hi there. i'm aaron.

Hi there. I'm Aaron Sonnenberg. I work at Blip and live in Greenpoint. You can find me on flickr, twitter or e-mail me at: aaron/at/blip/dot/com

This is home, and this is everything.

It’s Not About the Awards

ericmortensen:

millpondpro:

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time reading through the many well written articles, blogs, and comments regarding the Streamy disaster. I won’t add to that conversation, mostly because I wasn’t there, and because others have said it far better than I could. Reading and absorbing it all got me thinking that I should post something that has been on my mind awhile, in that we are all, as an industry, focusing on the wrong things.

It’s not about the awards, its about the opportunities.This industry is incredible and unprecedented. We all have the ability to be our own, self-sufficient studio.

I look at the web industry from a unique perspective, as I’ve been in the independent film world for many years. When I went into the webspace - for me, it wasn’t about awards, it wasn’t about being flashy, it was about having fun, and being my own boss.

And now, after having a show that’s been online for a little less than a year - I see the ad revenue money coming in. Though the budget of the show hasn’t been made back yet - I see the potential. The possibility to have a self sufficient enterprise with this. No overseeing producers. No need to answer to anyone else. That’s what is exciting.

When I have gone to many film festival events I have always noticed a competition among filmmakers, even if it is subtle. And well, do you blame them? After all, in the indi feature film world, there are only so many distribution spots open. If my film gets distribution, then yours might not - and vice versa.

But in this Internet sphere we aren’t competing with each other. Just because your show is a success doesn’t mean my show can’t be. And that’s reflected in the amazing people I’ve made at the Meet Up events. Everyone’s excited, and they should be.

So why are we signaling out an awards ceremony - a glitzy, flashy, star studded event. That is not what webisdes are about. Look at what Blip.tv is doing - these are people dedicated to helping support indi shows - so that we are not in “the minor leagues.” So that the producers making goofy comedy can have their show be a money maker right next to the people doing dramas, or news shows. There’s a place for everyone in this sphere - from mainstream stuff to the most obscure niche. There’s a place for everyone to make money.

This is not in any way to discount the deserved winners at the Streamys. Nor is it to say that any one of us wouldn’t jump at the chance for the exposure we could get if one of our shows were picked up into a more traditional Hollywood mechanism. But instead of focusing on awards, instead of focusing who is better than others, lets get together, as a community, and learn how we can each have our shows be self-sufficient. I’d rather spend money going to conferences and learning how we can continue to be our own bosses. So that we can all, everyone of us, be in a position in our careers where we are self-sufficient, where - if Hollywood did come calling, we would take it, but that we wouldn’t necessarily need them to call. A world where we are all in charge of our own destinies.

Think I’m being Pollyanna like? I’m not - It’s happening. It’s not there yet - this is an industry in its infancy. But the possibility is there. I am not an IAWTV member, (though I would like to be) but if I was I would try to push, not for more glitz and glamour, not for our own accolades but for more education - more knowledge of ways we can all do this, hand in hand.

Filmmakers and creative media types have been trying for years to not be dependant on others. Sure, Chaplin, Fairbanks, and Pickford were able to do it with United Artists - but they were in a good position to do so. Others trailblazers over the years, such as Corman, and Kaufman have been doing it, but it’s not enough. We are at a unique and amazing point in history. We can all be our own Charlie Chaplins. We can all control our future - interact with our fans, work to sell our own advertising, and be the bearers of our own destiny.

Next year, lets celebrate that. Lets celebrate how we can all - as an industry, as a collective creative community - work to be self-sufficient. Forget about speeches and dances and awards and jokes, (in good taste or not) and think instead of making this career a self-sufficient reality for all.

The past few months of releasing shows have been life changing for me. Lets make it that way for everyone.

That’s my two cents.

Great Post.

13 Apr 2010 / 11 notes