Spidcast.com has arrived! You can listen to the first episode of the show below by clicking play below. Also be sure to check out our iTunes, Twitter, subscribe by email, and subscribe by RSS links.

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Topics covered in this episode:

- Why the show is named Spidcast

- Why we decided to start the show

- The types of conversations you will hear on Spidcast

- The story behind Spidvid

- How Spidvid’s new media model works

- Who benefits using Spidvid’s social network

- If Spidvid intends to be a disruptive force against traditional video production studios

- An example of a collaborative production team

- Where collaborative video production may be in five years from now

- How someone becomes a Spidvid member

- Celebrity mentions: Ashton Kutcher and Donald Trump

Full Text Transcript

Show Introduction: Hi I’m Michael London, and welcome to this week’s episode of Spidcast, the future of collaborative video production. This week of course is our debut week and we will be speaking with Jeremy Campbell who is the visionary behind Spidcast, and the founder of Spidvid.com. Jeremy will talk about the story behind Spidvid’s social network, who has the opportunity to join this new community, and what types of weekly conversations Spidcast will feature. So let’s jump right into this first ever episode of Spidcast, proudly presented by Spidvid.com.

Michael: Jeremy welcome to the debut episode of Spidcast.

Jeremy: Thank you Michael, it’s good to be the first guest on the show.

Michael: Well since this is the first episode, let’s start right from the beginning. Let’s talk specifics about the show, what is Spidcast all about?

Jeremy: Spidcast is the collaboration between Spidvid and Podcast. I was thinking about just going with a descriptive name like “This Week in Video Production” or “Next-generation video production” but wanted something simple and memorable. I’m sure that branding consultants will say that it’s an extension of the Spidvid brand which is true, but the branding factor wasn’t the most important element that went into the naming process.

Michael: What does the name Spidvid mean?

Jeremy: There is no real meaning behind the name Spidvid.com. We just wanted a name that was clean and interesting, something like Twitter. So Twitter is really fun to say, people tweet, we think that Spidvid has the potential to be a fun name that people will throw around, and ultimately a name that they will enjoy as well.

Michael: Tell us about how you reached your decision to launch this podcast.

Jeremy: Because people are now starting to understand the power of global collaboration, and how connecting with talented individuals from across the world can vastly improve their overall video production quality. With Spidcast there is now a central venue where interested video creators, actors, directors, writers, producers and others in the space can learn and grow their knowledge about these emerging topics and exciting opportunities. Our hope is that Spidcast plays an important role in relatively new conversations, and ultimately helps to grow this emerging movement within the video production industry.

Michael: Now you just mentioned conversations, so talk to us a little bit about the types of conversations and discussions we can expect on Spidcast.

Jeremy: When a listener tunes into Spidcast he or she can expect to learn how they can find and connect with the talent they need to create their videos, how to leverage the power of collaboration, how to rethink how videos can be produced, and useful tools and resources to make producing videos faster, easier, and more fun. Not all conversations will relate directly to Spidvid, but help to educate people on how they can produce quality video content now without being an employee at a corporate studio. So if you are into independant video production, then Spidcast should really interest you.

Michael: It does indeed sound interesting so far, now I understand the mission, but share with us the vision. How did you come up with the idea?

Jeremy: I saw a remarkable video that had a simple yet effective animation in it, and noticed a “special thanks to animation artist” in the videos’ credits. After contacting the creator I learned that the animation work was donated, and so the animator received very little credit and no compensation for the value he added. I looked for more similar videos and found many more similar situations in which an editor would edit raw video material, voice overs offered, and other related examples. I knew the video creator’s were getting value out of these relationships, and realized that the professionals also enjoyed getting involved in the collaborative process. A big idea hit me soon after that by creating a platform where creators could connect and collaborate with professionals to produce quality videos, and then offer every team member credit and compensation for the value they added to the content could be a very valuable service. Through my research I didn’t find one example of a website that offered this kind of platform, and with that I put together a development team to build what is the first of its kind in Spidvid.

Michael: Tell us how this media model works.

Jeremy: So instead of studios owning, controlling, and benefiting from video assets, it’s the team members who actually produce the video content that get to under Spidvid’s model. How the model works is creators post projects and professionals like writers, actors, and directors bid on these projects to join their teams. Once the ideal team is assembled each individual connects and collaborates with whoever they need to on their team in order to reach the goals they are responsible for. So each individual invests his or her talent and skills, to arrive at a fully produced video which is then distributed to viewers.

Michael: So besides the work aspect, there is also the social networking part of Spidvid. Tell us a bit about that.

Jeremy: There are three core groups which we are focused on communicating to. They are production school students, freelancers, and individuals currently working within a production studio who want to pursue outside opportunities and passion projects. Each of these groups will have different motivating factors for becoming a Spidvid member. It helps students break into the industry to get some much needed experience, and it helps freelancers and active studio employees to choose projects that they are interested in outside of their usual corporate projects where they have little or no say in.

Michael: You now what that is an interesting aspect because it seems like the major studios have the industry running pretty much the way they want. Do you see Spidvid as a disruptive force against the traditional entertainment studios?

Jeremy: The traditional studio model is decades old and thanks to the social web new opportunities are popping up all over the place. I believe that social networks are moving from simple things like sharing photos and communicating, to platforms where individuals can self organize to produce their own media content outside of corporate type entities. I think that big entertainment studios will always exist but I believe that some remarkable videos will come out of teams with members located all over the world. My hope is that in time people learn that they don’t have to be an employee at a studio to succeed anymore, but understand that a new alternative model exists. The key here is to aggregate a large talent network ecosystem where on-demand teams can be formed, because more than ever it’s about the quality of the people who are behind projects. Videos aren’t produced by companies, they are produced by teams of real people, and whether they want to do that inside of corporations or collaborate amoungst themselves is their decision now.

Michael: I think we now have the general picture of the how and why of Spidvid, but now let’s laser focus and give a real world example of how individuals would connect via Spidvid.

Jeremy: What a creator needs to have is a strong production idea or a script to get started. From there the creator needs to connect with local talent like actors and videographers to join him or her on the video shoot. Most of the post production can be done with talent from around the world, so creators can find talent like editors and narrators later on.

A simple example is a video creator named Pamela located in Manhattan who has a script for a 5-10 minute short film. She decides that her project needs 3 actors, 2 videographers, 1 director, and 2 editors. Pamela searches for all of the talent she needs on Spidvid.com, and invites individuals to offer their top bid to join her team on Thursday. She finalizes her team and has the 3 actors, 2 videographers, and 1 director join her on Sunday afternoon for the projected 5 hour video shoot. Shortly after the shoot, the videographers send the raw footage to the 2 editors located in LA and Toyko to tell a story like Pamela and the team originally envisioned. A polished video is sent to Pamela on Tuesday evening at 8:42 pm and 5 minutes later at 8:47 pm it’s uploaded through Spidvid and out on the Internet ready for distribution.

Michael: That is so very, very cool. Now how does someone become a member on Spidvid?

Jeremy: Visit Spidvid.com, click the Sign Up link at the top, and submit your email address so we can invite you to join our community. Join us to grow this social movement that we believe will transform the way video entertainment can be successfully produced.

Michael: Alright sounds good, but you know it always comes down to the bottom line. Is there a cost involved?

Jeremy: So for all of the members of the site it’s free, and we hope to keep it free hopefully forever, and the dollars we want to attract are from sponsors and advertisers. So we really want to keep the site free for as long as we can because it’s the members who drive the video content, and they are the most important people in this model.

Michael: So you have the vision and insight to put this project together, now where do you see collaborative video production in five years from now?

Jeremy: I envision video content that rivals the quality of traditional entertainment studios, and longer form content like movies being produced. I see thousands of people working from home, collaborating to create quality videos that attract sponsorship and advertising dollars so they can make a living off of what they love to do. I guess you could say that we would like to do for the video production marketplace, is what eBay has done for the products marketplace. So eBay connects buyers and sellers where money is exchanged directly, and Spidvid connects creators and professionals where produced video’s are monetized and the revenues are ultimately funnelled back to the team members. Big ambition I know, but what can I say except that the most important thing that Donald Trump tought me as an entrepreneur is to think as big as possible.

Michael: Not a bad role model Mr.Trump is I would say. Any final thoughts for us?

Jeremy: Yes, the first video production team to produce a video that attracts 1 million views gets the privilage to have Ashton Kutcher as their lead actor for their next project.

Michael: That is quite a score! How did you work that out?

Jeremy: Actually no that isn’t true, but isn’t this a sweet idea for a contest. Hey Ashton if you or your people are listening and want to get involved with this initiative, feel free to get in touch, we would love to hear from you.

And to stay updated on the show, follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/Spidcast. And of course thanks to everyone for listening to Spidcast’s debut episode.

Michael: Very good, thank you for being the very first guest on Spidcast.

Jeremy: It was great to be on, thanks for having me.