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President & COO, Hypnotic.com |
It's always amusing to see the transparent gloss with which studios tart up their own greenlighted schlock. There have been some exceptions of actual originality in the mainstream but the notion continues to be exceedingly rare. The shame-spiral of sequels, cheap literary adaptations, and live-action comic books simply aren't satisfying the appetites of this entertainment-saturated and Internet-savvy culture. Since the movie-going public continues to scratch their heads before forking over their $10 ($12.50 in some places - ed.), it has become apparent that studio executives are only scratching their asses. The struggle between independent filmmaker and studio has always existed throughout cinema's history. In an age of digital video and inexpensive editing systems, significant broadband penetration and boom in streaming media, some executives are starting to take notice of films on the Web - especially with respect to the potential outgrowth of the short film and filmmaker. The struggle has now developed into an unprecented symbiosis where studios no longer deny their dependence on the indie filmmaker and, ironically, the same holds true for the so-called "independent." Jeremy Bernard's Hypnotic.com signals the honeymoon of such a convergence. Originally launched in 1999 as an exhibitor of short films called Reelshort.com, the later-merged Hypnotic signifies the first lab rat experiment of a studio-indie alliance with Universal Pictures taking a 49% share in the venture. As the Internet also struggles to develop entertainment - and a profit - for the Web, Hypnotic has found financial and distribution strength in a strategic alliance with a studio, and a studio has found a farm club to cultivate fresh, new talent. Bernard, a former television/feature film producer and media consultant for the shred-happy Arthur Andersen accounting firm, soon realized the potential of streaming shorts online to enhance the careers of unnoticed filmmakers. As anyone who was ever associated with Pop.com can tell you in hindsight, generating revenue and staying afloat from only exhibiting short films on the Internet is near impossible. Heeding these cries of woe, Bernard adopted the strategy of using the Internet as a showroom for offline ventures - and it's paying off. Like other short film distributors on the Web, Hypnotic leverages their film and episodic content to a bevy of interested buyers, including airlines (Virgin, Northwest) and cable networks (HBO, The Sundance Channel). Syndication is the new Holy Grail for Internet shorts and original episodic programming. Significant outsourcing of shorts for home video compilations as well as development to feature film production is becoming a mainstay. Hypnotic's trump card, however, is in what they call "advertainments," solidifying deals with Perrier and Coca-Cola that mimic BMWFilms' approach to Web advertising. The company has since merged with Nibblebox.com and raised an additional round of financing to the tune of $15 million despite the downfall of thousands of other Internet start-ups and dried-up VC funding. They have also partnered with The Sundance Channel to distribute a new short film series, "Shorts Stop," to third party ancillary markets, and became the exclusive distributor of the American Film Institute's short film library. Fortifying their advertising relationships, DaimlerChrysler has joined their ranks as major sponsor for the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival, a national competition for emerging filmmakers to grapple over a $1 million film production deal. A promise of subsequent theatrical distribution is backed by Universal. Much in the same vein as the Miramax-backed Project Greenlight, Hypnotic has chosen to capitalize on its involvement with its corporate partners as well as with its media constituencies. In the dot-com killing fields a little ingenuity can go a long way. Jeremy Bernard's fresh business model aligns high-powered media entities with a plethora of content from aspiring filmmakers. Hypnotic also stands to salvage and strengthen corporate branding on the Internet. It remains to be seen if the world is ready for such a break with proverbial Hollywood conformity and its sluggish acceptance of the Internet as a viable means of distribution. By showcasing such content as the hypseries, "Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in the World", Bernard will certainly be credited as an innovator that proved co-dependency can be a good thing. |
