Blog

Episode 17: The One About the Identity Problem of Web Video

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Direct MP3 link

It’s been a while since the last New Mediacracy, so we took an opportunity to go back to basics with the core group of NM, Zadi Diaz, Chris McCaleb, and Steve Woolf. In the theme of getting back to basics, most of this episode’s discussion centers around the identity of web video, or the lack thereof. And a ton of discussion about working towards the sustainability of scripted web shows.

Also, there is the usual excess of drinking and the table we are sitting around hates us. Probably for our freedoms. It creaks and cracks throughout the whole show, sorry about that. But give it a listen, and post your thoughts in the comments.

See original post at newmediacracy.com

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks

22 SXSW Web Video/Film Panels to “Thumbs Up”

It’s that time of year again. SXSW panel voting is upon us and Internet land is buzzing with nerds campaigning for a spot in the web’s most fun event of the year. There are a lot of brilliant ideas and it’s difficult not to pick everything listed on the panel picker. But voting ends this Friday, and so with that, here are 22 SXSW web video and film panels to “thumbs up.”

1. The Global Online Community: Improving Cross-Cultural Relations
Andrew Kneale, British Council
I’m starting off selfishly and for personal gain. I’m not even going to attempt to hide it. I was invited to be on this panel. Truthfully, there is a lack of panels that focus on building an International community on the web. This is the Internet, after all! This panel talks about why it’s important, how to communicate our stories across cultures, and what you can do to build a truly global community. Extremely valuable for a show creator.

2. Can P2P Save Filmmaking?
Jamie King, VODO and BitTorrent Inc.
According to Ted Hope, producer of 21 Grams and Adventureland, just four percent of the independent films made in the U.S. annually get traditional distribution. …At a time when the Internet has essentially driven media distribution costs to zero, distributed networks like BitTorrent provide an effective and flexible way for filmmakers to distribute their content.

3. Fundraising in a Box: Crowdsourcing Microgrants
Dianne Debicella, Fractured Atlas
Crowdfunding, combined with fiscal sponsorship, is a powerful and effective way to use online social networks to cultivate new donors. The panel will focus on how to successfully use crowdfunding in conjunction with fiscal sponsorship.

4. The Woman’s Story: marketing, distribution and production.
Lauren Kesner O´Brien, telegraph21
This panel brings together female producers, directors and distributors to share their perspectives and insights into the role of women in the new media landscape. We will also explore the challenges of being women in a male-dominated industry, how we are different, what we are looking for in new platforms, and what we are looking for as viewers.

5. Short Form Content to Inspire Action
TBD, Participant Media
Films like The Cove and Food, Inc have inspired a nationwide movement. But can short form content be equally effective in a video saturated online market? This panel will discuss how PSAs, funny videos, and short films online work today for causes, how to produce this type of content and how this will change in the future.

(more…)

Image courtesy of Zadi Diaz
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks

Venice Beach Skate Park

(more…)

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks

FourCast Podcast

Last week I was on FourCast, a show on the @TWiT network hosted by Tom Merritt and Scott Johnson, with fellow guest Casey McKinnon. I have to say, I had so much fun on this show. It’s basically 50 minutes of predicting future technologies 10, 100, 1,000 years from today. I love, love, love to let my imagination run wild, and I had to kind of hold back from just spilling out the TONS of wild things I think may happen in the future.

If you don’t have time to watch, you can also download the audio track and listen to it at your leisure. Thanks again Tom and Scott for inviting me on!

What do you think will happen 10, 100, 1,000+ years from today?

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks

WebTV Workshop Tip of the Day

This is my WebTVWorkshop Tip of the Day.

Surround yourself with talented/good people. Don’t ask for permission.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks

World Compass: The Skin You’re In

In the first part of the video a young girl vents her frustration with her hair through spoken word poetry. In the latter part of the video (at the 5 minute mark), we talk about (or I talk about) our own frustrations. I admit to spending about an hour straightening my hair with the ol’ heat iron… and it just ends up getting wavy at best. Bad hair days take a whole new level when you have very curly hair… and my hair is cloud puff curly. Many times I love it, and other times I just want to shave it all off. But what’s interesting is how through that frustration we can achieve a deep type of self-acceptance. Mainly because the hair will not give you a choice. It’s like a weed. :)

I’m curious to know from the curly-headed mop crew (especially the girls), do you notice a difference in the way people react to you when you wear your hair curly? When I wear it curly, people think I’m just wild and creative, when it’s straight I get taken more seriously, especially at meetings. What’s your take?

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks

Hipsters, Hotdogs and Heaven

I love the vibe of Art Walk in Downtown, Los Angeles so I decided to film it so I could show it to you through my eyes. The streets fill up with artists, musicians, food trucks, and people looking to laugh, dance and just have a good time.


  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks

Good and Ready

I was invited by Melissa Rowley to appear on her new show, Good and Ready. It’s a series about how cause, brands, and celebrity intersect in the name of social good. In this episode, Adrian Grenier talks about SHFT, his new eco art gallery in Downtown, Los Angeles (which I visited during Art Walk – video coming soon).

Thanks again to Melissa for the invite. Also check out the good things fellow panelists are working on: Invisible People TV’s Mark Horvath, Ford’s Scott Monty, and SocialVibe’s David Levy.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks

Rocketboom Interview

Thanks to Molly, Leah, and the Rocketboom team for the interview. We go back a long way. :)

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks

Dominican Republic 2010


This is Felipe the Monkey. I wanted to put him in my pocket and take him home. He wanted to make his home my head.

This was the second time visiting the place my mother was born. I always forget that I’m a first-generation American. My mother immigrated to the United States when she was eleven and was schooled at a Massachusetts boarding school. Though Spanish was my first language, English replaced it as soon as I began attending kindergarten. The only time I’m able to practice is when I visit my grandmother.

It was great to go back for a second time and see the island with new eyes. It was also interesting to experience how I fit into the existing social strata, especially being merely an echo of a Dominican from the States.

All in all, my stay wasn’t long, but it was fun. And within a week of being immersed in the culture, my Spanish improved greatly. :)

Check out 65 more photos (with captions) of my trip here.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks