The Streamys: Can’t We Just All Get Along

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Thoughts after attending the second annual Streamy awards for web tv/online video. (mine only, not representing YouTube)

1. Congratulations to all the nominees, winners and organizers for pulling off the event. Amazing group of creators gathered together to celebrate what is still a very new medium. There was some chuckling at the technical difficulties of the evening, but you learn and i’m sure next year will be an even  better production.

2. Fine line between self-deprecation and self-abuse. Surprised at how many times folks went for the easy laugh of putting down the industry. The storylines of “slumming celebrity doing a web series” and “hot chicks get views” and “the web is a weird place” are all kinda worn out. You can take pride in yourself w/o being self-righteous. You can acknowledge some of the public perceptions without self-flagellating.

If you don’t treat yourself with respect, no one else will either. So lose the cock and balls jokes too. Here’s a rule of thumb: if a video of the event would get flagged on YouTube for nudity, graphic language, etc, it’s probably not the best way to represent an industry which is trying to gain credibility with sponsors. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot. Someone who stumbled upon the live stream wouldn’t have come away thinking this was the future of media.

3. There’s really a caste system already for online video? Really guys? Surprised at the extent to which these two groups slagged on each other (general stereotypes):

Vloggers: We’ve got millions of views. We love the unwashed masses. F’ the pros.

“professional” content creators: we’ve got the right type of viewers. We want to get into The Industry. Vloggers are giving us a bad name.

Um guys, you shouldn’t be dissing each other – you should be working together to define the medium, improve the craft, figure out what audiences want, etc. Even the most successful creators have only a few million fans — your issue isn’t one another, it’s the fact 99% of the world has no idea who you are. Put the energy into working together. We’re excited to have ALL of you on YouTube no matter what your backgrounds, goals or focus.

Chad Hurley’s Visionary award (and thumb)

[as i was writing this saw a post from iJustine which sums this all up even better than i could]

16 thoughts on “The Streamys: Can’t We Just All Get Along”

  1. I want to make professional content but I want nothing to do with “the industry” – I want us to make a new industry. Those people are all hacks that aren't concerned with making good content, but rather making content people will watch.

    Screw that.

  3. Thanks man! I appreciate that you get what I'm saying there. They really want web video to be looked at as cat videos and people falling.

    Well, until they're able to take control of the medium themselves. That's what I look at all of this crazyness as. We're fighting to legitimize independent entertainment. A decade ago if you said you made sketches with your video camera at home, you were a nerd. Now, we're making a living doing it with audiences comparable to TV shows and we STILL aren't looked at as legit operations by sponsors. Our audiences are worth MAYBE 1/30th of a TV show's audience. MAYBE.

    The Streamys last night set us back a ways. I really hope something WELL DONE happens to counteract it and quickly.

    (coughyoutubelive2cough) 😛

  4. April Fools day is over Peter, tell nice Mr Hunterwalk why your “NUDE BOY (Rihanna – Rude Boy spoof)” video has a naked man as the thumbnail and how that makes you a hack who sucks up to YouTube Editors to get featured, and how Mr Hunterwalk has no idea who you are or what you do.

    lol

    Don't take offense, my news jacker channel is just as hacky as yours, or a thousand other peoples, its nothing to be ashamed about.

  5. Back to the topic.

    No, we can't get along. It is them and us. To be specific it is the International Creative Management talent agency and us. To be pin-point accurate it is George Ruiz from ICM versus us.

    George Ruiz is one of the few members of IAWTV clique. He is a part of the tiny group of people that chose the nominees for Streamy Awards.

    Despite it being a huge conflict of interest George ruiz claims to represent 23 of the people who were nominated for Streamy Awards. Most notably that includes Felicia Day, Kevin Pollak and Zadi Diaz and Mark Gantt. Geaorge Ruiz has claimed that 10 ICM repped clients and projects garnered Streamy Awards this year.

    It is also believed that most of the cast and crew of these ICM projects are all voting members of the IAWTV. We can't know for sure because the membership was not published this year.

    In some of the categories ICM clients from the same shows were competing against each other. It was virtually impossible for them to lose.

    The Streamys are important to ICM because the attract sponsors and generate hundreds of thousands of dollars from which ICM takes its 10%.

    continued

  6. Zadi Diaz's Epic Fu show got in financial trouble last year and basically left the web because it didn't have a sponsor (GoDaddy commissions aren't sponsorship guys).

    Despite getting less than 700k views on the videos EpicFu made last year, Zadi, an ICM client, beat Micheal Buckley, (who can get 700k views on a single video), for the best web host award.

    What is worse EpicFu on ever used to get views because YouTUbe featured almost every one of its videos (old school style, where it was featured without being popular).

    George Ruiz with the help of ICM dollars and sponsors robbed a YouTUber of industry recognition so that George Ruiz could make his 10% by selling his Streamy Award winning Zadi Diaz property.

    I dare anyone to argue that the entire EpicFu team could beat Michael Buckley in a fair fight.

    continued

  7. The story is much the same for The Guild, George Ruiz is able to sell that because of the fake Streamy Awards that the cast of the show gives themselves.

    Medicorefilms another member of the IAWTV is the husband of the producer of The Guild. The whole family is involved. What is even worse is that the cast of the Guild are not content with just one set of awards, the same cast and crew are in several shows. Do these acting companies think that voting for the Felicia Day shows that they are currently not in is not a conflict of interest? Who knows, its all hidden and totally unaccountable.

    What you are calling the future of Internet television is being given to a tiny group of inter-related people that are using it to make thousands of dollars by excluding everyone else, or worse, labeling them losers and declaring themselves winners.

    continued

  8. That's the thumb because that's what the fucking video is about. And there is no genetailia or “body parts” in it, it's side nudity. I understand it's pushing it, but that is what I like doing.

    As for being a hack, if that is what you think, cool. I don't care. If you think I've spoken with any YouTube editors beyond this comment on this blog, you have another thing coming. I do not talk with YouTube pretty much ever. I don't have anyone assigned to me, and I don't know anyone that works there. I seriously doubt I will ever be featured for anything, because I curse and do fairly innapropriate visual things as well. I don't break the rules, but I also don't think you'll see me on the front page anytime soon.

    If your strategy revolves around a company helping you, then I don't feel you are “independant.” I am proudly without “industry contacts” and was just commenting on a blog on a subject that pisses me off.

    What I do know is that assholes like yourself, sir, ruin what can be positive discussion with incredibly long and business-oriented conspiracy theories that I have no concern with. Does it further online video for you to expose what turned out to be an OBVIOUSLY shit awards show? No.

    All it does is piss people like myself off, I respond with an argument, we hate each other and as such act less than professionally. Good work, dipshit.

  9. Peter, your Snuggie Cult video was featured and you have been jonesing for another fix for ages. This isn't about you, be quiet and you might learn something.

    Back on topic

    At this point it is a question of how many examples of IAWTV bad faith do you want? How much proof do you need?

    Mark Gantt's the Bannen Way is considered popular because it got 8.5 million views on Crackle. That count is disputed (google it) and it is thought to be closer to 4 million. A single video on YouTube can get 4 million views in a week, but the Bannen Way isn't on YouTube, because they are scared to compete. A level playing field is the last thing that THEY want. How can you sell a web series to a TV network when no one will watch it for free on YouTube? That is far to risky, they would rather give themselves Phoney Awards as phoney approval.

    Do you know what happens every time a sponsor gets stung by buying a worthless web series for TV (for hundreds of thousands of dollars) that no one watches? They drop any notion of investing in any other web series, even those that would be happy to see a few hundred dollars in sponsorship money come their way.

    Phoney Awards don't have much credit on the web, but if you can get Mark Day and George Strompolos into the IAWTV, well that is a different story isn't it, because they can use their pull on YouTube to feature an over hyped webseries like The Guild and create a phoney view count to go with your phoney award. Even better, they can help you rope Chad Hurley into the fraud by getting him to pose with one of their worthless paper weights.

    Of course I could be making all this up. The Guild is hugely popular, except you always judge a webseries' real audience by the episode with the lowest view count, which would give the Guild a YouTube audience of about 200k people. That means that the Guild is a failure on YouTube.

    YouTube has a billion downloads a day and The Guild doesn't get any more of those views than any other big YouTuber. Yet it gets all these Streamy Awards. Why? Because the awards are a fiction used by ICM as a marketing ploy.

    One more example and I will get to the really juicy stuff

    continued

  10. Do you think posting walls of text about how an awards show is – gasp – one-sided, bullshit promotion actually does anything?

    Eat a dick, I'm out. Last time I publically say something to a YouTube employee. Congrats, you've changed my mind on whether or not I should restrict my interaction with the “insiders” to the “inside.”

  11. So many examples to chose from. Lets side step a tiny cracked.com webseries beating YouTube giants for the audience choice award.

    Lets ignore sxephil,iJustine and Shane Dawson all being squeezed into the same tiny unimportant vlogger category and suffered only because of the viewers they bring.

    Lets not look at Brigitte Dale, (who happens to be another of George Ruiz's long-time-no-work clients and is probably just grateful for the nomination), sitting beside these YouTube giants.

    Lets ignore Rocketboom which is the archetypal dead horse that YouTube keeps flogging by featuring every episode (look at your future incarnation barelypolitical).

    Lets look instead at George Ruiz's twitter stream regarding Stramy award winning Riese The Series

    Happy to announce that ICM now reps Galen. Kaleena, and Rob from @riesetheseries! 12:57 PM Apr 7th

    – 6 hours later –

    Yay! RT @streamyawards: Best Cinematography in a Web Series goes to… Riese the Series! 7:08 PM Apr 7th

    – A day later –

    RT @Syfy: Just announced that we acquired the US rights to the Web series Riese for syfy.com and potential tv development. Congrats 5:01 PM Apr 8th

    Isn't that so neat.

    Pick up your ICM 10% contract on the way in.

    Collect your Streamy.

    Pick up your TV deal on the way out.

    Does anyone reading this think that ICM amd George Ruiz is playing this game for anyone other than themselves alone? That is not how business works friends. Its dog eat dog and if you are not prepared to give ICM 10% of your earnings then you are dog food.

    continued

  12. hey guys – I respect the difference of opinion and strong feelings, but let's stop personal attacks.

    I'd be more interested in where you think the industry will be in a year and what you want from YouTube as a product.

  13. This is where it gets interesting.

    The YouTube Editors create phoney superstars who come and go as the Editors attention wanders. Today's Shaycarl is tomorrow's Renetto. The YouTube editors are the gatekeepers to “fame” on YouTube and beyond (eg. Justin Beiber)

    That is a worrying prospect for agencies like ICM who are used to being the gatekeepers between performers and fame.

    ICM needs to stop YouTube from being an agentless auditioning space and even agentless workspace for singers, actors, filmmakers, animators etc.

    (I say ICM, but technically the space is so small right now its just George Ruiz working with the IAWTV clique.)

    As one step towards that goal, the IAWTV is TAKING FROM YOUTUBERS the right to say they are the “best whatever on the Internet”, by declaring that an ICM show holds that title.

    A typical YouTuber response to that would be to say FU, go away and send all awards received to Paul Telner for safe keeping.

    But shit is gonna change sometime around April next year. That is when George Ruiz's new media department buddies at the Screen Actors Guild are going to tell Felicia Day, Kevin Pollak, Mark Gantt and all those other big names SAG actors that you have been playing buddy-buddy with that playtime is over and they are not allowed to play with non-union job stealers like you no more.

    If by that time you have handed the keys to fame beyond YouTube to the IAWTV and all the SAG actors that already infest its membership, then you aren't getting an award if you haven't paid to be in the Screen Actors Guild, you aren't getting an award if ICM isn't making 10% of your ass, you aren't getting an award unless you are hand delivering your audience to these self-appointed lords of new media.

    No award, no TV deal. No TV deal, return to GO, do not collect $200.

    continued

  14. You want to know what people want?

    Go here
    http://www.youtube.com/comedy?s=rf

    Take a look at the people who are spotlighted. Keep scrolling back and see how often they are spotlighted.

    That page has been spotlighting the same people for over a year.

    I would like you to explain to me how that is fair.

    I would like you to explain to me how the people on that page correspond so exactly to the THEM, the IAWTV clique, which you say does not exist.

    I would like you to explain to me how they earned the right to this privileged and cosseted treatment which has transformed them from ordinary YouTubers to Award Winners while doing nothing more or less than thousands of other members of your site do.

    I already know the answer. It worries me that after 5 years YouTube still refuses to acknowledge there is a problem.

    The solution is to treat everyone equally. That is not likely to happen while some individuals have hundreds of thousands of dollars of easy money at stake. It is even less likely to happen with some people who should be working for “us” are working instead for “them”.

    But you just go on doing what you are doing Mr Hunterwalk. So what if Micheal Buckley and sxephil didn't get some industry recognition this year for what they actually do instead of having to flap about on an aborted HBO sitcom for THEM.

    Allow THEM to shut down YouTube on US. What will we be in for next April?

    My guess is Shaycarl will be the new Renetto and YouTube will be the new MySpace (not a good thing if you have not been paying attention).

  15. Hunter,

    Thank you for the very, very spot-on post. Justine's was on the same line of thought, and I agree with you both.

    I'll stay out from the current conversation taking place within the comments, but I would like to tell you one thing. The way that YouTube has been acting lately – opening up the floor for suggestions early in the year, following up on the top ones to make significant changes on the site, exposing the “war room” at HQ, starting the new series of videos which explain some of the more veiled aspects of YouTube's inner workings – these are all steps in the right direction.

    If I'm assuming correctly, YouTube is shifting gears. The first five years focused on cultivation of your main product (the site itself) and growing it to be a new, viable platform. Now the focus has changed to keeping the masses happy. By showing the community that there really is a team behind the site, and that the team cares, you're connecting with the viewers, content creators, and hopefully the sponsors in new ways. This is an exciting time to have an involvement on YouTube!

    I know you've seen my YTDelegate videos, and that the office has as well. I hope they perhaps served as a small inspiration to connect with the community more. If you want to discuss anything further, you have my contact info. 🙂

    Again, thanks for the great post!

    -Ben

  16. how are you hope all is well am trying to see why would you all freeze my video at 300 when i type over a hundred comments to people daily am on youtube all day and nite and you all gone do me like this it not fare people got 100,000s a day but you all freeze my video that shit is not fare so why would you all do me like that you can check i

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