TV promo for UWOL at DVinfo.net

Oliver Pahlow · September 15th, 2008, 12:01 AM

Meryem,

Has there ever been a thought to bring this compitition to a larger audience? TV, cable? I have an idea for a promo but it would take time to put together with all the footage that has already been submitted and an original theme music to boot?

http://www.blindchildproductions.com...ND_AND_SEA.mp3

Just wondering,

Oliver

Meryem Ersoz · September 15th, 2008, 02:38 AM

Oh, there have been thoughts all right...but it is hard to make a lot of headway in that direction when we all have regular jobs. UWOL could really use 30 hours a week of marketing work, easily. We are one of those grass-roots organizations that runs on a shoestring. If anyone has any connections or knows anyone who could boost the contest, we would love to hear about it.

I'm going to this: ? ? ? ? Jackson Hole Symposium ? ? ? ?

...with an eye towards seeing if there might be opportunities worth exploring...

If you want to make a mash-up, for the group, for a lark, I'm sure that no one would mind lending their footage to such an endeavor, but for a TV promo, even a spec commercial, you'd need to contact each filmmaker individually and obtain the proper permissions. UWOLers all keep their own rights to their films, so any effort at using these films, even to self-promote the contest, requires obtaining permissions.

I put together a sample DVD last year and a Powerpoint presentation, but it wasn't widely distributed. After spending all of those hours making a PP and contacting the players and conforming all the footage (darn PAL, stupid NTSC!), I ran out of steam. Still have it, but now our shooters are even more improved, so even though it contains a few great films, they don't really reflect the existing talent pool, because the regular players have grown so much, so fast.

So it goes. Anyone know a good marketing guru, who is more than worth their asking price, and who can talk video fluently?

Paul Mailath · September 15th, 2008, 05:28 AM

A TV promo might seem like a good idea but to what purpose?

Do you want a larger number of contestants? - let's say a successful campaign of some sort doubles or triples the number of contestants. How is that going to affect the submission and judging times, the storage problem, the size of the shark tank - I'm not suggesting it's a bad idea, just that we should think of the idea in more strategic terms.

What do we want from UWOL as individuals? - what do we want for UWOL as a group? Are we willing to commit time and effort to administer this growth?

There are a lot of questions that need to be answered to establish a plan or vision statement that can guide us in the right direction to expand....

or we can just leave things well alone and continue on our merry way.

Oliver Pahlow · September 15th, 2008, 10:21 AM

It was just a thought. I guess it would be complicated and time consuming.

Rob Evans · September 15th, 2008, 10:31 AM

I was looking around for some stuff to download free for my MP4 player a while back and could find virtually nothing out there on the wildlife/outdoors side. I thought a series of 20 minute compilations of UWOL entries ( say 5 entries on a theme, introduced by a uwol player) available as video casts would be a cool idea, I dropped Meryem an email about out - but like with these things I guess it's all about the time involved.....

Meryem Ersoz · September 15th, 2008, 09:07 PM

an iTunes subscription might be a good idea, like you described, Rob. But once again, it is about getting the proper permissions, then conforming to one consistent format.

I am open to anyone taking on any of these tasks and seeing them through on behalf of the contest. I'm not trying to be discouraging of any individual idea, only trying to point out what needs to be done to make it useable in the public doman....it's always easy to come up with new ideas, but it takes more than meets the eye to move them along. As the PSA struggle pointed up so thoroughly...

If you guys want to be put to work, by all means...let's make a plan together and allocate some work! Who's in??

We can all get on Skype and have a creative brainstorming session and general free for all, and see who wants to take on what items on the list. And, yes, I have a list!

Ryan Farnes · September 16th, 2008, 04:32 AM

Holy cow Meryem! That symoposium looks uber-sweetastic!

I wish I had found out about it sooner. I may still look at the slight possibility of trying to attend. That looks like exactly the kind of stuff I want to be exposing myself to.

If not this one, at least its got me thinking about looking for those types of things.

Ryan Farnes · September 16th, 2008, 08:35 PM

As it turns out Meryem, luck is on my side. They were still filling shifts for volunteers and I've worked it out to attend.

I am way excited and perhaps I'll run into you there.

Meryem Ersoz · September 16th, 2008, 09:24 PM

very good, hope to see you there, Ryan...I have not been to one of these either, but I agree that it sounds amazing. Shoot me an email and tell me where they are placing you, and I'll see if I can track you down.

Ryan Farnes · September 17th, 2008, 09:01 PM

I think I sent an email via dvinfo.net....did you get it?

I typed it out but don't know if it was sent or whatever...

September 15th, 2008, 12:01 AM	#1
Oliver Pahlow Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Woodridge Illinois Posts: 237	TV promo for UWOL Meryem, Has there ever been a thought to bring this compitition to a larger audience? TV, cable? I have an idea for a promo but it would take time to put together with all the footage that has already been submitted and an original theme music to boot? http://www.blindchildproductions.com...ND_AND_SEA.mp3 Just wondering, Oliver

September 15th, 2008, 05:28 AM	#3
Paul Mailath Trustee Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Central Coast - NSW, Australia Posts: 1,606	why A TV promo might seem like a good idea but to what purpose? Do you want a larger number of contestants? - let's say a successful campaign of some sort doubles or triples the number of contestants. How is that going to affect the submission and judging times, the storage problem, the size of the shark tank - I'm not suggesting it's a bad idea, just that we should think of the idea in more strategic terms. What do we want from UWOL as individuals? - what do we want for UWOL as a group? Are we willing to commit time and effort to administer this growth? There are a lot of questions that need to be answered to establish a plan or vision statement that can guide us in the right direction to expand.... or we can just leave things well alone and continue on our merry way. __________________ Cheers - Paul M. www.perbenyik.com

September 15th, 2008, 02:38 AM	#2
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	Oh, there have been thoughts all right...but it is hard to make a lot of headway in that direction when we all have regular jobs. UWOL could really use 30 hours a week of marketing work, easily. We are one of those grass-roots organizations that runs on a shoestring. If anyone has any connections or knows anyone who could boost the contest, we would love to hear about it. I'm going to this: ? ? ? ? Jackson Hole Symposium ? ? ? ? ...with an eye towards seeing if there might be opportunities worth exploring... If you want to make a mash-up, for the group, for a lark, I'm sure that no one would mind lending their footage to such an endeavor, but for a TV promo, even a spec commercial, you'd need to contact each filmmaker individually and obtain the proper permissions. UWOLers all keep their own rights to their films, so any effort at using these films, even to self-promote the contest, requires obtaining permissions. I put together a sample DVD last year and a Powerpoint presentation, but it wasn't widely distributed. After spending all of those hours making a PP and contacting the players and conforming all the footage (darn PAL, stupid NTSC!), I ran out of steam. Still have it, but now our shooters are even more improved, so even though it contains a few great films, they don't really reflect the existing talent pool, because the regular players have grown so much, so fast. So it goes. Anyone know a good marketing guru, who is more than worth their asking price, and who can talk video fluently?

September 15th, 2008, 10:21 AM	#4
Oliver Pahlow Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Woodridge Illinois Posts: 237	It was just a thought. I guess it would be complicated and time consuming.

September 15th, 2008, 10:31 AM	#5
Rob Evans Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Berkshire, UK Posts: 390	I was looking around for some stuff to download free for my MP4 player a while back and could find virtually nothing out there on the wildlife/outdoors side. I thought a series of 20 minute compilations of UWOL entries ( say 5 entries on a theme, introduced by a uwol player) available as video casts would be a cool idea, I dropped Meryem an email about out - but like with these things I guess it's all about the time involved.....

September 15th, 2008, 09:07 PM	#6
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	an iTunes subscription might be a good idea, like you described, Rob. But once again, it is about getting the proper permissions, then conforming to one consistent format. I am open to anyone taking on any of these tasks and seeing them through on behalf of the contest. I'm not trying to be discouraging of any individual idea, only trying to point out what needs to be done to make it useable in the public doman....it's always easy to come up with new ideas, but it takes more than meets the eye to move them along. As the PSA struggle pointed up so thoroughly... If you guys want to be put to work, by all means...let's make a plan together and allocate some work! Who's in?? We can all get on Skype and have a creative brainstorming session and general free for all, and see who wants to take on what items on the list. And, yes, I have a list!

September 16th, 2008, 04:32 AM	#7
Ryan Farnes Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 220	Holy cow Meryem! That symoposium looks uber-sweetastic! I wish I had found out about it sooner. I may still look at the slight possibility of trying to attend. That looks like exactly the kind of stuff I want to be exposing myself to. If not this one, at least its got me thinking about looking for those types of things.

September 16th, 2008, 08:35 PM	#8
Ryan Farnes Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 220	As it turns out Meryem, luck is on my side. They were still filling shifts for volunteers and I've worked it out to attend. I am way excited and perhaps I'll run into you there.

September 16th, 2008, 09:24 PM	#9
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	very good, hope to see you there, Ryan...I have not been to one of these either, but I agree that it sounds amazing. Shoot me an email and tell me where they are placing you, and I'll see if I can track you down.

September 17th, 2008, 09:01 PM	#10
Ryan Farnes Major Player Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Maryland, USA Posts: 220	I think I sent an email via dvinfo.net....did you get it? I typed it out but don't know if it was sent or whatever...