Digital Dish

I’ve been all over the brands, entertainment/TV, media, Internet and retail business these past few months for my new startup. I’ve been from the halls of major networks and studios to hybrid startups to iconic Internet companies and, more important, I’ve spent the past five months listening to a lot of people about the Internet and future of TV.

We met people of all types and backgrounds in the market. Some were confused and wanted to learn, some were sure they had the right idea, some were just excited to be involved.

But most importantly, it included a great number of really smart, really bright and very cool minds that are shaping the future of the industry.

Tubefilter and Streamy’s co-founder Brady Brim-Deforest, who is an awesome voice in the market, said it best: The community is driving Web TV forward. It’s true and it’s exciting!

The Streamy Awards will be held Saturday in Los Angeles. You can check out details here.

I’m excited to be attending the awards. I’ve waited a long time for the Internet platform to have the capability to handle Web TV. We’re a ways away from it being a reality in every consumer home, but as Brim-Deforest said as we chatted on the phone this week, it’s not much different from how it was with broadcast TV in the 1940s and ’50s.

It’s a mindset that I hear more and more in the business now, and one that I’ve discussed in many conversations since entering the entertainment industry. I studied the business dating back to that era for the work I’m doing on my new startup, 9. Much of this and more will be in my soon-to-be published white paper on the future of TV.

It’s exciting to see the growth and development of the industry.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be talking more about some of the good voices I’ve come across in the market. I’ll also have some big news! Stay tuned.

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I first expanded my work into television business. It seems like it was 100 years ago (and that I’m 100 years older!) since I made the move.

It’s a lot harder to create and sell a TV show than it is an Internet site. Not to say making money via either is easy.

Was it really only a year ago that I marveled at terms like “showrunner” and “leave behind?” I can still remember my first meeting at a network, A&E in New York. To this day, the VP and I still keep in touch. It seems like we should be talking about our grandchildren by now.

Has the television industry aged me? I think it has. It has certainly taught me a lot of new things about entrepreneurship.

In this town, business is very focused on revenue and power lies more in the hands you don’t see than the ones you do.

Overall, I think our projects have fared OK so far. Several networks and production companies have said they’d like to continue working with us and there’s a lot of interest in the different things I’m working on. That’s one similarity I can say definitely exists between the broadcast and broadband worlds: Nothing’s done until a deal is signed and the check has cleared.

I admit I actually really like working in the business now. The process is difficult, but I understand it far better today (which makes things a little easier). I definitely see the center of the industry and who you need to know to get things done. I’m trying to make it there!

I don’t even think the tight perimeters and strongholds on the market are a big deal anymore. All you have to do is understand that they’re there and build your project accordingly. After one year, I think I’m closer to all of this than I’ve ever been.

Hollywood, I love you.

It’s been a bit since I blogged about the work I’ve been doing in the entertainment business. It’s in part because there were still a lot of things moving along and developing that were too early to share, and in part because there have been so many great things to talk about regarding the convergence of TV and the Web.

I’ve waited for a long time for the market to move to the place it is at the moment. As more momentum gathers around Web TV, it’s hard not to want to get into it.

But this week, I can finally share some news and new developments on how things have been going with my expansion into entertainment from Internet business. In case anybody needs a refresher on the back story, after selling my Internet startup in late 2007, I began an effort to expand into the entertainment/TV business. I have a multiplatform franchise that I’ve since co-created and developed, and late last year I launched a “transmedia” consulting and content production startup called 9. In 140 characters or less, 9 is essentially a hybrid consulting/production shop that does business and content across any platform in the market. It services brands, entertainment, Internet, media and retail companies—all arenas I have an extensive amount of experience in.

This past week, 9 closed on an angel funding round from private investors. It will be used to spark the next stage in business development and a few new production projects. I’m excited!

I’ve also been marveling at all the buzz around Twitter. It seems a lot of brands, entertainment talent and media personalities have taken it up, and this, of course, has everybody buzzing. What’s interesting is that there is almost no mention of this very same hooplah about celebrities and brands using MySpace just a few short years ago.

Dear Media and Bloggers: Yes, celebrities use the Internet. It’s not an old dog or a new trick.

What’s far more interesting to the story, in my opinion, is how celebrities are beginning to understand that they can own their own brand and control their own message via the Web. It’s an interesting shift. As for Twitter, the rage for me isn’t so much in its Web element but the fact that it is the first social network to be truly “device-agnostic.” You can Twitter via phone/text or your PC.

That’s huge for a few reasons. First, this is entirely what the Web is designed to do and will do—that’s a look at the future there. Second, the fact that users are adopting it is enormous.

User adoption, and nothing more, is the most important element on the Web. Without users adapting and adopting, even the best ideas won’t win.

If you ask me, that’s where everything you create should come from, regardless of platform. Not what advertisers love, or what investors love, but what users love. Make that and the rest will fall right into step.

It might be wishful thinking, but I hope I’ve done this with the projects I’m working on. We’ll see what happens! I can’t lie. I’m the happiest I’ve been since I started on the journey into Hollywood. Hooray!