Many video creators and filmmakers struggle with raising funds to fully produce their video, film, or show. KickStarter is a brilliant one year old platform (it’s still a baby) that allows individuals to raise money for their projects, and offer gifts and rewards to the funders for their contributions.

Melissa Center is a Spidvid member who is seeking to raise $8,000 to create new episodes to compliment the 10 she has already produced on a $0 budget. She also wants to further brand, market, and promote her Missed Connections Live web series. $4,660 has been raised to date with another $3,340 to go with just 64 hours left to raise that amount. You can give as low as $10 to help make the show bigger and better. She has done very well with no money at all, so just imagine what she could do with a few thousand dollars, the possibilities are endless.

I think the show idea is brilliant because I’ve also wondered if the “Missed Connections” section was worthwhile on Craigslist. Each episode examines a unique situation, in some cases for romance, and in some cases for road rage as shown below.

Supporting good people is a core value of Spidvid, so it feels really good to have donated to Melissa’s project so she can make Missed Connections Live episodes well into the future. If you have a couple minutes, and a little money to help make dreams come true, then please donate to this KickStarter project now. Good luck Melissa, Spidvid salutes you.

Jeremy Campbell Good Wishes, community donate, dreams, funding, help, KickStarter.com, Melissa Center, Missed Connections Live, new media, online video, production, project, show, Spidvid.com, video production, web series, web show

I have been working on a screencast demo video for the last little while to show first hand how to post a Spidvid project, how to request bids from professionals, adding individuals to a team, assigning compensations to each team member, uploading the video or film, and other interesting things you can do with a Spidvid account. Expect to see the video likely tomorrow, just need to edit the raw content, and need to do a voice over as well.

We are also tweaking our video encoding because we have found that some uploaded videos have been getting cut short in terms of length for some reason. The tweaks should be complete by Wednesday at the latest. We are also working on the ability for creators to edit and replace the video file after it’s been uploaded and up for distribution. There are some challenges providing this feature but hope to have it available for next week.

It’s frustrating that Spidvid doesn’t work 100% perfect right now but we are in beta so some wrinkles are expected. Our dedication will always be to find the bugs and issues, and fix them as fast as possible before any new feature or functionality gets developed. Thanks for your patience and for all of the informative feedback which has helped Spidvid evolve into the platform it is today.

And for a sticker update we will be sending them out this afternoon so expect to get yours in the mail in the days ahead. If you never requested any before you can now provide us with your mailing address. We are getting another 1,000 stickers in soon and expect to mail them out later this month or early next month.

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Jeremy Campbell News beta, demo, features, new media, online video, screencast, Spidvid.com, stickers, tweaking, web video

It’s every video creator’s dream to have his or her video go viral in a short period of time. This means viewers share, spread, and pass along the video to others via email, write a story for their blogs, share it using social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter, and discuss it offline with their colleagues at work. What an incredible feeling it would be to be walking down the street and have a total stranger reach out and thank you for creating a video that totally made their day more enjoyable.

Before you dream big about becoming an overnight weblebrity (web celebrity) sensation, you must first strategically think about the elements which make videos go viral in the first place.

Here are some of the most common reasons why a video goes viral

• Humor - People love and can’t resist watching funny videos during the work day, or after getting home while relaxing before dinner. One of the growing content niches in this area are parodies which make fun of shows, movies, or music videos. When done right, parodies do very well online because they are typically based on popular stories (such as the movie Avatar) so many of us have a frame of reference to draw from already.

• Remarkable - If you can’t create humorous content then perhaps you should look towards doing something amazing that catches viewers off guard. Individuals who have outstanding personal talent in singing, acting, or dancing can do quite well. Susan Boyle is a classic example of someone who had an incredible voice but the world didn’t know about it until she appeared on American Idol. You don’t need to have a voice like Susan’s for others to take notice, but you should draw from your unique skill set to do something catchy and memorable.

• Controversial – It’s too bad that controversial content usually spreads faster than other more meaningful heartfelt content, but that’s just the way we are now as a society. Viewers love to pass on gossip related videos, and flock to sites like TMZ to watch the new scandal making its rounds. Michael Buckley of What the Buck? is a classic example of a web celebrity whose videos consistently attract a million views. His passion for commenting on various controversial issues (usually involving celebrities) has earned him tons of rabid fans eager to share whatever he creates.

Now that you know some of the common reasons why a video goes viral, it’s time to focus on the tactics

1. Content is King – We’ve all heard this many times but it’s not entirely true. While it is important that the story and content of your video needs to be really strong, sometimes random videos go viral for no apparent reason. Think of a concept that many of us can understand, relate to, appreciate, respect, and easily talk about. If your video isn’t something that will motivate others to discuss, share, and comment on, then you’re not hitting the right cords.

2. Simple – Keep it short and sweet because our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. An ideal viral video runs between 15-30 seconds. You might wonder how you can squeeze greatness into such a short period of time, so that may be your main challenge. Simply break down long stories into bite-sized clips. Or adopt a sweet kitten that does something like this. It’s cute, short, and perfect for others to remix and share.

3. Metadata - This is likely the least sexy part of putting a video up online but is an extremely important one, especially as hundreds of thousands of new videos get uploaded every day. To have your video discovered you need a catchy title, description, and informative tags because most viewers find content by searching for it. Make your metadata appealing but don’t mislead viewers by using popular names and words if your video doesn’t contain them. There have been many viewer backlashes about false video promises based on the metadata used, so make sure you aren’t the next creator to receive negative and even abusive comments about your content. Accurately describe your video, but be unique in how you position your video in the mind’s of viewers.

4. Reach Out – Promoting your video may very well be the important thing you can do for it. Share it with everyone you know, and encourage them to send it along to their followers and fans if they truly think the content is worthwhile. Tweet about it, share it everywhere you can, write a blog post about it, make sure it’s embeddable, reply to viewer comments to help build a community around your content, and reach out to bloggers who write for the niche your video is in. Connecting with other video creators by placing comments on their channel and videos is also a very smart idea, since many of them pay close attention to those conversations. If a creator likes what you had to say they may check out your profile and portfolio, and be interested in collaborating on a future project with you. Bloggers are the biggest source of views for online videos, so treat these individuals very well if you want to have a video of yours embedded on their treasured Web real estate.

A special note: If you have an interesting script in your hand, or just a concept in mind, don’t be shy to make a video no matter what the quality may be. The main thing is that you have some fun and enjoy yourself, because if you do you will find a way to improve the content quality over time. When you need human talent you know where to go to find like-minded individuals who also want to invest their time into creating a potential viral hit too.

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Jonha Guest Post, Lists, resources create, engage, film, film production, filmmaker, how to, online video, produce, resource, share, spidvid, Spidvid.com, susan boyle, tips, TMZ, video, video content, video creator, video production, viral film, viral video, web video, WhattheBuck

The Internet has forever changed how everyone communicates on a global level. Email revolutionized communication, but we have come a long way to evolve with real-time interactions such as instant messaging, tweeting, waving, status updating, live video, and numerous other ways. YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and many other social sharing sites have contributed one way or another to make everyone more accessible while virtually eliminate our privacy. Love it or hate it this is just the beginning of what we can expect from the ever evolving social web.

We now not only just consume media content but participate in it as well to help shape it from a consumption standpoint, and influence what the creator produces in the future. This explains why TV, magazines, and radio are facing real challenges as they continue their focus on broadcasting or pushing content out rather then engaging their viewers, readers, and listeners to pull ideas and content from them.

The film and video production industry is now starting to realize the potential of this new social movement, leading to some very good quality yet low-cost online video entertainment. The ability for talent to connect to form collaborative production teams, is not only speeding up the overall process but vastly improving it as well. Production teams don’t have to be all located in one central location anymore, a team can consist with members located across the planet which is exceptionally beneficial for creators in remote areas or small towns. So even if you live in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada with a population of just 2,000 people it’s possible to collaborate with talent located in Hollywood, or even far east in Bollywood.

Our dream for Spidvid is to have thousands of individuals producing video content together which wouldn’t have otherwise been produced. By leveraging our platform, there is now a simple solution to make that possible and then some. This is still a very new concept so our challenge now to make this a reality is to educate people through content, email, social media, face to face contact and whatever else it takes for anyone who’s interested to truly “get” how special things can be for video production.

We aren’t saying to completely change how you currently produce videos, but haven’t you wondered how talent outside of your city, personal network, or Craigslist could benefit your projects and content? If you are even slightly interested you should get yourself a Spidvid account so it’s ready whenever you, or someone else who wants to collaborate and add you to their team is.

Enjoy this post? Stay updated on all our future ones via email or through your favorite blog reader via RSS. Or if you prefer social media, follow us on Twitter, and fan us up on Facebook.

Jeremy Campbell Visionary change, communication, evolution, Facebook, internet video, LinkedIn, magazines, MySpace, new media, new playing field, online video, radio, revolution, social media, spidvid, Spidvid.com, TV, twitter, video, web video, YouTube

On Monday I wrote a post about how to sign up for a Spivid account, and put together a top notch profile. Today looks at how video creators post video production projects to our site, and how to make them inviting to the actors, directors, writers, videographers, editors, music artists, and other valuable talents who will be bidding on them.

The production of any video starts with the creator defining what the project is about, what stage the project is in, the story of the short film or video, what resources are needed, and the team members who are needed to execute on the plan.

Here is how a video creator easily submits a production project on our site:

Professionals needed: Here you decide who you need on your team, and how many individuals of each talent are desired. Professionals include actors, directors, writers, videographers, editors, story tellers, graphic designers, promoters, animation artists (aka VFX artists), music artists, and promoters/marketers. The term “professionals” doesn’t necessarily mean people who have years and years of experience, it can also be semi-pros or up and comers with passion, we just chose to specifically use the word “professionals” to describe this talent group.

Title of project: This is pretty self explanatory, the key here is to choose something catchy that encourages bids from the talent you need for the project.

Ideas for video: Outline the concept for the video, and any big ideas that are core to the video’s existence. People are attracted to creative videos that are different from the others, so this section should be well thought out.

Basic storyline: Video viewers are attracted to content that tells an engaging story, and one that they can connect with personally and really get into. A remarkable story spreads between viewers, giving the video the potential to go viral and see huge success. A strong story can thrive even if the video’s production value isn’t too good, but the opposite usually doesn’t hold true so this section’s content is integral to the project’s success.

Current status: This outlines where the project is in terms of completion. The options here are: have a great idea, have a script, video has been shot, in post production, and almost finished.

More details on each of these stages:

a) have a great idea – this is where it all starts. The creator has the idea but that’s about it, so he or she has to convince others that there is a solid foundation for the project to move forward.

b) have a script – the story has been put together, the characters have been been chosen, and the video is ready to be shot and produced.

c) video has been shot – all of the raw source content has been captured, and is now ready for post production. At this stage it’s time to bring in individuals who can polish off the video, and tell the story that begs to be told. If you edit your own videos that’s fine, otherwise you can seek out any of our community’s editors who can work remotely from around the world.

d) in post production – an editor or editors are busy at work, so minimum talent is likely needed at this point in time. Perhaps a VFX artist to add in some “eye candy” overlay graphics for entertainment value, or inserting a song from a music artist would do the trick here.

e) almost finished – so the video is almost complete and now it’s time to start thinking about the marketing side of the project. Individuals with a large Twitter following, a well read entertainment blog, or a site that embeds and delivers tons of videos could really help the video find a sizable audience. Attracting the right marketers and/or promoters for your video can go a long way towards its success.

Experience needed: Do you need savvy individuals, or will hard working and creative students do? In this section you can specify the amount of experience you want in your team members.

Bidding opens: When can individuals start bidding on your project? The default is set to right away, as soon as the project is posted.

Bidding closes: When do you expect to have your complete team put together by? Bidding can be extended at any time.

Additional information: Anything else to add? Anything more you want the world to know about your project? What type of individuals do you like to work with? Need to find a location, or locations for your video shoot? You can add these type of details in this section.

Ads and Compensation: All creators must decide if their video project and produced video is just for fun, or if they intend to commercialize it and share compensations with their team members. If this option box is checked it will show ads in the video, and compensations will be distributed to the team members as set by the creator before the video is uploaded for distribution. If this option box is unchecked then the video won’t feature ads, and credit will be given to each team member but with no compensations.

Upload relevant files: If you have any files on your computer that relate to the project you can share them with your future bidders, and the individuals you personally invite to bid on your project. These files can be downloaded by anyone from the project page.

You can also preview the project before you submit it, and you can save it for later if you run out of time adding all the details you want. Right now all projects must be verified by our admin, but we expect to open this up soon and deal with any spam that may get through later. We trust our community and expect that 99% of all projects will be good so we like this strategy long-term, especially since the world seems to be getting more open and transparent with each passing day.

Ready to post a video production project for Spidvid’s community to collaborate on with you? First you need to sign up as a creator, and then click the top link “Post Proposal” in your account to get started on creating your next entertaining video.

Jeremy Campbell News collaboration, community, how to, individuals, new opportunities, online video, project, proposal, social media, Spidvid.com, talent, teams, video creator, video production