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Break and Scripped.com Announce Screenwriting Contest Winner
Something fun to get this summer week started: Break Media and Scripped.com have announced the winner of their recent contest to identify an up-and-coming screenwriter, produce his/her script and feature it on Break.com. From 300+ submissions, the winner is Evan Kaufman, a Boston-based comedian for his script, "The Cutest Website" (see below for video and enjoy, it's pretty funny).
The Break/Scripped.com contest illustrates once again the larger point that online video is opening up new avenues for talented creators to be discovered and connect with their audiences. In the traditional TV world where there was finite shelf space, the odds against an aspiring writer breaking through were astronomical. The odds are still long though much better since with online video, there are many more outlets, more creative freedom, and many more ways to find an audience. Sites like Break, which has placed a huge emphasis on original content, are helping fuel this process.
Categories: Indie Video
Topics: Break Media, Scripped.com
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Break Media and Scripped.com Give Young Screenwriters a Shot
Online video has created enormous opportunities for undiscovered talent to make it big (e.g. Justin Bieber), and this week Break Media and Scripped.com announced a contest that offers them yet another shot. The "Break's Big Break" (say that 10 times fast!) contest asks up-and-coming screenwriters to submit their script, which will be judged by a panel including Ed Burns, Steven De Souza and Break executives. The winning script will be developed and distributed by Break and five finalists will also receive $500 for their efforts.
Categories: Indie Video
Topics: Break Media
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Break Media Introduces 5 New Originals
Break Media is introducing 5 new web series today, continuing its investment in original content production. The first new series rolling out is "For the Win," a weekly how-to series focused on helping men "win at life," which will run on Break's "Made Man" lifestyle site. The topic is defined expansively in keeping with Break's target audience; today's episode is "Win a Fight With One Punch." For the Win will also be distributed on YouTube and through the Break Media Network.
The other series, which will debut in the spring - and the Break sites they'll reside on - include "Awesome America" (Break), an offbeat travelogue show, "Thinking Out Loud" (Screen Junkies), a comedic take on celebrity interviews, "MMAashed Potato" (Cage Potato), weekly re-caps of MMA highlights and "FAQ U" (Game Front), a review show for popular games.
Categories: Indie Video
Topics: Break Media, YouTube
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Break Media Lands in comScore's Top 10 Video Sites for August
Who says independent online video can't compete with the established media? Yesterday comScore released its August Video Metrix rankings and while Facebook moving into the #2 position (ahead of Yahoo) was noteworthy,
even more eye-catching was male-focused 18-34 Break Media coming in at #6, ahead of big players like Microsoft, NBCU, Viacom and Turner Digital. It's only the second time Break has cracked comScore's top 10 video sites (June '10 was the other). Also worth noting is that Break's ad network achieved August reach of 65.7 million unique visitors, second only to Google/YouTube's 146.6 million.
Compared to June, Break recorded strong growth: 42.4 million total unique viewers (up 58% vs. 26.9 million in June) and 167 million viewing sessions (up 78% vs. 93.6 million in June). The only disappointment was that minutes per viewer slipped from 31.8 in June to 25.9 in August. Still, the results are pretty remarkable, and I caught up briefly with Andy Tu, Break's VP of Marketing to find out what's behind the growth.
Categories: Indie Video
Topics: Break Media, comScore
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VideoNuze Report Podcast #34 - October 2, 2009
Daisy Whitney and I are pleased to present the 34th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for October 2, 2009.
This week Daisy and I first discuss my post "Break Media Gains Momentum with Branded Content in 2009" in which I describe how Break, a male-focused entertainment community, has used branded content to differentiate itself and increase revenues. Branded content is a relatively new media form where sponsors fund the production process and have significant creative input or outright control.
Break has been able to offer branded content projects as a value ad to sponsors' media buys on its sites by allocating a percentage of the client's media spend to the projects. I describe how Break does this, along with how branded content has helped it separate itself from competitors and grow revenue by a projected 18% this year.
Related, Daisy then talks about pricing trends in the online video advertising market, quoting ad network BrightRoll's CEO Tod Sacerdoti as saying that he's seen CPMs drop by an average of a dollar or more per quarter since launching in 2006. In his view prices have been inflated due to a "false equilibrium" about inventory scarcity. He sees prices continuing to fall into the low teens, a level at which more advertiser's budgets will flow into the online video medium - though not necessarily from TV. Learn more about Tod's predictions for the industry and Daisy's interpretations.
Click here to listen to the podcast (14 minutes, 12 seconds)
Click here for previous podcasts
The VideoNuze Report is available in iTunes...subscribe today!
Categories: Advertising, Branded Entertainment, Podcasts
Topics: Break Media, BrightRoll, Podcast
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