Mashable recently invited filmmaker Jon Chu to describe "five innovations transforming the entertainment industry". Although he leans to the visual, Chu’s list includes three examples with lessons for publishers.
The first is Machinima, self-described as “the next generation of video entertainment for the gamer lifestyle and beyond”. The site is funding new video series with advances said to be as high as $10 million. The lesson for publishers: tapping into community can provide both the resources and the audience needed to do bold things.
The second, not surprisingly, is the tablet. But it’s not the technology that excites Chu; it's access:
“Forget your cable … you have the NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX app, you have HBO Go, Netflix, Hulu Plus, iTunes Store and everything else. This changes how we will deliver, how we will create, how we will consume and how the entertainment industry will exist in the next ten years. I can’t help but get excited that, for the first time in human history, we carry the words, information and pictures of all mankind in the palm of our hands, literally.”
The lesson here: get ready for unbundling content offerings and supply chains. Figure out how to make your content accessible where the audiences are.
Finally, Chu writes about the GoPro HD Hero 3, a portable, environment-resistant camera that puts control in the hands of enthusiasts, not just professional videographers. Watch the video sample on the product home page and ask yourself, “What tools could we give authors and creators that would hook an audience like this?”
These aren’t the three most important things for any given publisher, but they are useful examples for every publisher trying to find a niche in an increasingly blended world of content.
