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Posted by Steve Woolf
Welcome to the new Smashface site and blog!
Smashface was founded in 2003 in New York. At that time, we were doing small-scale documentary work and doctoring screenplays. Seems like a lifetime ago.
When we came out to Los Angeles in January 2005 online video was maturing into a force to be reckoned with. After some experimentation we developed JETSET, where we were free to explore the best ways to interact with the people who watched the show.
After a couple of months creating that show we realized we were not utilizing the concepts and tools that make web shows unique. To truly engage and interact with our audience we needed to set up the show in a way that made them a part of it. It took some trial and error, but we experimented with our format, our calls to action, and we developed a community tool that works quite well.
Now well over a year and half into JETSET, we have serious experience cultivating a community around a web show and we're going to use that knowledge to inform all of our projects going forward. And we intend to push that interactivity as far as present technology can take it, as long as it's a good experience for the audience.
The Smashface definition of Immersive entertainment is character-driven narratives that make the viewers an indispensable part of the show. This means a time-tested narrative story arc, but one structured in a way that is intelligent enough to use audience contributions to mold the voice and feeling of the show. That sense of ownership is empowering to an audience, and they remember the experience.
Immersive entertainment can be non-fiction, as well. JETSET is a good example. We constantly hear feedback from viewers who tell us about the sense of intimacy they feel with the show and how different that experience has been from other video they have watched on the web. To say nothing of their experience watching television, which is almost totally passive.
We'll use this blog to discuss some of our thoughts around immersive entertainment and the landscape of the online video world. We are actively developing shows that are intended to bridge all forms of media, and to use the different experiences to inform each other.
This is a transformative time in the world of media, and now is when we can afford to experiment with the ideas that will shape the face of entertainment for many years to come.
Let us know what you think about immersive entertainment and online video by posting a comment or sending us a message.
Later,
Steve
Co-founder & Principal
Posted by Rick Rey
Just to reiterate what Steve said, welcome to the new blog! I'm looking forward to posting here every week, and I'm hoping to throw in an occasion audio or video podcast, too. Actually the Smashface blog comes at an ideal time for me. Just a few days ago I took down my personal blog while I re-think its purpose and explore some new ideas about what a personal portal should look like. Until that happens, I don't have to worry about not having a place to express myself and talk about stuff going on in the industry and beyond.
So first things first. Who am I and how do I fall into the Smashface equation? It's a question I get asked often. Most people don't know there is a third person working on JETSET every week. Yes, that person is me. Keep in mind Steve and Zadi do most of the heavy lifting, so my role as associate producer is more supportive than anything else. I guess you could say I fill in the gaps. Whether it be researching stories, editing, writing script drafts, playing with new apps to review, shooting feature segments, or the occasional correspondent piece -- I do whatever needs to get done. Basically, I try to make Steve and Zadi's life less hellish by alleviating some of their workload.
Another important part of my job is working with our segment producers, people like Annie Tsai and Eric Rey. Aside from writing and producing segments with them, I act as a filter (lubricant, really) to Steve and Zadi -- so everyone is on the same page and we're all in sync with the JETSET brand. This particular job -- keeping things (and people) in sync -- will become much more important as JETSET grows. Thankfully, I can rely on S&Z's input and advice to guide me through the untested waters we consistently tread.
That's pretty much the gist of it. But just like everything in the new media world, my role at Smashface is constantly evolving. And you know what, I prefer it that way! So stick with us here, subscribe to the blog, and see where we can take this thing. I'm thinking it will be a heck of a ride.
Thanks for reading,
Rick Rey
Associate Producer & Editor
Posted by Steve Woolf
Many moons ago, I wrote a blog post on my personal blog site about how comments do not equate to a community. I had a lot of gripes with the lack of accountability in regular comments, the linear and inflexible nature of the tools available for commenting, and the general one-dimensionality of the experience.
For the longest time Zadi and I were watching the open source projects and commercial sites offering web community tools in the hopes that we could roll out a social component for JETSET. Drupal was the leader and the obvious choice, but quite frankly it lacked attractive templating options. It is also pretty far from a turnkey tool, or at least it was when we were reviewing packages.
Then we found Ning. We were immediately impressed by how easy it was to set up a social network site, customize it, and be up and running. In two days in May, over ten total hours, we built the MIX site that still looks the same today. Our hardcore fans could immediately begin uploading photos and videos, talk in threaded forums, customize their own profile pages, connect over common interests, interact with us about show topics and ideas, and so much more. Just like that, we had a real community.
Ning is always updating their product, but there are a number of tools that are definitely lacking. The inability to make top users low-level admins to help moderate the site is one thing that stands out. And without getting into the source code, it's difficult to change the layout to add things like a leaderboard banner ad across the top of the page.
But on the whole the tools are stellar. Wait til you see what we roll out in a couple of weeks with the JETSET relaunch. Total Ning API and feed integration into the main jetsetshow.com site with AJAX calls to make it fully dynamic. I can't wait to get that puppy up and running!
We're also glad that we were able to help introduce a number of online web shows to Ning!
Posted by Zadi Diaz
JETSET and Smashface Productions were recently mentioned in a Guardian article written by our friend and online producer Casey McKinnon. The title reads "Will Hollywood kill the web-only stars?" I wanted to thank Casey for the highlight and to write about my thoughts on the topic.
In the article Casey asks if Hollywood is creating a "new" media if they bring television to the internet. Here are my thoughts on the topic at hand, and what I think Hollywood should be thinking about:
Television is not the Internet
Just like theatre wasn't radio, radio wasn't film, film wasn't television, the television is not the internet. We all watch films on our television, but it's an inherently different experience than watching it on the big screen. The same goes for the internet. Thinking about the audience experience will dictate whether or not you're utilizing the medium to its fullest capacity. A three-camera shoot is par for the course on TV, on the internet it's definitely NOT going to knock my socks off.
Innovate
Are you using the web to dump stuff that didn't work on television? I say dump away, that's the beauty of the web, you can upload and distribute ANYTHING. Just don't expect it to work, and don't expect me to watch it. What are the tools that you're using to push the boundaries? At Smashface we get excited about new ideas and possibilities. If you want to add more same-ness to the mix, well I guess you're a C student. There are a lot of those. Go sit in the back.
Listen...
...people are talking to you! This is not a one way street. I repeat - this is NOT a one way street. This is the internet superhighway baby. There are pit-stops, communities, and dirty whores around the bend. You can not make a great show unless you take off the blinders and look at what's happening around you. I mean, really look and listen.
Know who you're talking to
If you knocked on my door and tried to sell me encyclopedias, I would laugh in your face before I slammed the door shut. Maybe I would also spit in your face (depends). And you expect me to not laugh in your face when you tell me I can't watch what I want to watch where I want to watch it? There are no boundaries online, the state and country lines are blurred. You are talking to a global audience. Yeah -- it's that big. And you are also talking to people who have options. TONS of them.
Find your crew
On the first day of school do you: A. wear brand new clothes, say cool things and hang close to the "cool" people? B. Stand in the corner scorning all the posers? C. Think about your classes and how excited you are to be taking super-calculustic-expialidoicious regents level? D. Wake up wondering if today was supposed to be the first day of class?
Pick one. On the web, for every multiple choice, there is a multiple answer. The niche. In spanish there is a saying "para cada gusto existen los colores" (Or something like that. My spanish proverb recollection is bad these days.) Basically - for each taste, there's a color. Pick a color. There's a whole rainbow. Just don't mix them all together, it ends up looking like shit.
Experiment
Please, please don't tell me that a thirty second pre-roll advertisement is a good idea. I don't want to hear it anymore. We're talking micro shows. The average web show is what, 5 minutes? It should all be relative... and it should all make sense. We're still fighting a battle where advertiser and producer can live in beautiful harmony. I believe it can happen.
It's still personal
On the small screen you're still talking/showing/communicating with one other person on the other side of that screen. At most, they call a friend or two over to take a look at what they're watching. Usually, they'll just send a link. Please keep that in mind when you're creating, selling ads, or just talking. Don't talk to me like I'm a four year old. Don't try to sell me the most popular shade of lipstick. It's really not the lowest common denominator. You're talking to me.
It's all media
Yes. It is. And all media is a changing landscape. It's also a sort of spiral. We take things from old media and apply it to new media. Some of it works, some of it kinda works, and some of it definitely does not work. It's a constant battle trying to define a landscape when all you have is a machete in your hand a map of the old world. But hey, machetes are freaking cool. And there's nothing like the feeling of hacking down a couple of old leaves and sitting down with a cold beer to enjoy the sunrise (not that I advocate drinking in the morning). This will be one hell of hell of a journey -- that is one thing that's as certain as the sun is rising.
Posted by Rick Rey
Without having all the stats in front of me, I would venture to say last week's JETSET was the most watched episode ever. As of right now it has over 630,000 views on YouTube alone -- just one of our distribution outlets. Those are crazy numbers for a weekly web show. But this post isn't about tooting our own horn. It's about consistency in the online video space.
For most web shows, including JETSET, viewership varies from episode to episode. Sometimes you have a great week (like we just did), and sometimes you have an off week numbers-wise. Because consistency is so important when it comes to stats -- especially in an emerging arena like online video -- I think it's important to decrease variance as much as possible. And by that what I really mean is decrease the number of "off weeks," because a steady increase (or explosion, even) in views is never a bad thing -- as long as you can keep doing it week after week.
I thought it might be interesting to start a series of blog posts on the factors that influence variance in online video stats. I'm hoping a few of you will chime in with your own thoughts and experiences, and perhaps together we can get a better grip on the part of this industry we think we have least control over.
Let's start with a factor that many content creators are focused on, but at the end of the day doesn't play a huge role when it comes to variance: Subscribers.
Subscribers are our bread and butter. They are the people who commit themselves to watching you on a regular basis. It's your base audience and certainly your most important. However, your subscriber base doesn't have a huge effect on your show-to-show variance -- and for the most part, you can reasonably predict what percentage of your views will come from your subscribers.
Think of it this way. If you screw up and have the worst episode of your career, are you going to suddenly lose a huge number of subscribers? Unlikely. Hopefully you've already won them over, and in my experience the web audience is relatively forgiving (except when it comes to YouTube comments).
And likewise, if you go above and beyond and create a ridiculously amazing episode, can you expect to double or triple your subscriber base? Again, unlikely. As many of us know, getting new subscribers ain't easy. The truth is, as sad as it may be, not that many people are subscribing to web shows when compared to the total number of people watching them. Steve has been talking about this phenomenon lately, too. I can tell you from personal experience I rarely keep up with my subscriptions in iTunes. The majority of video I watch online is browser-based.
This isn't to say RSS is useless, or we shouldn't be concerned about our subscribers. Rather what I'm saying is, there's a huge number of people out there you can reach through a multitude of contexts. You may never get them to subscribe, but that doesn't mean you can't get them to come back every week. And that's really the key to all of this -- penetrating the non-subscribers week after week.
I look forward to continuing this discussion in future posts. Please chime in with your thoughts.
Posted by Steve Woolf
As some of you may know already, earlier today we launched a new website and rebranded our relatively successful web show JETSET into EPIC-FU. So far the response has been very strong in support of the new name and feel. There is also criticism and confusion, which is understandable. Name changes are a big deal and people get comfortable with things.
In the run-up to the name change, the one thing we did not have time to properly consider was a communications plans to make our motivations clear. After all, there's really only the three of us doing all the production work, editing, and website design and development for JETSET and other projects. We've had some great support from Next New Networks helping us with the show's myriad distribution points. But the thought behind the name change needs to come directly from the show creators, myself and Zadi. We couldn't ask our partners to explain our decisions for us.
JETSET began as "The Jet Set Show" in June 2006. At that time the show was for a much younger audience, and the name was chosen specifically to sound friendly and snappy. Over the months we found that our sensibilities were suited for an older audience and we shifted the show's creative direction to suit. Things move awfully fast on the web. By September 2006 we were building an audience of teens. By December 2006 we were building an audience of college-aged people. The Jet Set Show had become JETSET -- we were looking for ways to make the surrounding look and feel grow up with our audience.
The past few weeks JETSET has seen phenomenal growth. In September we had over a million total views for the show. In October we did a million views for a single week. So, you might ask, what's the problem?
Intellectual property is the problem. We have big, big plans for the show, and the term "jet set" is everywhere.
Creatively we also had a strong concern that the name JETSET no longer served any descriptive purpose in defining the show. To borrow a phrase from the great Rodney Dangerfield, if I had a nickel for every time we were asked if JETSET was a travel show, I'd have a shitload of nickels.
We always described our show as the new pop culture. What we meant by that was the strictest definition of the new POPULAR culture. Fred Seibert summed it up perfectly when we were in New York -- for most people over 25, MTV defined popular culture through music. For the people growing up now, the Internet is the defining cultural engine. Our show was always about exploring that culture and talking about all the people who were empowered by a new kind of media. That is the new popular culture as we see it. And that is an Epic Fuck You to the establishment in all the best and most meaningful ways.
Logistically a name and brand change is a huge pain in the ass. But the longer you wait the worse it gets. We've waited too long as it is. Even though JETSET has a following in the online video world, it's still in the very infancy of its development. One of our goals as a company is to take our shows across all forms of media, new and old. As we embark on that process, all of us content creators have to make sure we fully own everything we create so that we never have any baggage to lug along when great opportunities come knocking.
With those thoughts in mind we want to get as much feedback as possible about the branding change, so please keep sending us emails, Twitters, Facebook messages, Myspace messages, SMS's, everything!