Hey Congrats to TurnHere (Brad and his team) who secured a first round of financing yesterday of $7.5M from Hearst Corporation and Venrock!

TurnHere is a company I have watched since their launch. Their learning curve and experience, acquired, in terms of global production, is not far from ours here at VideoAgency with Trivop. I am convinced about TurnHere’s offering.

They have developed an impressive network of filmmakers and can organize massive production efforts at low cost for the clients everywhere (B2B). Their clients are big brands like Condenet, Intercontinental, Simon & Schulster…

They also organize the distribution of these videos on big platforms.

I heard and talked with some American VCs who had met TurnHere and I think that Hearst Corp. is definitely a good investor for a company like TurnHere.

Why ?

Because it makes sense from an industrial point of view. Hearst is one of the biggest US publishers and Mr. William Randolph Hearst III is so convinced about videos (as we are) that they could really use all TurnHere’s filmmaker network to efficiently produce videos for Hearst and grow a massive inventory faster than their competitors! TurnHere will obviously benefit from it and gain a very strong position on the US market.

I watched the interview that Mr William Randolph Hearst III gave to beet.tv a year ago (he invested personally to seed the company and now his great group). If you don’t know Hearst you should have a look to their website. It’s an empire!

So we say think that TurnHere was a proof of concept to Hearst i.e. Videos on their website are very valuable and the added value from TurnHere is good. TurnHere understood the customer pain: their clients don’t know how to produce and need inventories fast. When I talk to big guys in US they are hot about videos and Internet. It will be the same soon in Europe… And more over because video will totally be part of any SEO strategy and visibility. That’s why SEO Video is becoming a part of e-marketing.

TurnHere, Trivop and Spotrunner (which acquired Globeshooter a few weeks ago and have over 1200 filmmakers now) are the only 3 companies in the world with their own filmmaker networks.

Having a crowded filmmaker network is really becoming a highly valuable asset!

Why ?

Because I totally agree with Brad that every website will have to publish a video on their website and they will look for easy solutions with affordable prices… A one-stop-shopping place.

The next big production company in the world will be a company dedicated to producing videos for the Internet and TurnHere could probably be the one with a few others

Here are more videos by TurnHere.

Here is an interview with Brad.

Since I spend a lot of time reading about the filmmaker profession I frequently stumble upon some real gems on the internet. Here are four websites which I find particularly useful and would like to share with you.

www.loftcity.com – Showcase your work online, produce online and win grants
Loft City call themselves the “First online TV & Film Studio”. Essentially it is a great platform from which to showcase your work, in the form of your personal online ‘loft’. You can also use their online virtual studio to edit your work. What is perhaps more interesting is that you can collaborate and produce together with other filmmakers from all over the world. You will be keen to know that they have issued a Call for Production in the areas of ‘New Frontier Video’, ‘Silent Movies’, ‘Viral Ads’, ‘Web & Mobile Miniseries’ and ‘Big City Life Documentaries’. This is your chance to win grants of up to US$ 3000! Hurry, though, because submission deadlines are as soon as March 20th.

www.filmmaking.net – Filmmaker community and essential resources
Filmmaking.net is a well-structured, clean site, full of resources for the new and independent filmmaker. What stands out most on this site is the “Internet Filmmaker’s FAQ” where you can find the answer to practically any question related to filmmaking. The categories range from ‘actors & casting’ to ‘visual effects’. Apart from the FAQ, the site is packed with information including events, festivals, competitions and also the ‘Toolshed’ where you can buy and sell pro equipment.

www.reelseo.com – Video Search Engine Optimization
As many of you might already know, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is currently one of the hot topics on the internet. However, it mainly revolves around the optimization of text content… ReelSEO brings you expert advice on video SEO, a very young area of expertise indeed. If you distribute your work online, this is the best place to learn how to optimize your videos’ visibility.

www.studentfilmmakers.com – Great resources also for pro filmmakers
Although the title mentions student filmmakers, the site actually offers resources and tools useful to professionals too! For example, there is a dedicated filmmakers’ network with which you can meet and chat with other filmmakers and videographers from all over the world, student and pro. If you like to participate in local or national film contests and awards, this is the place to find out where and when they take place. Finally, the forums offer countless practical tips on subjects from lighting to directing to stunt production.