CYNOPSISDIGITAL
09.28.15 Good morning. It’s Monday September 28, 2015, and this is your first early morning digital briefing.
Watcheroo Premieres and Tune-in Alerts for September 28-October 4:
– People Now at People.com, Monday-Friday at 8:30a ET and 11:30a ET: Guests include TV personality Clinton Kelly (The Chew), Tiffanie Didonato, actress/singer Keke Palmer (Scream Queens), TV personality Josh Altman (Million Dollar Listing), model Robyn Lawley, actor Dylan O’Brien (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials), actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials), actor Matt Damon (The Martian), author Stefany Shaheen (Elle and Coach), and actor/musician Rick Springfield (True Detective)
Hulu: The season 41 premiere of Saturday Night Live will be available on Sunday, October 24, the day after its live airing on NBC. Two more series go live the same day, both from Showtime: The Affair (season 2, episodes 1 and 2) and Homeland (season 5 premiere).
It’s seeming more and more certain that YouTube will launch an ad-free paid subscription service – possibly as early as October. Google‘s video site sent an email blast to YouTube content creators, suggesting dire consequences to those who don’t join the new subscription service: Anyone who doesn’t sign on to the new partner agreement by October 22 will find that their "videos will no longer be available for public display or monetization in the United States." Yikes. The ad-free nature of the service might make some creators nervous – YouTube‘s pre-video TrueView ads are their bread and butter. But in its email, YouTube says that the new paid service will, over time, create a new source of revenue to supplement their ad dollars.
Thanks to Netflix‘s latest app updates, Apple iOS users will be able to use in-app purchases to subscribe to the streaming service directly over iPhones and iPads. (Netflix has had iOS apps since 2010, but subscriptions still had to go through the web.) FYI, you might want to check out Netflix‘s promo for the new feature. It stars Orange Is the New Black‘s Dannielle Brooks and Uzo Aduba, along with a certain disembodied voice you may recognize.
Verizon‘s Go90 mobile streaming service – currently being beta tested – debuts soon. New Form Digital is getting in on the act: Verizon called on the digital production company to develop and produce six scripted series for the service. Each series received a 12-episode order. The first premieres in October; a fantasy-adventure called The Fourth Door, it was created by Tony Valenzuela, founder of YouTube sci-fi channel BlaxBoxTV. New Form launched in 2014, and is known for developing projects with YouTube celebs. Two of its series, Oscar’s Hotel for Fantastical Creatures and The Parallax Theory, premiered this month on Vimeo On Demand.
Speaking of Go90: They’re kicking things off in style. Last Thursday night, Verizon‘s launch party for the service included surprise performances from funnyman Zach Galiafianakis and not-as-funny-man Kanye West. West performed some of his hits, while Galiafiankis performed a live version of Between Two Ferns, his recurring Funny or Die celebrity interview segment. This time around he interviewed Bryan Cranston and Ted Danson – and he was characteristically mean to them. Other celebs in attendance included Emmy Rossum, John Legend, Freida Pinto, Joe Manganiello, Zoe Saldana, Chrissy Teigen, and Shaun White.
In a deal with NBCUniversal, Amazon Prime has gained exclusive streaming rights to the first season of USA Network‘s hit cyber-thriller Mr. Robot. Episodes will be available to Prime users in the U.K. Germany, Austria, Japan, and the U.S. U.K. users will gain access to the episodes on October 16, followed by Germany and Austria on November 20. The U.S.? Not until spring 2016 – exact date undetermined.
Media company Woven Digital has teamed with American Honda on a new original series. Uncharted: Power of Dreams, which launched on UPROXX September 24, introduces viewers to unknown, up-and-coming musicians. Each episode features a new artist. The debut centered on A-F-R-O, an L.A.-based hip-hop artist. The series is part of the Honda Stage Music Program, the company’s 16-month-old foray into music-related digital video.
Fandango, the movie ticketing service and burgeoning original content producer, is buying Ingresso, a Brazilian entertainment service. Ingresso sells Brazilians tickets to movies, concerts, soccer matches, and other events, including the Rock in Rio festival. "We see this as an opportune moment to expand outside of the United States," said Fandango President Paul Yanover. "Latin America presents the next logical growth area for Fandango, and we look forward to extending our leading online and mobile ticketing capabilities to Brazil’s entertainment fans."
Black Mirror is coming back – hopefully as trippy as ever. The British sci-fi anthology series vaulted into the American consciousness last year, when it became available on Netflix. As it turns out, Netflix will continue to be Black Mirror‘s home: The streaming service has ordered a run of 12 all-new episodes, which will be available internationally in all of Netflix‘s territories outside of Ireland and the U.K. Annabel Jones and series creator Charlie Brooker, both Executive Producers of the first seven episodes, will once again serve as EPs. The show’s premiere date hasn’t been set.
The NFL (perhaps you’ve heard of it?) is teaming up with video game publisher Electronic Arts and game-broadcasting site Twitch to put out a weekly digital series. EA Sports Madden NFL Live will cover news, tips and tricks relating to EA‘s humongously popular Madden NFL video game. The NFL Network‘s Adam Rank and former NFL running back Maurice Jones-Drew will co-host.
Insurrection Media, a recently-formed digital studio led by former FOX executive Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, has announced a multi-year first-look deal with producers Jonathan Stern and Keith Quinn. Previously, they served as Executive Producers of popular 2012 web series Burning Love. Quinn and Stern will produce multiple comedy series for Insurrection, to be distributed worldwide across OTT and linear video platforms. The two will also provide their own production services via Stern’s production company, Abominable Pictures.
YouTube multichannel network AwesomenessTV has signed digital celebs Ethan and Grayson Dolan (best known as The Dolan Twins). Only 15 years old, the two are known for their Vine and YouTube channels.
Fusion, the news channel launched by Univision and Disney-ABC Television group in 2013, has partnered with mobile video platform SlingTV. SlingTV, which is owned by Dish Network, streams TV channels across broadband-connected devices.
Last week, Cynopsis Digital noted that Netflix and Hulu are embracing virtual reality apps. Some more details: Netflix‘s app, set to launch on the upcoming Samsung GearVR headset, features the Netflix Living Room (closer look here), which provides a user interface for the headset. And Hulu has announced that it will curate films and produce original content for multiple VR platforms. (The service’s VR app will also allow users to stream content from its 2D library.) Hulu‘s upcoming short film The Big One will be the service’s first foray into original VR content. The film comes from Lionsgate, made in partnership with digital studio RocketJump and VR startup WEVR.
360 degrees might be overkill when there are only 5 (or six?) candidates. Still, CNN‘s got the VR crowd covered. The network’s partnering with VR streaming company NextVR to live stream the October 13 Democratic presidential primary debate in virtual reality. The live stream will be available on the Samsung GearVR headset. Viewers will be able to watch from a POV of their choice, focusing on any candidate, regardless of who’s speaking. (CNN and NextVR also experimented with virtual reality during September 16’s Republican debate). Not too many people are likely to see the October live stream: The current version of GearVR was marketed more to developers than consumers. But Samsung‘s next version of GearVR, to be released this November, is consumer-friendly.
No one said VR was all fun and games. PBS‘s investigative journalism series Frontline teamed with interactive studio Secret Location on a new documentary providing a 360-degree look at last year’s Ebola crisis in West Africa. The doc, titled Ebola Outbreak: A Virtual Journey, debuted Saturday at ONA15, the Online News Association‘s annual digital journalism conference. It’s also now available for public download, for use on the Google Cardboard VR platform. The film was shot on 360-degree cameras during the height of the Ebola crisis, in hospitals and villages in Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Finally, Bob Thunder: Internet Assassin is set to premiere. The film, a collaboration between Relativity Media, online platform FilmOn, and digital star Joe Nation, center’s on its titular main character’s quest to assassinate various YouTube stars. And there are a lot of YouTubers in the movie, including Chester See, Joey Graceffa, and about 50 others. The film will be available for VOD download beginning October 27.
Latino-oriented multichannel network Mitu has been named as the official digital network of the Latin Grammy Awards. In the two months ahead of the ceremony, influencers from Mitu‘s network will debut Latin Grammy-related content across platforms including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Vine and Twitter. Members of the Mitu network include vloggers Daniel Fernandez and Maiah Ocando. The awards show will air November 19 on Univision.
Whether playing games or making them, it seems PewDiePie can do no wrong. Last week, the YouTube giant released his own video game (called PewDiePie: Legend of the Brofist) on Apple‘s App Store and Google Play. In the days since, the game has rocketed to the top spot on the App Store‘s list of most-downloaded paid apps. The game was developed by Outerminds, a Canadian studio.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE
CYNOPSIS DIGITAL HALL OF DISTINCTION
3 Simple Steps to Complete, in Order to Compete!
1) Select your ongoing work in digital media
2) Complete the Entry Form
3) Process your Payment
Enter now for the chance to be named in the Hall of Distinction
NDN, the video monetization platform for all Associated Press member companies, has rebranded as Inform. The new Inform platform combines three of NDN‘s prior acquisitions, Reverb Technologies, Mochila, and Inform Technologies, into a single unified publisher, offering improved content delivery and personalization. Cynopsis Digital spoke with Inform CEO Greg Peters. "Video is great," he said. "Everybody wants video advertising. But you have to have the technology, the automation and the personalization that enables all these publishers to really benefit from it. That’s the big move we’re making, towards personalized content in an automated way."
Each month, video analytics company Tubular Inc. releases its cross-platform, all-device monthly ranking of the most watched online video creators. Here are some of their findings from the month of August, which they released last week:
The top 100 video creators generated over 26 billion total cross-platform views.
There were 34,000 creators exceeding the 1 million-views-per-month threshold, up from 31,000 creators in July.
August was the first month that any creator on Facebook received one billion+ video views in a single month. Three creators, all in the entertainment genre – and all Facebook compilation pages – achieved this ranking: Funniest and Craziest Videos with 1.1B views, SoFloAntonio with one billion views, and UNILAD with 1B views. Adidas was the brand with the largest view growth rate, gaining 131 million views in August–comprising 48% of the channel’s all-time views.
Recently, Cynopsis Digital spoke with Allison Stern, Tubular’s Co-Founder and VP of Marketing and Business Development. "This is the moment where traditional brands are going to prove whether they can make it on new platforms," she said. "And it’s the moment where new upstart media companies are going to see whether they can cross that threshold and be mainstream."
Condé Nast Entertainment, Condé Nast‘s branded video division, added a new exec. Nathan Guetta will lead product initiatives as Vice President of Product. Guetta has previously worked as Director of Marketing, Products and Operations at Samsung Electronics, Head of Content Services at Vodafone, and Product and Project Director at Dailymotion.
VideoAmp, a data and software platform for video and TV marketers, announced a new hire. Amy McGovern will serve as Vice President of Strategic Sales, overseeing cross-screen sales efforts in the eastern region. Before joining VideoAmp, McGovern worked as Vice President of Digital Video Ad Sales at Fox Networks Group.
A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE
L.A.-based media company RYOT has dipped its brush into the short-documentary game – and they used an iPhone 6S Plus to do it. Making use of the phone’s the 4K Ultra HD capabilities, company founders David Darg and Bryn Mooser worked with Apple to shoot their film in less than a week. The Painter of Jalouzi is about a Haitian artist who brightens up the lives of others living in his slum. It clocks in at five minutes and 40 seconds–watch it here.
See you tomorrow,
David Teich
09.28.15
Roberta Caploe: Associate Publisher @ robertacaploe
Diane K Schwartz: Senior Vice President, Media Communications Group
Cynopsis Ad Sales: Mike Farina | VP, Sales | 203-218-6480
Cynopsis Job Listings Sales: Trish Pihonak | Director of Operations | 203-899-8459
CYNOPSIS JOBS – For More jobs, visit Cynopsis.com
JOB OPENING: DEPUTY EDITOR/NBC Asian/NYC: The Deputy Editor will report directly to the verticals Editorial Manager. Responsibilities include: Edit, produce, publish daily content for Asian American. Full info/apply HERE (10/3)
JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, CONSUMER MKTG/TV One/Silver Spring: Dvlp new mktg ideas & strategies to help increase the AA P25-54 demo. Strong knwldg cable ind relating to African-American demographics. BA Mktg, bus admin or comm + min 8-10 yrs exp ntwk TV mktg. Full info/apply HERE (10/3)
JOB OPENING: SR MGR CONSUMER MKTG/ TV One/ Silver Spring: Dvlp/mng consumer mktg & promo campaigns to drive awareness, reach & ratings for ntwrk initiatives. Strong knwldg cable ind w/African-American demo. BA Mktg, bus admin or comm + min 5-8 yrs exp ntwk TV mktg. Full info/apply HERE (10/3)
JOB OPENING: DIGITAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/KXAS/Fort Worth: Responsible for local coverage strategy on all digital platforms incl social media & mobile offerings to drive revenue. A min of 5 yrs exp brdcst TV, Cable TV &/or Web-Internet mngmnt or operational role. Full info/apply HERE (10/2)
JOB OPENING: COORDINATOR, AD SALES MARKETING/Travel Channel/NYC: Seeking strong communicator to support development and activation of client-specific marketing solutions and maintain communication tools. www.scrippsnetworks.com #5029 (10/2)
JOB OPENING: SCHEDULING COORD/AMC and SundanceTV/NYC: Work w/sched team behind The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, Rectify, etc. Entry level, intersect w/multi depts. Detail-orientated w/passion for brdcst/cable TV ind. Full info/apply HERE (10/2)
JOB OPENING: SALES ASSISTANT/REELZ/NYC: Daily maint of accounts. Booking orders, pulling reports & brand allocations. Work closely with traffic dept, planners & AEs all areas scheduling & inv management. Sintec exp. a plus.Full info/apply HERE (10/2)
JOB OPENING: DIRECTOR, SOCIAL MEDIA/DISCOVERY DIGITAL NETWORKS/SF: Lead/implement social media strategy, mng a team of Specialists, grow daily audience & awareness for DDN. 6 yrs exp social media, multi-platform expert, strong mngmnt skills. Apply Here (10/1)
JOB OPENING: DIR, BRAND MARKETING/USA/NYC: Direct consumer mktg efforts. 7-10 yrs of consumer mktg media exp. Trad & digi mktg for TV network req. Dev strat,campaign planning, budgets & employees. Full info/apply HERE (10/1)
JOB OPENING: EDITORIAL STRATEGY/NBCU/NYC: 8 yrs editorial exp. w/interactive media, mgr editorial projects; creating & maintaining editorial voice for USA. Content strat, editorial ideation & planning. Full info/apply HERE (10/1)
JOB OPENING: DIGITAL PRODUCER/SPROUT/NYC: Manage portfolio of dig projects in interactive, gaming & dig media; Exp w/Agile/Scrum framework & full dev cycle, from concept to delivery; Min. 5 yrs exp. Full info/apply HERE (10/1)
JOB OPENING: ANALYST, PROGRAM RESEARCH/Bravo/NYC: Knowledge of Nielsen, proactive thinker and good communication skills needed; 1-2 years relevant exp preferred. Cable ntwk exp a plus. Full info/apply HERE (10/1)
JOB OPENING: PHOTOGRAPHER/NBC CT/New Haven: NBC Connecticut is looking for a photojournalist for our New Haven, CT studio. As a Photojournalist you will be responsible for videotaping and editing local news events Full info/apply HERE (10/1)
JOB OPENING: PRODUCER/NYC: Strong journalistic, writing, shooting, pitching & producing skills needed; at least 5 yrs editorial experience at network level preferred. Full info/apply HERE (10/1)
JOB OPENING: RESEARCH& STRATEGY MGR/Insight Strategy Group/NYC: Highly skilled rsrchrs & strategist to, Ind mng teams & proj delivery across all aspects of proj lifecycle. Grad deg + 3-5 yrs exp mkt rsrch, or in brand/mktg consulting role. Email HERE (10/1)
JOB OPENING: RESEARCH AND STRATEGY DIRECTOR/Insight Strategy Group/NYC: Highly skilled rsrchrs & strategist to translate bus. objectives into qualitative/quantitative rsrch plans.Grad deg social sciences mktg or related field. 5-7 yrs exp mkt rsch provider. Email HERE (10/1)
JOB OPENING: SR ANALYST/Benenson Strategy Group/Santa Monica: Support new business initiatives, focusing on media/ent ind. 3+ yrs exp comm, consulting, mkt-rsrch, etc. 1+ yrs exp ent rsrch on behalf of movie studios, TV ntwrks & streaming svcs pref’d. Full info/apply HERE (10/1)
JOB OPENING: ACCT MGR/WO PROGRAMMATIC TV/NY: Hybrid between consultant/customer svc/sales training. Mkt/promote/svc/mng WO Programmatic TV demand-side engagements/relationships. 3+ yrs exp in client facing role the dig/ linear media/ad tech ind. Exp w/media buying. Apply HERE (9/30)
JOB OPENING: SR MGR, INTEGRATED MKTG/TV One/NYC: Work w/Director & VP on strategic/creative dvlpmnt/mngmnt of revenue-generating mktg solutions for existing and prospective clients. BA deg related field & Min 6-8 yrs at, media co. or sales/mktg orgnztn. Full info/apply HERE (9/30)
JOB OPENING: AD SALES ACCOUNT EXEC/Crown Media Family Networks/CHICAGO: Sell Nat’l advertising time to ad agencies and clients. Strong negotiation skills and presentation skills. Strong knowledge of Chicago mktplace. BS req & Min 5 yrs exp. Apply HERE (9/30)
JOB OPENING: PRINT PRODUCTION DESIGNER/Crown Media Family Networks/LA: Finish existing creative for mechanicals and production. Min 3 yrs production exp. Apply HERE http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/jobs/default.aspx (9/30)
JOB OPENING: FREELANCE LOG COORDINATOR/LOGO/NYC: Schedule promos and graphics on daily logs, assist pgmg dept with ad-hoc projects. 1 yr exp in promo planning or traffic preferred. Resume to: [email protected] (9/30)
JOB OPENING: CREATIVE DIRECTOR, UNSCRIPTED DEVELOPMENT/NYC: Industry leading prod co seeks CD. Must be experienced idea generator & hands-on producer. Strong writer & skilled story teller. Please send resume & credits to [email protected] (9/29)
JOB OPENING: EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT/NYC: Company President seeks executive assistant. Must manage busy schedule & work closely with development team. Good phone skills & attention to details. NY based. Please send resume & credits to [email protected] (9/29)
JOB OPENING: SR SALES PLANNER/ZLIVING/NYC: Manage network’s inventory across all platforms. Work with agencies and ntwk’s ad sales team. 4+ yrs experience at TV ntwk. Full info/apply HERE (9/29)
JOB OPENING: CREATIVE PRODUCER/NYC: Execute short-form creative that aligns w/brand vision, pitch and produce on-air quality work under quick turnaround. Min 5 yrs exp at agency, media org, non-profit, or political campaign pref’d. Full info/apply HERE (9/29)
CASTING CALL: Companies can showcase their casting notices/casting calls here. For information on rates and specs for posting a casting notice, please email Trish at [email protected]
EXPERT SERVICES ADS: These ads are for companies or people who offer an expertise in the field of media by way of production, voice over artistry, writing, set development, etc. For information on rates and specs for posting an Expertise Service ad email Trish at [email protected]
INTERNSHIPS – These positions are for credit only – nobody gets paid here. These ads are always posted for free, and students work for school credit only. For more information on the specs for posting an Internship ad, email Trish at [email protected].
SITUATION WANTED ADS, POSTED BY THOSE LOOKING TO BE HIRED… There is no charge for placing your Situation Wanted ad… for more information contact Trish Pihonak at [email protected]
E-mail [email protected] or call Trish Pihonak at 203-899-8459 for rates and specs for Job Openings.
To subscribe to any Cynopsis edition(s) click here.