A digital filmmaker’s map to the web

Heather Menicucci, Director, Howcast Filmmakers Program, is writing weekly guest posts for the YouTube blog on filmmaking in the digital age. This is her third post.

Every time I talk to a filmmaker, I learn about a new (often, just new-to-me) website for filmmakers I should check out. I email and text myself the links. Intent on eventually spending some time on the sites, I keep multiple tabs open on my browser. Needless to say, it’s hard to keep track of them all. I thought consolidating a list of the sites I’ve come across through recommendations, articles, and conferences would be helpful to me, and hopefully you, too. So, here I go, with one disclaimer: this list is not exhaustive. I tried to stick to key categories but if I wanted to cover everything cool going on on the web for filmmakers, I’d have to quit my day job. Got another recommendation? Share it in the comments below!

Sites to help you....be in the know

• Filmmaker magazine Simply put, if you’re an independent film and video creator, and you’re not reading Filmmaker Magazine, or, dare I say a member of the Independent Feature Project, you are seriously missing out. Period.
• IndieWire IndieWire is all the indie industry news -- big to small. Want to get some costume ideas based on movies of the year? Interested in the hoopla over NC-17 ratings and when they began? They’ve got a network of bloggers and you’ll soon find your favorites.
• WorkBook Project Founded by Lance Weiler, WorkBook Project is not just articles and blog posts. It’s an open collaborative network that covers the most exciting creative work happening on the web. You can explore case studies, hear thought-provoking interviews, attend workshops, and pick up the tools you need to launch your own web or multi-platform project.
• Cinematech Of all the things you can read of Scott Kirsner’s, I actually suggest his books, which you can download off his blog, linked here. Scott is out there talking with filmmakers about new technology and sharing all his knowledge along the way at festivals (I heard him at SXSW), conferences (he started The Conversation), and in his books, of which my favorite is Fans, Friends And Followers: Building An Audience And A Creative Career In The Digital Age.

....distribute

• YouTube Rentals Obviously, you know about YouTube or you wouldn’t be here. But, are you familiar with YouTube rentals? I got to sit in on a talk about the feature at SXSW this year and I think it’s a really intriguing option for filmmakers looking to share short films and longer work and make some money on screening. It’s one way the web is putting distribution and monetization in the hands of creators by letting them control who watches and set the prices for their work.
• Snagfilms Snagfilms distributes documentaries from longtime masters as well as emerging filmmakers. Viewers can watch free, and documentarians, who have historically had a difficult time getting wide distribution, can tap into a growing viewer network.
• OpenIndie Started by Arin Crumley, OpenIndie, which is still in beta, aims to be a way for filmmakers to coordinate and launch their own theatrical screenings by connecting them with audiences and exhibitors directly. The exciting idea is based on the Crumley’s own distribution model for Four Eyed Monsters, which he co-directed.

...connect

• ShootingPeople Want to know what projects others filmmakers are up to? Take a workshop? Find someone to animate your open sequence? Get a new gig? ShootingPeople is the place to network with other filmmakers online (and in person -- lots of cities host nights out for “shooters”).
• Ning Hopefully you use Facebook and Twitter for things other than planning poker night. Both are excellent platforms for connecting with audiences and potential collaborators. You may not know about Ning though. With Ning you can create your own social network around your film, the topic of your film, or filmmaking in general. It’s a very turnkey solution for engaging with an audience and I think it offers a more dynamic experience for your fans and audiences than a blog alone.

....learn new tricks

• CreativeCow When a filmmaker writes in with an editing question our Post team can’t solve we head to the CreativeCow forums. There is an unbelievable amount of expertise you can easily tap into.
• Videomaker When a filmmaker writes in with a question about a camera or software, we head to Videomaker. They’ve also got a really nice stable of nuts and bolts tutorials on things like lighting and green screen.
• NYVS I just learned about New York Video School and I think it’s going to be a really easy way to pick up new or polish up old skills. They’re building a comprehensive suite of “courses” that include videos on things like choosing a hard drive and uploading to YouTube.

...make some money

• Kickstarter If you haven’t heard about Kickstarter yet, you may be spending too much time in the edit room. It seems like every week I see a new project being funded on Kickstarter in my Facebook feed...and I contribute. Kickstarter makes fundraising painless (compared to calling Mom and Dad or going to door-to-door) for the filmmaker and fun for the fans to take part in a project.
• IndieGoGo IndieGoGo offers filmmakers another digital fundraising option and, now, through, access to some distribution platforms like iTunes and Netflex.
• Howcast Emerging Filmmakers Program Hey, if I didn’t think we offer filmmakers an excellent way to get experience and pick up some extra cash, I wouldn’t be here. Many of our filmmakers call Howcast videos their “fun work.” If you’re familiar with our videos, you know we give filmmakers a ton of creative freedom -- it’s great for their reels and their pocketbooks. Also worth checking out:, TurnHere, Demand, and StudioNow who offer programs for freelancers with different projects, requirements, and rates.

....compete

• OnlineVideoContests Though I’ve entered plenty and never won, I’ve always been a sucker for video contests. OVC is the place to find out who’s giving away $500 for a :30-spot and who’s doling out $10,000 for a 3-minute music video.
• Withoutabox Long gone are the days of mailing VHS tapes in manila envelopes. Withoutabox has brought film festival application into the digital age. Apply, apply, apply way!
• Filmaka Filmaka hosts monthly competitions that boast jury members like Wim Wenders and Werner Herzog -- a pretty unique chance for exposure among industry leaders.
• Poptent Poptent works with some major brands to bring commercial work to filmmakers all over the world. Download the requirements and upload your video. If your work is selected by that brand you could be looking at a new client and a paycheck.

Overwhelmed by all the new information? Subscribe to these sites’ newsletters and YouTube channels, follow them on Twitter, and become a fan on Facebook -- let their news comes to you.

Heather Menicucci, Director, Howcast Filmmakers Program, recently watched “Flower Warfare: Behind the Scenes." Come back next Friday for another session of our “Modern 101 for Emerging Digital Filmmakers."

More blog goodness! Make room for BizBlog and Creator’s Corner posts

With pageviews up 115% compared to the same time last year and millions of people reading this blog each month, it’s time for a fresh injection of blog content. So starting today, we’re transitioning posts from the BizBlog, our partner and advertiser blog, and the Creator’s Corner blog, our blog devoted to all the cool things you make on YouTube, to this blog. You’ll see more guest posts; you’ll get to know some of YouTube’s most accomplished videomakers a little better; and you’ll discover how all kinds of people -- partners, advertisers, you! -- use YouTube and what can be learned from each other.

But before we dig in, we wanted to ask you to take this short survey, so we can be sure that our blog delivers the kind of experience and information you’re looking for. The survey should take less than five minutes to fill out and will help us tremendously as we plan future posts. Thank you so much!

Celebrating curators: "As seen on" comes to the video page

"As seen on" surfaces videos popular elsewhere on the Web, and now it also lives on the video page. In other words, if a blog or site is responsible for driving a significant amount of a video's views, that site will be credited on the page, as so:

What this means is that you can get recognition for sourcing videos that your readers love and helping those clips become popular on YouTube. It's another way all that hard work you put into building your readership can pay off and generate even more traffic for your blog or site. You might even get your site in front of a whole new audience via people who encounter it for the first time on YouTube.

We're currently experimenting with this functionality on a range of popular videos and plan on making it a permanent feature soon.


Dylan Trotter, Software Engineer, recently watched “Cycles,” and Adam Winkler, Software Engineer, recently watched “Chatroulette Endmost Piano Ode.m4v.”

New Default Size for Embedded Videos

A video's life on YouTube is just the beginning; embedding gives it a life off of the site. Just look at your favorite blogger and they're likely to be embedding YouTube content in their posts. In fact, almost every popular video on the site is first made famous by embeds on the Web. That number can be as high as 50% of views in the first 48 hours, kicking off a great cycle.

We offer a few size choices when you grab a video's embed code. The default size used to be on the smaller side -- smaller than the size displayed on YouTube.com -- but as of today, we're defaulting to a larger size, one that's the same size of a video on YouTube.com (either 480x385 if 4:3 video, or 640x385 for 16:9 content). These new defaults were selected because they will give the majority of people the best possible viewing experience and because they better match our current video encoding sizes.

When you click on the embed code, the space below it will expand and reveal customization options, like so:




You can choose the following for your embedded player:

• The color and size
• Whether or not to include related videos
• Whether or not to display the player border
• Whether or not to play in HD by default -- triggers video resolutions of 1280x720 (720p) or 1920x1080 (1080p)

When using the "Play in HD" option, it's best to embed the player at a very large size (at least 1280x745) in order to accommodate the large size of the video. If you play HD video in a small player, the user's computer will have to scale down the video to fit within the player, costing the user extra CPU cycles and bandwidth, which may result in choppy playback. It's always best to play the video size that best fits the size of the video player. And if you want even better performance when watching HD content, you can choose to watch it in full-screen.

Geoff Stearns, Senior Web Developer, recently embedded "OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - RGM version."

YouTube Blogging in 2009

Following the tradition of our Google brethren,we'd like to share our blog highlights and thank you, our loyal blog readers, for making this the most successful year ever for the YouTube blog.

This is our 284th post of the year, which is 13% more than in 2008. In addition to more posts, we have more readers now -- 79% more, to be exact. The number of unique visitors jumped from 7.7 million last year to 13.7 million in 2009.

We posted about new products, the evolution of our social features, a slew of live streamed events and much more, but what generated the most buzz was What You Watched and Searched for on YouTube in 2009, a listing of the year's Most Watched videos and fastest-rising search terms, and announcements regarding the launches of 1080p and Shows & Movies. New Channels Coming Soon, another much-read item, topped our record for number of comments on any YouTube blog post -- over 50K.

We introduced several new series this year, including Release Notes, a periodic rundown of changes to the site; Curator showcases, highlighting people with a knack for finding great videos; and Video Volunteers, which is about mobilizing the talents of the YouTube community to help those in need. We used the blog to showcase your impressive achievements -- things like raising money to build wells in Africa, launching a label for YouTube musicians, and the historical milestone of the first user hitting 1 million subscribers -- as well as shed light on how YouTube is being used as a tool for free expression in Iran.. We took you behind the scenes to offer insight into the thought that goes into product development here, and we shared some stats that were hard even for us to wrap our heads around. Maybe we did a little trash talking, too.

We also launched three new blogs this year: the Biz Blog for partners and advertisers, a Spanish-language blog, and the Creator's Corner blog for anyone who makes videos. And we finally moved onto to the Blogger platform, bringing us into the 21st century when it comes to blog technology.

Whew. It was a busy year but we wouldn't have it any other way. Have a very happy New Year, thanks for reading, and see you in 2010!

Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager, recently watched "Bacon Candy Party Sticks."

Blogs Move to Blogger

For a long time our blog hasn't used the latest blog technology -- not only was publishing posts a time-consuming process, but you couldn't search through our archives or find posts grouped by subject. Well, we're finally catching up and have migrated over to Blogger, a more flexible blogging platform that heeds the call for better navigation and organization. (But be aware that if you want to comment on a blog post, you'll need an OpenID, or a Google account, to do so. Connecting your YouTube account to your Google account should make the process pretty seamless.)

We're still fixing a few things here and there, and a few posts with large numbers of comments are still migrating over, but overall we hope you will find this to be a better blog-reading experience.

Posted by Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager