Cross-posting this from my marketing blog so people who only follow this part of the blog can see it as well.
Okay, kiddos, I brought this up at work last week and a few people seemed to understand some of the words, so I thought I would repeat it in more augmented form here. So, here’s a few tips from the land of Savvy-Ass Marketing 101, inspired by watching the Kickstarter campaign of the web series EastSiders unfold.
Kit Williamson and Van Hansis star as Cal and Thom in the new web series “Eastsiders.” Watch at eastsiderstheseries.com
Here’s the deal: this is a well-written, crisply acted, well-crafted series that needs to be funded. In the Age of the Innerwebs, this is a way that creative people can develop their talents and also increase the importance of technology to cultural shifts. What’s that mean? It means less advertiser control of our entertainment and more original work delivered to a population starving for it. I’m so excited about this. Just in the last year I’ve watched programs produced for the Web explode in number and quality.
I won’t bore you with any more of my treatises on this issue — for now — because I want you to take a couple of minutes and watch an episode and then give these folks a couple of ducats.
I’ve said before that the reason that I was eager to watch this program is because I’d pay to watch Van Hansis order a ham sandwich, but I was equally captivated by Kit Williamson and the rest of the cast.
In a different generation, I did my share of begging, borrowing, bartering and stealing to get my own work produced on a shoestring. (Dear God, when did I get old enough to be telling war stories that no one alive can relate to anymore?? LOL) Anyhow, all these folks want is a credit card number and a few bucks. Just do it.
UPDATE: 10/17/2013 – Just FYI, missfinlandia88’s original YouTube account was deleted on copyright violation grounds and is currently offline. You should know that missfinlandia88 DID have permission from Freemantle, the soap’s distributor to post the content. Like most annoying things, it may have been some anti-gay person or group who instigated the copyright “violation.” Meanwhile, they are working to get the original site back up. You can view new segments if you search “Elias Story” on YouTube. Those results uploaded by “Elias Story” are actually from missfinlandia88. Good luck and happy Finnish viewing!
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YouTube user missfinlandia88 has been uploading the storyline of Elias and Lari from the Finnish sudser Salatut Elämät for a good while now — and it has caught on with English speakers from around the world thanks to missfinlandia88’s captioning of the episodes. In the first video below, she explains how the Finnish media have picked up on the story.
I’ve watched some of this and I don’t think it’s half-bad. The writing and storylining are a little stilted at times, but the actors really give it their all. According to the translation of the article, above, the show’s production company feel that this type of content distribution can only enhance the show. More folks should get on board with this type of thinking, I believe.
Petteri Paavola (left) is out teen Elias and Ronny Roslöf is closeted hockey player Lari in the Finnish series Salatut Elämät.
Here’s a clip of the Elias and Lari storyline. For the record, I can’t begin to pronounce the title of the show in Finnish. I just call it “Lots of Umlauts!” Enjoy.
Joel Diaz And Ethan White, Gay Men Harassed While Waiting For Pizza, Speak Out.
Can’t believe I haven’t blogged about this yet. It’s a terrific story of people standing up for equality. In Ohio. In the middle of winter. You may not realize that tolerant people are alive and well in Ohio — the state that gave the nation John Boehner — but it is. Diaz’s original post on Facebook went viral. It’s also terrific. There are a couple of videos worth watching in this link from Huffington Post Gay Voices.
2012 In 4 Minutes: Ryan James Yezak Offers Year-End Snapshot.
Tired as hell of year-end wrap-ups, but this one is terrific!
The Worst Movies Of 2012 – The Daily Beast.
This is pretty cute. The worst movies of 2012 review themselves! LOL
Take a few minutes and watch this new web series from Kit Williamson. Interesting story. Terrific acting.
Look, I’ll be honest with you. I’d happily pay to watch Van Hansis read the damn telephone book. I think he’s a sensational talent — and I was delighted to see him in this. Like so many others, I first encountered him as Luke Snyder on As The World Turns. I watched him in a two-hander with the astonishing Elizabeth Hubbard and he matched her note for note. I just couldn’t believe it. I’d never seen anyone do that before. “Who IS this kid?” I asked. I think that was 2006 or 2007. I’ve been watching him ever since.
Watch this. You won’t regret it.
By the way, more information here.
I’m hoping that they start a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign. I understand they have three episodes in the can. I sure would like to see these performers do some more.
In Britain, the all-male culture of college sports is not quite the mass religion it is in the US, but it sure is a force that has historically been hostile to homosexuals in their midst. But here we have the new order: a Warwick University rowing club doing a naked calendar and video to benefit straight rugby player Ben Cohen’s campaign against anti-gay fear and bullying. I simply cannot begin to imagine such a thng happening when I was a student at Oxford.
via In The Buff Against Bullying – The Dish | By Andrew Sullivan – The Daily Beast.
Lovely little piece by Sullivan and a great short video. Good on ya, hunky, sporty, English rowy lads!
Grammar, Identity and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive
This is a great TEDx Talk from my friend Phuc Tran. He’s a wonderful, funny, insightful man, telling a deeply personal story in a way that is universal in scope and appeal. He’s so incredibly intelligent that he nearly vibrates with it. I sometimes wonder if his students are not just in awe of him.
He touches on something very important here. He talks about being different, wishing he were like others, wishing for normalcy, whatever the hell that is. Often, these days, I’ve been so sensitive to putting those thoughts in context of gay teens, that it was a bit jarring for me — definitely not a teen — to hear Phuc speak of these feelings.
I just couldn’t imagine it for a moment. I had a very, very adult reaction — bewilderment for a moment, really — and thought, “Why on earth would someone not simply adore this man?” More to the point — how could he not know how important his life was?
And then I had to filter it through a teenaged prism. Yeah. Being different sucks. It shouldn’t; but it does, sometimes. I forgot for a second that straight people go through these tortures, too. Sometimes self-inflicted, sometimes not.
Anyhow, watch. And share.
One Last Word 