"Bollywood Steps" ON DEMAND!

Last week, my documentary, "Bollywood Steps" finally became available on Amazon Instant Video.  Anyone can instantly download the program for their computer or mobile device.  Until now, the program has only been available on DVD - I'm looking forward to seeing how we do in the digital world!

The Minute You Pull Out a Camera, You're Intervening

(You can read my original review of The Boy Mir here)

I recently had the opportunity to interview Phil Grabsky, director of The Boy Mir: Ten Years in Afghanistan," a new feature documentary that offers an unusually intimate portrait of a young boy growing up in the remote reaches of Afghanistan over the last decade. From eight to about eighteen, we watch Mir's life unfold with his family, as they struggle to survive, distant but impacted by the battle's for Afghanistan's future. This is actually Grabsky's second feature film about Mir. The award-winning "The Boy Who Plays on the Buddhas of Bamiyan" (2004), followed Mir and his family during a single year as they struggled to survive in the aftermath of Taliban rule, living in the shadow of what had been the tallest sculptures in the world - the Buddhas of Bamiyan - which the Taliban had destroyed to international outrage in 2001.

 Photo used by permission

A large part of the appeal of both films is Mir himself - an intelligent, charismatic boy facing daily hardships that force him to often interrupt his schooling to work in the fields to help sustain his family. As he grows into a teenager, his hopes dreams, humor - and even his material wishes (a bike, a motorcycle, a cell phone) will seem familiar to kids and adults the world over.

Grabsky, based in Brighton, U.K., remembers the very event that triggered both Mir films. On July 2nd, 2002, a U.S. aircraft accidentally fired on an Afghan wedding, perhaps reacting to perceving celebratory gunfire as a threat. The attack killed and wounded dozens - and haunted Grabsky, "I thought to myself, alright, step back from that. Imagine your own wedding day, my wedding day, out of the blue sky - they don't even see this plane - out of the blue sky, one minute everyone's dancing and happy, and the next minute people are literally in bits."

"I thought, who are the Afghans? They can't all be terrorists, they can't all be mute women behind burkhas. And I was just interested, and I thought I'lll just go and find out myself."

Finding Confidence Online: What If You Gave a Party and Nobody Came?

It's not a secret that it takes confidence to succeed.  You don't accomplish anything by constantly second-guessing your abilities and avoiding opportunities to push yourself.  The fear that you'll be rejected:  "What if I gave a party and nobody came?" can be overwhelming.  

The realities of creating a presence on social media are not exactly confidence building.  For most people, it takes a while to build a "following."  Is it worth it to create content for 10 people?  For 30?  For 100?  What makes it "worth it?"  Do people care?  What am I doing this for?  What's the point?  

Creative social media - blogging and vlogging included - provide a direct connection with the public at large - for aspiring creative people, that means putting yourself out there as never before.  Unless you already have a presence in traditional media - and few do - creating online seems like the first test of your hopes, dreams and ambitions.  

So: how does a person get past the confidence challenge?

1 - There's an audience for everyone - you've just got to find each other.  Most people don't follow social media creators directly; a majority of those who watch YouTube, for example, likely are unaware of the subscription option.  As a blogger, if you're not affiliated with any of the major aggregators of blog content, you'll need to find other methods to bring potential readers to your site.  While most blogs have a subscription option of some sort, most readers likely don't know that option exists.

It's important to understand that part of your job as a creative person on social media is finding your audience, and understanding the continuously developing methods to make that happen.

2 - You're the best at what you do.  You are an unmatched expert at what you do best - which is, naturally, being yourself.  You're not a great writer - you're the greatest writer reflecting your own personal talents, interests and experiences.  Likewise, countless talented YouTubers lose themselves in emulating their favorite YT stars.

With social media -  every imperfect creative person the ability to find their audience.    Are you the greatest performer of all time?  The greatest writer ever born?  Probably not.    Whatever your perception of your own abilities - good or bad - you are the best at what YOU do.    You don't need to apologize, disrespect yourself, or give up.  You don't need to fear discovering you're not who you think you are, either.

I remember, back in film school, there were always the students who emulated their favorite directors - they dressed like them, they created like them, and they designed their entire creative ambitions around the pathways taken by their idols.  Learn from others, but don't try to be them.

Every legit social  media pundit will tell you, above all, to be patient.    As a creative individual, you're creating a relationship with your audience that will develop over a lifetime.  Social media isn't so much a numbers game as an interactive game.    If you build it, they will come...eventually.

Remember - this is all new.  The rules aren't in place.  There are no set guidelines.    While there are both less and more effective ways to build an audience, your strategy - like yourself - will be entirely unique.  With persistence, you'll reach your goal.  

And who am I to give advice, anyway?  I don't have a huge YouTube or blog audience - yet I keep this up.  What do you think - why are you reading this?

Six Reasons Why Every Film Student Should Have a YouTube Channel

1. The opportunity to create content for an audience - and receive direct feedback from that audience. Viewers can provide their feedback by "thumbing up" a video, leaving comments, and adding the video to their list of favorites. In addition, YouTube provides a service called "Insight" to every channel and every video, allowing the channel owner to analyze how their audiences are responding on a wide range of categories, including age, location, attention (how long people actually watch each video), and more. 
2. The opportunity to network , learn- and collaborate - with a wide range of like-minded content creators from around the world. Artists of all types can work together with an ease never before possible 
3. The chance to develop, early on, a track record as a filmmaker / content creator. Many YouTubers, without any training, have used their channels to generate real world content creation jobs. The channel, in effect, becomes a living, breathing, constantly changing demo reel with real-world endorsements from an engaged audience. 
4. With commitment to a YouTube channel, the filmmaker will need to develop content on a regular basis - not only keeping the "creative juices flowing," and developing his or her craft, but developing the creative discipline critical to success. 
5. The chance to develop the public speaking skills that are critical for any director - to be able to talk confidently to an audience with ease. Though vlogs are typically created alone, they're distributed publicly. Vloggers who host their own channels are also building extemporaneous speaking skills as well.  
6. Building and evenutally monteizing a YouTube channel offers the chance to develop valuable real-world entrepreneurial skills that successful filmmakers need.  The possibility of becoming a YouTube partner (and sharing in advertising revenue), is only one avenue through which an individual can financially benefit from their channel. Building an audience also provides the opportunity to create independent partnerships with advertisers and engage in additional opportunities such as product placement.

Your feedback is encouraged!

Vidcon Thoughts: Today's Cutting Edge is Tomorrow's Stone Age

I'm mid-way through the first day of Vidcon, the YouTube content creator's conference being held this year at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.  This second annual event is an opportunity for content creators of all types share experiences and gain a sense of how to succeed in this rapidly changing field.  At six years old, YouTube, and the online video world, is still fairly new - but the evolution of the content and the audience has been huge.  The challenge content creators face is staying ahead of the curve  - when the curve is constantly changing.

Jim Louderback, CEO of Revision3, an Internet Television network that creates, produces and distributes web television, presented his views on where television has been - and where it's going.  Revision3, like the media conglomerates,bundles a variety of niche programming under their umbrella, building a central brand identity and standard to help build audiences for the individual video products, and the overall Revision3 brand.

The questions relating to building an audience are on everyone's mind here.  As some of my friends here have pointed out, those are tricky questions.  While some successful YouTube personalities offer advice based on their experience - the rapid growth of YouTube has changed the nature of how producers go about marketing their channels. What worked in 2007 may be completely unrealistic in 2011 - the media world has changed that much.  The best that Vidcon attendees (and YouTubers in general) can do it absorb as many of those stores as possible, learn and brainstorm with their fellow YouTubers, and try to understand and design a catered approach for their specific audience.

But that's the challenge- and the excitement - of creating in the YouTube community.  At six years old, this is still brand-new.  Every channel - every brand - is unique.  Every pathway to success is new.  What's possible today in promoting with social media wasn't even possible when YouTube began.  Stats weren't available to the extent they are today.   The channel-building strategies shared at Vidcon three years from now will be so far removed from today's stories, this will seem like the stone age.

Build Content and They Will Come: Mike Lidskin and Twirl Radio

Mike Lidskin, whom I featured in my recent vlog, Greg and I visit Twirl Radio , began Twirl Radio in Sacramento, California about ten years ago, after taking a course at Access Sacramento, an outlet for public access television and radio programming.   At first, the program was just on cable radio (a radio service that came through the local cable television cable provider) and a very limited (several mile radius) broadcast.  When the broadcast element was suspended, his program - and all the others at Access Sacramento, were reduced to near obscurity - as many people didn't realize that such a thing as Cable Radio existed.

His persistance and hard work began to pay off, audience-wise, when Access Sacramento began to offer content online. Through his website, Twirlradio.com, a worldwide audience can listen live to his program every Saturday night, Pacific Time, from 4-6pm.  At the moment, he believes, he has more listeners worldwide then in Sacramento itself.  After ten years and more than 500 shows, he's developed a solid connection with the indie rock world.  He provides a unique insight and support to several regional music scenes, providing for some musicians unique exposure that might not have been possible otherwise. His audience today, while certainly not huge by radio standards, is constantly growing and makes itself known through interaction with Mike on Facebook during the weekly broadcast.

There were times early on, Mike says, that his only audience may have been his computer left connected to Twirl at home - but he nevertheless continued to develop his craft (what today we would somewhat less elegantly call his "brand"), and was recently named Producer of the Year by his colleagues at Access Sacramento.   Last year, he was asked to join RechargedRadio.com, an internet radio network in the U.K., and offers that program once a week to a British Audience as well (check his website for podcast info).

Whether you're creating content as a hobby, or for business, it's worthwhile remembering that one thing never changes regardless of technology: quality and persistance.   Mike's advice to individuals trying to build a presence online: "First, do what you love. That's the right reason for starting any creative venture. If you truly love what you're doing, listeners and viewers will come. And make sure you treat each viewer and listener like your only one.   If you do that, you'll never be alone in your venture."

Why I Flipped to the iPhone

I shot my very first vlog in January, 2010, with a professional DV camera I owned.  Of course, that wasn't practical to use on a regular basis, so I turned to Amazon.com right away and bought the Flip Ultra HD, a simple "point-and-shoot" camera I felt I could take with me anywhere.  The quality, for a camera of its price, was exceptional, and I thought it could serve me well for quite a long time.  I even bought a second recharger and a couple of extra batteries.

Screen capture of Greg and I at Fort Point, shot with the iPhone 

Unfortunately, the Flip never lived up to expectations.  I actually returned the very first Flip I was sent - it simply wouldn't hold a charge.  I didn't think much of it at the time, and Amazon's return/replacement policy is quite generous.  In fact, a new camera was on it's way before I put the old one in the mail.  As I soon discovered, the new camera had battery problems of its own.  While I could charge it, the battery never would last as long as promised - though the camera could hold up to two hours of footage, it would be a near miracle for a single battery to allow for even an hour's worth of recording.  This, even as other tech devices advertised longer and longer battery lives.

After about sixth months of constant use, my  Flip stopped working.  At the time, I still liked the video quality over competitor's cameras, and had my supply of Flip accessories, so I decided to buy the same (albiet white) Flip Ultra HD, which by then had be cut in price nearly 50% from my first purchase.

While the new Flip was the same model, I would expect that some of the battery issues would have been alleviated over time.  That wasn't the case.  This camera suffered from the same battery life and charging issues as it's predecessor.  Though I could take it with me, I couldn't count on it for long term ease-of-use, and found that my vlogs in-the-field began to taper off.  Not surprisingly, Cisco announced that it would discontinue the Flip brand.

When I bought my iPad, I decided to begin using it for my office-based vlogs. I found that the quality - when the lighting was fairly good, was quite high.  It still wasn't practical for other types of vlogs, but I loved the fact that I could shoot - apply some simple editing on the iPad's iMovie app, and upload - all without exporting from the iPad.  It was a major improvement from the cumbersome transfer-convert-import-edit process necessary with video from the Flip.

Here's a vlog from this year's road trip - shot entirely with my iPhone 4

When the time came for this year's Road Trip, I was concerned.  I knew the Flip wasn't up to the task - it wouldn't hold a charge long enough for our day-long adventures.  I considered bringing along a package of batteries (the rechargeable batteries can be replaced with standard alkalines), but, once again, the entire process seemed too cumbersome.

I decided to give the HD camera on my iPhone 4 a try - and it met almost all of expectations.  As you can see in the vlogs, the video quality is exceptional, and the audio quality is at least as good as the Flip.  It's not perfect, of course - it isn't a dedicated camera.  The contrast isn't ideal.  It's sometimes hard to aim at myself if I'm vlogging, hold steady, and it's microphone is sometimes too sensitive to touch.  If I'm not careful when I begin shooting, the camera may think that I'm shooting vertically (high and narrow), and my entire image will be sideways.    The positives, however, are considerable.  The battery lasts a long time - I generally have no concerns that it will last during a particular shoot (and supplementary battery chargers are easily available).  When we left each location on our road trip, I plugged the phone back into the car outlet, and charged on the road.

Greg Checks out an outhouse in Bodie - iPhone video

The pathway to posting to YouTube was much faster.  For simple one-shot vlogs, I could upload directly from my iPhone, using the iMovie application.   For more complicated vlogs, I hooked the phone into my laptop, downloaded footage into iPhoto, do a quick conversion through Mpeg Streamclip (it seems that the iPhone Quicktime isn't perfectly compatible with Final Cut Pro), and could begin editing right away.  

I won't be abandoning a dedicated camera for some vlogging projects.  These phone cameras are, after all, limited in their capabilities.   For most situations, I'll be sticking happily with the iPhone.

More of my recent iPhone-shot vlogs are available on my vlog, http://youtube.com/worldaccordingtorich