Freddie Wong Collaborates with Samsung and Youtube for Revenue Opportunity

Sometimes people can make a living by distributing entertainment content for FREE.   

Samsung Galaxy S II Viral Video

Freddie Wong, famed filmmaker on Youtube, makes several entertaining videos people subscribe to; yet, although no one has to pay to see these videos, he makes his living off of sponsorships, including his recent deal with Samsung!

Freddie “freddiew” Wong makes many videos on Youtube often based on videogame concepts.  He often acts out events only seen in video games to show how absurd it would be if these concepts applied to real life.  He makes use of Adobe After Effects to make these kinds of stories possible.  He’s mastered methods of using green-screen, digital effects and pyro-technics, making his short films comparable to Hollywood quality. 

His films have garnered popularity with gamers, film students and special effects enthusiasts who wish to learn how to do all that Wong is accomplishing.  For every video he creates, he releases alongside it a “making of” video to display his “gorilla filmmaking” at work.

He’s gained the attention of some big-name companies wanting to cash in on his success.  Jon Favreau, director of Cowboys and Aliens, asked Wong to make a short film with him in the same style as Cowboys, as a form of promotion.

 Companies like Valve and Google have let Wong and his friends tour their office and have provided them with free merchandise.

Most notably and recently, Samsung cashed in on a marketing opportunity in regards to their new camera phone, Galaxy S II.  Wong was in need of a camera that was lightweight enough to attach on top of a moving car (for an aerial shot) without it falling over.  It’s not known as to who contacted whom first, but Samsung sent them the Galaxy for free.  It was lightweight, yet, recorded in 1080p HD so it matched Wong’s quality.  This was a strategic move since thousands of viewers take note on how Wong accomplishes all of his shots and many have stated they were impressed by the quality of such a camera phone.  Samsung states in the above video that Wong has an audience that is very “technically aware, technically savvy” and that allowing him to make a movie with the phone in the way that he wants allows the brand to be seen in a way it could not have before.  This shows people the best of what is possible with this device through a filmmaker who’s working through passion, which, as stated in the video, is much more effective than typical advertising methods.

Check out Wong's Youtube clip as he uses the Samsung Galaxy to make dynamic shots!

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Netflix: on the Queue for disaster?

Dear John,
I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

This is the Email I’ve received from Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings.  Recent changes for Netflix this past year has been giving the company some bad rep.  July of this year, Netflix had warned its current customers that prices would be going up by about $6.  This is generally a separation of DVD and streaming services; anyone with a DVD + streaming subscription would have seen their price as being a combo of $7.99 streaming plus however much they’d be charged for DVDs.  Many people have claimed to be canceling their subscriptions as a result.

As if this wasn’t enough, Netflix is now making further changes to their subscriptions.  The company itself will no longer provide a DVD service, but only provide streaming.  The DVDs will still be shipped, however, but from another branch company called Qwikster.  Although there will be no more price changes (“We’re done with that”), this means that to modify one’s DVD queue, one must log into another site; this means having two accounts to manage.

These approaches have not been sitting well with investors.  “Netflix Inc. stock fell $13.72, or 9.5 percent, to close at $130.03 Tuesday. It is now down 55 percent since July 12”, July 12 being the date when the initial price hike was first announced.

Hastings’ biggest concern was that Netflix “wouldn't make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us)”.  As a result of this, Netflix decided to primarily embrace streaming as it will become the new demand.  His transition into this change is what knocked subscribers off guard.

When running a business that revolves around media, it’s important to keep up with the times so as to not be left behind like AOL or Borders.  I would have to say that Hastings handled this fairly well.  Creating a new company for DVD mail-ins might be a bit drastic, but if that’s the best way for his company to focus more on new technology, it may not be that bad of a move. 

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