Lack of advertising hampers progress of online animation

Launching animation online will continue to face economic uncertainties until producers come up with business models that can attract advertisers, said a panel at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. In the meantime, producers would be well advised not to abandon traditional broadcast media anytime soon. “It’s still tough—you can put a video up there and get two million views but you don’t make any money out of it,” said Dan Meth, a writer, animator and director from New York.The panellists, all top level people at companies that have experimented with online animation content, said while the Internet seems to be the future, it doesn’t make any financial sense to rely exclusively on online content. “We are making money out of the web but not a lot of money,” says Jason Chaney, executive producer of content, Corus Television Interactive. J.J Sedelmaier, president, JJ Sedelmaier Productions Inc., NY., says it is unfeasible to “keep a studio going on web material” adding that online content should be used to contribute to the overall financial well-being of content on traditional broadcast media.Online content can be used for branding, promoting, and marketing purposes. However, Meth said it should not be kept on one site, but rather shared with partner websites in order to reach a wider audience.“Put it all over the web and they will stumble on it,” he said. Mark Bishop, executive producer and partner, Marblemedia, said that networking sites like Facebook are a great way of spreading information about online content and creating a fan base. However, he noted that any online content must be compelling in order to attract viewers.Despite the financial difficulties associated with online, the panellists agreed the web provides creators and directors with a flexibility that is unheard of when developing content for traditional broadcast media because it creates a “real sense of immediacy.” “You don’t need to convince anyone to air your work. As soon as you are done with it, it’s on the web every week,” says Meth.Regarding format and distribution, the panellists said the web is not format specific, allowing a latitude of creativity that involves less decision makers, resulting in the originality of the content being maintained as the creator envisioned it. On distribution and delivery, the web is flexible, in addition to the fact that it is a good avenue for quick feedback on content, which enables producers to come up with products that tally with the audience’s desires.However, the panellists stressed that the future of animation content on traditional broadcast media is still in transition and that there’s little doubt more content will migrate online over the coming years.“In terms of seeing the handwriting on the wall, that’s where it is going,” said Sedelmaier.

Lack of advertising hampers progress of online animation

Broadcast | September 19, 2008

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