Poptent is our new community site where brands and independent video creators connect.
Star Poptent creators, GreenSkyMedia just put up a really sweet video detailing how they went about creating their Beck’s Beer assignment video! So awesome of them! I love when our creators go ‘above and beyond’! Check it out:
And here’s their assignment submission:
Dane Boedigheimer (aka daneboe) has been one of the most creative and active members of Poptent since, well, before XLNTads even launched the Poptent Network! He’s always bringing fresh and interesting takes on our assignments. Dane’s style is always chalk full of fantastic animation. We recently sat down for an interview.
How did you get into making videos?
My perents got a 8mm camcorder for Christmas when I was 12. I started playing around with it and instantly fell in love with it. Soon I was spending entire days making short videos with my younger brother. It all just blossomed from there. I remember sitting in my room for hours editing my videos with two VCRs. It was painstaking, but I loved it. There was something magical about making stories come to life right in front of my eyes, no matter how crappy those stories were!
XLNTads: Where do you get your inspiration from?
Everything! Well, mabe not everything…but I’ve been inspired by a whole range of things. It all depends. I get inspired by great movies, crappy movies, stories that people tell me, conversations I have, and things that happen in real life. Even though I have a tendency to create fantastical situations in my videos, they are all grounded in some story or aspect from real life. It just goes to show, real life can be more amazing than anything we could possibly imagine.
What do you like about making commercials?
Commercials are great for a number of reasons. With most, they allow you to be really creative. They also provide a format for practicing your craft, and they actually help you connect with other people in the video industry. Personally, one of my favorite aspects is that commercial projects are usually short. I love working with short formats, so commercials are perfect in that way. Plus, your getting paid to do something you love…how fantastic is that?
Any great resources that the Poptent Community should know about?
I used soundsnap.com for free sound effects religiously, but they recently began charging users for downlading. They are still affordable though, and never let me down. Detonationfilms.com is great for all kinds of free stock footage. SXC.hu is my favorite site for free photos and clip art.
Tell me a funny story that happened while you were on a shoot…
Well, it isn’t just one shoot, but I don’t know how many times I’ve had run-ins with police while shooting videos. I’ve been pulled over for speeding, kicked out of a mall, banished from numerous parking lots, reprimanded for throwing objects off a bridge, fined for shooing fireworks in city limits…the list goes on and on. I’m starting to think the cops have my apartment tapped and know whenever I’m going to be shooting a video!
Check out all our Creator Spotlight posts here.
We feel like we’ve given birth in 2008! And what a giant baby it is!
As we rolled into the New Year last year, we had around 1,600 creators in our fledgling XLNTads family. Today, we have 7,700+ in the extended XLNTads / Poptent family.
Our first major campaign for a national brand closed out 2007. It was the Nestle’s 100 Grand Bar campaign. 2008 had us doing assignments on Slim*Fast, Bud Light, Net 10 (a Tracfone product), New Line Cinema for Harold & Kumar, ProQuo, three campaigns for Brand Affinity Technologies; Natural Light and two Designated Driver campaigns for Anheuser-Busch. Whew!
In addition to client assignments, XLNTads and four talented creators developed webisodes for our Searching for Love series and our Road Trip series. These five part programs are currently being shopped around to leading advertising agencies and brands in the XLNTads network.
To accommodate our growing internal family, we moved into our Global World Headquarters outside of Philadelphia in April, and have been loving our private building, just steps away from the trains to downtown.
Along the way we recognized a need to bring more creative tools and opportunities to our ever growing family of videographers, so we created Poptent. We launched this all new creator site in October, and have been basking in the accolades ever since.
2008 also marked the point where we have exceeded $200,000 in payments to our creators for their work on assignments for our clients. Two of our best creators have already exceeded $10,000 in total payments for their work on XLNTads assignments.
So what’s in-store for 2009? More of the same. Much more, in fact.
On the client front, we will soon launch an assignment for Callaway Golf, and Universal Theme Parks is scheduled for January as well. Our friends at Annheuser-Busch have two more programs they’d like us to tackle, and Nestle is ready to roll with at least one, if not more in the first half of the year. Currently, we are looking for commercials to promote Poptent itself.
Our successes have been reported in TechCrunch, Mashable and MediaPost, as well as ongoing coverage in Advertising Age and numerous other trade publications.
And finally, in January of 2009, we plan on launching XLNTads Direct, a “do-it-yourself” version of XLNTAds which will allow small to mid-size brands the opportunity to launch and manage assignments all by themselves at a very attractive price.
It’s been one heckuva year, and 2009 is looking like it could be even better, despite the economic troubles we’ve all been feeling. One thing remains certain, brands and advertisers are going to need creative to deliver their messages, and we can do it better, with a real, authentic feel, moreso than any other solution for the money.
So thanks to all you videographers, part of our growing Poptent family, for all your contributions. Keep the great work coming in; tell all your colleagues and friends about us; use the great tools our tech team has developed to help you collaborate. We promise to keep working to provide you with the best opportunities to build your craft and give your work the commercial exposure it deserves.
Here’s to a great 2009 for our whole community!
Thanks for reading,
Neil Perry
[Editors note: in lieu of an interview, our Creator Spotlight, Zack Scott went ahead and wrote his own guest column]
Yesterday was my first opportunity to utilize my Poptent profile page as a portfolio and business card of sorts. A potential client contacted me through YouTube about an opportunity to create videos for his future website. As we discussed some details, he took note of the After Effects work in The Dogs video series. Samuel Seide and I both work on that series, but Samuel is primarily responsible for the graphics and animations. Since the client liked what Samuel did, I wanted to pitch the possibility of us doing ad-style videos to promote his upcoming site.
I decided to link him to my Poptent profile page so he could see our latest ads. The good news is that he liked them. The great news is that Poptent really came in handy during that particular moment. Now that I think about it, neither my YouTube page nor ZackScott.net would have sufficed for that occasion.
My YouTube page is primarily for entertainment. I try not to inundate my viewers with our ad creations unless I think they will truly enjoy them. Also, I don’t put professional information about me on that site because I don’t want to bore. That just isn’t how you grow a subscriber base. ZackScott.net is different because its primary purpose is a hub. If someone watches one of my videos, they will see “ZackScott.net” at the end. That way, there is always a centralized place for people to go if they want to see more. Once they get to there, they can contact me or go to my accounts on YouTube, Facebook, and even Poptent. It does contain some professional information, but it’s not the site’s focus.
That’s why Poptent makes perfect sense. If you go to my profile page, I showcase only my most popular videos along and my ad work. All of this is customizable and is targeted towards people interested in having people like Samuel and me create ads or other video content. It is a perfect portfolio for any video creator. This became most evident to me just yesterday. If you’re a professional or amateur in the online video work, I can’t recommend Poptent more. I suggest making a profile, listing your accomplishments, and posting your work. That’s just a start, because there’s an excellent community there too. It’s a professional place, but it’s also a blast, so join the fun.
Right before the XLNTads Community became Poptent, we hosted an assignment called “Searching for Love”, to create great webisodes around the them of online dating. One of the three finalists was levoyage, and his quirky Santa show. We’ve gotten to know Rick over the months since, and love his work. I had the opportunity to ask him a few questions this week to learn more.
Poptent: How long have you been in the video business?
Rick Griffin: I’ve been in the video business professionally for about four years. I’ve spent about three years gripping, producing, writing and editing with a small production house in Atlanta, and last year I ventured out on my own.
I love seeing all the new creators that are signing up for Poptent!
PT: How did you get started in video?
RG: I actually started out making Super Bowl Commercials - well sort of. A few years ago my church decided to have a Super Bowl party. We were afraid some people might be offended by the beer commercials, so I wrote, shot and edited several commercials about various things going on at the church. We got more request for the DVDs we made of the commercials than any of the sermon series. That project awakened the “creator bug” within me.
PT: That’s great. How many DVDs have you sold so far?
RG: We sold out a couple of years ago. We ran about 100 copies the first run then another 50 after that…we’re a small church.
PT: Awesome.
RG: I guess you could say my DVD went “copper”
PT: At least getting a DVD into Second Pressing is pretty cool! haha! What kind of equipment do you use, do you have a favorite camera these days?
RG: Since we’re facing a High-Def future I recently purchase a Sony HVRZ1U - I love it! I have a Sennheiser ME67 shotgun mic and a couple of Sennheiser wireless lapel mics and a cheap light kit. Depending on the job and budget, I’ll rent whatever I don’t have.
PT: So what’s next for you?
RG: I like projects where I can be creative or help write the script. I’d love to make a feature film, or a TV show. I’m just waiting on that big budget.
RT: You were recently a finalist on our “Search for Love” webisode assignment. Where’d you get the inspiration for Santa?
RG: I’ve worked with santa on other projects. Since he (the actor) is single, I thought he would be a good subject for the Searching for Love project. He’s identifiable! He a character that I felt the audience would care about… I mean, who doesn’t love Santa Claus?
PT: Truth. So are you psyched about the Nattyism Assignment that just launched?
RG: Absolutely! It sounds like something I’d like to tackle.
Our buddy Brett, video maker extraordinaire, winner of several assignments here at XLNTads, a devout Mainer posted a fantastic list of tips for people who want to make videos for contests.
1) Thou shalt be brief. This is one for Advertisers to bear in mind as well as Creators, and to me, it’s the most important. With the internet cultivating such short attention spans in its users, you gotta make your point, then wrap it up, especially when you’re making an ad. 60 seconds is plenty. 30 is better.
2) Thou shalt play by the rules. This one’s simple. Read the creative brief, contest rules, instructions, etc., and follow ‘em to the letter. If they ask for an .mpg, don’t send an .avi. If they say “no more than 3 minutes,” don’t submit a video that’s 3:45. Don’t give contest administrators any reason to disqualify your entry before it even gets viewed.
3) Honor thy target demo. Is the advertiser trying to reach women 35-54? Men 40+? Pet owners? Gamers? Make your video a mirror of that target viewer, so when they watch, they see themselves.
4) Remember thy deadline, and keep it holy. Don’t be late with your submission, and don’t ask for an extension. It’s not fair to the people who were on time.
5) Thou shalt not be a poor sport. Be humble when you win, and gracious when you don’t. Congratulate the winner(s) sincerely and affably, or don’t say anything. You may not agree with the judges’ decisions, but they were made for a reason. Besides, if you hit the target every time, it’s either too close or too big, right? Get ‘em next time.
6) Thou shalt get involved in the community. As creators, we all strive to be original and unique, but we do have at least one thing in common: each other. Interact. Read and subscribe to related blogs. Comment and ask questions of other creators. Learn as much as you can, and offer help to those who ask it of you. We’re at the forefront of this burgeoning advertising medium, and in a few years’ time, we’re going to be the seasoned experts, so we’re gonna have to know what the hell we’re talkin’ about.
And finally,
7) Thou shalt not enter a contest in which I am also competing. Because face it: I don’t need the competition, and neither do you.
Obviously, I’m kidding about the last one. I actually welcome the competition, and quite enjoy it. There are a TON of outstanding video creators online, and when I see a good video, it always makes me want to step up my game a little more.
The couple I would add to this list are:
8.) Thou shalt use the highest possible video production standards. I know not everyone can shoot in HD or has a pro audio guy hangin’ around, but boy some of those techy things makes video go from fun to Pro in 0.83 seconds. But you don’t have to be rich. Just holding the camera well, framing up your shots and using lights wisely will vastly improve your video.
9.) Thou shalt be creative. No one wants to watch the same ol’ tired ideas. We get so excited when we see that someone really put some time and energy into planning out their video. Really making it something witty and smart and tight. You’ll stand out. Especially when Liza and I have to go through and review 200+ videos in an assignment. 
[tags]video, contests, xlntads, brett slater, how to[/tags]
One of our awesome creators, Bill Pouty of ThreeVolts (makers of one of the great finalists on the ProQuo assignment) was interviewed on the all-video-contest blog VidOpp.com today. He’s got some great pointers about the video contest world and his take on production. Recommended reading, to be sure. And by the way, while you’re there, subscribe! - VidOpp is a great resource.
Here’s a quote from the piece:
Q. What advice do you have for future video contest entrants?
I would say shoot a lot, do something novel, that’s original, or just don’t do anything. Do comedy, it’s a brave new world, and there are lots of new ways to make money.
Thanks for the shout out, guys!
[tags]xlntads, vidopp, threevolts, interview[/tags]
Our friend and awesome creator Zack Scott suggested we ask you, the community members, about how you felt about different award amounts for our assignments. We’ve been mixing it up, and we would love to get your feedback.
[tags]awards, video, xlntads, assignments[/tags]
