Veoh

My friend Stephan works for an internet company called Veoh which is making strong inroads in the realm of TV on the internet. I am curious about it so we did a little e-mail Q&A. Check Veoh out for yourself at http://www.veoh.com/

There will be more on Stephan in future posts. Before he wised up and stopped working with me (he was the cinematographer of all of my college films, my feature, Victimless Crimes and all of the Denny Dent commercials) Stephan was the best young director of photography I have ever seen. He saved my film butt on many occasions and we always had a blast doing it. Among other adventures- stuck in a blizzard on Thanksgiving eve, among them- from 1985-1987 we would drive all night to get to the Kentucky Derby, hang out in the infield and drive back to Chicago. We won big with Spend A Buck and Ferdinand. The other year the weather was nice, I am sure.

PeterH

Dumb Filmmaker101: What is Veoh? How does it differ from YouTube?

Stephan: YouTube? Never heard of it. Tell me more...

Veoh is a distribution platform for video that helps content producers find the right audience for their content and audiences find content of interest from across the web. Veoh lowers the barriers to being a
broadcaster, not just for those with short clips (like YouTube), but for professional and semi-professional producers who have long form content (Veoh has no limits as to the file size or length of the content we distribute). For viewers, Veoh has a downloadable player (Veoh TV) that play high quality files full screen, and a remote-control interface that brings a television-like viewing experience to broadband video.

Dumb Filmmaker101: How do producers (content providers) get their programming on Veoh?

Go to www.veoh.com and click on the "publish" button. The publishing process is a simple, step-by-step process. There is no cost to use the Veoh platform for distribution. Anyone can sign up and publish their
files.

Dumb Filmmaker10: What is the pay scale?

Veoh will place ads against your content and share the revenue with you or pay you on a per-view basis. Alternatively, you can charge for your content on a download-to-own or pay-per-view basis. If you have a collection of content, you can create a series and charge for the series on a monthly subscription basis. Veoh takes a percentage of your paid content sales.

To participate in the pay-out program, you need to sign up for the Veoh Pro program, which simply means verifying your address with a credit card (we don't charge it.. Veoh Pro is free as well).

Dumb Filmmaker101 (in a fit of self-promotion): Can I get Rainbow Soup and what's two+three? on Veoh?

Absolutely. Sign up as a user, and publish the highest quality versions of your pieces through our web interface, or using the Veoh TV player. We transcode your files for you, including iPod versions. You can syndicate your content by dropping our web player into your own web site to make it available there, and you can share that player with other sites as well. Veoh will also publish your content to Google, YouTube,and MySpace for you to save you the extra step.

Dumb Filmmaker101: What is the future?

Our goal is to serve viewers with a great way to watch video. That means improving our user interface to make it the simplest, lean-back experience available and the best way for viewers to find really
interesting content. Veoh is expanding its platform to encompass content from across the web, and on to different distribution platforms, like mobile devices, home media servers and other devices that connect the TV to the internet.

Veoh serves producers by bringing the largest possible audience, respecting the quality of the content, offering the potential for monetization, and helping producers connect with the right audience. Veoh is focused on developing new, effective, consumer focused ads and paid content schemes.

Dumb Filmmaker101: Who do you like in the Kentucky Derby?

I don't follow the horses on the road to the Derby. I am not inclined to bet on favorites, particularly on the Derby, so I have to consider the field on the day and look for the good bet. Talk to me on Saturday.

Dumb Filmmaker101 likes No Biz Like Show Biz

PeterH