Lance Weiler on The Emergence Of New Models

Lance Weiler is paying close attention to the ways innovative filmmakers are already using the web. For example:

"If we take a moment to look at current trends within other industries, it’s not hard to see that creative uses of data and date filtering are at the center of emerging models. But data is sometimes seen as a foreign element to the creative process of storytelling. Therefore finding ways to apply it will benefit from experimentation."

I agree with Mr. Weiler, and I'd like to suggest one area where we should be experimenting.

I want to test the hypothesis that the "data" of online filmmaking (and, in particular, how that data is marketed) is amenable to organization around theme.

I think what Egri calls the "premise" (the answer to the question "Why do you want to make this movie?" or what I call the "central organizing principle") will INEVITABLY help filmmakers to make and market their films. For example, every film that is recommended by Netflix because it shares a THEME or MEANING with another highly-rated film strengthens my conviction that "theme" or "meaning" should be considered in all the apps that facilitate online film searches.

Because I think he gets it in so many ways, I'll endeavor to share in this post some of Mr. Weiler's recent observations about how to market motion pictures for the emerging online audience. But, in my opinion, marketing tools that fail to connect to the audience via THEME, have limited utility.

"Twitter Lists

Create a Twitter List. Ted Hope recently created a Twitter List to capture the production process from various members of the team during the production of his latest film SUPER. Side note: Ted also discovered the script for SUPER via Twitter.

Try Out A Streamreader

Streamreaders are applications that you can use to manage your various social accounts like Facebook and Twitter. TweetDeck is a popular streamreader. In fact TweetDeck recently released a special Sherlock Holmes version of their streamreader. The special version servers as a companion to an experience that was designed by AKQA and Hide & Seek entitled 221B. The two-person game was released as a promotion for Sherlock Holmes and leads players right up to the first scene of the actual film. Those playing can monitor player and character interactions within a special Sherlock Holmes edition of TweetDeck."

Mr. Weiler is correct: Twitter Lists and Streamreaders have their place as marketing tools. But I think online filmmakers should also be told that the tools that will really connect them to their audience should include elements of THEME.