goldie, erinn weafer

We have paid creators well over $100,000 so far and connected many with brands they otherwise would not be able to break into. It’s not about spec work at all, its about providing a (free) collaborative toolset for professional videographers. It’s a portfolio site. It’s a way to connect with large brands and show them what you are capable of. We *also* allow users to submit idea’s, drafts, finished pieces of creative directly to brands – which they may (or may not) purchase. So far our track record has been pretty good. It sounds like you may have been burned in the past by some “spec” site – but i assure you – that is not what we are trying to do.

“BUT THINK OF THE RECOGNITION!”

http://www.no-spec.com/

I’m sure you guys will do fine though, but that’s because you’ll always have fresh crops of talented people who don’t realize they could do better.

Would it be acceptable for someone to expect the same from lawyers? Bear with me for a minute…

I have done something terrible, so I spill my guts to ten different lawyers. They all spend precious time (money) preparing a defense for me. Finally, after all of that, I choose just one to represent me in court and leave the other nine out in the cold. Without paying them a dime.

That’s simply unheard of. Why would I waste my time and energy on something that is merely a contest at heart?

Regardless of whether it’s a good business model for Poptent or not, the bottom line is that the content creators are being taken advantage of and seem to be unaware of it. Or if they are aware of it, they are apparently fine with it, which is even more disheartening.

Once the content is created (Video AD) you can post it at a low monthly range of $19.95 to $99.95/mo on Hot Pluto’s Video Business Directory.

Brett Hill- CEO
ww.hotpluto.com

To

I’m from a radio background, and have learned SO much about video production in my dealings with companies like XLNTAds/Poptent over the past year — not to mention how much I’ve learned about this burgeoning medium. The education alone has made it well worth the investment of time.

As far as killing the creative industry? I’m in the creative industry, and I’m not dyin’ by any stretch of the imagination. My spec work has been seen by scads of advertisers who otherwise wouldn’t have. It’s helped me develop relationships and work with clients all over the world. It’s even made me a few bucks, and led to non-spec work.

Remember: It’s not “what we want as creative professionals” that matters. It’s what the advertisers want as the guys signing the checks… And if they want to write smaller checks, now they have a place to do that. And if they want to see what I can do for them before they write me mine, I’ll be proud to show ‘em. I know they’ll like it. And if they don’t, someone else will.

Most ads are likely going to be part of an IMC and I’d much prefer an agency handling this. An agency is going to work with me to find out my positioning strategy and what semantics I’m trying to get across.

It will be interesting to see what types of companies use this, what types of placement the ads end up with and how well the ads turn out.

I know that the cost is getting cheaper with HD DV Cams being sold at Costco and BestBuy but, time is money. Anyone and their brother can make a movie these days with iMovie but is that what we really want as creative professionals.

Advertising costs a lot of money and unless you are right out of school and still living with mom and dad IMHO no real video editor or or producer will do a commercial on spec.

Remember, spec jobs kill the creative industry.

As for engagement, yes, they are. However, we aren’t simply going for mass engagement as one might, say, running a CGA contest on YouTube. Rather, we’re looking to tap into a ‘prosumer’ market where folks are actually looking for ways to make money with their video skills, and for brands who want great quality videos.

A public submission of possible ads may take away a companies competitive advantage.

In the meantime, we’re developing a group of the highest quality filmmakers and studios that will connect to work directly. Many of our clients don’t necessarily want to go through an open assignment channel to get their creative. For these companies, we have flexible solutions that will fill their needs inexpensively and give paying commercial work directly to our loyal and quality creators.