[Bill Davis]

It’s an age old “supply/demand” issue.

When work is scarce, we have to do more to secure it since client demand is weak. When work is plentiful, we suppliers can ask for more concessions (like financial compensation for pitches.)

I largely see pitches as my freedom to experiment and learn. But I’m getting very sensitive about sending “finished” work out for non-client review. I’ll take a demo on an iPad or laptop connected projector to a client’s office or boardroom, but I’ll resist leaving them any creative content in any persistent form.

What I can leave is text documentation outlining a possible working relationship and referencing “creative as presented on (date). But I won’t leave them the actual files or printouts or boards (physical or electronic) to mull-over, look at, and possibly benefit their in-house or alternate suppliers.

I think that should stay in my control unless and until we formalize a working relationship.

Essentially, I’m saying to the client that if you’re not paying for it, you don’t get to have it in persistent form. You can SEE it in my controlled circumstances. But not take it away.

I know this is a radical departure from the traditional pitch, but I think its worth considering in this day and age of rampant file sharing and outright piracy.

If you’re exposing your creative ideas to a relatively unknown client, why should they expect anything beyond their recollections as a takeaway?

It’s a PITCH of ideas. Not a submission of actual work.

Obviously, circumstances can trump this approach and if a CEO of a respectable organization wants a keynote of the creative, I’d probably just say “yes ma’am.” But in an electronic world where copying and distribution is so trivial, I think a bit of a firewall between creative work and the marketplace is something worth fighting for.

And heck, if the presentation is strong and it impresses them, the natural next step should be ANOTHER presentation to higher ups – and that’s a worthy goal in and of itself.

And when the money starts flowing, that’s when they start getting what they’re paying for.

Just thinking out loud here.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Bill Davis]

Whadaya trying to do, dude?

Inspire creativity?

Shame on you. The future is machines making language assembly decisions autonomously.

Didn’t you get the memo?

(grin.)

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Bill Davis]

Regarding specifically “overcoming light from the presenters projector” …

There are typically two sources of that.

The easy one to control is any spill coming from the projector housing itself, if any. Build yourself a simple foamcore “box” to position around the projector. Takes 5 minutes with a sharp blade and a roll or gaffers tape in addition to the foam core.

As to screen light, it’s a tougher issue. Obviously the audience can’t see the projection if it’s not emitting light back to the audience.

So one solution is to use a podium or lectern to “force” the presenter into a fixes position and light them there. Some will comply, some have a personal style preference or even a pathological need to “wander” while presenting – including standing IN the light of the projection at various times.

When faced with that, just do the best you can. Having rapid and easy control of your camera iris helps a bit.

Good luck.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Bill Davis]

With all that being said. I just read that people watch an average of 5hrs of TV a day (this number is going up) but only watch an average of 15 minutes of YouTube a day. Lots of people want IP-centric delivery to work but the devil is in the details.

Quote above sounds impressive if you don’t know that this is significantly DOWN from the Arbitron levels in the 199os when household viewing was well over 8 hours a day.

TV has faced a steadily eroding viewership for years now.

You simply can’t compare a single internet portal with all of TV, Time spent on “entertainment” use of computers verses TV would be more apples to apples.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Bill Davis]

What am I arguing for?

Simple.

To rattle some of the more hidebound people here into a bit of self examination.

Some are so sure that their particular brand of “wisdom” is the only kind with any value. But theirs, IMO, is too often the brand that confuses evolution for innovation. Their thinking worked for them yesterday, so they expect it to keep working. But I suspect the opposite is true.

I suspect that a guy just like Herb was shaking their grizzled noggin at Jeff Bezos when he told the Angels that he saw a long tail play that required long delays in “monetizing” pushing books on-line. Amazon was willing to lose millions for years to be ready with the systems scaled and ready to go when e-commerce finally took off.

Now we can see that Amazon was never about books at all. Books were nothing but a test case for a new business model.

On a micro level, I’m willing to bet that as content creation continues to diffuse away from the majors and more and more to the desktop, lots and lots of people will find satisfaction at a level a tier or three below Hollywood hits.

Why?

Because of reverse scale.

Without the need to support monster facilities and cadres of human resources, someone can do financially well with a few thousand loyal content customers and an efficient micro-payment model.

That was never really possible before because costs scaled so closely along with distribution.

Now apple has demonstrated that with a largely pull-based ecosystem built more on search than advertising – more revenue falls to the bottom line than before. And with lower costs of creation comes opportunity for increasing margins.

If that is so, I want to understand the content tools designed to enable easier work in the new model.

And that’s precisely what I think FCP-X is.

A first step toward better.

I’m cutting my twelfth paid FCP-X piece and wrapping up my fifth Motion 5 commission – and I’m here to tell you this is every bit as exciting as FCP 1.0 was for me back in 2000.

That was a step toward better, too.

FWIW

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Bill Davis]

[Herb Sevush] “The problem with that theory is that the only things people want to PULL are programs that have been marketed, advertised and culturally “authenticated” by the PUSH media. “

We simply could not disagree more about this.

This part of the conversation was started by my noting that my kid came in to my room all excited by that Burning Man video. By the time I found out about it, he’s probably text-messaged a link it to a dozen of his friends – and had posted a link to it on his Facebook page.

Have you been sleeping? Havn’t you read how Louis CK just raked in six figures in about 24 hours by using social media to distribute his self-produced (and self edited in FCP-Legacy) content?

If you can’t see how radically distribution is changing you risk missing the largest single shift in media consumption of the past hundred years.

NO that does not mean the traditional ways are irrelevant or worth-less or shouldn’t be honored and maintained.

It simply means there’s a new game in town and that not just people but significant businesses are having to take notice.

I just got back from a weekend in SoCal – in yet another Marriott ballroom working with corporate types.

Among the biggest topics? Management of social media.

And, BTW, one again, (it’s kinda becoming a corporate show cliche) the “big reveal” at the end of the show to thank the troops for generating great results in difficult economic times was a shiny new iPad 2 in everyone’s gift bag.

And those suckers can watch the Burning Man video on YouTube EASIER than they can sign-up for a service that gives them access to hollywood content.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Bill Davis]

[Herb Sevush] “Nice semantical hocus-pocus. “

Nope,

Hocus Pocus means magic. Nothing magic about a Justice noting that OTA broadcast — which was the heart of the broadcast industry relatively recently in history — and still has a regulatory requirement to serve “the public good” – must serve for all it’s constituents – not just those who can afford (or choose to forgo) Cable.

Also, (for those of you who didn’t follow the story) I think the point when the lawyer arguing about the allowance or elimination of “nudity” pointed out the bare-breasted figures in the sculptural frieze above the justices heads – will go down in history as a moment of sublimely wonderful irony.

FWIW.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Bill Davis]

[Franz Bieberkopf] “It isn’t clear to me (nor, from what I’ve read, anyone else) how the distribution issue is going to evolve.

My references to writing, photography, and music are all good examples to look to in this respect.
“

Franz,

I don’t think that’s clear to anyone yet, but there are clear signs of direction.

Seek out the Deloitte study on “The Power of Pull” – there’s a lot off-target to wade through, but at the core, the translation from the “it’s in the theaters or on TV tonight, so those are my choices” (roughly PUSH) to the modern “what do I choose to watch right now” (PULL) content distribution is going to disrupt everything.

It just makes sense.

IMO, that’s the future to equip for in both gear and skillets.

That is essentially precisely what I’ve done by learning X – which I see as a tool to better enable PULL content in the long run. (all those keywords after all, floating around the interface, and “version publishing” via the Program Library.

It’s possible that the largest mistake people have made about X is shoehorning it exclusively as “editing software.”

Content creation is a huge part of it and editing at the core of that (along with image creation via Motion5) but the extent it help enable distribution in the long run might be the truly transformative baked in capability.

We’lll see.

YMMV.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Bill Davis]

Uh, Walter…

Where exactly did I ever imply that people in broadcast or studios weren’t talented and creative?

Hell, as a writer and voice talent early in my career, I spent countless hours in my cities network affiliate broadcast stations and larger independent production houses and found the people there to be first class creatives and operators.
Tthat’s the constant.

That a guy like me with a quarter century in the trenches can now pack two suitcases full of gear – go anyplace on the planet and do work every bit as good as the NBC affiliate where I first got to watch a guy do ADO effects in the 80s IS the change.

And the video I linked, supports that. The shots are Indistinguishable from top quality network production to the eyes of 99.9% of viewers.

Yes Turner Atlanta is capable of wonderful work.

But so is that guy Ted who schlepped his gear to Burning Man.

There was one game before, necessarily “gate keepered” by folks with Turner sized budgets.

Now there isn’t.

Period.

(can’t say “simple as that” for fear of further annoying AG!)

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Bill Davis]

Fine.

I’ll try since it annoys you so.

In fact, I’ll step aside and let the Supreme Court of the US weigh in…

WASHINGTON – In colorful give and take, the Supreme Court debated whether policing curse words and nudity on broadcast television makes sense in the cable era, one justice suggesting the policy is fast becoming moot as broadcast TV heads the way of “vinyl records and 8-track tapes.”

His words, not mine.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor