My session title for PodcampNYC this year is “Podcasting Television”: Why are the majority of video podcasters using television paradigms, self-censoring, and dumbing down their material? I’ll make a case for doing the opposite.

I’m going to make notes here on this post and try to arrange it into something coherent in the next couple weeks.

• What are the rules of television shows? Why is it different on the web?
• Freedom of creativity in Broadcast vs Cable vs HBO vs Internet
• Purpose of the Internet
• What does self-censorship do to a video?
• Why do producers censor their own work?
• Youtube vs The Internet; walled gardens;
• Who is your audience? Are they smart?
• Why do producers resort to l.c.d. methods and fodder?
• Mouth-breathers
• Putting television lessons to good use.
• True ease in writing comes from art, not chance. As those move easiest who have learned to dance.
• Story-telling; non-linear Vs linear

Somebody won a contest!

Prizes include a big ego-boost and a membership to the San Francisco Film Society, which we gladly donated to our unofficial SF Bureau Chief, Schlomo Rabinowitz.

The SF Bay Guardian recently held our Inaugural “Un-Vusual Video Art” contest. These videos were the best entries submitted and will be shown at GILBERT & GEORGE: A NIGHT OF BENT ARTS & CULTURE at the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park on Friday 3/28 from 5:00-8:45 P.M. Check them out for your viewing pleasure!!!

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Our winning entries were “Jesus Night Lights” and “Call and Response“.

Thanks San Francisco!

A web video production company called Wreck & Salvage (Naufragio y Rescate, en Español) is featured on the front page of Yahoo! Video today.

This is the fourth or fifth time this year, so somebody over there must like us. Whomever is showing us the love out there in Frisco, muchas gracias!

Babytarian from wreckandsalvage on Vimeo.

The truth is finally revealed.

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In this episode:

1. Molehill Mountain speaks.
2. The secret to Keith Richards longevity is revealed.
3. The Singing Woodchucks introduce themselves.
4. Episcopalian is a good word.

Several background images courtesy Valdezatron Industries.

I put videos I create on Vimeo. You can see my profile.

Puppy Joust from wreckandsalvage on Vimeo.

This is what I did tonight.

Quicktime Video

Nelson and I shot a commercial this weekend in Vermont. This man stopped by the shoot out on the sidewalk in downtown Burlington, and Nelson filmed him for about 6 minutes. This is unedited except for color correction.

Earlier this evening, my cohort co-producer Sr. Valdez said:

American Man is blowing up on Yahoo right now. I’d say we’re over 100,000 views this month. Am I suppose to be feeling something?

I’m not sure. When I used to work at Shemuscle.com and I’d publish a new video, occasionally it would get picked up by a few popular porn blogs and our numbers would skyrocket. In our industry, those numbers translated directly to money in our pockets.

In my current occupation, the translation is more subtle.

There are people out there watching what we do, and some of them are really getting into it. They’re agreeing with us. The feeling I get from this is similar to leaving a really good rock concert. 20,000 people just implicitly agreed on everything for about 2 hours. You take that feeling with you when you go home that night, and it stays with you for at least a few days afterwards.

With video, you feel a little electric shiver when a piece gets watched 20,000 times, but it’s not quite as fulfilling as when 10 people send you nice emails or comments.

When I have an idea for a video, the process usually revolves around how to make it funny or interesting enough to entertain my friends. If I think Nick or Nelson or Valdez will like it, I go with it. If not, I toss it. (Unless I personally think it’s hilarious and then I say fuck what anyone else thinks, I’m doing it.)

It’s the general idea behind Wreck & Salvage production: Make stuff that you would want to watch. Since we understand that there is a segment of the population, however small, that agrees with us, then we have carte blanche to do whatever the hell we want. The point is, it doesn’t matter how many people see something just so long as the right people see it.

Alas, when we make a video for a company, they want numbers to crunch. So luckily we can provide them.

It all boils down to the fact that I love what we do. I think it’s just the greatest. If you do too, then thanks, and feel safe in the knowledge that every god damn video we produce on Wreck & Salvage is custom-built from the ground up, just for you.