Are you a filmmaker that lives in South America? Do you speak Portuguese? Well if you answered ‘no’ to either of those questions, you can just ignore this article because it will be of no interest to you! Ok, I’m kidding of course. This story is important to anyone who enters video contests or who shoots ads for sites like Poptent. It shows you just how huge “crowdsourced media” is getting. When companies started using goofy web ads created by “users” it was called a fad by some in the ad industry. But advertisers have really come to take crowdsourced media seriously. When a company cuts out ad agencies and goes right to their consumers for content, not only do they save a fortune but they get fresh, outside-the-box commercials.
With the demand for User-Generated content on the rise across the globe, Poptent.net has decided to expand to its first international market, South America by opening a new office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Why Brazil? Poptent’s press release about the Brazilian office lays out some amazing stats:
“Brazil is one of the world’s fastest-growing online video markets, with comScore reporting that Internet users in Brazil viewed a total of 26.2 billion online videos in 2010, and YouTube experiencing 33% year-over-year growth in unique viewership. The country also has high rates of social media participation, as Facebook experienced 258% year-over-year growth in the past year alone and more than 70% of the country’s Internet users visit blogs, all according to comScore. Overall, Boston Consulting Group projects that the country’s 2010 base of 40 million Internet users will grow 15% annually through 2015.”
Here’s the TL;DR version of the above paragraph; Brazil is huge and full of lots of people who spend a crazy amount of time consuming content on the Internet. Poptent even calls the country, “one of the world’s fastest-growing and most engaged populations of Internet users.”
So are you going to get a crack at the assignments that come out of that new Brazilian office? Well yeah….kind of. The goal of Poptent Brazil will be to reach out to local filmmakers to create content in Portuguese. But South American assignments are officially open to anyone. Plus, there is a chance that Poptent might occasionally ask American creators to produce videos that can be dubbed into Spanish or Portuguese. Poptent’s first South American assignment launched on June 30th and more assignments are coming soon. So stay tuned to poptent’s blog or twitter feed for more details.
There are a lot of reasons to like Poptent. But probably the best thing about the site is that their clients often wind up buying more videos then they have to after an assignment ends. Case in point, Dell computers just bought 10 Poptent-made promos for $10,000 a piece. Originally they were committed to buy only 4 videos. But the quality of the submissions was so high that Dell decided to spend an extra $60,000 on 6 more videos. This is the type of thing that just doesn’t happen in standard video contests. Actually, if this Dell assignment was a standard video contest, it would have turned out to be one of the biggest contests in history. Seriously, 10 videos being purchased for $10,000 a piece is kind of amazing.
I’m not going to post all 10 videos but here are a few of my favorites. You can see all the results here. If you’re not familiar with this assignment, it was supposed to portray IT people as heroes who save the day with Dell technology. Also, if filmmakers didn’t have access to the right kind of Dell laptop or smart phone they were supposed to use any laptop or phone they could find and then do a re-shoot with the real stuff later. So if you notice some non-Dell products in these videos, that’s why.
Purchased by Dell. Price: $10,000 each:
Joe AKA Bisbinetts and the star of his Bounty submission
Poptent has really kicked it into overdrive in the last few months. Last spring the site was running maybe 3 or 4 video assignments at a time but currently they have 8 assignments up and running. And I’ve noticed that as soon as one assignment closes, another one soon pops up. The number of videos purchased per assignment keeps going up too. Last week Poptent announced that Sprite bought 4 videos for $5,000 each and one for $10,000. Also, a lot of the “brands” that run these assignments have started buying more videos then they were obligated to. For instance, just today Poptent announced that Pringles bought 5 videos for $7,500 each. Originally they had only committed themselves to buy one.
So with all these assignments going on and with the increase in the number of purchases per assignment, there are a whole lot more chances for filmmakers to make money. And recently I’ve noticed that a few of the more talented members of the site seem to really be cashing in by making multiple sales one after another.
The king of these new Poptent super-sellers goes by the screen name “Bisbinetts.” This single member has sold a total of 8 videos through Poptent. (4/1/11 UPDATE: Make that 9 sales! Poptent just announced that Mr. Bisbinetts just sold an ad to Triaminic for $7,500.) Now, I won’t tell you exactly how much he’s made but his earliest videos earned him $3,500 and his latest ones sold for $7,500. So you do the math….and then curl up into a jealous little ball and have a good cry. But then get over it because not everyone can be “Bisbinetts!” In fact, even “Bisbinetts” isn’t really “Bisbinetts.” So who is the lucky filmmaker behind the screen name? Well….let’s find out:
VCN: Poptent users pretty much only know each other as a screen name and a tiny photo. So who the heck are you? Where are you from? What’s your story?
JOE: They say it’s not the size of the photo that matters, it’s how you frame it. My name is Joe. My story begins in the early 80s with my birth. This is where the details get pretty hazy. I’m almost positive I studied finance at Georgetown and worked in the insurance business for a couple years after that. I knew I wasn’t doing that shit for the rest of my life. So I quit. Then I took my savings and blew it on incredible journeys to Alaska and Europe. I had just enough left for an 8 week intensive directing program at the New York Film Academy (the one in NY). That was a blast! I learned some stuff, but mostly it just got the creative juices flowing again. I also met some great friends, including my current production partner and “PopStar” RJ75, who pretty much sells everything he makes. So, after the NYFA, I left the east coast for sunny LA as people tend to do when pursuing such a career as filmmaking. Since being out in LA, I’ve made a few shorts, a feature and a shit load of commercials. It’s been a great ride so far…
VCN: How and when did you first discover Poptent and why did you sign up?
JOE: A couple years ago I started poking around the web and found a few online video contests. I wasn’t into making commercials yet, but thought I would give it a try. I came across Poptent when they were XLNTads and they were running a Bud Light competition. I thought that was sweet and dove in.
VCN: How long was it until you made your first sale?
JOE: I never really struck gold before Poptent. I entered a solid handful of other contests before I won anything. I did manage to collect a wonderful assortment of consolation prizes – a model truck, a cutting board, a bag of pistachios, a shirt. Exciting stuff. I actually thought I was going to sell my first Poptent submission for Bud Light. It kicked ass. Bud Light got cold feet though. I finally made my first Poptent sale with Coors Light (eat it Bud Light), which was about the 5th competition I entered through Poptent.
Purchased by Coors Light. Price: $3,500
Also Purchased by Coors Light. Price: $3,500
VCN: So which Poptent assignments have you won? And which sale are you proudest of?
JOE: I have been lucky enough to nail a handful of these. I sold a couple ads to Coors Light along with eHealth, Nokia, Crystal Light, Harrahs, New York Life and Trident. I’m definitely proudest of my most recent win with Trident. It was my first foray into the rap video realm and I worked really hard putting all the pieces together. And it was a blast to shoot that!
Purchased by Trident. Price: $7,500
VCN: Do you have a strategy when it comes to making poptent submissions? Or to put it another way, what’s your secret?
JOE: A crowdsourcer never reveals his secrets. Ha, I wish I had a formula. I don’t really have a specific strategy. I make sure to read the creative brief a few times over to see exactly what the brand is looking for. Then I see if I can make something interesting and/or funny. Then I make it.
VCN: In the three years you’ve been a member of Poptent you’ve submitted 44 videos to assignments. How much of your time is spent working on Poptent-related projects?
JOE: Actually, Beardy, its 49. Some of my videos are private and hands-off.. In the beginning, Poptent wasn’t pumping out a lot of assignments. So I wasn’t really involved too much. It wasn’t until about a year ago that the company really started picking up. It was also around this time I was getting more and more into making commercials. So it worked out well. I needed spots for my reel (and money) and Poptent provided great opportunities for that. Nowadays, my involvement changes month to month. I do a lot of freelance creative work so when time allows I’ll pop onto Poptent and see what’s happening. Usually I’ll end up making a couple spots a month.
Purchased by New York Life. Price: $7,500.
VCN: HOW do you create your submissions? By that I mean, what is your process?
JOE: The HOW really varies from submission to submission. Sometimes I do it all myself and sometimes I get some help. I do have a great group of creative friends to bounce ideas off. As mentioned earlier, RJ is really the other half of our production team. We are a tireless two man crew either working on his spots or mine. Usually, I decide to participate in an assignment a week or so before it’s due. Instead of casting, I rely on my regular group of actor friends to step in (I’ll even use myself in a pinch). I know what I’m gonna get, I can keep costs down and it makes for a great time when we shoot!
VCN: What kind of camera do you shoot with?
JOE: I used to shoot with the HVX-200. Great camera, great colors, but no cinematic depth of field. I bought a Nikon D7000 (comparably to the Canon 7D) over x-mas which is what I used to shoot my last 3-4 spots (including Trident). Great little DSLR.
VCN: Have you ever submitted a video that you were sure was going to get purchased but it didn’t?
JOE: All of them? No, I usually feel good about my submissions, but there are some I know don’t really have a shot. However, there have been a few that left me stunned when they weren’t purchased. I still consider “C’est La Dude” to be some of my finest work and Bud Light chose to ignore it. I also thought my Snickers and Monograms submissions were the best of the bunch. And of course my Old Spice ad which came 6 months or more before Isaiah Mustafa took the world by storm.
NOT purchased by Snickers. Beardy’s Note: Wow! Um…I think this ad seriously could have been Old Spice’s secret inspiration for the Mustafa “Hello Ladies..” ads!
VCN: If you don’t mind me asking, what have you been doing with the money you’ve been making??
JOE: Winning. I got a great deal on a 100 quarts of tiger blood. It will be worth more than gold in a few years. Mark my words. I finally started paying off my credit card debts too. And I bought a computer. Now I’m broke again. Come on Zatarains – 1 in 17 chance!
Purchased by Triaminic. Price: $7,500.
VCN: What is it you like best about Poptent?
JOE: The Medals. If I ever feel down, I can just check out my page and see all of my accolades. I’m just two medals away from becoming the greatest commercial producer of all-time. Ok, I’m not that self-absorbed. Poptent is great for many reasons, but the best part is the community. They have a wonderful staff made up of human beings with real faces that actually interact with you. Then there’s the countless number of creators who provide feedback and with whom you can connect with and work with if you so desire. It’s very cool.
Joe and RJ spend some of their winnings at the track
VCN: The Poptent staff seems pretty open to making changes based on the suggestions of users. So if there was one thing you could change about the site, what would it be?
JOE: Get those rates up. From my vantage point, Poptent is leading the charge in this industry. I’ve dabbled elsewhere but have yet to come across a model like Poptent that drives real brands that we’ve all heard of. Poptent is setting the standard. $5k shouldn’t even be on the table anymore. These giant brands have budgets dipping into 6 figures. They snicker when they learn they can get a national TV ad made for $10k or less. It’s a tough call for Poptent because they get their slice either way, but at this point we shouldn’t be seeing anything less than a $15k purse per video.
VCN: What are your future plans?
JOE: Good question. I think I’m gonna go get a sandwich. And make a children’s film.
If you’re a filmmaker you probably already know that March is South By Southwest season. The Film & Interactive portion of the fest starts this friday and the music portion begins on the 15th. I got to visit SXSW’s home base of Austin, TX last summer and it really was a great town. People talk it up so much that I thought the place would turn out to be overrated but no, it was straight up fun on a bun. And didn’t get to do half the things I had hoped to. (I did eat many a delicious taco though)
I’m kind of into film fests and I’ve always wanted to go to SXSW and dangit, I should have planned on going this year. Some musician friends are doing a showcase and some other friends are flying in from Amsterdam for the fest. So I had a few good reasons to go. Turns out I also could have gone to this party being sponsored by Poptent on the 14th:
Click on the poster for a little more info. It looks like a few of the Poptent staff will be at the event. So if you’re a member of the site it’ll be kind of cool to meet the people-versions of the photos that approve and “like” your submissions.
I know that the contest site Mofilm is also going to have some kind of presence at SXSW this year but I haven’t read anything specific. I saw that they picked some of their past winners and gave them free trips so they could document the fest. If anyone’s heard anything about other video contest entities doing anything at the fest this year, lemme know.
You know those somewhat annoying commercials for Trident where different weirdos talk about “getting paid in gum?” Well Trident ran an assignment through Poptent for user-made ads based on that same premise. The results were announced last week and the selected videos are far from annoying. In fact, I think they are BETTER and more creative than the actual “Get Paid in Layers” commercials that Trident airs on TV. Trident selected two videos and purchased them for $7,500 each. You can see both ads here but this is the one that I think is especially awesome.
PURCHASED BY TRIDENT. Price: $7,500
Was that great or what? “The Sword” is a perfect example of great “User Generated Content.” (UGC) It’s quirky, it’s clever, it’s funny, it’s unpredictable and perhaps best of all (for Trident) it has precious “viral appeal.” It’s so unique and entertaining that it genuinely makes me want to pass it along to other people. And hey, that’s what I’m doing right now!
Sad...but not scary
The video is also well made but it’s not too slick. What do I mean by that? Well, I’ve noticed that one key ingredient in the success of a User-Generated ad is that the viewer should be able to tell that the video WAS NOT made by professionals. I think that when a video is a little rough around the edges it feels more special. Any team of well-funded writers and filmmakers can do their take on “quirky.” (case in point, Trident’s official “Get Paid in gum” commercials) And while those big-budget ads play fine on TV, I think high production values can actually hurt videos that are meant to be viewed on the web. Internet viewers seem to want their User-Generated Content to look like User-Generated Content. In robotics and in Computer Animation the term “The Uncanny Valley” is used to describe a theory that I think fits the UGC phenomenon pretty well. Here’s how wikipedia defines The Uncanny Valley:
“The theory holds that when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers.”
Zombie child! Burn it with fire!
So for example do you remember the movie, The Polar Express? It was a big flop and one reason audiences stayed away is because the CG characters were designed to look super-realistic. The results were creepy as hell! Human beings have a much more positive reaction to less realistic CG characters. (like the semi-cartoony humans in The Incredibles) When human facsimiles start to look too real, people get turned off by these “soulless” monsters and likability ratings plummet sharply.
And the same thing can sort of be said for User-Generated Content. When a user-made ad gets too close to looking like a professionally made ad I think viewers are turned off. Take for example this video that was also submitted to Poptent’s Trident assignment. This spot actually made the finals but Trident didn’t purchase it:
Out of the 142 videos submitted to Poptent’s Trident assignment, “Grease Monkey Business” was almost certainly one of the slickest, most professional-looking ads of the bunch. But there’s something that bothers me about this video. It just has no…heart. It feels like a facsimile of a “real” commercial. This is an example of a User-Generated video that crossed into the UGC Uncanny Vally. It tries very hard to look professional and somehow, that makes it seem kind of creepy. Instead of looking like a User-Generated ad it looks like a low-budget TV commercial. Except the writing, the graphics, the acting and the goofy Voice Over aren’t on the same level as the production quality. So there’s a disconnect in the viewers mind: Is this an amazing looking homemade ad or a poorly produced professional ad?
Normally I wouldn’t single out a non-winning or non-purchased video like this and explain why I think it wasn’t selected by the sponsor. But one of the producers of Grease Monkey Business totally flipped out on the Poptent forums and on his blog when he learned that “The Sword” had been selected over his submission. It was one of the worst examples of Sore-Loser-ism I’ve ever seen. The dude ripped into the other filmmakers and the Poptent staff and the decision-makers at Trident and basically accused everyone of cheating. The only person he didn’t think to blame was himself. It was this public act of unsportsmanlike conduct that inspired me to write this post, so maybe that guy will see this critique and take it as a reality check.
Anyways, it seems that many companies are starting to realize that viewers like UGC that has a homemade flavor to it. Just look at this Pepsi Max ad that wound up being one of the winners of the Crash the Super Bowl contest:
That ad is entitled “First Date” and it’s pretty rough around the edges. But people loved it! It scored the #7 spot on the USA Today Ad Meter and lots of people were talking about it the day after the game. On the flip side, the slickest and most expensive User-Generated Pepsi Max ad, “Torpedo Cooler” ranked #24 on the ad meter. In fact it was the lowest-scoring Crash the Super Bowl ad of the entire game. So why did the homemade-looking ad score so well while the professional looking ad scored so poorly? Could it be that 21st century audiences have a soft spot for UGC and gave the Crash the Super Bowl ads a little extra love? If that was the case, “Torpedo Cooler” may have been so slick that the people in the Ad Meter focus groups assumed it was produced by some big ad agency so they scored it like they would any other “professional” commercial.
The take-away lesson here is that video contests are seldom won by the guys with the nicest gear. The reason big companies are looking to the “little guys” for video content is because only non-professionals are able to capture the homemade, viral video magic that they so desperately desire. They want stuff that’s weird and quirky and DIFFERENT. If a company like Pepsi or Trident wanted a standard commercial shot with a $20,000 camera they would just hire some production company to do that for them. But Internet users aren’t going to see a plain, old commercial and tweet it or post in on their facebook walls. In fact, many of us would probably refrain from sharing a funny, professional looking ad just because it would make us feel like un-paid corporate shills. But videos that have a genuine viral feel to them are free from this corporate stigma. Obviously a video like “The Sword” is an ad for Trident gum but it feels kind of subversive and unofficial…so its ok to share it! So even if you’re like the producers of “First Date” and only have $100 to spend on your project you shouldn’t let that stop you. A great script and passable production values will win out over a lame script and top-notch production values any day of the week.
EPILOGUE: Trident has already started running “The Sword” as an Internet ad. And though it was only uploaded a week ago it is already the most viewed video on Trident’s official youtube channel. Their second most viewed video is the Trident commercial about the babysitter who gets paid in gum…and that ad was uploaded in October 2009. In fact, Trident was so happy with “The Sword” that they went back and purchased a whole bunch more Poptent-made videos. You can see them here:
So, are you still feeling bummed about not making the finals in Doritos’ Crash the Super Bowl contest? Well snap out of it already! You’ve had almost a month to get over the bad news. It’s time to move on to something new! The odds of making the CTSB finals are just insanely terrible. For every one winner there was something like 560 non-winners! So If the 2010/2011 “Crash” was your first video contest you really shouldn’t let that loss deter you from entering other, more win-able video contests. You just need to pick your next contest a little more carefully. And by that I mean you should try and focus on a contest that you actually have a chance in hell of winning.
A great place to start is one of Poptent.net’s “Ongoing Assignments.” These assignments aren’t really like the commercial ones they run for other companies. The open-ended assignments are sponsored by Poptent and don’t require you to shoot anything new! So you’ve probably got videos on your hard drive right now that you could submit to these competitions.
Currently Poptent does two of these on-going assignments. The first is called “Demo Reel of the Month” and the name pretty much tells you everything you need to know. Every month the Poptent staff picks their favorite directing, editing or cinematography reel and awards its creator 500 bucks.
The other Open-Ended assignment is the “Second Chance” contest which is co-sponsored by OnlineVideoContests.com. The concept for this one is pretty awesome. If you shot an entry for a video contest and DIDN’T WIN any prizes you can submit your overlooked masterpiece and Poptent and OVC will award prizes to their favorite “non-winning” videos. So…maybe your Crash the Super Bowl entry will wind up winning something after all.
But money isn’t the only reason to enter these Ongoing Assignments. The submitted “Second Chance” videos and Demo Reels help Poptent editors discover filmmakers that they want to work with in the future. So even if you don’t win you might find yourself invited to participate in a private assignment. And I can tell you, those are pretty sweet because the sponsors will actually send you free samples of their products so you can feature them in your ads. Last year I got invited to a private assignment for the Nokia Neuron and Nokia sent me a sweet new cell phone. (and yes, you get to keep the freebies)
Oh, one more thing; Poptent is apparently thinking about launching a third, Ongoing Assignment but they haven’t picked a theme yet. Like the other two Open-Ended assignments they want to keep it so you don’t have to actually shoot anything new to submit. Right now they are leaning towards an “Indy trailer / film / pitch assignment.” What do you guys think about that idea? Is that something you’d want to enter? Or do you have a better suggestion? If you’d like to share your thoughts on this leave a comment or e-mail me at VideoContestNews@gmail.com and I’ll pass your suggestions on to the Poptent staff.
For details on the current “Demo Reel” assignment, click here.
For details on the Winter installment of the “Second Chance” contest, click here.
There are currently three commercials airing on TV promoting Quizno’s “5 4 3″ deal and in classic Quizno’s style, they feature crazy animation and weird animals singing about tasty sandwiches. The first ad you’ve probably seen; it features 3 kittens singing to the tune of Three Blind Mice. (link) The other two ads you might not have seen yet since they just started airing. Amazingly, these two new Quizno’s ads were created for an assignment on poptent.net. The commercials are so slick and so well made that 99.999% of the people who see them on TV would never even guess that they were made on spec by freelancers. I actually think both commercials are better than the one Quiznos themselves produced. Here they are:
Purchased by Quiznos. Price: $7,500
Purchased by Quznos. Price: $7,500
Amazing stuff. Now let me tell you, Quiznos got one hell of a deal here. I’m going to guess that $7,500 is just a fraction of what it cost to create the original singing kittens ad. That’s great for Quiznos but kind of not so great for filmmakers. $7,500 is a lot of money but it’s certainly the lowest payday I’ve ever seen for a in this type of situation. Normally in video contests or poptent-style open assignments if the sponsor intends to use the selected video on TV the price tag is somewhere between $10,000 and $25,000. Just off the top of my head Doritos, Taxslayer and butterfinger all paid $25K for video contest entries that made it to air. But like I said, $7,500 is still a big pay day and for an up-and-coming professional, the real prize is getting your work on national TV. Still, I hope Quiznos sends those guys a couple free gift cards. Actually, forget the gift cards. The guys who made those two ads should be allowed to walk into any quiznos and demand free sandwiches. If I were them, I’d go in and be all like “Don’t you people know who I am!? I’m the guy that made that Quiznos commercial where that heavy metal cat screams about sandwich deals motherF$%#*er! So give me a free Tasty Torpedo before I tear this place apart!!”
The “Think Fed-ex first” assignment over at Poptent.net closed last week when the brand purchased three user-created ads for $5,000 a piece. All three ads are pretty good but this one is just genius:
Purchased by Fed-Ex. Price: $5,000
That right there was more memorable than any commercial I saw on TV all week. One reason I really like spec ads and video contest stuff is because you never know what you’re going to get. That’s probably why so many marketing people like contests too. Would a big money ad agency ever have the nerve to pitch a spot to Fed-Ex called “Human Head?” This seems like the kind of idea that a bunch of pros would joke about and then shove in a file because the client might think it was too dark. But when you shoot a project on spec you’re feel to do whatever the hell you want because you have nothing to lose. 99 out of 100 times, the results are a mess and the creator misses the mark. But when off the wall ideas actually work, the client winds up with something far more interesting than the average old commercial.
You can see see the other two purchased ads over on the Poptent blog. The one with the Teddy Bear is especially amusing.
