nofilmschool » youtube

Oscar-Winning Roger Corman's Drive-In YouTube Channel Offers 400 B-Movie Essentials for $4 a Month

Dave Kendricken — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:46:16 +0000

Of all the filmmakers of all time, few can claim the sheer volume of titles to their name as Roger Corman — never mind his other accomplishments. The 87-year-old director, producer, writer, and occasional actor is still active in his 60 year film career, during which he has coached countless high-profile auteurs, fostered the careers of several notable actors, and earned a 2009 Honorary Academy Award. He has also already denied services such as Hulu streaming rights to his extensive ~400 film canon even for an offered $5-6,000 per film (to be paid to him) — but has agreed to launch “Corman’s Drive-In” as a $4/mo paid YouTube channel in the summer. Read on for more details. (more…)

YouTube Launches First Paid Channel Subscriptions Starting at $1 Per Month

Dave Kendricken — Sat, 11 May 2013 01:03:16 +0000

Inevitable as it was, YouTube has finally rolled out the initial phase of its first ever attempt at paid subscription content. The 30 channels offered in this ‘pilot program’ span a wide range of demographics and subject matter — which is to be expected from the place where a vast majority of web video lives. Especially judging by these first 30 channels, this news likely won’t have no-budget filmmakers screaming anything about a ‘self-distribution revolution,’ but it certainly offers a more direct line of monetization for content owners than ad-based revenue. Viewers can try out any of the channels with a two-week free trial, and they start at $1 a month. Read on for more details. (more…)

Tribeca & Maker Studios Create 'Picture Show,' a YouTube Channel for 'Comedy Nerds & Movie Lovers'

V Renée — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 05:20:37 +0000

Tribeca Enterprises and Maker Studios announced their collaboration to create a new YouTube channel featuring web series and short films called Picture Show. Comprised of Maker Studios’ YouTube talent, along with writers and stars from College Humor, Upright Citizens Brigade, and Tribeca’s own artists, Picture Show will “specialize in original content that blends the Maker sensibility with Tribeca’s cinematic focus.” With its official launch date of April 19th nearing, it might be worth your while to get acquainted with this comedy destination with a cinematic twist. (more…)

Internet Piracy vs. Copyright Law: Watch 'The Pirate Bay - Away From Keyboard'

Dave Kendricken — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 23:47:11 +0000

We recently mentioned the documentary TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay — Away From Keyboard as part of VHX’s drive to make strong independent work available direct-to-audience. TPB AFK is a documentary that follows three Pirate Bay co-founders as they face prosecution for aiding piracy on a massive scale (or, in other words, founding The Pirate Bay). Released for free on BitTorrent as well as on YouTube, the film raises powerful questions about piracy, intellectual property law, and an ungoverned internet, and gives us a glimpse into the lives of a few individuals who created a web portal that is still going strong even today. Given that law is so much slower to change than the internet, is the problem with the pirates, or with anti-piracy laws that may need some updating? Watch the entire 82 minute film below. (more…)

Disrupt and Distribute: VHX Helps 'Internet Revolutionaries' Self-Release Their Films

Dave Kendricken — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 02:10:52 +0000

As promised, the team behind VHX is steadily working to change the independent film distribution landscape. Veteran experience in populist collaboration and the building of Vimeo means VHX understands web video, audience interaction, and tracking social trends. Can it really work? The likes of NPR and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl (as director) think so, joining the ranks of non-fiction VHX-powered releases like Indie Game: The Movie. VHX has also empowered documentary filmmakers spotlighting the ‘hacker’ community Anonymous, and the creators of the controversial BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay — even with the latter doc’s simultaneous free release through YouTube and BitTorrent. (more…)

YouTube is on Your Actual Tube, and Your Android Device is the Controller

Dave Kendricken — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 03:45:17 +0000

YouTube is doing a lot to make itself a media service platform that rivals the traditional television you’re used to. Original channels are getting a major push, creators are being given some big perks as incentive, and shooting/uploading elegance now trumps native video-sharing options on rival mobile devices. There’s still plenty of things that need to be ironed out before all of us may seriously consider YouTube as a hub for our own content — but Google is still looking toward the future and forging ahead. The ability to watch YouTube on your home TV set is already proliferating, but now, Google has announced an app update that allows you to control browsing and viewing directly with your Android phone or tablet. (more…)

Universal and Sony Record Companies Caught Faking Billions of YouTube Views

Dave Kendricken — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:33:52 +0000

A few weeks ago I first saw a web ad that ran something close to, “Know who probably buys clothes? People who watch fashion videos… YouTube Ads work.” It struck me as fairly profound, though obvious at the same time, because it rings pretty true. Of course, how true it rings is contingent on people actually watching videos to see those ads — something that’s simply not happening (at least as much as it appears) when views are artificially generated. We’ve covered view inflation and cheating YouTube before — but now, YouTube has accused two of the largest record companies in the world of ‘click fraud,’ and has ‘confiscated’ an unprecedented two billion views as a result. Talk about your parent catching you “clicking yourself” under their roof, huh? (more…)

Unprecedented Cost Breakdown for the $600K Web Series 'Video Game High School'

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 08:28:38 +0000

Freddie Wong, the namesake of his FreddieW YouTube channel and co-founder of Rocket Jump Studios, directs or collaborates on some of the coolest original content on YouTube. The FreddieW team also contributes to YT’s Node channel, featuring work from their brethren-in-arms Corridor Digital, who also produce a volume of great original stuff on the ‘Tube. Rocket Jump’s cumulatively feature-length web series Video Game High School was a substantial undertaking, the first for FreddieW and co at such a scale, and produced for over $600,000 (just the first season) — subsequently, Freddie and Rocket Jump have done something virtually unheard of by posting a full budgetary breakdown. (more…)

Google Shaking Up Video Recording/Sharing on Apple's iOS with the New 'YouTube Capture' App

Dave Kendricken — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:09:14 +0000

I wasn’t really expecting to have to refer to the theoretical ‘Instagram of Video’ for another while — major choices for mobile users are already in place and ‘in the running’ for such a title, and it could be a while before everyone in the discussion unanimously declares one app the victor (if ever). The Verge (seemingly in a nod to comments) acknowledged YouTube as the elephant in the room for these apps, because even on iOS where the YouTube app is read-only (well, watch-only — no uploads), the service is the megalith for easily-socialized video. A complete YouTube experience is already native on Android (again, YouTube is Google is Android), perhaps to the chagrin of recent Android-joiner Viddy. A new development may totally shift the dynamics of this interplay, however: Google just yesterday released YouTube Capture for iOS. (more…)

YouTube Space Brings a Studio, Workshops, and a Collaborative Environment to Creators, for Free

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 19:27:48 +0000

There have been several big pushes by social video sites recently aimed at providing support to content creators and partners — the biggest of which (of all time, in fact) saw YouTube spending a third of a billion dollars on original channels and accompanying marketing. Amazingly, YouTube doesn’t seem satisfied to stop there. It has recently opened multi-scope studio facilities in London and L.A. — and unlike its original channels venture, which aims a massive amount of resources towards a 1% of already high-profile channel owners, these facilities are open for any and all YouTube partners to use — and at absolutely no cost to them. (more…)

Attention-Deficit Audiences and How New Media Might Be Affecting Traditional Filmmaking

Dave Kendricken — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:42:45 +0000

There’s a big difference between what me might call traditional filmmaking and what Ray William Johnson does. Ray has over 2 billion total views and is the most subscribed-to YouTuber ever, but his work is definitely achieving its goals in a different way than some of the pieces we champion here at NoFilmSchool — especially when you consider its rapid-fire pace. In what ways does (or should) the micro-attention span of audiences drive and shape films that make berth on the web? Filmmaker Magazine has recently posted on the subject, with some interesting commentary and findings. (more…)

YouTube's $350 Million Original Content Venture Will Renew Only 40% of Channels

Dave Kendricken — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:49:04 +0000

Depending on how much time you spend on or around YouTube, you may already be aware of the site’s original channels venture – which is not to be confused with its partnering program, a far easier monetization leap to make for the everyday user with a high-traffic upload. Interchangeably called ‘YouTube original’ or ‘premium’ channels (but not like cable TV premium channels — they mean quality of content, not ticket price), the venture was announced about a year ago and launched just this past January. Unfortunately, the returns so far have been pretty lackluster. Now, YouTube is certainly not giving up on what seems to have been an overall rough turnout — they are, however, seriously cutting back numbers on partner renewals. (more…)

The Most Disruptive Innovation in Filmmaking Today: DIY Audience Building

Guest Author — Thu, 31 May 2012 18:15:46 +0000

This is a guest post by Brian Newman.

Freddie Wong (FreddieW). Ryan Higa (NigaHiga). Jenna Marbles. Kevin Wu (KevJumba). These are four names that I can mention in conversation with almost everyone I know in the independent film business and get blank stares. They aren’t the only four names that I could mention, but to me, they are arguably the four most important names that every indie should know about, but somehow no one does (hyperbole, I know). (more…)

How to Build an Audience for Your Film Using YouTube (the Right Way)

Ryan Gielen — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:30:14 +0000

10,000,000+ views. 33 viral videos on YouTube’s front page. 50,000+ subscribers gained.

In the last three years, my company has driven millions of people to our videos and our clients’ videos, and turned many of those people into advocates for the material they see. We’ve done it through social networking, sharing, generating traditional PR, postings and links from blogs and websites, audience development and good old fashioned advertising.

Along the way, I’ve learned a few things about what YouTubers like (and don’t like!). I’m applying what I’ve learned to promoting my new film, Drinking Games (premiering in LA on June 4th), and I thought other indie filmmakers who self-distribute — or need to compliment their distributor’s lackluster marketing efforts — might benefit from reading about my experiences past, present and, eventually, future.

So, here goes: (more…)

You Too Can Make Money on YouTube - New Policy Opens Partner Program to Everyone*

E.M. Taboada — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:48:17 +0000

Does your video have a million views? Do you consistently draw large audiences? This past Thursday, YouTube announced it would throw out old criteria and let anyone with eligible content join the YouTube Partner Program, if they so wished (and are in the list of 20 approved countries). How does this make it more likely that you can make a few bucks off your short? And how does this announcement play into YouTube’s larger strategy? Read on: (more…)

'Your Film Festival' Deadline Less Than a Week Away - $500k Grant (And More) on the Line

E.M. Taboada — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:00:10 +0000

On March 31st, 2012 the first ‘Your Film Festival’ will close its doors to submissions. But it’s not just the $500k grant money that’s on the line — it’s who and what comes attached with it. The winner will not only get to open the Venice Film Festival, but they’ll have Ridley Scott and his production team produce their $500k project. With that in mind, let’s listen to what Mr. Scott has to say as you prep your 15-minute narrative submission: (more…)

How Does the 'Kony 2012' Phenomenon Illustrate 'Why Videos Go Viral'?

E.M. Taboada — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 00:21:43 +0000

Why do videos go viral? The success of the Kony 2012 documentary has a lot of filmmakers and activists pondering this very question. Racking over 50 million views on YouTube since Monday (and over 14 million views on Vimeo) the documentary is the quintessential example of a viral phenomenon. Now, beyond the accuracy of the documentary, or controversies swirling about it, it’s interesting to consider just how and why this video went viral. In a recent TED talk called ‘Why Videos Go Viral’, YouTube’s trends manager, Kevin Allocca, boiled the answer down to three interacting factors — factors we can see at play in the ‘Kony 2012′ phenomenon: (more…)

Enter Your Short in YouTube's 'Your Film Festival' for a Chance to Win a $500k Grant from Ridley Scott

Ryan Koo — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:39:38 +0000

YouTube’s crowdsourced, Ridley Scott-produced, Kevin Macdonald-directed Life in a Day was an excellent, globe-spanning, and touching film (watch it free in its entirety here). YouTube and Scott are not done, however: they’ve just announced a new contest calling for story-driven shorts, and the winner gets a $500k grant to make new work. (more…)

YouTube Releases Entire Crowdsourced Feature Film 'Life in a Day' for Free

Ryan Koo — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:21:33 +0000

Along with director Kevin Macdonald and producer Ridley Scott, YouTube created the crowdsourced feature film Life in a Day from 80,000 user-submitted clips to give a flavor of what was happening all around the world on July 24, 2010. The resulting film played Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, and streamed live. Now it’s come to YouTube in its entirety for free. Watch the 90 minute feature right here: (more…)

YouTube Unveils Cloud-Based Editing, Enabling Non-Destructive Post-Production Effects

Ryan Koo — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 22:00:49 +0000

This is simultaneously really impressive and seemingly obvious. The Tube of You has rolled out a new tab that allows you to trim your videos right on the site — in the cloud — instead of doing it locally and (re)uploading. This tab, aptly named “Edit video,” should already be live for all global users and allows for trimming, soundtrack-swapping, camera stabilization (!), and a number of basic post-production effects. As far as I can tell, at present there are no NLE features, but who knows where it’s headed next. Here’s the official word and a brief demo: (more…)