Screens and OMDC Think Tank

Following all the research for the fifteen blog posts of this series, I had the opportunity to present some of my findings at the FITC “Screens” event November 15, and also get some really great personal perspectives during the OMDC sponsored “Alternative Financing Think Tank” that I participated in.

FITC Screens

The Screens event is what has replaced the “mobile developer’s conference” of previous years, updated to reflect the multi-screen nature of content today. It’s a better description than “mobile” as our content finds digital ways of being distributed from theaters to web-enabled televisions.

So where were the film and television guys?

As I often find, the event was fantastic but polarized. I encountered all manner of interactive content producers and developers, but not a single person from traditional. Anecdotally, in conversation at the Oddly booth with my friend Kathleen Webb (a media consultant) I’m not the only one who has noticed this. The interactive and traditional people are still not mixing. At the start of my presentation, a show of hands confirmed a mix of agency people, freelance developers, and interactive consultants – but no television producers or anyone from film or print publishing.

Alternative Finance Think Tank

This event proved to be the reverse of the Screens event, being almost entirely filled with film and television producers looking to crack the egg that is funding in a world where the traditional models are breaking up. I encountered a lot of people frustrated with the current struggle to find distributors (and their advances), but who have had difficulty looking outside the box to other ways of doing things. This was why I found the third presentation so fascinating, and my ears opened up when Alex of Luxy Hair began to present his layman’s view of monetization through Youtube.

Luxy Hair – Superstar Example

Alex was not like the other presenters of the think tank, and he humbly admitted so. He has never worked on a television series, has no film credits to his name. He’s not a web developer either. He’s a man who worked in the financial industry and was assisted in leaving it by being laid off (like myself!). He was interested in social media, and spent an amount of time trying to get his ideas taken seriously by companies he consulted for. But at one point, he decided to put those ideas to the test himself.

The result was quite good.  In fact, the business generated revenues in seven-figures in the first year of operations. At this point, I must disclose that some of the audience seemed a bit hostile to Alex for his candid statements such as “people don’t want to watch television commercials”. This seems so very obvious, but bear in mind that some folks make their living creating television commercials and have done so for decades. Alex handled it with grace, reminding everyone that he does not claim to have all the answers, but is willing to share his observations as someone who found success through a new approach.

For my part, I was thrilled to hear someone talk about an approach to funding that actually WAS alternative to government funding and television broadcast funding. So what did Alex do? Simply put, he had a product, and he used Youtube to build a community interested in that product. But unlike the usual advertising model, Alex makes sure no commercial messages appear in his Youtube videos – instead relying on the fact that people who watch videos online will also use search engines and referrals and find his product anyway. And when they do, they’ll be far more likely to purchase. He has the numbers to back this up, as his product is sold through paypal, and his satisfaction levels are very high.

In short, Alex’ business is a family one. He shoots simple, but good quality, videos that his wife and sister-in-law star in. In the videos, they show styling tips for women’s hair. And they often use their product, Luxy Hair extensions, during the show. But there is nobody pushing the product aggressively.

“I’m very big on the soft-sell”, revealed Alex, “I don’t think people want things pushed on them.”

From Alex’ observation, video sharing like that found on Youtube is for ordinary people, not long-form narrative content. At least not yet. As he remarked, sites like Youtube are looking for ways to introduce that kind of content. But for the moment, we’ve moved along to good quality, short, simple bits that feature real people. Everything about what he said matched exactly my research and it was great to see a young guy working hard and doing well by recognizing the realities of the medium.

I don’t think that people are just buying hair extensions when they make a purchase from Luxy Hair. True, they’re getting value (a similar treatment from a professional would cost 4x more), but in reality people who purchase are casting a vote with their money for the personalities they see online. They feel a connection to them. When they buy, they are expressing approval of the soft-sell, no-pressure approach.

For a filmmaker, this has to be mystifying. But the message is loud and clear – in this medium, the traditional funding approach does not work. You don’t make money from the content (at least most don’t). You make money from other things and the content is your way of introducing those other avenues. And the approach can not be a heavy-handed one. You must actually believe in the message of the content, and then provide the tools for others to live the lifestyle of that content.

This is powerful in terms of engagement, and perfect for interactive media. Imagine turning that “universe of distraction” that sits alongside your content in interactive media to your advantage, rather than worrying about how to staple visitors to your content. Guess what – you can’t do it! But you don’t have to!