From NewTeeVee:
Revision3 has made layoffs, canceled some of its original shows, and discontinued its two new distribution agreements. The online video studio will no longer make Pixel Perfect, PopSiren, and Internet Superstar (the latter two were newer shows made by full-time Revision3 employees Sarah Lane and Martin Sargent), saying they didn’t find an audience and drive revenue. It will also no longer distribute EPIC FU (as of mid-December) and Wine Library (as of today), saying in a blog post that they don’t fit into its long-term plans.
In financial markets, we have been seeing what’s termed as flight to quality. Basically that means investors are abandoning the stock markets for the safer places to put their money.
You should be doing the same thing for your career. Rev3 has some of the best behind the scenes talent in the online space. They have a great sales team and good leadership and a solid flagship show in DiggNation. And they can’t make it.
F*CK!
So, what now? Treat deals and shows you create for these online production companies as temporary rent money solutions, not career building moves.
It’s still better to go the indie route, get attention, sell enough DVDs and Tees to pay your investors back and try to sell your idea to Hollywood for real money under a WGA contract that perserves a ton of rights for you as the creator.
I know a lot of the players involved at Rev3, and most will land on their feet, but it’s going to be painful in the short term. And that sucks. But as we learn more about exactly what happened there, it will give us all more information on what the mistakes were and how new companies can avoid them.
But you as a person that’s trying to be a filmmaker, please realize that there’s no free lunch. The deals out there right now are low money (and even at the low money they are offering, they are apparently non-sustaining to companies) and the deals can vaporize overnight. In that sort of turmoil, it’s hard ot base a career or life decisions on something that disappear overnight.
I know some of you will say it’s like that in Hollywood too, true to a degree, but the paychecks are higher, residuals are in place and there’s avenues for syndication and other revenue streams for video content that aren’t fully established in the online space yet.
Buckle up, the bumpy ride is just beginning.
13 Comments
October 27, 2008 at 11:41 am
I think you have a better chance of creating an online video series and finding your own sponsors than you do of landing a Hollywood deal or selling a movie script.
Sponsors are going to be looking for cost cutting ways to reach consumers who are engaged and if you have an online show with a passionate audience you have a chance of giving your sponsor a return on their investment.
If you can’t give them ROI you will not survive just like the shows that Rev3 invested in gave them no ROI.
October 27, 2008 at 1:00 pm
[...] third of its people. The news prompted Kent Nichols, one of the awesome and funny duo behind the Ask a Ninja video show, to write on his blog: Rev3 has some of the best behind the scenes talent in the online space. They have a great sales [...]
October 27, 2008 at 1:26 pm
[...] of my favorite shows where canceled today, Internet Superstar and PopSiren and their hosts where laid off (didn’t they just host the [...]
October 27, 2008 at 2:20 pm
All I can say is Whoa.
October 27, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Hunker down… keep creating. After the elections the market will settle a tad and the money will flow again. Remember that this is still a new form of media that companies are just discovering, even if you have been in the game for a while keep pushing. I was looking back at films my dad did for corporations (industrial films) in the 70’s and he had a whole other set of problems getting money back then. He still did things on the side which are hilarious, so so clever and would have loved the distribution opportunities we have at our finger tips. Just keep creating. This shit happens in waves and the next set will come……
October 27, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I’m just glad I kept my relatively stable corporate day job even after I signed my deal–cause it didn’t last. I’ve never been all that ambitious about making money doing this. But I have discovered that there is some ad dollars to be had for local advertisers. So I’m curious why there aren’t more locally focused online video properties. Seems to be that niche is what online is good at, not necessarily mass market. But I understand that the mass market is where the big bucks are.
Anyway. I’ve kept my costs very low. Invested most of the money I’ve made back into my project, always looking to improve. And more importantly, I’m still having fun with it. Which was all I ever wanted to do to begin with.
I’m wishing luck to everyone who got put out by Rev3. It’s sad.
October 27, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Tim, you hit it on the head man. Bill, you’re working it like a good small business owner.
I can tell you a few reasons why there are few sponsors flooding over to online video.
1. Lack of metrics gathering to gather a good measure of ROI.
2. Media buyers know banner ads, a little paid search, and maybe post-roll and pre-roll buys if you’re lucky
3. If you’re not a consumer of independent online video content, which most of the decision makers are not, then they have no clue what content to invest their client’s money into
4. Both content creators want control, and advertisers want control, and in the end both loose in that partnership.
October 27, 2008 at 7:35 pm
[...] Kent Nichols broke the situation down extremely well on his blog: In financial markets, we have been seeing what’s termed as flight to quality. Basically that means investors are abandoning the stock markets for the safer places to put their money. [...]
October 27, 2008 at 8:44 pm
patience .. this is a long road, early players can take a beating, but the concept will flower
October 27, 2008 at 8:47 pm
[...] today, Kent Nichols suggested we “add Revision3 to the ‘Dead Pool.’” I had to argue with him (hence the Tweets mentioned above) – I don’t think it is that bad. [...]
October 27, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Rev3 is clearly the top new media “network” but I think they were getting a little too big on the production end to be lean and mean. They built a multi-camera studio, etc. A little contracting in this economic situation was probably inevitable. What surprises me is that they let Epic-Fu and Wine Library go. Those two shows have relatively big audiences. I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want those added numbers when trying to close the deal with potential advertisers.
October 28, 2008 at 8:29 pm
As stated things are a lot bigger in Hollywood, bigger budgets with residuals you can live off if your that kind of actor/actress.
These web shows can only go so far unfortunately because of the low ROI. Taulpaul you hit the nail on the head.
I believe there needs to be some sort of additional advertising associated with signing up to view these shows. Not everything online needs to get online money…
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January 18, 2009 at 9:48 pm
[...] Kent Nichols: Add Rev3 To The Deadpool [...]