I finally launched the site for Figure Four Media, a new side project focusing on web video distribution, strategy, and production. We’re still working through a few things (getting the blog working, for example), but you should be able to get the idea.
Our goal is to do high quality branded content, with a full set of web tools like RSS, comments, sharing/emailing/embedding, as well as integration with the big video sites like YouTube, etc.
My company does work for the Make-A-Wish foundation. They had to put up a notice on their home page notifying people that this hilarious video from the Onion was a hoax.
I’ve been a bit neglectful of posting here over the last month, as I’ve been focused on getting a huge project out the door at work. Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about the upcoming year and all the big decisions that need to be made. There are a lot of things happening next year, and all of them are going to require some thinking:
1. In February the aforementioned project will launch, so I’ll need to figure out what to do afterwards. I can stay the course, or I can more seriously pursue the online video project that most of my posts lately have been hinting at. We’re also going to take a vacation in March and I need to decide where to go. The contenders right now are: snowboarding in upstate NY or VT, snowboarding and visiting friends in Portland, visiting the state of Michoacan in Mexico, or perhaps just finding a nice tropical beach to surf in Costa Rica.
2. I’ll be graduating from Stern, most likely in the August. The program has been taking up pretty much all my free time over the last two years, and finishing will be a real transition point. It will free up a lot of time and mental energy for me, and I think also open some opportunities to go in different directions.
3. Related to both the above, I need to decide where to live. I’ve been back in NYC for 13 years now (after spending my childhood here), and the pace can take a toll. My wife and I have been talking a lot lately about moving out to the Pacific Northwest, and now that my school obligations are wrapping up, we’ll have the opportunity to do so. But leaving NYC won’t be an easy decision - I’ve got a lifetime of friends, relationships, family, and experiences here. At the same time, the call of life in a more manageable city, and the adventure of new surroundings, is very strong.
So I’ve been throwing around some ideas with friends for a business about online video. Here are some links that I’ve gathered over the last month with useful info.
Between working at DP during the day and going to school at Stern in the evenings, I don’t have nearly as much time these days as I’d like to work on other ideas. One thing I have been thinking a lot about lately, though, is video on the web. This is obviously an area where a lot of innovation is going on, and I’ve got a few ideas myself that I’m developing in my spare time. For the next couple of posts, I’m going to focus on interesting sites from the web video world.
NewTeeVee: The most comprehensive blog out there that I’ve seen devoted entirely to the intersection of technology, the web, and video. Definitely worth checking out on a regular basis.
Blip.tv: A great alternative to YouTube that focuses on the development of ongoing web shows/video blogs, rather than random two minute clips of cats fighting. I don’t believe they are involved in content creation - they just provide the platform for individual producers to get their work out there. These guys also get extra points for being located in NYC. (Note: the video embedded above is from a Blip.tv show from the makers of MAKE magazine - an awesome publication about building robots and death rays in your basement.)
NextNewNetworks: Another NYC based startup, but these guys are focused on the content creation side of the game. Keep an eye on ‘em.
