emonome

Just in case you missed reruns of Seinfeld on TV, TBS is streaming 4 full episodes on their site.

Is this the future of sit-coms: one person plays all the parts? Yikes.

Limited showing of Dungeons and Dragons courtesy of Hulu.

I have one more thing to add to yesterday’s post on television: Online viewers are not really interested in watching productions for the web by big shot producers of Hollywood film and television. Quarterlife failed on a network TV for two reasons: (1) it sucks and (2) it’s a television wannabe, complete with bad TV dialog. It badly wanted to be another ‘Unscripted.’ Nice try. All I’ll say is - I just saved a bunch of money by switching my car insurance to Geico.

In addition to the above - I’m headed to Chicago for the weekend.

The discussion is if this is the golden age of internet video. Kent Nichols thinks so. I think so too.

Here is the problem, however: Most producers seem to want to create television-wannabe online content in hopes of selling it to big media companies. Why bother with that? If a show has created all the buzz and has becomes popular (Nichols’s Ask A Ninja as example) going under a big company’s wings won’t necessarily increase the chances of popularity, reach, and money.

Making the leap to networks doesn’t guarantee success. It might even work against someone. For example: Amanda Congdon. Rocketboom to ABC, and now - no ABC, and no HBO, as it was looking to happen. But I don’t see it as a bad thing. She is now “Starring…” here and that perhaps is the best way to go.

Indie filmmakers and online content creators need to create good quality content and find ways to distribute and make money themselves. Don’t bother with television pilots and film festivals. Film festivals don’t mean shit. Look, if your film gets picked for play at Sundance or Tribeca and gets a shitty screening time, how does it do anything for you? Once upon a time winning or being officially selected at festivals meant something. Great marketing tool to promote films because you could fool potential viewers into thinking the inclusion of a film in a certain festival meant the film is good. You know, as well as I do, that crap gets into most of these festivals.

I keep getting back to this traditional distribution of television and films are dead theme. Who cares? The ones who get it will make the most of this change in tradition and the ones who don’t will go back to folding khakis at the Gap. Let’s just hope, at the Gap, they don’t argue about getting final cut.

If you’re an independent content creator, it’s your turn to bask in glow. Right now TiVo and iTunes are fighting to lead content distribution. My money is on iTunes.

UPDATE: 6:32pm - I think this proves my case even further.

Featured videos from the show.