We’ve been getting the same type of question lately from potential future Spidvid members, and individuals who already have an account. Users are getting into their accounts, uploading their picture, and filling out their profile but then wonder, what is next?

It’s easy when you log onto Facebook or MySpace because you upload pictures and/or videos and then you are well on your way. While Spidvid is a type of social network, it’s also a platform for connecting with other like-minded individuals to form on-demand production teams, and producing videos together. This process is a bit more involved than uploading a picture so it’s understandable that it’s taking awhile for users to understand how to get started.

If you are a creator think up a production project, or better yet write a script for it and then post it on our site outlining the talent you need, what stage the project is in, and your goals for the video.

If you are an actor, videographer, or another type of talented professional wanting to join a production team, hang in there because projects are coming soon. Our creators are in the learning stage right now. In the meantime why not engage with others to see what they are interested in for working on in the near future, you may find some common ground to create a new project.

Nothing happens in life without taking initiative, so don’t be shy, learn to become a leader and just get started. Starting something is scary because we are all afraid of failing so we can be reluctant to try something new, but life is all about failing and then learning from those failures to do bigger and better things. We’re not saying you will fail in your first few projects on our site, but over time you will certainly understand how to improve your experience, and become an elite Spidvid member.

If you a current Spidvid member why not start making use of your account and start producing video content you couldn’t otherwise do alone. If you don’t have a Spidvid account then you should quickly grab one and show others how it’s done.

Stay updated on all future Spidvid blog posts via email or through your favorite reader via RSS.

Jeremy Campbell News actors, creators, Facebook, how, leadership, MySpace, online video, production teams, spidvid, videographers, web video

So here we are on Christmas Eve and as promised we are going to begin sending out invites in a few minutes from now, how exciting!

Since we are in private beta our admin will be approving all submitted proposals and uploaded videos to make sure no spam or pirated content gets through. We expect that when we reach public beta (next month in January or February) we will allow the Spidvid community to regulate projects and videos to improve the entire work and content flow of the platform.

So for now check out how things are with your account, create a quality profile, connect with the other very early members, post a video production proposal (if you are a video creator) and our admin team will begin approving proposals on Monday December 28th. If you have any questions, feedback, or ideas be sure to contact us.

If you aren’t on our request list right now but want to be included in the next round of invites, visit our site, click the ‘join our video production community’ button on the left hand side, and provide us with your email address so we can make you a Spidvid insider soon.

Merry Christmas everyone from myself and the entire Spidvid team. An exciting 2010 lies just ahead!

Jeremy Campbell News happy holidays, invites, Merry Christmas, new media, online video, private beta, production teams, proposals, social media, spidvid, video production, web 2.0, web video

What you typically see today in the video creation process are video creators and producers paying out money in hopes of seeing a good ROI on their content investment, within a few weeks or months down the road. One of the largest expenses if not the largest expense are individuals who make the real magic happen. This is expected because having the best cameras, lighting, and sound equipment is important but without the right combination of talent using those assets it’s all worthless.

The model that most creators and producers use is to pay out money for everything, retain 100% ownership in the video content, and work hard to at least break even, and ideally turn a profit. But what happens when creators and producers view the individuals on their production team as partners (giving each member or key members a small content ownership stake) instead of employees? The result is that these individuals now have a vested interest in seeing the video content succeed, and are even more motivated to do a remarkable job.

Traditional actors, directors, writers, and story tellers may see this approach as more risky because they aren’t being consistently paid like they are used to, but the concept of building up content equity that could return a far higher amount (over time) than they would get from a paid contract has to be intriguing. And it also helps to build up their content portfolios which can act as valuable leverage for other future opportunities.

It vastly reduces the financial risks on the part of creators and producers because each individual member invests their time with the optimistic belief that financial compensations will come their way as the content goes through the distribution and monetization process. This leaves the creator to only have to spend money on the things that aren’t human beings. Now planning those production budgets have to sound much more fun than crunching all the numbers for each employee and contractor on the team.

Active people in the video production space may not like the approach mentioned here because they like their safe paychecks, but Spidvid has been developed and targeted towards the new crop of up and coming star actors, directors, writers, and story tellers, who want low barriers to entry with lots of potential upside.

Spidvid levels the playing ground for anyone who believes that he or she can add value to the video production process, and the end result which is the quality content. After speaking recently with a friend of mine who’s a real estate agent, he made it clear to me that he wanted a Spidvid beta invite because he believes that his writing ability is pretty good and so writing a script for a short film peaked his interest. His script without individuals to carry out his story has a low amount of value and can get little traction, but because he can connect with the talent he needs on Spidvid his video can actually get produced, and that’s something very exciting for him. I’m sure there are stories like this all over the place and it will be interesting to see how other types of people with day jobs feel about the new opportunities within the video entertainment space.

If you are a creator or producer who would like to partner up with individuals then Spidvid would be valuable to you, and if you are an individual looking for a production team to join then you may also fit well within our community. Visit our site, click the ‘join our video production community’ on the left hand side and provide us with your email address. We send out the first batch of invites next week so be sure to have your name included on our request list.

Jeremy Campbell Visionary actors, collaboration, collaborative team, community, connecting, empowering, leverage, next-gen media, online video, partnerships, private beta, production teams, relationships, social media, social movement, spidvid, video creation, video creators, video production, web 2.0, web video

We have taken a big step today in terms of attracting increased attention and awareness for Spidvid by issuing a press release which has been already picked up across the Web.

You can read the story “Leaving Hollywood, Welcome to Hollyweb” from any of these sources: MarketWire, AOL Money, Canadian Business, Sys-Con Media, Alpha Trade Finance, Earth Times, Euro Investor, and PR Inside are a few sites already that have featured our story.

Our goals are to get attention, build awareness for what Spidvid is all about, and to get a couple hundred individuals in the video production space to sign up and become part of our early private beta community.

If you are a video creator, actor, director, writer, story teller, or music artist we invite you to visit our site, click the “Sign Up” link, and provide us with your email address to receive an invite to phase 1 of our private beta roll out.

Jeremy Campbell News new media, new media model, next-gen media, online video, open ecosystem, press release, private beta, production teams, social media, spidvid, team collaboration, video creation, web 2.0, web video, www.spidvid.com

Companies are entities which connect individuals together so that they can work on projects together, create products, market products, generate revenue and profits, and then repeat that process over and over again until it no longer works then they either change it or vanish from existence. The most important aspect of the corporate model are the employees, everything else involved are just commodities.

The point here is that by providing a framework so that individuals can connect to each other, collaborate together, and align themselves to accomplish similar goals will produce remarkable results that we’re not yet aware of. This can now be done without corporate involvement which is very exciting for some, and very scary for others because it’s a relatively new concept.

Spidvid provides a social framework so that video creators and professionals (like actors, writers, directors, story tellers, music artists, and others) can connect together and produce whatever video content they are passionate about creating regardless of team member location restrictions. The right combination of talent, ideas, passion, execution, and connection will yield video content that would have never existed without having brought individuals together in an open environment to achieve these results. That’s what motivates us to push Spidvid forward because we know what’s possible as members of the world get more connected, collaborative, intelligent, and come to understand what’s possible in this new media space in the years ahead.

We invite you to join our video production community so that you can create your own tribes, and join others which will help you produce quality content that you can’t do alone, or without a large budget.

Spidvid’s platform has been immensely influenced by the Tribes book, with the firm belief that connecting people together so that they can form their own creation entities is the wave of the future.

The video below is a presentation by Seth Godin at the TED conference in February of this year (2009) where he argues that leading and connecting is the key going forward so that we as a human race can further evolve, and challenge the status quo across all industries and marketplaces.

More info on the video

Seth Godin argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big changes. He urges us to do so.

I hope this video inspires those who watch it to want to be part of something bigger than themselves. If it does then please join our community, and work with us to make the video production process more open, transparent, authentic, collaborative, connected, and fun.

Jeremy Campbell Visionary actors, amazon, collaboration, collaborative teams, connecting, new media, online video, open ecosystem, open model, production teams, seth godin, social movement, spidvid, TED, Tribes, video projects, writers