Jesus vs. Santa (flash)

Jesus meets his girlfriend's parents and Santa drops by (rated PG-13).

Social Media Must Be Done by You

Having an actual personal connection with your audience means you have to be the one that responds to comments, emails, tweets, phone calls

(from tubefilter.tv).

Google Improves Video Search with Goog411

...the reason for [Google] offering free 411 service was to get phoneme data for speech recognition algorithms... why they want better speech recognition algorithms right now: to improve video search

(from O'Reilly Radar).

Internet Overtakes Newspapers as News Source

The internet, which emerged this year as a leading source for campaign news, has now surpassed all other media except television as a main source for national and international news

(from Pew Research Center). This is further reason why website quality and availability are essential if one wants to stay in business. Newspapers are just one of the traditional forms of media whose audience is moving online.

Over the weekend, Twilight, the feature film still in theatres, was amongst the most watched videos on YouTube; it could be watched on an iPhone anywhere that had WiFi or access to AT&T's data networks.

Gump Royale

Mash-Up of the trailer for the latest Bond film 'Casino Royale' together with footage from 1994's Forrest Gump (rated PG).

Fans Mash-Up Your Content, Let Them

A fan has made a Thundercats Movie Trailer by repurposing existing footage and audio from movies that already exist. This is another example of the audience interacting with content in ways never intended by the original creators. As time goes on this will happen more and more often.

Mac vs PC Transformers (flash)

Two computers tranform and fight to find out which is superior once and for all (rated PG-13).

John Belushi Audition (flash)

John Belushi's SNL Screen Test (rated PG).

Santa Claus - 1898 (flash)

Made in 1898, G.A. Smith's 'Santa Claus' is a film of considerable technical ambition and accomplishment for its period (rated PG).

Bud Light Secret Ad (flash)

Cut The Cheese TV spot released right after the Super Bowl (rated PG-13).

Happy Christmas from AKQA (flash)

They wish a happy Christmas with microwave jingle bells (rated PG).

Twyla Tharp on Motivation and Creativity (flash)

The choreographer discusses motivation, creating for oneself verses for others or money (rated PG).

Brands Engaging Directly with Consumers Win

A new online Word of Mouth Marketing research study conducted by OTX, a global consumer research and consulting firm, confirms the value of brands engaging directly with consumers online. The initial findings of the new study, "The Impact of Social Media on Purchase Behavior," revealed that 54% of consumers agree that information from a brand representative would be more valuable than what is typically found on a company website

(from Yahoo! Finance).

Keith Powell Directs a Play (flash)

Keith meets with his agent to discuss directing a play out of town (rated PG-13).

China’s Andy Rooney (flash)

He has some funny opinions about how great the Chinese government is (rated PG).

Uptime Counts

Hollywood Reporter's website was down for 38 minutes on December 5th starting at about 2:06 PM (5:06 in New York). This was during primetime and I think during one of their prime seasons (awards season). They just laid off a dozen people.

If their site were accessible when I tried to reach it, they would've been able to serve ads to me. I wouldn't think twice before clicking a link to their site, or linking to their site; I worry their site may be inaccessible when I try to visit, so I may not bother. I worry their site may be down when my websites' visitors try to visit, so I may not link. I am not alone in my worry; search engines think this way too; they are also less likely to send visitors to a site that is inaccessible.

I like the Hollywood Reporter and hope they keep up the reporting they do for a long time; I'm a slightly frustrated fan. Best of luck to the recent former employees.

(An uptime tracking service I used found their site was up 99.13% of the time over the last 2 1/2 weeks. My site, a vastly different site than theirs in needs, traffic and budget, was up 99.95% of the time over the same period. Mine was down for about 12.5 minutes total; theirs was down for about 3.75 hours total.)

Changing Markets Need Flexibility and Innovation

The best, most solid way out of a crisis in a changing market is through experiment and adaptation. Businesses surf the waves of changing circumstances, and I can't offhand think of any industries whose best players are not constantly engaged in reinvention of one sort or another

(from Richard Branson's Official Website & Blog). The Film and TV markets are changing, a lot; innovation, experimentation and adaption are key to their success.

ROI of Social Media

The answer to "What is the ROI of Social Media?" can be another question: "What is the ROI on putting on your clothes in the morning?" I didn't come up with it, and I'm not sure who said this.

They were stressing the necessity for organizations to be active in Social Media. You will be talked about via Social Media, and you must decide if you want to be part of those conversations, or at their mercy (to some extent).

Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey (flash)

Whiplash rides his steed like the wind through the city and country side spreading delicious and surprising taco joy (rated PG).

Beats Per Minute Trailer (flash)

French street dancer leaves Europe with a one-way ticket to Hollywood (rated PG).

Jizz In My Pants (flash)

First single from The Lonely Island's debut album "INCREDIBAD" (rated R).

Hero Says - Val Verde (flash)

The story of henchmen (rated PG-13). Episodes 1, 2, 3 and 4 are online.

One Line on the Sopranos (flash)

Erik Weiner raps about his one line on the Sopranos (rated PG-13).

'Computer Friends' Stack the Memory (flash)

Sniper Twins show you how to stack the memory to the sky with their office rap (rated PG-13).

The Fear (flash)

Lily Allen's new single The Fear (rated PG).

Where to Host Your Videos

Put your videos on YouTube. Their systems will take care of the delivery, your visitors may already be familiar with the player and know how to share the videos on YouTube with their friends. It costs you nothing, and may lead to you coming up in the world's second largest search engine.

Titles and Headlines Matter

On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.

(from David Ogilvy, via Brady Brim-DeForest). Read more on How to write titles and headlines for online use.

Prop 8 - The Musical (flash)

A star-studded cast turns out for "Prop 8 - The Musical" (rated PG).

Robby (flash)

Animated worm digs toward daylight (rated PG).

Facebook Activity Visualized

A video showcases a project that visualizes all the data Facebook receives and the interactions on the site. There seem to be over 2,000 actions on Facebook each second.