Filtering Out The Crap

We’re getting to the point where there’s just so much content posted in the online world that it’s not only hard to keep track of, but even harder to sift through in order to find the compelling clips.

This is particularly a problem for people who want to break into the business of producing online content. With all the sub-par videos, how do you reach an audience that doesn’t know you exist? How do you convince them BEFORE THEY WATCH YOUR VIDEO that it’s superb and just right for them, when all they see are an unappetizing array of home videos?

By filtering out the crappy videos.

The way I see it, most videos can be put in four different categories:

1. Traditional Media - like clips of Big Brother from CBS, CNN news clips of Senators Retiring, or Movie Trailers. This category covers anything that already exists on TV or Film.
2. Original Episodic – like vlogs, webisodes. Some are professionally produced, some are amateur, but they are posted on a consistent basis and their purpose is to acquire a consistent audience.
3. Original One-Offs - same as above, only in the form of one-off films or music videos.
4. And Home Videos – like funny animal tricks, family videos and stupid stunts. These are one-off videos as well.

Space Shank specializes in the business of Original Episodic content.

In my experience working in the traditional media realm, I note that its successes (and failures) are due to an array of filters that have been put in place for some time now. These filters come in a few different forms. The first is representation: Entertainment Attorneys, Managers, and Agents who only represent talent they feel can make them money. And then next in the form of Film and TV Executives who will only meet with those who have representation and whose job it is to find talent in the form of writers, producers, and actors. They look for projects that will deliver quality and some sort of hook that will provide an audience (and in the case of TV – keep Madison Avenue happy).

Getting through this existing filter system is how you “break in” to the Entertainment Industry, but most representatives wont help you unless you’ve already made money in the entertainment world – thus the Entertainment Industry’s Catch 22.

The online world already has some of these filters in place. However, because of the democracy of the web, these filters come in forms that good content creators can get past.

Here’s a simple breakdown:

First, there are Video Websites whose staff (or interns) sift through the massive amounts of content uploaded daily and select only those pieces they deem entertaining. In cases like Myspace Video or Youtube, their editors can really help make a career simply by featuring a creators videos on their front page and pointing out that their work exists in the first place.

In some cases these sites send out daily e-mails with their highlighted favorites, two favorites of ours are The Daily Reel & Gloob.tv.

Then there are those sites who help you do your own filtering like MeeVee.com. Although sites like this are good ideas, in practice, they are far too intricate and impractical for the common user.

The most powerful filter, however, are regular people who watch videos, rate videos, and pass them along to their contacts. For Flipper Nation, it was the real estate blogging world that helped us out – passing our content along to our specific niche audience.

Sure the entertainment industry is trying to still play filter, launching their own sites like the thumbs up/thumbs down approach of FunnyorDie.com (owned by the agency CAA) and Crackle.com (owned by Sony) will be giving away monthly cash prizes. But all of these sites still wield the power of the user.

My group of friends always repeat the phrase, “The Cream Will Always Rise to the Top.” But just a few years ago it was really hard for our cream to even make it into the coffee. Not anymore.

Now original content creators have to put their money where their mouth is, but at least in today’s landscape we actually can. And now comes the next filtering process: filtering out the 200+ websites that are filtering our content for us.

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