Vancouver Sun article about fan-centric MovieSet action (cross-post)

Note: Cross posted from: Vancouver Sun Article helps spread the fan-centric MovieSet Vision

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Gillian Shaw of the Vancouver Sun newspaper shared the MovieSet story with her readers in an article called “Online and on the set” on June 9, 2009.

The article ran as a full page on the Entertainment section and you can explore two versions online in both the Technology and Entertainment sections. The print edition includes a screenshot of the Behind the Scenes vidcast show with Shaun and Eric, while the online version features a video with Director of Fan Communities Dave Olson giving a tour of MovieSet.com (including Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus).

The article kicks off by asking: Care to wander onto the set of a movie shoot, chat with the actors, see the inside story on the stunts?

Well, do you?

This kind of set access has been the goal of MovieSet CEO Colleen Nystedt since 2005 and she continues to educate and push her industry forward with the belief that there is a universal interest in how movies are made and that the action on-set is something fans care about. MovieSet seeks to satisfy that hunger by delivering value to both the film industry, with the suite of production tools, and to all passionate movie fans, by providing exclusive access to great content.

{snip}

The article quotes the erstwhile leader of the “social media renegades,” Dave Olson, who relates the focus on fan participation as the key to traffic growth and enthusiasm for the site, using our recent Death Warrior campaign as an example (links added):

For small very specialized films, such as Death Warrior, a mixed martial arts film that included livestream video among its offerings for fans, Movieset allowed it to find a core audience that shared a passion for the action film.

“We found out where fans of that genre hang out, we communicated with them in their language and we invited them to take part,” said Olson. “We even gave away the bloody sweatshirt that Georges St-Pierre was killed in to a fan at the end of it.”

Finally, Ms. Shaw’s article outlines some of the other tactics we’ve used to bring movie fans behind the scenes and a call to action for movie makers of all kinds ~ from indies to majors ~ to hop aboard the MovieSet cluetrain:

“The site’s front page is refreshed daily and we’re outreaching to fans through Twitter, a Facebook trivia application and a behind-the-scenes vid cast,” said Olson.

While it still goes against the grain to loosen their grip on content, traditional studios are stepping aboard.

“Studios one by one are starting to realize there is some value here,” said Olson. “They see it is a conversation that is going on and it will go on without them.

“They are saying ‘we should start to participate whether we want to or not.’”

Dave Olson gives a tour of MovieSet.com

Indeed, there are now excellent examples which demonstrate the power of MovieSet’s two-headed monster. Cast and Crew members are employing our tools to streamline their daily workflow, they deliver content directly to their movies page including still photos, videos, news, or blog posts.

Once uploaded, the rich content gives the social media conversationalists an opportunity to reach out to an engaged community of fans interested in the film. Fans then become active contributors by following, supporting and commenting throughout each phase of production. And so on, and so on …

Read the full article: Online and on the set by Gillian Shaw (@gillianshaw on Twitter) in the Vancouver Sun, June 9, 2009 – please consider leaving a comment or sharing with your movie fan and filmmaker friends.

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Online and on the set Attached as .pdf

Business in Vancouver tells the True North Media House story

From Business in Vancouver on, Friday, 12 June 2009 in 2010 Gold Rush by Bob Mackin, comes a  discussion about the True North Media House including quotes from Kris Krug and comments about the “Open Letters to VANOC” i published via Raincity Studios in November 2008.

Posted here for archival purposes. Grab Print version as needed.

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Countdown: 35 weeks until the opening of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

VANOC slow to get into new media game

Kris Krug is among a small group of Vancouver new media trailblazers aiming to revolutionize how the Olympic Games are covered in this wild Web 2.0 world.

They have devised the True North Media House, and they say it will also be strong and free.

It’s going to be a Downtown Eastside-based alternative for outlets big and small that don’t qualify to be inside the fence at the main media centre in the Vancouver Convention Centre or in the non-accredited provincial facility at Robson Square.

“With the explosive growth of online journalism, citizen journalism and new forms of journalism, we’re going to have huge demand for the services we’re offering there,” Krug said.

The concept was borne out of meetings last fall among disaffected members of the local new media community. Early on, VANOC was wide-eyed about the new media. Krug and others briefed VANOC executives and staff on a new media day back in 2005. But as the Games approached, things changed.

I remember Krug sitting crestfallen outside the Pan Pacific Hotel last November, ruing the fact that VANOC didn’t let him join in the world press briefing. That week, his Raincity Studios’ colleague Dave Olson extended a hand with his famous “Hello VANOC, we’re nice, local and invite you for a coffee and a talk” open letter.

Any VANOC forays into the virtual world have been on the coattails of telecommunications sponsor Bell. The Cultural Olympiad’s intriguing Canada CODE digital collage is the best example. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are used by many individuals at VANOC, but not VANOC itself.

The reluctance apparently comes from top-down. The IOC has tiptoed around the Internet, not fully embracing the new media. To its credit, it opened its own YouTube channel during the Beijing Games while liberalizing its rules to allow athlete blogs. Krug said the IOC’s top Canadian, Dick Pound, told him that the Internet is the second-biggest threat to the Olympics movement, after performance-enhancing drugs.

“They haven’t figured out how to harness the Internet, so they view it as a cannibalization of their broadcast revenues,” he said. “By not figuring out ways to engage the media, particularly the new media, they’re missing out on a whole generation.”

So Krug is intent on showing the IOC the potential.

“We have lots of people who are stoked abut it. You might have a Swedish ski blogger, and we’ll have the Christians blogging about Christians in the Olympics,” he said. “We’ll have other people who are probably anti-Olympics there, too. It’s like a big house, and everyone’s welcome in. It’s about open access for all these locked out, independent new media.”

Jess Sloss made a video – Me spieling about Olympics, indie media, etc.

Independent Media Center and the year 2010 with Dave Olson
Dave talks about the early plans for an independent media center to support media makers from around the world. http://www.raincitystudios.com for more.

More videos from Jess socialsquared

Tags: vancouver, 2010, vanoc, olympics, social media, independent media

B.C. Green Web Community Adds New Ways to Share

Attention BC-based eco-savvy folks, Vancouver-based web community start-up – happyfrog.ca - releases social networking features for green minded enthusiast to share tips and reviews of local businesses and organizations.

In the beginning, happyfrog.ca was created to help green-minded citizens find businesses and organizations which fit their values and displayed the results sorted by proximity to conserve transportation resources.

Then, happyfrog invited the public to add reviews to the thousands of listings, as well as engage in a community Q&A project to share tips and solve problems.

Now, all the frogs can “auto-magically” share their green favourites with the public with Myhappyfrog. Here’s the low-down …

Sharing your eco-smarts

All registered happyfrog members now automatically have a Myhappyfrog page with a unique address to share with friends.

Once you login to your happyfrog page, you’ll see all the reviews, questions & answers, and blog posts you’ve submitted so far.

To see the new page, just click “Myhappyfrog” on the happyfrog navigation bar – Your personal address looks something like mine: http://happyfrog.ca/user/daveo

Meet the new tools!

Show off your favourites

You can add any listing as a “favourite” and share your preferred coffee shop, yoga studio, or market with the public – handy for you and useful for others. Add a badge to your blog or site to let people know about your happyfrog page with all your faves.

Meet new friends

Outreach to talented, interesting people seeking to exchange tips, share best practices, or get involved in new activities. Add your pals and see their blog posts and other content right on your happyfrog page.

Write a blog article

Have something to say? Step up and let it out on your happyfrog blog. You’ll have an instant audience, a unique address and RSS feed, and your best stuff will be promoted to the “Frogblog” for even more readers (and accolades).

Share your knowledge

Your brilliantly written reviews, probing questions and wise answers are now grouped together on your personal page to show off your wisdom and show people your contributions for fame and fortune.

Haven’t written anything yet? Getting started is easy – you just need something to say!

Getting Started

Check out the Myhappyfrog help desk with annotated screenshots and step by step instructions to use each of the new tools.

What’s next?

Many “frogs” and listed businesses and groups already have a blog, and some bloggers only write about happyfrog relevant content on occasion, so we are crafting a way to import your feed and display on your Myhappyfrog page or directory listing page.

Also on the list is personal tagging to help finds frogs with similar interests. Stay tuned and of course, we love hearing your opinion.

Thanks for your help

We appreciate your help reporting bugs and oddities so we can make your experience even better. Drop happyfrog a note with your observations and thoughts.

Social Media and Hockey panel video at Northern Voice 08

At Vancouver’s personal expression conference, Northern Voice 2008, i presented my (semi-infamous) spiel “Fuck Stats, Make Art” to enthusiastic reviews [Sweet Nectar of Validation - NV08 wrap up, reviews and podcast] and then spent the afternoon with my dear colleagues from The Crazy Canucks podcast discussing our role as independent chroniclers of the NHL hockey team and the thrills and problems we face along the way dealing with team management, credentials (or lack thereof), and the reasons for producing grassroots, fan-powered media.

Alanah of Canucks and Beyond posted this video of me (representing Hockey NW, home of the Canucks Outsider), J.J.of Canucks Hockey Blog, and the blogging Bollwitts: John (Radio Zoom) and Rebecca (Miss 604) yakking it up. My posture is horrible but the conversation is likely compelling enough for a listen for media pundits, hockey fans and social media enthusiasts.

Notes from NV08 wrap up

Also a lovely treat to riff with my Crazy Canucks colleagues in the Sports Blogging and Podcasting panel. This rag-tag group grew into a team over the past 61 shows and the panel was as easy and intuitive as the podcasts. We know each others strengths and are “giving” to one another in the conversation. The questions in the session were great and show a real understanding of the weird tension we have with the “official”ness of the Canucks and the trade off of objectivity and creative control vs selling out.

Alanah and JJ live outside the Vangroovy tech industry bubble and run the two most popular Canucks blogs out there. Alanah’s is famous for drunken live blogging which is no surprise why she ranks #1 for drunken canucks fan. JJ is the people’s ambassador to GM Place – walking the concourse with him is a task as he’s stopped more often than Mike Weaver would. And of course my good buddies the Bollwitts – the Vancouver blog and podsafe music podcast darlings.

Vancouver Feisty Tyee seeks bread for journo-goodness

The Tyee is a fave read of me and other political/social minded BC-ers. They do a good thing by rallying mney to pay journalists to dig deep into a story which takes some serious time and research to cover. This is the kinda stuff mainstream media glosses over cause there is no scandalous photo and titillating headline to go along with these *serious* pieces.

Here are some examples from their mailout:

Donations by Tyee readers in ‘05/’06 enabled us to publish groundbreaking content through ‘06/’07:

A highly influential news-breaking investigative series by veteran science writer Chris Wood: “Rough Weather Ahead: How global warming will hit BC.”

A thoughtful and widely read solutions series by experienced freelancer Sandra Shields: “Reconciling with First Nations: How the ‘New Relationship’ is faring in the Fraser Valley.”

A wildly popular and vigorously debated solutions series by writer and activist Dave Olsen: “No Fares! Time for a free ride on public transit.” {note: not this Dave Olson}

And there’s one more investigative series coming soon, about corporate and government accountability.

Now they seek some more funding to keep the momentum rolling:

By making a secure online donation to this year’s drive, you can provide the support independent journalists need to conduct in-depth research, file freedom of information requests, run up phone bills, and travel to where the stories are unfolding. It’s the kind of sustained research and reporting our limited budget doesn’t generally allow.

Wait! there are prizes!  And this bread ain’t wasted.

Donate $50 or more by December 19 and you’ll be entered into a draw for one of 10 Tyee tote bags filled with Ethical Bean coffee and books from Harper Collins and New Society Publishers.

Donate $100 or more by December 19 and you’ll also be entered into a draw to win an “affordably cool” jorg&olif Scout citybike.

Quality, socially-aware writing and a chance to win coffee and a sweeeet steel sled? Get to it eh!  I figure since i am offering some blog love, i can get listed on their BC Blog list too ;-).