Funny Shit for Free

Watch some funny shit for free on Comedy Central's site, including "Awesome Friends" the funny ass short made by the winner of their user-made comedy pilot contest.

Why would I refer you to a mega-exploiter like Comedy Central? Isn't this blog supposed to be about the digital revolution? Reason is cuz a digital revolutionary made "Awesome Friends." The poor guy just hasn't realized that he doesn't need Comedy Central to make his fortune as a talented creative dude. Well, okay, maybe he does today in October 2006...maybe. But the time is coming very soon when self-distributed content, through creator/user generated sites will offer content which is just as funny as Comedy Central. Maybe funnier. Just as there is currently a plethora of blogs that cherry pick good news stories from around the world, thereby serving as a much needed filter for all the Internet crap, similarly there will arise YouTubes and MetaCafes with highly selected content. Then where will Comedy Central be? Or NBC? Or any of them? Google has demonstrated that ad revenues can generate money, and many video content sites intend to pay content creators. It's only a matter of time before these Internet sites can match the big money of the Hollywood networks and studios (these sites would have vastly smaller overhead than networks and studios too). And the content these sites provide can attract just as many viewers. That's one scenario for the Revolution. There are many. But no two ways about it, it's coming. Just check out the buzz about sites like:

The Venice Project - a well-capitalized site that claims its content will transform the landscape of television

The Daily Reel - a site that hand-picks their choice of video content. Sounds like a TV channel to me--the line is certainly blurring between TV and the web.

Brightcove - one of many new online video companies that proposes pay systems to content creators, and also hosts an amalgamation of homemade content and Hollywood bits.

The list goes on on and on. Time will tell which of the plethora of online technologies/destinations will survive longterm and become the standards.

Now if you watch "Awesome Friends," you'll note that the production values are seriously low. Personally, I think it adds to the flavor of this particular show. But don't let this fool you that we need the big studios to make stuff look as good as network TV--the fact is, production values are becoming increasingly available to all of us. This guy preserved a distinctly "naive" look (to borrow from the Art Historian assholes) and low-budg values; however, the advanced compositing and animation tools that were previously available only to mega-studios are now available for your home computer. Just check out "The Ore" to see a sampling of how pretty "home-made" production values can look.

The next Steven Colbert (gawd love him, because I do) will be broadcasting political commentary from a desk in his living room and selling directly to consumers via self-distribtuion (or collective distribution run by more artist-friendly outlets). Networks like Comedy Central know they have to try their hand at this Internet stuff or become irrelevant--especially because they try to occupy that fickle and ephemeral niche of weird sophomoric comedy for teenagers. Even Barry Diller, an uber-guru of giant mega-meanies, has stated that,

"...being a media company, in the old sense of the word, meant being a distributor. And distributors controlled scarce resources, like a national chain of theaters or TV stations. They were the ones who originally owned the radio licenses, which then begat the television licenses, which then had those groups take over or be taken over by old-line movie companies. They were all scarcity distribution systems. But now, the Internet enables self-publishing, which means that the distribution leverage – the chokepoints – is going to evaporate. It doesn’t matter who buys what – new audience is going to be created somewhere, by somebody, that you can’t buy...if you asked me whether a broadcast network has enduring value – I’m not so sure." (see Forbes Meet)

But, dear Comedy Central, trying your hand at the Internet thing still won't stop the fact that the creators will hold the power. Their content will rule. Finally content is truly king.