screens and prominently, at least on Android phones.

From a consumer perspective, Crackle’s launch on mobile and Google TV is great news because it opens increased viewing options. It will be interesting to watch where we find Crackle next and how it fairs in competition with other VOD content options, considering increasing competitive coexistence on all platforms in the future.

-Russell Kummer

H&H 56

Eat your heart out DiMaggio. 

The next event is Tuesday, November 23 (see below).  

I love Fall and I don’t care who knows it. 

The H&H/GFS PARTNERSHIP has begun and we are still looking for volunteers who want to be involved with The Ghetto Film School.  We are teaching seminars on the 12/11 and 12/18. 

The seminar topics are THE TV BUSINESS and REELS, NETWORKING AND BRANDING.  If you are interested in being involved email Sasha Silver – sasha.silver@gmail.com.

Also, remember to check www.headsetsandhighballs.com EVERYDAY for new JOB POSTINGS and media articles. 

We are looking for new writers to join our web team – email headsetsandhighballs@gmail.com for more info.

Adam Neuhaus

 

 

H&H 56

DATE:

Tuesday, November 23rd

 

LOCATION:

EMERALD PUB

308 Spring St (b/w Greenwich and Hudson)

-ALL the way west, very low key, and yes, alcohol

-A, C, E to Spring or 1, 2 to Canal

 

TIME:

7:30pm – and on

The Battle For The Living Room

Apple TV vs. Google TV:  The Battle For The Living Room

There’s been a lot of hype and discussion with the futurist and media folks on what the future holds for our living room entertainment experience.

Who can deny the sheer power behind the possibility of Apple TV syncing with all of your other Apple products.

On the other side what happens to the entertainment experience when we can search for content (any kind of type of content YouTube, premium, on-the-street) anything, anytime, anywhere via Google TV.

In the eye of the optimistic futurist –  there are endless possibilities.

Mark Suster wrote an excellent piece on the future of the TV and the living room experience. This is a must-read for anyone interested in what’s in store for the business of entertainment and content. He brings up so many relevant topics and developments to keep an eye on. TV, film, accessibility, gaming, online video, niche content providers, etc.

The bottom line is that premium content isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. What’s also interesting is that while our entertainment experience in the living room will change – maybe it won’t change all that much. Mark Cuban recently wrote a spot on posting on the value of time and how it impacts internet video/TV battle.

 Cuban is right on with his points – noting that while the youth of today will pirate video content, spend time on YouTube and illegally download music their behavior will change due to their timing constraints and needs. Will that same person invest this much time in tracking and finding their entertainment content once the job, house, wife and kids come along? Doubtful. Extremely doubtful – just ask your married friends.

The bottom line: the entertainment pie will continue to get cut up in more ways than it has in the past but there is no clear winner yet in the race to control the living room entertainment experience. Will there be a winner within this fragmented media marketplace? Most likely, and as Mark Suster’s piece pointed out – there will be multiple winners. Only time will tell.

@MitchKapler

 

Robert Wong and Google’s Talent Incubator

Google’s Creative Lab

Not only is Google known for “organizing the world,” its extravagant, sprawling offices, and limitless line of services aim to make our world (both on-line and real life) a little easier and less cluttered.  Google is also home to the experimental and free spirited “Creative Lab,” born 3 years ago.  Not be confused with an ad agency, the Creative Lab’s sole aim is to build Google’s brand across a variety of platforms, and even create new ones.

Within the Creative Lab is THE 5 PROGRAM which takes young, creative and tech talented disciples and takes them under their wing for 1 year of training before sending them off into the world armed and powerful.  Robert Wong, Executive Creative Director of the Creative Lab describes the motivation behind the program, “The thinking was that, hey we have great talent that can come in and play with all the tools here and then agencies will get people that feel confident about all the tools at their disposal.  And of course it works for us because that way they know our tools and we can participate in the whole ecosystem.”

For more check out the profile of the 5 Program and an interview with Robert Wong:

http://creativity-online.com/news/the-google-creative-lab/146084

http://ihaveanidea.org/creatives/2010/04/14/robert-wong/

-Ashlye Vaughan

The Talent Owns The Building

TALENT OWNING NETWORKS – A GROWING TREND

 

Seacrest, CAA and AEG are possibly partnering to start AXS cable channel.  What’s crazy is in this same article there are murmurs of Comcast purchasing AEG due to their portfolio of the some best arenas/stadiums in the world, in order to compete with Live Nation/Ticketmaster.   At this rate, we’ll have one music-live-event-tv-cable-premium content-set-top-box-ticket distributor to go to and we’ll just call it the ministry of live entertainment come 2015. 

 

All joking aside – what’s in it for Mr. Seacrest?

 

It’s no secret that Ryan has had a consummate show biz resume starting from his youth.  Idol and E! Entertainment exposure lead to overall deals, tv, radio, producer credits, first-looks, back-end participation – you name it – Ryan’s done it and has a reputation as one of the hardest working men in show business.  What is Seacrest’s rationale behind this latest strategic move?

 

The little known fact about the what makes the cable business go round are extreme affiliate fees.  It’s a $32B dollar a year business.  It’s why Oprah Winfrey is opting to hang up her hosting shoes and go into retirement off of Oprah Premium Programming.  Click on this link to learn more about the cable biz from the awesome VC, Bill Gurley.

 

When you are an Agent in Hollywood – you yearn to put together mega-deals like this CAA/Seacrest with AEG. These type of deals are headliners and they make both you and your client a lot of money – something CAA’s been good at for quite some time.  This is why Seacrest’s former agent, Adam Sher left to become President of Seacrest Productions in 2008.   It’s what a good agent should always be trying to accomplish.  Take a brand name  talent and connect to the proper business model.  See Oprah, Ashton, Ellen, Lady Gaga, Diddy, Paris Hilton, Kardashian and Lebron.  Vertically integrate the talent and those revenue streams!

 

Another example are the Jonas Bros (who are already a multi-million dollar a year biz) partnership with AOL in Cambio, which gives the talent from their label The Jonas Group a platform to control their message and brand to their core demographic.   Cambio is a web-site/platform that aims to be MTV-meets-online programming. 

 

For AOL, Cambio (Spanish for “change”) represents a move to more premium content as opposed to the creation of lower-cost niche sites aimed at various slices of tech aficionados, sports fans and women. The focus on “premium” content is also an extension of the plans AOL has been working on for its advertising business.’ 

 

Major talent partnering up with major companies is nothing new – been happening for years (See United Artists and Charlie Chaplin.)  Major talent partnering up with big media for ownership stake in the property is all about equity.   

 

As talent needs to sustain traction/exposure in the marketplace to demand a strong dollar so do major media brands. Its a safer bet for both teams – big media gives up some ownership but keeps talent happy and committed and talent becomes an owner instead of a hired gun.   As the battle for the consumer’s attention grows even more intense – entertainment brands – people and businesses will push hard to remind you who is the best at the premium entertainment experience. 

 

Mitchell Kapler

Social Network: The Impact

Everyone’s talking about it.  It was positioned by a producer of the film as this generation’s Wall Street. Sure enough, people are calling Zuckerberg’s character as the Bud Fox of today.  The Social Network delivered.

 

This film is so poignant.  It taps directly into the zeitgeist while at the same time tells a terrifically crafted story – revealing the layers of Facebook’s monumental impact while entertaining us at the same time and making one think.

 

First, let’s acknowledge the story and the way they chose to frame it.  Many story elements seemed played-up or dramatized as well as Zuckerberg’s character always playing the bad ass genius card.  While it didn’t go down this way, the story tellers were savvy enough to know that the vehicle needed this framing in order to tell what is otherwise, a really dry business 101 story with the roaring 2000s theme. 

 

Outside of the film’s questionable accuracy – it’s amazing art direction. The lighting, pacing, scene set-ups, sequences, music and performances were all on point.  Should we expect less from David Fincher, the man who was making all those awesome music vids in the 90s with Madonna and directed films such as Fight Club, Se7en, Zodiac, Curious Case of Benjamin Button and is attached to direct the U.S. adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?  The man is not to be doubted!  Bravo Mr. Fincher & Co. for an excellent project! The people have spoken.

 

Lastly, let’s talk about the film’s relevance on a cultural, technological/digital and business level.

 

Culturally, I’ll never forget living the experience of joining Facebook in college and watching it blow up in front of my eyes – during that period it was crazy – everyone in college was all about it and we couldn’t even tell each other why we were all so into it. Five some odd years later and it’s still relevant to our lives on an even bigger scale.

 

Tech/digitally, and it’s shown in different facets of film but not stressed – how Zuckerberg and friends stumbled upon a way to not just create a new social site but to literally – re-wire and re-network the inner workings of the internet and our lives simultaneously.  It is now why Facebook and Google are the ones to watch in the internet evolution race for #1.  Also, read how Facebook can become bigger in Five Years than Google is Today. 

 

On a business level – this is just a classic business 101 story. Very much in vein of other innovator American stories ala Steve Jobs with Apple and Bill Gates with Microsoft. (Netflix Pirates of Silicon Valley if you have never seen.)  Awesome innovative achievement is always super-cool but usually never without a few people getting hurt and/or felt done-wronged along the way.  American business – it’s never pretty but someone has to do it. 

 

If you are on the interwebs and want to be on top of what is culturally relevant then do yourself a favor.  Go. See. This. Film.

 -Mitchel Kapler

TRAILER

Storytelling Innovation

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Ron Howard and Brian Glazer are shepherding a new unprecedented storytelling project. The uber producers will use Universal Pictures infrastructure to tell Stephen’s King’s trilogy, The Dark Tower as a combination of films, television and even comic books.

By alternating the story between film and television – the storytellers can use different methods to engage the audience. Imagine using the television series to work in the incredible character development and the film to create incredible visuals.  They can change pace without being disjointed.  The key is that the material can support such an audacious move.  These incredible hefty literary properties will be the backbone of more innovative forms because of their depth and richness.

Of course, there are hurdles – the deal took months to complete and the actors are gonna be locked up for extended amounts of time but similar to Lord of the Rings – the overlaying production cycles will keep costs down and bring huge opportunity for financial success.

Adam Neuhaus