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Brian Newman & Sub-Genre Media
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Learn more about Brian Newman & Sub-Genre at Sub-Genre.com
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Brian Newman & Sub-Genre Media
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Learn more about Brian Newman & Sub-Genre at Sub-Genre.com
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*|FEED:http://www.sub-genre.com/blog/|*
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Holland Carter (in the NYT) has a good run down of the ethical issues facing the arts world now, from stolen antiquities to whether you accept money from pill pushers or arms dealers when you run a museum. It’s worth a read to get the full scope of the argument, which comes down to we need more protests and thought about these issues.
It shouldn’t be much of a conundrum to just do the right thing. But I guess those ethics get harder when running a museum is not unlike firing up a vacuum cleaner in search of dollars – you tend to suck in a lot of dirt.
Speaking of vacuum cleaners sucking up dollars, there’s Silicon Valley and Hollywood, and they have their own ethical issues. Just this week, Indiewire ran an article about whether or not Hollywood will leave Georgia now that they’re getting closer to banishing abortion. The answer: of course not. Hollywood only takes convenient, cost-neutral stands. The film world is saving too much money to take a stand in Georgia. We can call it a complex issue, or just admit this truth.
Similarly, no one cares about the killing of Jamal Khashoggi when they take Saudi Arabian investment money, which AMC is taking, along with many others in Hollywood and Silicon Valley. There’s been little lasting outcry about that, and I have to admit I didn’t think about it when I went to AMC theaters recently, or when I took my last Uber, so I am a bit guilty of muddying these waters as well.
Of course the answers aren’t actually all that easy. As I look at the debates on the Sackler donations to museums, I find it just a touch ironic that those same protestors don’t seem to mind grants from the foundations of former crooks and robber-barons. As I’ve said before, the arts are fine taking money from dead capitalists, just not from those still breathing. There’s no clean money in the world, but you can at least try to do things a better way.
Meanwhile, over in brand-land, where I currently live, we have plenty of examples of brands trying their best to get this stuff right, and make the world a better place. This week’s Guardian article on Yvon Chouinard is a good example of a brand (Patagonia, a former client) doing the right thing. And while Chouinard thinks no one else is joining the fight, I see plenty of others doing more than just green-washing. A lot of brands/companies are responding to the push from consumers to do the right thing, and seem a lot less conflicted about it.
I find it interesting that my brand clients seem to have a better sense of ethics these days than my film and art-world ones, but I guess that’s the new world we live in.
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Film
AI Eats the World - Modeling edition - people keep telling me actors are irreplaceable, but I'm not so sure. In the lead up, someone has created an AI that can generate fake models modeling fake clothes. Watch the video. H/T to Daniel Miessler's Unsupervised Learning.
What's up in the Doc Marketplace? Anthony Kaufman has a great story covering every angle in IndieWire this week. I don't usually link to Indiewire - because you all read it already, right... - but this one is a must read. Especially interesting - IDFA announcing the end of their signature Central Pitch, and his take on what's working and not. I recommend this for everyone - filmmakers, producers, buyers and brands thinking about the doc space.
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Branded Content
Carrie Brownstein on How Portlandia Launched her Branded Content Career: Much like the Kenzo short she directed, which put the story first as opposed to the brand, Brownstein endeavors to work with more brands that are “interested in doing things that feel like there is a connection with the audience that transcends the product itself.”
Spotify launches voice-enabled ads on mobile devices: an interesting look at how ads will engage in new innovative ways in down the line. And remember how people used to tell you how important cell phones would be and you didn’t know what they meant? That’s what’s happening next with voice, so this is pretty important.
After Streamlining Web Presence, Vice reportedly raises $250 million in Debt Funding: Vice rolls on, but my take is that Vice has been in the dead-pool for quite some time now (but investors and branded content deals may keep them zombie-live for a bit longer).
P&G is Moving Heavily into Branded Content - and the Drum has the interview w/ Marc Pritchard (their Chief Brand Officer), explaining why - to engage consumers more creatively. He also explains that in an OTT streaming area, they need to go “"back to the future" … with a 'brought-to-you-by' message upfront, rather than integrating into or overtly advertising within the series.” Which leads me to believe that the “back to the future” analogy will play out for awhile and lead us right back to… interruptive advertising as brands inevitably try to differentiate once again. But let’s enjoy it while it lasts.
Verizon announced it has bought 5B and is bringing it to market - I’ve been lucky to meet producer Rupert Maconick via BrandStorytelling, and watched this film at their last event - it’s a great doc about nurses leading the charge in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the early days (they noticed something was going on), and I’m glad to hear it’s found a great home. It will apparently come out under the RYOT label, and be tied to their LGBTQ+ initiatives. Kudos to all involved, and I can honestly say - watch this one when you get the chance.
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Film
Disney says its more than $400 million Vice investment is now worthless. Saw that one coming, but it amazes me that some people are still giving these clowns money. It. never. Worked. It was a media Ponzi-scheme all along, and only the old media guard fell for it.
Check out this fun interview with Werner Herzog - where he discusses everything from catching trout with your bare hands to how to pick a lock. Good stuff.
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Branded Content
Why Brand Purpose marketing isn’t working with young people - Guess why? Because most brands don’t have a purpose and think they can fake one. You can’t. But when you are genuine, the audience knows it and responds in kind.
Will Streaming Platforms usher in a golden age of Branded Content - I’ve been saying this for years now, and finally people are picking up on the fact that brands are making longer form and episodic content to get past the firewall and onto SVOD. We’ll also see it increase as Netflix realizes they need another revenue stream.
Walmart is Streaming Shoppable Shows, and that could change shopping - Walmart is using streaming content to help facilitate consumers buying products. I don’t think this is the best use of branded content, but it will surely work for fashion and certain other brands, and it is (unfortunately) the future.
Forbes is making 40% of its revenue from branded content - according to Digiday - and part of the reason for that is more cross-platform thinking as exemplified by the ties between their research, events and content divisions. More on Forbes below, but combining services seems like a smart strategy in this space.
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GAMING; VR/AR; SOCIAL MEDIA
How Jordan Freeman and Zoom are using Cross-media approaches and a stellar team to make gaming the new art form. A great read in Forbes on someone doing it right. Freeman has built a bit of a creative dream team (smart step one) and is focused on building story worlds, and making something more than the “usual” in the gaming world. It has a lot of potential. From the article, Zoom’s approach “could truly help games become more recognized as works of art: a seamless blend of elements we appreciate as artistic, but presented in a cross-media package that combines imagination with interactivity, founded on
real creativity.”
Driving marketing in the 21st century with VR and AR - More on how the future of advertising is at least partly being realized through VR/AR.
How video games can address climate change - Finally, some folks are using active/interactive media that people actually participate in to address climate change (games, that is). It’s about time, and will likely have far more influence than all these scary climate films we’ve been making. Kudos.
TikTok has Created a Whole New Class of Influencer - As the article says: “There might not be much money – but, right now, there is very little artifice as a result.” and that’s why TikTok works for so many people - the lack of artifice, which is reminiscent of early web video. It will be about a year before it gets overrun with “professionalized” content, but it’s great for now.
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Note that I am taking a break til after June 3rd and the newsletter will be on temporary hiatus. More in June.
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