NATPE, the National Association of Television Program Executives, is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation, development and distribution of digital video content in all forms across all mature and emerging media platforms.
I was fortunate to be able to represent eGuiders during a panel discussion entitled "Deepening The Audience Experience With Online Programming." It was a packed house and I shared some of my experience about what works and doesn't work when trying to extend a TV show online with video.
I cursed a little, I laughed a little, I even at one point was going to throw a chair into the audience just to mix it up a bit. There were some really smart people on the panel as well. David Bloom form Words and Deeds was moderating and he did a fantastic job at keeping the conversation moving. Marc DeBevoise, SVP, Digital Media of Starz Network was there, Greg Goodfriend, Co-Founder of EQAL (LonleyGirl15 & Harper's Globe) gave some good feedback about creating story extensions for TV shows online. Lisa Hsia, SVP, Bravo Digital Media dished some knowledge about Real Housewives of NJ and Hardie Tankersley was there, he is the VP of Innovation and Partnerships for Fox.com.
Overall, we agreed that value added content needs to be done creatively from every aspect - budgets, story, marketing, etc... I know Greg and I agree that the more the vision can come from the showrunner and organically expand the characters and themes of the show, audiences will be more engaged with the programming. As always, content is king. However, the need to be able to market and get the word out about this type of programming is still essential to its success.
Thanks to Daisy Whitney and Jordan Ryder for inviting me to participate. Some of the highlights included our panel (of course), Gavin McGarry's presentation on disrupting the old guard of TV. Running into my old friend Adam Steinman from IMG, Ross Levinsohn from Fuse Capital gave an insightful talk about finding VC money. And the debate over "What is considered a "view" when discussing online video" is always good for a few laughs and cringes. Both parties were a ton of fun and lots of quality schmoozing. Here's a few pictures from the event. Enjoy!
