Linda Nelson

Facebook Turns Down $8 Billion Valuation Term Sheet, Claims 2009 Revenues Will Be $550 Million

Facebook rules!

Is MySpace in Danger of Fading into the Sunset?

If MySpace wants to win back all the filmmakers that have abandonned it's site, they need to treat filmmakers as well as they treat musicians. You can't even find indie filmmakers on MySpace because they are buried three menu layers down. Who's bright idea was that? Every filmmaker I know has migrated to Facebook that really embraces real relationships between companies and the community.

MySpace is just a different animal and was like a playground for people to make fantasy identities. You never really know who you're dealing with. How can a business hypertarget a fake demographic? Facebook encourages real people to make real profiles and deal with real businesses and this makes for a differenty type of social media experience.

There was a time when we didn't have a choice, there was only MySpace and we worked hard to build up a sizable database of "friends", but once there was a choice to build a real community and engage with that community, the game changed. I still use MySpace and think they are trying to adapt, but right now, my advertising dollars are going to go to Facebook, where I know who's going to see my ads.

I still think MySpace is fine for music, as they really push music and musicians, but it would take a major overhaul for MySpace to get the filmmakers (and their followers) back. Also, Facebook is a lot more appealing to a wider demographic - even people's Grandmothers are active users. They would never go near MySpace. It is what it is and maybe MySpace will have to be happy with a young, music oriented crowd - it works for that.

MySpace Founder Out at News Corp., Former Facebook Executive to Step in?

Facebook is a totally different product than MySpace - they are both social media platforms, but Facebook is much more condusive to honest communication between people and the brands/products they love or hate. The business opportunities on Facebook are tremendous, which is why it is being embraced by so many companies, yet personal profiles represent real people. MySpace not only allows, but encourages phony profiles, while Facebook forbids phony profiles. Advertisers want real demographics. It has nothing to do with the way the pages look. I'd rather have more options to customize the look of my profile and business pages, but it's much more important that I can confidently conduct business there. Also, the engagement opportunities are incredible on Facebook. We're actually casting our next film on Facebook with actors uploading audition videos based on downloaded script sides, so that that fans can comment. It's great feedback for us and we're building a core audience even before the film starts shooting. People love getting involved. Our film DELIVERED even has it's own URL, facebook.com/Delivered....

Imax Is the Future of Movies

Ten years ago, I started a company called Showmax. The Business Plan set out to show that IMAX was the future of movies. Mind you, most of the IMAX screens were in science museums back then, but it was clear that this was a superior experience. With my partner, I produced a very commercial large format film that played in fifty IMAX and other large format theaters worldwide. It was an NSYNC concert film at the height of their phenomenal success. It helped bring a new audience to museums. After many attempts to get the company off the ground, including lawsuits from people and companies/institutions that didn't "get it", we abandoned the company because we were unable to raise enough financing to get the company properly funded and deal with the opposition. I'm thrilled to see that the concept is finally being embraced and perhaps it's time to revisit the possibility of making more BIG movies.

Adobe, Facebook Team Up on Set of Developer Tools

Facebook and Adobe - these companies make the application software that I spend most of my time with. Great that they are working together to make each other better.

Finding Opportunity in Liberty Media's Tracking Stock Structure

Where is Ascent Media in all this?

Netflix to Offer Online Streaming as Stand-Alone Service

If you have a new laptop, it should have a cable connector that will let you stream your Netflix WatchNow films through our laptop to your TV. That way, you don't have to buy another set-top box. Most people don't realize that they can connect this way.

Netflix Competitors Can Only Play Catch-Up

The biggest issue for Netflix will be to provide a huge library of content for its streaming customers. As an independent filmmaker and distributor of a small library, I've seen how difficult it is for content owners to get their films up on the Netflix site. They need to find a way to open up the floodgates and make all that great independent product available to their customers. This will help keep them in the lead - otherwise, platforms that embrace the diversity of content available, to feed the shattered niche markets, with great independent content from the endless shelf, will quickly take over. There are great sites that stream wonderful independent film like Indiepix.com, Jaman, Caachi.com and even Amazon.com's VOD service. Like iTunes, these sites will find that people are more than happy to spend a few bucks to see great film, rather than the dumbed down, mass appeal tentpoles that the studios must make to protect their bottom line.

Top 10 Video, Multimedia Websites: January 2009

The domination of YouTube is amazing! Finding ways to leverage that domination is key to our future film marketing.

MTV's Anti-Embedded Video Stance Isn't as Crazy as It Sounds

With the "endless shelf" the order of the day, people will choose free over paid and there is so much content out there that people will just look elsewhere for content to embed. People are really getting into sharing content with their friends and even strangers and the tighter you try to hold on to something, the more you will push people away. This is not just a fad, it's a trend and sometimes you have to move quickly. What's quickly anyway? We're pushing ten years with the new media thing - time to get with it.

MTV Pulls the Plug on Embeddable Videos

Just another example of the scarcity mentality that prevades the "old school" media world. MTV has been on the slide for a long time only and this will just be another nail in the coffin. Don't they get that people really enjoy the engagement and ability to really share things they like with their friends. Every time you make this harder to do, rather than easier, you lose fans. There's so much choice out there these days - you'd think they'd get it. There is this constant effort to try and apply the "old rules" to new media. The revolution has begun and there's no turning back. Trying to preserve or grow ad revenue this way is going to cost them a lot of users.

Good News From Netflix

I look forward to seeing Netflix embrace new independent film for it's WatchNow service. 12,000 sounds like a lot, but it's not when you think about how many films are available online. The best variety and choice for good independent film is still over the internet. I've found that I can plug my laptop into my TV and watch that way - much more choice. People are no longer constrained by the limited fare offered by the "big boys". It's the "long tail" in all it's glory. This makes me wonder what will really happen to Netflix and Blockbuster, unless they expand their libraries. After all, we have an endless shelf now.

Gadget Makers Finally Realize Content and the Consumer Are King

It's great to see that trend is finally being embraced by the large content creators. The major Hollywood studios, like the automakers have gotten so big, it's hard for them to be nimble and adjust to the changing times, but change they must or they will go the way of GM. The groundswell has taken over and we all have to learn how to engage with it. Technology has destroyed the old distribution business models and as Tome Peters predicted more than ten years ago, intermediaries are disappearing. We are close to the point where content creators can connect directly with content consumers - all thanks to technology. Apple dropping DRM, is just a small indication of what's to come. Great systems for delivering content to the best digital platforms is a great new business to be in and several companies are well positioned to lead the assault on outdated business models, such as the delivery of content via digibeta tapes. The tapeless media world is well on its way to becoming a reality.

Who Will Win the Home Entertainment Battle?

Finally, someone who gets it! I've been using my laptop to stream from Netflix since they started without having to buy anything. As the internet and broadcast TV continue to converge the winners will be the people that enbrace the new technology. I just bought a terabyte of storage that fits in my pocket for $120. That's a lot of HD movies. Why would I ever need a BlueRay disk or player at the prices they are trying to charge?

Yahoo and Intel Attempt Marriage of Internet and TV

Great news! Finally there is concrete movement towards totally blurring the line between TV and the Internet. Soon programming will live in the cloud and people can have totally free choice in their viewing - not just in what and how they watch, but when.