GoDaddy.com is renowned for its risque Super Bowl spots, but it is taking that attitude into the broadband arena with a videopodcast at www.Frenchmaidtv.com. Frenchmaidtv, the brain child of Tim Street, is a series of how-to videopodcasts in which three scantily clad French maids teach viewers how to perform tasks such as registering domain names, which is where GoDaddy comes in.
“It’s goofy Benny Hill comedy that explains a variety of services, so it’s ideal for companies like GoDaddy to reach 18-34 year old males,” Street said. He founded Frenchmaidtv in 2005 and ran a few non-ad supported videopodcasts on iTunes, which were highly rated. “It got the ball rolling and we’re in business now,” he said.
He works with Podtrac, the podcasting network that sells ads to major companies. Mark McCrery, CEO and co-founder of Podtrac, sold Frenchmaidtv to GoDaddy. “It’s a great environment for advertisers to get their messages across to a target audience, especially when it comes to technical services that are complex for users,” McCrery said.
The format of the videopodcasts is two to four-minute episodes that start with casual shots of the maids before they begin their how-to lesson, which is told in alluring French accents with on-screen graphics that illustrate the steps.
Street says the main challenge in producing the videopodcasts is to name them so they will be found through videopodcast search. “Clients often want to use the name of the product, but people don’t always search by product name,” he said. “We chose ‘How to Register a Domain Name’ for GoDaddy and once we had that I wrote the script and sent it to GoDaddy and Podtrac for comments. We shot it in a hotel room with some location shots as well.”
Barb Rechterman, executive VP of marketing for GoDaddy, says she relies on podcasters to create their own programs. “We let them be the creative force because they’re able to cater their content to their audience. It’s safe for us because it’s coming from the heart of the podcasters. We guided the creative copy with Frenchmaidtv, but aside from that it’s all coming from them,” she said.
“The uniqueness of the voice of the podcast” is its highlight, according to Rechterman. “You can’t get it on TV, because it’s all scripted acting.”
Frenchmaidtv’s videopodcasts play on iTunes and Frenchmaidtv.com. GoDaddy’s also plays on its website (click “View all others” and “Our customers.”)
Director Dag Johan Haugerud’s “Dreams (Sex Love)” Wins Top Prize At The Berlin Film Festival
A Norwegian film about love, desire and self-discovery won top honors at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday.
A jury headed by American director Todd Haynes awarded the Golden Bear trophy to "Dreams (Sex Love)" by director Dag Johan Haugerud.
Haynes called it a "meditation on love" that "cuts you to the quick with its keen intelligence."
The film focuses on a teenager played by Ella Øverbyer, infatuated with her female French teacher, and the reactions of her mother and grandmother when they discover her private writings. It's the third part of a trilogy Haugerud has completed in the past year. "Sex" premiered at Berlin in 2024, and "Love" was screened at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
The runner-up Silver Bear prize went to Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro's dystopian drama "The Blue Trail." Argentine director Ivan Fund's rural saga "The Message" won the third-place Jury Prize.
The best director prize went to Huo Meng for "Living the Land," set in fast-changing 1990s China.
Rose Byrne was named best performer for her role as an overwhelmed mother in the Mary Bronstein-directed "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You." Andrew Scott won the supporting performer trophy for playing composer Richard Rodgers in Richard Linklater's "Blue Moon."
The climax of the festival known as the Berlinale came on the eve of Germany's parliamentary elections after a campaign dominated by migration and the economy.
The national election is being held seven months early, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition collapsed in a dispute about how to revitalize the country's economy.
Efforts to curb migration have emerged as a central issue in the campaign — along with the question of how to handle the... Read More