2nd Edition of Venice Art Crawl Tonight! Video Army tops the list of must see venues…
Posted by: justin on September 16, 2010.
And just like that we have the 2nd Edition of the fastly emerging & highly popular, Venice Art Crawl. We rummaged the streets during the 1st edition and with a line wrapped around the block at Video Army we had to go in and check out what all of the hype was about. To our surprise, it had one of the best interactive exhibits we’ve seen in a long time. We’ve heard they are offering something even better than the last time along with an official After-party not to miss.
Check out VA, along with Venice Originals & the other slew of local business and restaurants opening their doors for this amazing tradition in the making. Cheers to Venice. Cheers to our Artists and beautiful collective that make us proud to call this home!
See you there
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 16th, 2010 at 11:46 am and is filed under Art, Events, In the Sunlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
2nd Edition of Venice Art Crawl Tonight! Video Army tops the list of must see venues… –
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
ArtSlant - September 16th 8:00 PM - 11:59 PM, Video Army, Isabelle Alford-Lago, Alex Paxton, Art Venti
★☆★☆ BREAKING NEWS ☆★☆★
Isabelle Alford-Lago will have LIVE screenprinting of her gorillas at the party.
◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣◢◣
...
Who's ready for round two?Once again this will be the BEST art + music event at the Venice Art Crawl... this one's on Thursday September 16th!
Our event "blew" people's minds last time! And now we have a whole new roster of Artists and DJs
Just like last time get there EARLY. We reached capacity in 20 minutes of opening the door, seriously!
Here are the details
⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇Art Reception: 8-10PM
Free Entry/$5 after 10Art by: Isabelle Alford-Lago and Art Venti
http://isabellealfordlago.com/
http://www.mirror-space.com/artists/art-venti/Curated by: Stéphen Ribbon from mirror-space
The Party: 10-2AM
$5 Entry after 10Music by: David Dann (fresh off his South American tour in Brazil & Argentina) and Jeniluv (Resident DJ/Producer of "Making Shapes" event in Downtown LA, very big right now)
Visuals by Alex Paxton
This event is 21+ and drinks = cheap▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
PRESENTED by:
Sparkwave Media
http://sparkwavemedia.com/MOMENTUM
http://momentumsurfboards.com/★ Video Army
http://videoarmy.tv/mirror-space
http://mirror-space.com/
Be there, don't miss history.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Jamba Juice Attacks McDonald’s With Cheeseburger Smoothie Viral Video
Want a cheeseburger, but too lazy to chew it? Why not go for Jamba Juice’s new Cheeseburger Chill Smoothie? Of course Jamba Juice isn’t actually offering a cheeseburger smoothie, but it is a creative way to attack certain fast food chains (McDonald’s McCafe) that are getting into the smoothie business – using viral video. The video has garnered over 335,000 views and 497 comments on YouTube alone in the three weeks since it’s debut. Check out the video below:
Comments range from the whistle-blowers: “Everybody, this is completely fake. Jamba Juice made this as a joke to show how stupid it is for fast food places (such as McDonalds) to make “real fruit” smoothies.” to the outraged “If this happens, I’m going to have to punch a baby in the face.”
If you buy into the fake ad enough to click-through to their website http://cheeseburgerchill.com, you will be rewarded at the end with a $1 off coupon for any of their real smoothies. A pretty good bonus for following all the way through on the joke.
Ingredients for Viral Video Marketing Success
This is a great example of how a well thought out and executed Internet video can get the attention of your consumer base. Viewers who fell for it we’re mostly appalled at first and then presently surprised to find out it was a joke and to get their coupon.
What did they do right? First they created video content that fits with their overall corporate image, but with a twist. It was polished enough for the casual viewer to look at it and believe that they might just be creating a cheeseburger smoothie.
Second, they went all the way with these theme. They created a specific website for the promotion and even went as far as sending out press releases and announcing it in their newsletter as if it were real.
Lastly, they rewarded the most engaged users in the campaign with a coupon to visit the store. Not only does this make the viewer feel like they are a part of an inside joke, which in turn builds brand loyalty, but it also turns views into actual sales.
Hats off to Jamba Juice for going all the way with this video campaign. Now let’s wait and see if McDonald’s comes up with a video response to defend their position. In the meantime, I’ll be in my kitchen blending a Reuben.
About the Author – CJ Bruce
CJ Bruce is CEO of Video Army, an Internet video marketing company. He has been producing video content and engaging online communities since 1998. CJ regularly consults and creates video marketing strategies for businesses, artists and non-profits to drive brand awareness, traffic and sales.
About the Author - Guest Expert
Occasionally, we like to offer experts within the online video industry the chance to write a guest post for ReelSEO. We like it because it offers you readers great content, and it comes directly from those in the field that are working on the technologies to power this online video revolution of sorts ;-) If you are interested in becoming a guest author, please feel free to let us know. Read our post on becoming a guest author for additional information.blog comments powered by DisqusAdd New Comment
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Friday, August 13, 2010
ArtSlant - August 19th - August 20th, Video Army, Craig Cartwright, Bill Dambrova, Derek Franz
August 19th, 2010, marks the beginning of a new chapter in Venice. A rebirth and acknowledgment by Angelenos and Venetians of the talent which is prevalent in our community. Our work for the past several months in organizing the event will soon come to fruition. In partnership with Momentum, I am excited to present our opening event at Video Army, located on Pacific Ave., Windward Circle adjacent. It will feature 3 locally-based artists in 3 separate showcasing rooms, accompanied by music & performance. This will be the best opportunity for an after-party and VAC officials to congregate. Shortly an invitation will be sent out with details, please print out the flyer to insure your entrance as we expect to reach capacity early. Please be aware, there will be drinks and dancing!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
New Jamba Juice Cheeseburger Chill Smoothie!
Damn I could really go for a cheeseburger smoothie, mmmmmm
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Meet the Next Megan Fox: Tranformers' New Angel - E! Online
Meet the Next Megan Fox: Tranformers' New Angel
Today 11:06 AM PDT by Whitney English
Lester Cohen/WireImage; Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com
Nothing like a former Victoria's Secret lingerie model to get Optimus primed.
Multiple sources confirm to E! News that model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley will be replacing the MIA Megan Fox as Shia LaBeouf's love interest in Transformers 3.
"She's accepted the offer, and I think they're just waiting for her to get her work visa since she's British," says a source close to the production.
And, as usual when it comes to a Michael Bay explosionfest, hotness wins out over talent...
See, Huntington-Whiteley has never acted before. But she did work with Transformers helmer Bay last year on a Victoria's Secret commercial—and apparently the two hit it off.
"Michael Bay has flown her out here a few times to screen test," says another production insider.
"She has absolutely zero acting experience, so we'll see how that goes. But he likes her, and that's all that matters."
Which is more than can be said for Fox, whose relationship with the notoriously prickly director publicly deteriorated, with her comparing him to Hitler.
There was no immediate comment from Bay, Huntington-Whiteley or Paramount.
Aside from Huntington-Whiteley, Bay was reportedly considering a number of other lookers for the part, including Miranda Kerr, Vanessa Hudgens and Bar Refaeli.
Principal shooting is set to kick off in July. Aside from Huntington-Whiteley, other newcomers to the cast will include some badass new robots along with humans Patrick Dempsey, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand and Ken Jeong.
Follow @eonline on Twitter!
________Wonder what this news will do the ever-moody ever-moody Megan Fox?
Friday, April 9, 2010
Studios cut film marketing as landscape changes
Analysts say DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc's strategy for 'Dragon' failed, underscoring how Hollywood, which spends over $4 billion a year promoting movies, is under pressure to cut costs and experiment -- and stumbling occasionally.
From Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros to Walt Disney Co, Hollywood's stalwarts are employing Youtube and Twitter, consolidating advertising staff, using fans to spread the message through viral marketing -- any way to get the word out in an era of stretched budgets.
"Marketing costs are the most dramatically impactful on a studio's quarterly earnings. If you don't open strongly, it really hurts, so there's a high level of attention to efficiency. Everybody's trying to do more with less," said veteran Hollywood marketer Gordon Paddison, who spearheaded the online media campaign for "The Lord of The Rings" films.
Pummeled by the downturn, Hollywood cut ad spending by 8 percent to $4.39 billion in 2009 after trimming it by 3 percent in 2008, said Michael Nathanson of Bernstein Research. More cuts will come through the first half of 2010, he added.
The point is underscored by Dreamworks' latest animated tent-pole film. It spent $160 million to $175 million to market "Dragon," then had to revamp its promotional materials and TV commercials right before it opened. Analysts say its campaign fell flat with audiences.
The movie pulled in $43.7 million in its domestic debut weekend, compared with a projected $65 million to $70 million.
"It wasn't resonating with its target audience, leading DreamWorks to refocus its marketing efforts, but perhaps not in time," said Piper Jaffray analyst James Marsh, noting longer-form trailers were scrapped for shorter, funnier ones.
MARKETING CHANGES APLENTY
The film has held up well in the wake of a revised campaign the studio said included critical praise and has earned $104.7 million in ticket sales so far.
Faced with weak DVD sales and an evolving marketplace, studios such as Disney and Viacom Inc's Paramount have cut costs by combining marketing for DVDs and theatrical releases, whereas they used to have separate teams.
And Disney will also soon announce a new studio marketing chief to replace Jim Gallagher, who left as part of a studio revamp. Disney is expected to hire from outside Hollywood, shaking up the establishment. Disney declined to comment.
Since "The Blair Witch Project" in 1999 and more recently "Paranormal Activity" -- both of which amassed massive Web followings that translated into box office gold -- many in Hollywood appreciate ad forms outside of traditional media.
The latter $15,000 film grossed over $100 million after it redefined marketing with a first of its kind "Demand It" campaign that asked fans to go online and demand screenings.
Many are using Facebook, viral marketing and the Web to supplement campaigns and reach viewers at less cost. Sony Corp's Sony Pictures ran a "Death at a Funeral" ad on Youtube on Thursday, imitating many others who have run film ads on YouTube's home page at an estimated $250,000 a clip.
"About 40 million people visit the YouTube home page each day. If you're releasing a movie, its a coveted space," said Tommy McGloin, entertainment team manager for Google Inc's YouTube. "We're reaching upfront deals with major studios who are signing annual agreements."
TWITTERING TO BOX OFFICE GOLD
Twitter has also been used to boost box-office performance. Sony was one of the first studios to create branded Twitter pages for films such as "District 9," "Julie & Julia" and "The Ugly Truth" that kept fans continually engaged.
"Using fans as evangelists is the most effective ways to lower marketing costs," said Paddison.
But many in Hollywood are resistant to change, partly because of patchy results -- "Bruno" for instance fizzled despite a raging Web presence -- and partly because they believe TV still has more impact if the timing is right.
Studios typically spend $300,000 to $400,000 for a 30-second spot during a prime-time show. But in the fourth quarter, TV ad spending by major studios fell 7 percent to $916 million from a year ago, according to Bernstein's Nathanson.
Paddison said studios are using a mixed media approach, using a TV ad during sweeps week, along with an online campaign. And while more are realizing a TV ad may not always be the most efficient promotion, studios still like TV because they think it gives viewers the closest experience to watching the movie in a theater.
"Studios are challenging marketing budgets and doing more experimentation, but TV continues to take the major share on views it reaches the biggest audience," said Howard Bass of Ernst & Young Global Media & Entertainment.
(Reporting by Sue Zeidler; editing by Andre Grenon)
It's time to change the way you market films!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
David Mills Dead: 'The Wire' Writer Dies Days Before Premiere Of New Show 'Treme'
NEW ORLEANS — David Mills, a veteran television writer who worked on the award-winning series "ER" and "The Wire," died after collapsing on the set of his latest production. He was 48.
Mills died Tuesday night in New Orleans, said HBO spokesman Diego Aldana. Doctors at Tulane Medical Center said he suffered a brain aneurism, according to a statement Wednesday from Mills' latest production, "Treme."
Mills was on the set of the new HBO series as it filmed a scene at Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter when he was stricken and rushed to the hospital where he died without regaining consciousness, the statement said.
"He was an enormous talent," said David Simon, a co-executive producer with Mills who first met the award-winning writer in the newsroom of their college newspaper. "He loved words and he loved an argument but not in any angry or mean-spirited way. He loved to argue ideas. He delighted in it, and he was confident that something smarter and deeper always came from a good argument."
Mills was living in New Orleans while working as a writer and executive producer of the drama set during post-Katrina and slated to premiere on April 11.
Wendell Pierce, who played Detective William "Bunk" Moreland on "The Wire," and plays a musician in "Treme," said Mills collapsed on the set Tuesday.
"He was carrying on a conversation and just fell over," Pierce said. "They called the medics, but there was nothing to be done."
"Treme" is named after the Creole neighborhood known for its rich musical history.
"I'm so sorry he won't be able to see the launch of the show he cared so much about," Pierce said.
Story continues below
HBO said in a statement that the network is "deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our dear friend and colleague."
"He was a gracious and humble man, and will be sorely missed by those who knew and loved him, as well as those who were aware of his immense talent. David has left us too soon but his brilliant work will live on."
"Treme" cast and crew members held a memorial for Mills on the set Wednesday morning, Pierce said.
"He was very quiet and introverted, but spoke volumes when he wrote," Pierce said of Mills. "He challenged us as actors and he challenged Americans when it came to matters of race. He was one of the more talented people working in TV. He made it much more than just empty entertainment."
Mills began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post, before turning to screenwriting. Besides "ER" and "The Wire," he worked on the HBO drama "The Corner," "Homicide: Life on the Street," "NYPD Blue" and was executive producer and writer of the short-lived NBC miniseries "Kingpin," about a Mexican drug cartel.
Mills started his television writing career with Simon, a longtime friend and "Wire" creator, in 1994. The pair wrote an episode of "Homicide" that year, for which they won a Writers Guild of America award. Mills won Emmys for co-writing and executive producing the miniseries "The Corner" and an Edgar in 2007 for "The Wire."
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3 Reasons No One Will Ever Watch Your Web Video | Video Army
One of the most common questions we get at Video Army is “How can we get more views on our videos?”. We have a number of video marketing services to increase the amount of exposure on our client’s videos. However, there are some very basic principles that everyone can apply to their videos to get more views whether you are a Fortune 500 company or an unfortunate 5 person company.
Here are the top three reasons why no one is watching your videos:
1. Your Video is Not Interesting
Friday, April 2, 2010
And I Am Not Lying » Blog Archive » Types of Bitches
Types of Bitches
March 4th, 2010 by Jeff SimmermonMy friend’s cousin …
Wait a second. You know this is going to be good, when it starts with “My friend’s cousin.”
My friend’s cousin is a teacher at a charter school in Washington, D.C. She found this on the floor of a 3rd grade classroom and recognized it for the gold mine that it is — scanned it into a fax-to-PDF scanner immediately.
See most of the whole, exhaustive list after the jump.
You’ll notice that according to this taxonomy, there are 90 types of bitches. However, there’s a page missing, so we are left to guess what bitch types 44-58 are. If you have any ideas, please do leave them in the comments.I think it’s possible to be multiple types of bitch at once. I’ve met a number of people who are a combination of 5, 12, and 85-90. One could also evolve into and out of various categories as well. As one friend of mine said “I used to be #33, but now that I’ve grown up a little and my priorities have changed, I am solidly #37.”
Feel free to let me know which type you are in the comments as well — or even chart your trajectory through the list.
This list is fairly neatly written. Spelling and troubled penmanship aside, there are no cross-outs, crumples, stains, etc. This looks like something that was written, maybe as a part of a group, and then placed onto the official record that we see here. I like thinking about an excited group of kids sitting around and charting out all the different types of bitches they can think of and then carefully writing them down onto a master list.
And it was found in a 3rd grade classroom! Either the child who left this behind borrowed this from a much more sophisticated older sibling/cousin, or kids in inner-city D.C. grow up even faster than I thought.
Or both. Anyway, here’s the list.
You can see the whole set on Flickr here.
**And now that this thing has officially gotten out of control, there’s a followup: Bitches Lost their Minds**
I’ve transcribed the list below for Google and folks who are visually impaired but nevertheless want to know about all the types of bitches.
Types of Bitches
1) Dirty dumb ass bitches
2) Aint got no ass bitches
3) Dusty trick bitches
4) Fishy bitches
5) Don’t know how to fight bitches
6) Got all that mouth but can’t step bitches
7) Ugly looking bitch that think they all that
Can’t keep a man bitch
9) Track wearing bitches
10) Bitches that be trying to steal your man
11) Hoochie looking bitches
12) Ain’t got no damn sense bitches
13) Stupid bitches that act dumb
14) Bitches who can only get a dirty boy
15) Want to be jocking bitches
16) Bitches who think their man love them but get pregnant and be left alone
17) Bitches who think they better than me
18) Instigating bitches
19) Talking behind your back bitches
20) Loud mouth bitches
21) Pissy bitches
22) Stingy bitches
23) Funky looking bitches
24) Short hair bitches
25) Spanish bitches who think they all that cause of their hair
26) Bitches that be ignoring you when they know they can hear you
27) Staring in your face bitches
28) Big eyed looking bitches
29) Crazy bitches
30) Nappy tender headed bitches
31) Booty shorts wearing bitches
32) Coast-signing bitches
33) Dick riding bitches
34) Whipped bitches
35) Buck tooth bitches
36) Cheesy teeth bitches
37) Same wearing clothes each day bitches
38) Ghetto bitches
39) Hair dyeing bitches
40) Wearing shoes that be talking bitches
41) Bitches who think they hard
42) Bitches that think they get money
43) Bitches that go to a dirty school
44) (page missing)
45) (page missing)
46) (page missing)
47) (page missing)
48) (page missing)
49) (page missing)
50) (page missing)
51) (page missing)
52) (page missing)
53) (page missing)
54) (page missing)
55) (page missing)
56) (page missing)
57) (page missing)
58) (page missing)
59) Gay bitches
60) Stanky fishy coochie smelling bitches
61) Tomboy bitches
62) Stain on your pants bitches
63) Dry scalp dandruff bitches
64) Dirty hair bitches
65) Stealing bitches
66) Stinky feet bitches
67) Big gap bitches
68) Protecting their store bitches
69) Pajamas outside bitches
70) Ragly braid bitches
71) Stanky butt bitches
72) Greedy bitches
73) Slimy grimy bitches
74) Psycho bitches
75) Drug dealing bitches
76) Geekin’ bitches
77) Suntanning bitches
78) Goofy looking bitches
79) Triflin’ bitches
80) Skanky bitches
81) Mugging bitches
82) Sloppy bitches
83) Dirty fingernails bitches
84) Dirty sock wearing bitches
85) Uncreative bitches
86) White bitches that think black people poor
87) Conceited bitches
88) Tall bitches
89) Short bitches
90) Jealous bitchesPopularity: 100% [?]
Filed under 2010, D.C., art, bitches, comedy, cussin', funny, humor, lost, love letter, mystery, street art having 214 Comments »
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Marlee Matlin launches reality series on YouTube | Company Town | Los Angeles Times
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Marlee Matlin launches reality series on YouTube
March 30, 2010 | 5:13 pm
Marlee Matlin had an idea for a reality show that she hoped would bring some insight into the lives and struggles of deaf people and how they cope. But while reality TV has brought us wife swappers, party girls, aging rock stars and dieting divas, apparently no one was ready for something that real.
So instead, the hearing-impaired actress who won an Academy Award as lead actress for her role in "Children of a Lesser God," took her show "My Deaf Family" to Google's YouTube. You can watch it here.
"Deaf and hard of hearing people make up one of the largest minority groups," she said in an interview through her interpreter, Jack Jason, "and yet there has never been a show, a reality documentary series that features what life is like for them." Matlin financed the show, which tells the story of a family in Fremont, Calif. All the family members are deaf, except for the oldest son, Jared, and the youngest, Elijah. It is narrated by Jared.
Matlin shopped her pilot to network executives, who purported to "love it." But none would take the plunge.
"They didn't quite know if they could pull it off, or even how," Matlin said.Refusing to give up, Matlin turned to the Internet, more specifically to YouTube, the world's default broadcaster of Web video.
"I didn't want to wait for the networks to warm up to the idea of whether the show would be a hit or not with audiences," she said. "So I decided to put it out there on my own terns. YouTube is akin to having my own [TV] network."
There's another reason Matlin chose YouTube. The Google subsidiary in November introduced an automatic captioning system for its videos. The system is a mash-up of Google's speech-to-text voice recognition technology used in Google Voice and captioning software that syncs the text with the video.
Right now, the experimental program can only recognize spoken English, but once transcribed, it can translate the text to 50 different languages.
"Google’s mission is to make all the world’s information universally accessible," explained Ken Harrenstien, the software engineer who led the captioning effort. "We’re about accessibility to everyone for everything."
Because YouTube is inundated with a constant stream of videos (about 24 hours of videos are uploaded to the site every minute), it does not automatically caption every piece that comes along. Instead, viewers have to request that a particular video be captioned. Once the request is made, it takes about 24 hours to deliver the captions.
Harrenstein cautions that the captions aren't going to be perfect. Ambient noise can affect the translation. But the software is also prone to error. YouTube is hoping that the owners of the videos will upload corrected captions through a quick process it has designed.
That's good enough for Matlin, who said, "The process isn't 100% there yet. But they've done it. And that's a good thing."
For an edited transcript of our interview with Matlin on her project, click on the continue reading link below.
Tell us about the show you're premiering on YouTube. What's the premise? What's your involvement with it?
Matlin: My intention was to do a show unlike any that's ever been seen on television; a show about what life is like for 35 million Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing from the perspective that everyone could identify with: a young 15-year-old hearing teenager. It's called "My Deaf Family," and that pretty much sums up in the title what the show is about. I like to think of it as a deaf/hearing version of "Little People, Big World."
It was an idea that grew out of my own family (I have 4 children who are hearing, and I'm their mom who is deaf) and the experiences of my business partner and interpreter, Jack Jason, who is hearing but who grew up with deaf parents. I produced and financed the pilot and shot it fast -- in one and a half days with the help of a great director, Donald Bull, who has a list of credits longer than my arm in the reality / documentary arena.
How did you come up with the idea for the show?
Matlin: After I did "Dancing with the Stars," several networks approached me about doing a reality show about my family because I'm a crazy deaf mom. Unfortunately, my husband works in law enforcement and we were concerned about security, so we set out to find another compelling deaf/hearing family to do a documentary reality show about. We found the family we wanted, on a fluke, from a friend of Jack's who also grew up with deaf parents.
Deaf and hard of hearing people make up one of the largest minority groups in the USA and the world and yet there has never been a reality/documentary series that features what life is like for them on a daily basis. After doing a nationwide search, we hit upon the Firl family of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Firls have an interesting background. The mom and dad both work at the largest schools for the deaf in the country, the California School for the Deaf, a fascinating community unto itself in Fremont, Calif. Everyone signs there -- baristas at Starbucks, gas station attendants. It's just wild. Our pilot episode even features a deaf basketball tournament with cheerleaders from all over the country who are deaf. It kind of feels like a sign-language version of "Glee"! All of this is told from the perspective of one cool teenager, Jared, who is 15 and who is hearing. I've just never seen another show like it on TV!
Did you shop it around to the various broadcasters? What was the reaction?
Matlin: The network executives loved it. The reaction couldn't have been more positive. But as is the case with me and a lot of ideas that I've pitched over the years involving story lines with deaf characters, they didn't quite know if they could pull it off or even how.
I assured them that, having been around for 25 years in the business and watching how it was done on shows like "Picket Fences," "Seinfeld," "The West Wing" and "The L Word," we could do it. But they balked. I even said it worked in reality TV, as demonstrated when I hosted "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and, of course, "Dancing With the Stars." But they still hesitated because they had no idea how an audience would react to characters signing with voice-overs and occasional subtitles. Anyone who watches reality television will tell you that they employ subtitles a lot for dialogue that's difficult to catch on the fly. But I wouldn't give up.
So you went to YouTube. Why?
Matlin: I didn't want to wait for the networks to warm up to the idea of whether the show would be a hit or not with audiences, so I decided to put it out there on my own terms. YouTube is akin to having my own network. After a small initial outlay, I am putting the show out there myself for all to see, hoping that the reaction will be great and that sponsors and networks will see that the show can work. Plus, the show can be viewed worldwide on YouTube, an audience greater than anyone could imagine.
Will you be doing more with YouTube? Have your own channel on YouTube? Air more episodes? Or just this one?
Matlin: This is my pilot. Hopefully the reaction from viewers and word of mouth will be positive. We have plenty of episode ideas in the can and ready to go at a moment's notice. And the family is ready too.
Tell us a little about the state of closed-captioned content.
Matlin: You'd be shocked to find out how much of what is already captioned on TV is not captioned when it moves to the Internet. Popular broadcast shows and movies have their closed captions stripped when they go to the Internet. Even worse, it appears that the motivation to provide access for millions of viewers who rely on closed captions for access -- also for people learning English as a second language, children learning how to read, not to mention people in noisy environments -- is just not there.Just like in the early days of captioning when I had to go Capitol Hill and force broadcasters to provide closed captions through legislation (and won), it looks like the battle has to be fought all over again with broadcast content that is moving to the Web. Google, as usual, is one step ahead of everyone and provided the means where all videos on YouTube can be automatically captioned through voice-recognition technology without having to be told that it's the responsible thing to do.
The process isn't quite 100% there yet. But they've done it. And that's a good thing. Now I'm waiting for the other content providers (I won't name names, but let's say it's about 99% of websites that provide streaming video content as well as video on demand) to follow Google's example.
What's your goal with this show? Do you want a broadcaster to pick it up? Do you want to just keep the show exclusively online?
Matlin: To make good TV with characters you've never seen before but which you can easily identify with. Isn't that what it's always been about? And yes, I'd love for a broadcaster to pick it up. I guess in this world where economics, number crunching and demographics are what drive decisions, you have to roll up your sleeves and find other ways to prove that your show is good TV. I wouldn't mind an exclusive online agreement or network agreement, as long as I can find the means to tell more stories about this fascinating family.
Do you want to make money on the show as part of the YouTube partner program? Or do you see it mainly as a marketing vehicle for your show?
Matlin: Much as I wish I could, I'm not a wealthy millionaire who can fund my own studio and productions, creating shows out of my own pocket that I think people would like to watch. I do have to earn a living as an actor and producer, and I thought this was the best way to do it.
I viewed this process much like what Lucille Ball did way back when she created "I Love Lucy" with her husband, Desi Arnaz. She told me once that the networks balked big time when it came to casting her real-life husband, Desi, as her TV husband. No one wanted to watch a guy with a Cuban accent on TV.
Without any network interested in financing the production, Lucy and Desi took their show out on the road and sold it to America their way. We all know the rest is history.I wouldn't be so bold as compare my show with "I Love Lucy," but the idea is still the same. At the end of the day, "My Deaf Family" is about a typical family that all of us can identify with but told from an unusual and what I believe will be a fascinating perspective. I just have to find the way to sell it and convince people this is what people want to see.
-- Alex Pham
Top photo credit: Lord of the Wind Films. Bottom: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times.
More in: Reality TV, YouTube
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