Online video has “reinvented the world of moving image,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards, during Monday night’s Webby Film & Video Awards presentation at New World Stages in New York City. This is the eleventh year of The International Academy of Arts and Sciences Webby Awards, but the first for film & video, which signals the arrival of the new medium.
Awards were given in a number of categories, but there wasn’t one for video advertising. However, some of the winning videos were ad related, most notably “The Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiments,” by Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz, which won the Best Viral Award.
The geyser-like spewing of Diet Coke from cans containing Mentos candies was filmed by the pair in their hometown of Buckfield, ME after six months of research. The idea had been suggested by a friend. The first video was posted at Revver.com on May 31, 2006 and it was an instant success, receiving over five million hits in two months. The video was so popular that Revver sold advertising with it, to Microsoft and other major advertisers. The video was also posted at Grobe’s and Voltz’s site, www.eepybird.com.
Grobe and Voltz appear in the video, so it was shot by a friend, Mike Miclon.
After the first video played, “Mentos called right away,” Grobe said, with Coke calling last August. “The second video was sponsored by Diet Coke and Mentos, they provided materials and paid the production costs,” Grobe said.
The second video featured a chain reaction or domino effect. “One bottle triggers the next one and 250 bottles were used,” Voltz said.
The second video also featured a tag at the end, which was an ad for Diet Coke that promoted Poetry in Motion, a video contest that called for videos of “ordinary objects doing extraordinary things, which doubled traffic at Coke.com,” according to Grobe.
Mike Donnelly, The Coca-Cola Company’s director of interactive media, said Grobe and Voltz judged the contest and their video was “an inspiration for entries.” A winner was chosen last week. Donnelly also said Coke relaunched its strategy of interactive media last July to focus on consumer generated media, which is why the company reached out to Grobe and Voltz. “The timing was perfect,” he said.
The Best Actor Award at the Webbys was Ninja, star of Ask A Ninja, a series of comedy webisodes created by Los Angeles improvisational comedians Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine. When asked who the actor playing Ninja is, Nichols wouldn’t say. When asked if it was Sarine, he remained silent, but he was willing to discuss the advertising. The episodes, which play at www.askaninja.com, feature five second pre-rolls and fifteen second ads that run near the end. The series started in November, 2005 and advertising started last August. Nichols and Sarine signed a deal in January with Federated Media Publishing/Sausalito, Calif. the company that sells advertising for blogs and other websites. Ask.com bought a three month sponsorship and started running ads on May 18, Nichols said.
There’s lots of online video advertising now, but the advertising successes of these videographers suggests that independent video producers can support their work and even profit from it. Grobe and Voltz started with a revenue share from Revver and are on to bigger and better things, including a new series of videos they wouldn’t discuss at the show. Nichols and Sarine received a huge payout from Federated and a generous revenue share. There was plenty of jubilation on Monday night as the videographers and the rest of the winners celebrated their achievements.
“Emilia Pérez” Tops Oscar Tally With 13 Nominations, Setting Record For A Non-English Language Film
In the wake of devastating wildfires in Los Angeles that struck at the heart of the movie industry, an embattled Hollywood lined up behind the Netflix narco-musical about trans identity "Emilia Pérez" in Oscar nominations Thursday. Jacques Audiard's "Emilia Pérez," a Spanish language, French-made film, dominated the nominations with a leading 13 nominations, including best picture and best actress for Karla Sofía Gascón, making her the first openly trans actor ever nominated for an Oscar. The film also landed nominations for directing, original screenplay, two of its songs and for Zoe Saldaña. Netflix, despite its starring role in Hollywood, has never won best picture. Many of its top contenders have previously racked up large numbers of nominations (including "Mank," "The Irishman" and "Roma") but gone home with only a handful of trophies. "Emilia Pérez," though, may be its best chance yet. It became the most nominated non-English language film ever, surpassing Netflix's own "Roma," which scored 10 nominations. Only three films — "All About Eve," "Titanic" and "La La Land" — have scored more nominations in Academy Awards history. Another musical — "Wicked," the smash Broadway adaptation — came away with nearly as many nominations. Jon M. Chu's lavish "Wizard of Oz" riff scored 10 nominations, including best picture and acting nods for its stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. "The Brutalist," Brady Corbet's postwar epic filmed in VistaVision, also came away with a commanding 10 nominations, including best picture, best director and nominations for actor Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones. The A24 release The nominees for best picture are: "Anora"; "The Brutalist"; "A Complete Unknown"; "Conclave"; "Dune: Part Two"; "Emilia... Read More