Posts Tagged ‘vpype live’
March 4, 2011
Cindy McCreery
Cindy is a graduate of the Walt Disney/ABC Feature Writing Fellowship program for the 2002-2003 year. In 2006 National Geographic Films hired Cindy to rewrite ELEPHANT WILD and later in 2007 in partnership with Warner Brothers, they hired her again to develop and write FREE WILLY: ESCAPE FROM PIRATES COVE. Cindy also teaches Advanced Screenwriting at UCLA.
Beginning December 15, 2010 I helped organize Vpype’s second Hollywood Screenplay Pitch Contest, which ran until the end of January. As some of you might recall, the first pitch contest held December 2009 through April 2010 turned out to be a very big success as we had over 400 five-minute-pitches submitted via Vpype’s Facebook application, vBroadcast. We had contestants from all over the world with ideas ranging from epic period pieces to massive blockbusters to outlandish comedies to touching dramatic true stories. Not only did the winner of the contest get the opportunity to develop her pitch into a screenplay with a known producer, but many of the top ten were contacted by judges and are still currently working on ideas as well.
This year, we made some changes to the contest. Rather than running it for several months, we decided to run it for two months and make it a three-minute pitch, rather than five. We also had participants use Vpype’s newest application, vComedy, which has a three-minute cap already in place, to pitch their screenplay. We had a 100 pitches submitted from all over the world including Spain, Germany, Pakistan and India. Many of the judges from last year participated as well, including Julie Richardson, Producer of “Collateral” and “The Collector” and Christopher Lockhart story editor for William Morris Endeavor and producer of “The Collector” and most recently the documentary, “Most Valuable Players”. The other judges included former Disney executives, Producers and even a Professor from the top screenwriting program in the country.
Pitching is a funny thing because writers generally are not actors or extroverts. It’s especially tough to pitch alone in a room to a camera because you can’t read your audiences body language. Also, getting across an entire story from start to finish in under three minutes is really an art and I must admit I was very impressed with the quality of the pitches this year. I was also inspired by the courage it took to actually do it! One of the top 10 from this year is a speech therapist who isn’t in “the biz”, in fact lives in a very small town far from Hollywood and sent me a Facebook message admitting to me how terrified she was, but she did it and did a great job. All of her friends and family who watched her pitch were impressed and proud of her, as they should be! At least when I have a meeting with a producer and pitch them my idea it’s not recorded and posted on Facebook for everyone to see and critique! The judges were all impressed with everyone as well and I’m encouraged by the fact that many of the judges personally reached out to several of the top ten, wanting to read their work and or further discuss their pitches.
This year’s winner is Joe Palladino from Santa Barbara, California. His winning pitch, “Towers of London”, is a fictionalized account of Harry Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle and Jack the Ripper. Joe’s story was not only compelling, clever and simply a lot of fun, but his actual pitch was very clear, very well thought out and a delight to watch. His personality shined through and he made it enjoyable for his audience. All of the judges agreed that they easily envisioned the movie – both the tone and the hook of it, which isn’t an easy thing to pull off!
Vpype - Hollywood Screenplay Pitch Contest
Wilton Richards, who came in second with his pitch “The Hitman”, pitched twelve ideas all of which were really fun and original. His other pitch, “Battle For Earth” made it into the top twenty. “The Hitman” is fun action comedy about a hitman who is dying of cancer and puts a hit out on himself but is cured and must save himself from the other hitmen. Wilton lives in The Bahamas and I am pleased that this contest brought Hollywood within reach for him and that he has been in contact with two of the judges.
In third place was AD Smiths, “The Assigned” which was definitely the most entertaining of the entire contest as he had props, music and he even acted out a scene using cardboard cutouts! I have to admit that I watched his pitch at least five times because the theatrics of his pitch were so fun. AD has a very natural pitching ability, which I’m a little jealous of.
Hollywood can feel very far away for most aspiring screenwriters, even for those of us who live in Los Angeles and it’s exciting when you come across a company like Vpype who has the resources to make it just a little more accessible. Having a voice, but not being heard is a very frustrating and lonely thing and I’d like to hope that this contest has helped a few writers feel as though they’re being heard. If anything, everyone who participated in the contest now has a community of other writers who they can share their ideas with.
The Hollywood VPYPE Pitch Contest group page on Facebook has become a sort of water cooler hang out for a lot of aspiring screenwriters and it continues to grow every week. Also, the vComedy application page has become a place to share ideas and notes on each other’s work. Every pitch that was submitted has been viewed multiple times and many have comments and suggestions from other participants. I hope that writers in the group will continue to share their ideas with each other and really use each other as sounding boards. I know that some members have used vBroadcast to discuss ideas with each other and over the next few weeks, I’m hoping to created a “writer’s group” using vBroadcast where each week a writer will broadcast their own ideas live, while other members of the group can watch and chat with them live.
What every aspiring screenwriter dreams of is an audience and Vpype has helped provide one!
Joe Palladino’s pitch, TOWERS OF LONDON on vComedy…
http://apps.facebook.com/vcomedy/vcomedyviewer?auth_token=82020b1098aa9a22b34c89b2453ffb1c
Wilton’s pitch, THE HITMAN on vComedy…
http://apps.facebook.com/vcomedy/vcomedyviewer?ref=ts
AD Smith’s pitch, THE ASSIGNED on vComedy…
http://apps.facebook.com/vcomedy/vcomedyviewer?ref=ts
Tags:cindy mccreery, Facebook, facebook fan pages, hollywood, joe palladino, julie richardson, live video, screenplay pitch contest, shoieb yunus, social media, social networking, social video, social viewing, social web, towers of london, vbroadcast, vcomedy, Vpype, vpype live
Posted in citizen journalism, cloud computing, cloud storage, comedy, Facebook, hollywood, hollywood scriptwriting, humanties, interactive tv, internet, movies, social applications, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, technology, video, video platform, virtual computing | Leave a Comment »
February 7, 2011
Gary Klein
Gary Klein, Product Manager, Vpype Corporation
Facebook has revolutionized the web by providing consumers with an easy to use interface and common sense controls over how they share the digital information of their lives. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world, with a population in excess of 600 Million. Facebook Pages, special sites just for businesses and brands, have become the new standard for marketing to this global audience. Consumers can “Like” your brand, and then are automatically subscribed to updates from your business; when you share information with them, it aggregates in their News Feed right along with pictures and updates from their friends and family.
The Facebook platform is in a near constant state of development, changing frequently, and it can be difficult for marketers to find quality tools to help them leverage this market. Other streaming video companies have launched Facebook applications but then failed to maintain them or integrate them fully with Facebook. Justin.tv, Ustream, and Livestream all claim to support Facebook streaming.
Justin.tv uses a single Facebook Live Stream next to any of their embedded videos, meaning users may not even be chatting about your content, and you have no moderation tools or transcript. Ustream will custom build a viewer for you in fourteen days, but wants you to pay for a subscription first and requires your Facebook Page to have 1,000 followers before they will begin the work. Livestream has a Facebook application, but subscriptions start at $350.00 per month if you want to remove advertising. None of these applications integrate with Facebook Events.
Vpype identified the strategic importance of Facebook several years ago, and designed our real time communications system to integrate fully with Facebook as well as the web. Our premier application, vBroadcast, requires no software download and runs as a hosted service from the cloud, allowing you to stream live video events straight to your Facebook Page and Web Site simultaneously. Viewers can use your Facebook Page, your Web Site, or the vBroadcast application to view and interact with the live show; Facebook Connect, Facebook Live Stream, and Twitter are all supported.
vBroadcast scheduler integrates with the Facebook Events system so your fans will know when you are planning to go live. When you begin the broadcast, we can notify your followers on Facebook and Twitter for you, so everyone can find the show. Once you have finished, we can notify anyone who could not attend, and give them a link to the recorded show, complete with chat transcript.
Whenever you want to reach out to your audience, vBroadcast makes it easy to interact with your customers, wherever they congregate.
Tags:Facebook, facebook fan pages, justin tv, live stream, live video, livestream, shoieb yunus, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, social viewing, social web, ustream, vbroadcast, Vpype, vpype live
Posted in cloud computing, cloud storage, Facebook, interactive tv, internet, social applications, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, technology, video platform | Leave a Comment »
December 16, 2010
Cindy McCreery
Cindy McCreery, Hollywood Screenwriter.
Cindy is a graduate of the Walt Disney/ABC Feature Writing Fellowship program for the 2002-2003 year. In 2006 National Geographic Films hired Cindy to rewrite ELEPHANT WILD and later in 2007 in partnership with Warner Brothers, they hired her again to develop and write FREE WILLY: ESCAPE FROM PIRATES COVE which will be released in March of 2010.
Last January Vpype held it’s first Hollywood Screenplay Pitch Contest. It was the first and only pitch contest exclusive to Facebook, which allowed users to pitch industry professionals live via webcam. Judges from MGM, Fox, William Morris Endeavor as well as many known Producers with credits that include COLLATERAL, REMEMBER ME, THE COLLECTOR, OVERBOARD and ELF. I’m proud to say that not only did the top three winners win great prizes, but also they are still currently developing their ideas with producers that judged the contest. The gains weren’t limited to the top three; in fact, many of the contestants were contacted by producers who watched their pitches.
vComedy app on Facebook
This December we’re proud to announce the 2nd annual pitch contest! This time we’ve made a few changes. First we’ve limited the pitches to three minutes, as that’s really all the time one needs to get out what their movie is! Secondly, we’ve shortened the duration of the contest to a little over a month so we don’t lose momentum. Third, participants must submit their pitches using Vpype’s latest application, vComedy, although pitches aren’t limited to a specific genre.
Many of the judges from last year will be participating including Julie Richardson, Mac Torluccio, Christopher Lockhart, Trevor Engelson and many more.
What makes this contest special is that it’s not only free but it’s open to writers all over the world. Last year we had participants from as far as Israel to Pakistan to Italy to Australia. It really opens Hollywood to writers who don’t have the resources to live in LA.
Also, what I think makes this such a special contest is that everyone involved is really dedicated to the idea of helping aspiring writers get their feet in the door. The CEO of Vpype is also a filmmaker and understands not only the importance of the writer but also the importance of making industry contacts.
This might be a small contest, but it has provided big opportunities for many writers including Marc Maxwell recently wrote this to me, “Living in Pembroke, Kentucky feels a million miles away from Hollywood. But that’s where I find myself working as a Department of Defense Guidance Counselor for the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell. As an Army Counselor, I assist our Soldiers in achieving their Adult Education goals of obtaining a degree or diploma. My writing partner, David Horne, and I started collaborating four years ago. To date, we have co-written nine sports trivia/history books through the Sports by the Numbers series, however we have always aspired to write screenplays. With me in Kentucky and Dave stationed as a civilian in Germany, the dreams of being a screenwriter were just that…dreams. Geographically, even if we had a great script, we weren’t in any position to pitch our ideas. That was, until the first Vpype Hollywood Pitch Contest came to Facebook. I heard about the contest through Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat website and immediately started working on our pitches. After pitching five ideas, we found ourselves with two submissions in the Top Thirty and one pitch in the Top Ten. Even though we didn’t win the contest, we were contacted by a judge and Hollywood Insider to send them our completed screenplay. We continue to work with them on rewrites and have been invited to submit any future screenplays we complete. Without the Vpype contest, our screenplay may never have been seen or read by movie producers. And because of this contest our dream lives on.”
No matter where you live or what you do for a living, if you have a movie idea be sure to pitch it via vComedy before January 25th 2011! Who knows, this time next year you could be living out your dreams!
For more information join our Facebook Group, The Hollywood VPYPE Pitch Contest!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=259144206323
Tags:christopher lockhart, cindy mccreery, collateral movie, collector movie, Facebook, hollywood, hollywood pitch contest, how to pitch to hollywood executives, julie richardson, live video, marc maxwell, screenplay pitch, shoieb yunus, social media, social networking, social video, social viewing, technology, vbroadcast, vcomedy, Vpype, vpype live
Posted in comedy, Facebook, hollywood, hollywood scriptwriting, humanties, interactive tv, internet, movies, social applications, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, technology, video, video platform, videos | Leave a Comment »
December 9, 2010
Gary Klein
By Gary Klein, Product Manager, Vpype Corporation
It was not that many years ago when you placed an advertisement in a magazine or newspaper, paying a charge based on their total subscriber base, knowing only a small number of those readers would be interested, and hoping some even smaller number might act. If you wanted to know what your customers thought of your products, you could include a response card, and hope one percent ever replied. Today, social media has changed the landscape: restaurateurs can respond to customer reviews on Yelp, Delta Airlines monitors Twitter to remedy customer complaints, and Jack in the Box has over 300,000 friends on Facebook. Social Media Expert Mari Smith dubs this The Relationship Age in her latest book:
“With the incredible boom of online social networking sites – particularly Facebook and Twitter – what we’re seeing now is a massive paradigm shift in the way we communicate and do business around the globe.”
Social Media Expert Mari Smith doing a live broadcast
Vpype’s vBroadcast application was designed to enable you and your brand to interact with your customers in real-time. Speak directly to your customers where they socialize: on your branded Facebook Page and your branded web site. You can demonstrate products or answer questions using state of the art streaming video. Participants are identified by name and photo, and can ask questions or provide feedback immediately. Chat is recorded along with the video for time-shifted viewing. One click opens a window for participants to share posts with Facebook and Twitter, allowing them to share their experience with their friends, while integrating these feeds into a unified social stream for the broadcaster.
In the last year thousands of shows have been created, including:
• A pitch contest where screenwriters from around the world were able to pitch scripts to Hollywood studio executives (from 20th Century Fox, MGM, William Morris Endeavor and others)
• An independent tire and auto care shop shared maintenance tips and closed four new customers during their first broadcast
• A graduate program offered distance learning classes and broke their enrollment record
• A church broadcast sermons to housebound parishioners and reconnected with others that had moved away
• A realtor toured open houses with his laptop, answering questions from out of town buyers
• A specialty horse accessory maker gave tutorials and answered questions from their customers on four continents from a barn in Colorado
• A candidate for Congress fielded questions from his future constituents
How can you build stronger relationships with your customers? If you don’t, your competitor will, as when Southwest Airlines tweeted flight information to a JetBlue customer complaining about his delayed flight.
Tags:20th Century Fox, cindy mccreery, Facebook, facebook fan pages, gary klein, hollywood, jetblue, julie richardson, live video, mari smith, MGM, relationship marketing, shoieb yunus, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, social web, southwest airlines, the relationship age, twitter, Vpype, vpype live, William Morris Endeavor, Youtube
Posted in Facebook, hollywood, hollywood scriptwriting, internet, movies, social applications, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, technology, video, video platform | Leave a Comment »
October 4, 2010
Najeeb Nadeem
Guest Writer Series, Part 7 Najeeb Nadeem, Vpype User Community and IT Support Manager. Najeeb is an IT expert, responsible for user community activities, web infrastructure support and cloud management services.
Vpype vBroadcast Quick Start Guide
What You Need
• A computer – Macintosh or PC will work equally well.
• A web camera – Most laptops have these built in.
• A microphone – Most laptops have these built in.
• A quiet, well-lit broadcast location with a solid Internet connection.
o You will need at least 300 Kbps, and preferably 500 Kbps, of upstream bandwidth
o You can test your upstream bandwidth at http://www.speedtest.net
• A web browser – Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari – they all work.
• The latest version of Adobe Flash – http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer
• A Facebook account – http://www.facebook.com
• Access vBroadcast and “allow” the application to install in your Facebook account – http://apps.facebook.com/vbroadcast
To Start a Live Broadcast
• Open a web browser and navigate to the vBroadcast application, http://apps.facebook.com/vbroadcast
• Click the “Broadcast” button in the menu bar
• The application will attempt to detect your webcam and microphone. If unsuccessful, you will need to manually select them to continue.
• Complete the Broadcast Information form
o Enter the Location of your broadcast.
o Show Name is required and should contain a concise title for the show
o Keywords are required and can contain any other information you would like indexed in the search engine.
o Select on how’s behalf you are going to do the show
o Select your audience
o Select the language in which the show will be conducted
o Select the category
o Start should be set to Now
o Save Recording should be selected
o Announce should be selected for Facebook and/or Twitter
o Duration should be set to the desired length
o Viewers limit should be set high enough to cover possible attendance
o When Ready, Click Start Broadcast
• You will be taken to the Broadcast panel where you can adjust your camera to ensure a good broadcast. When ready, click the Camera button to start the live show.
• You will be prompted to publish about your show on your wall and your friend’s wall
• When you see “Live” indicator in the top right hand Conner, you are Broadcasting Live
• When the show is over, click the Stop button. The show will terminate, the transcript will be closed, and the recorded show will be published the broadcaster’s Shows tab.
To Obtain Support
• For customer support, send email to support@vpype.com
Tags:Facebook, live video, shoieb yunus, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, social viewing, social web, technology, Vpype, vpype live
Posted in citizen journalism, Facebook, interactive tv, social applications, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, technology, video | Leave a Comment »
September 27, 2010
Cindy McCreery
Guest Writer Series, Part 6 Cindy McCreery, Hollywood Screenwriter. Cindy is a graduate of the Walt Disney/ABC Feature Writing Fellowship program for the 2002-2003 year. In 2006 National Geographic Films hired Cindy to rewrite ELEPHANT WILD and later in 2007 in partnership with Warner Brothers, they hired her again to develop and write FREE WILLY: ESCAPE FROM PIRATES COVE which will be released in March of 2010.
Last Sunday, September 19th, I had the pleasure of hosting a vComedy booth with the rest of the Vpype team at the 30th annual San Francisco Comedy Day in Golden Gate Park. Over forty stand-up comedians from all over the country, including actor Robin Williams, performed on one stage for five straight hours! The day started out a little shaky considering the temperature was in the 50’s, raining and windy but the crowds still came despite the weather.
30th Annual San Francisco Comedy Day
For our vComedy booth, we had laptops with web cams armed and ready to record visitor’s jokes using the vComedy application. I’m not going to lie; we had an interesting group visit our booth! First of all, we were located in the Sharon Meadows area of Golden Gate Park which sits right across from the famous or infamous Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco and secondly, as stated earlier, the weather was terrible. We had a few homeless who were thrilled to have the opportunity to be heard (and get out of the rain), we had a couple of young kids who on approaching the booth were seemingly shy but when the camera rolled, shy they definitely weren’t! We had a grandmother tell a joke that her grand children definitely should not watch and a father tell a joke dedicated to his kids.
Most of the people who stopped by our booth were college students who spend a lot of their time on Facebook and were excited to get a chance to be a part of Comedy Day by themselves telling a few jokes. Two of my UC Santa Barbara students made an appearance and did several vComedy recordings. They’re both aspiring comics and were excited to have an excuse to record some of their comedy and send it out to all of their friends.
People trying out vComedy app at Vpype booth
In talking to a lot of different people about vComedy what I’ve heard consistently is that being an application specifically for telling jokes, makes it easier and less frightening to actually record something. For example, if you had a funny story to tell all of your Facebook friends, it would feel kind of awkward to just record something and post it on your page. But, by doing it specifically through a comedy application, it’s wrapped up in a nice fun virtual comedy card of sorts! I think beyond using the app to tell a joke, it’s a great way to connect with friends and family. If a user wants to just say “hello” to a friend, vComedy is a great way to send a fun quick message.
Also in the coming weeks, a new feature will be added to the app, which I think will skyrocket the amount of users – an uploading feature. Users will have the choice to either record something using their webcam or they can upload a funny video. And for aspiring comics they can upload their best bits from performances and send it out as well! It’s great because many comics aren’t stand-up comedians, but rather excel at improv and by adding this feature, we’ll be opening the app up to sketch and improv comedians as well! Or maybe just a funny moment captured on video at your friends wedding!
Another feature I really like about vComedy is that it keeps a catalogue of your recordings so users can basically create their own line up of different vComedy bits, a virtual shmorgishborg of funny!
Who knows, maybe next years Comedy Day lineup will include some comics discovered by using vComedy!
Here’s the link to vComedy on Facebook: http://apps.facebook.com/vcomedy
Tags:cindy mccreery, Facebook, hollywood, Human Behavior, live video, robin williams, san francisco comedy day, shoieb yunus, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, Vpype, vpype live
Posted in comedy, Facebook, hollywood, Human Behavior, humanties, internet, movies, social applications, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, technology, video | Leave a Comment »
September 13, 2010
Mursil Sayed
Mursil Sayed, VP of Product Development, Vpype Corporation.
Mursil is the principal architect of Vpype products and leads the entire development effort. Mursil enjoys transforming complex technology into consumer-facing products. Prior to Vpype, Mursil was VP of Engineering at EzValidation, a fingerprint security software company.
The explosive growth of social networking has lured many software companies to develop social applications to instantly reach millions of users on various social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Social application software encompasses a range of software systems that allow users to interact and share data with their friends and network. Although it is very easy to quickly develop and launch a simple social application, it requires some skill and experience to develop an application that attracts and retain visitors.
I would like to list a few guidelines that developers and as well social media marketers may find useful and put into practice to develop an effective and maintainable social application.
1) The application must provide a simple user experience so that the users can quickly figure out what the application is all about. There should be one or two major workflows in the application and those workflows must be self-explanatory. Although this is canonical for the desktop or web application, but it is especially important for social applications because research has indicated that people usually resist installing new applications. Therefore if they are unable to find instant value of the application, they are most likely to uninstall the application. Vpype is one such social app that has an intuitive workflow for live video streaming.
Maaika Westen interviews Vpype CEO
2) Integrate social plug-in in your application to increase sharing and word of mouth (viral) marketing of your application. Facebook is providing various plug-ins for like, recommendations, comments, etc. Similarly you can get variety of plug-ins for Twitter for posting status messages and viewing communication threads.
3) Make an abstraction layer to interact with social networks. This will help in maintaining the application and will prevent the application from crashing due to change in underlying social API. Although Facebook and other major social networks provide a standard interface (Open Social) to access their services, most advanced services and new features are only accessible via their proprietary API. This API keeps on changing from time to time.
4) Don’t use your servers to store social graph (underlying social relations between people) and other information about your users (like friends, followers, etc.). The only exception to this rule is when the information is used frequently. In this case, use API calls to get this information from Social networks when needed. Most social networks are now providing interrupt based APIs that will automatically post new changes to the ‘social’ application.
5) Create a mock implementation for the social network abstraction layer so that application could be tested and debugged quickly and easily without requiring the Internet connection. All the data for the mock implementation should be stored in local databases. This will significantly reduce the development and debugging time as the mock implementation will operate from local databases and doesn’t require an Internet callback.
Tags:Facebook, facebook fan pages, live video, maaika westen, shoieb yunus, social app development, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, social viewing, social web, Vpype, vpype live
Posted in Facebook, interactive tv, social applications, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, software development, technology, video | Leave a Comment »
September 4, 2010
Cindy McCreery
Cindy McCreery, Hollywood Screenwriter.
Cindy is a graduate of the Walt Disney/ABC Feature Writing Fellowship program for the 2002-2003 year. In 2006 National Geographic Films hired Cindy to rewrite ELEPHANT WILD and later in 2007 in partnership with Warner Brothers, they hired her again to develop and write FREE WILLY: ESCAPE FROM PIRATES COVE which will be released in March of 2010.
My most prize possession as a kid was my Steve Martin, “Wild and Crazy Guy” stand up comedy record. I’d listen to his standup over and over again even though, most likely, I was too young to understand why I was laughing. The idea that one guy could make so many people laugh just by telling stories amazed me. A few years later my older brothers exposed me to another great stand up, who I was still far too young to be watching, Eddie Murphy. I must have watched his stand up show, “Delirious” a hundred times. He told crazy stories about his childhood that were both so personal and so hilarious. Then, I discovered Gilda Radner, who became my hero. She was fearless. She didn’t care how ridiculous she looked; it was all about being funny. That was it for me she was who I wanted to be when I grew up. Period. Well, needless to say, I did not become Gilda Radner, but my love of comedy has stayed intact.
Recently, I was asked by Shoieb Yunus, Founder & CEO at Vpype to help promote their new Facebook application, vComedy, which allows users to record, post and send out their best comedy “bits”. What I love about this application is that it’s not about trying to capture a funny moment with your video camera of your cat doing something crazy or someone nailing someone else in the crotch for the millionth time, it’s back to the basics of what I love about comedy. It’s about a personal interaction, about simply telling a funny story. That’s what I love about stand up comedy; it’s so personal and so simple. Sometimes it works. Sometime it doesn’t. But I admire anyone with the nerve to try.
I recently sat down to use the app for the first time and it was terrifying. I’ve spent the last eight years as a professional screenwriter, constantly putting my work out there, but this was much more terrifying, I had to put myself out there! Let’s face it, my joke wasn’t that great, but I sent it out to my dad on Facebook, who I dedicated it to and he absolutely loved it. He loved that I took the time to record this joke just for him. It was better than any greeting card I had ever mailed to him. He laughed and was touched. My first bit was a success! Don’t worry I’m not going to quit my day job! Milton Berle once said, “Laughter is an instant vacation”. I think vComedy can be an “instant vacation” for someone right there on their Facebook Page. I know it was for my dad.
30th Annual San Francisco Comedy Day
This September 19th at the 30th annual San Francisco Comedy Day I’m thrilled to be working a vComedy booth where we’ll be recording patron’s best funny! It’s going to be a great day where over forty of the best stand ups in the country will be performing on one stage for the city where Steve Martin recorded “Wild and Crazy Guy”. The day begins at noon and runs until 5pm in the beautiful Sharon Meadows in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. It’s totally free and a family friendly day of food, drinks and comedy! Our vComedy booth will be armed with webcams ready to record patron’s best funny and we’ll post them on Facebook for everyone to share with their friends.
For more info on vComedy go to … http://apps.facebook.com/vcomedy
For more info on San Francisco Comedy Day go to … http://www.comedyday.com
To watch Vpype CEO’s latest interview, click here … http://www.vimeo.com/14661583
Tags:cindy mccreery, comedy on facebook, Facebook, hollywood, live video, san francisco comedy day, shoieb yunus, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, social web, Vpype, vpype live, Youtube
Posted in comedy, Facebook, hollywood, hollywood scriptwriting, Human Behavior, humanties, interactive tv, internet, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, technology, Uncategorized, video, Youtube | Leave a Comment »
August 28, 2010
Guest Writer Series, Part 2
Cindy McCreery, Hollywood Screenwriter. Cindy is a graduate of the Walt Disney/ABC Feature Writing Fellowship program for the 2002-2003 year. In 2006 National Geographic Films hired Cindy to rewrite ELEPHANT WILD and later in 2007 in partnership with Warner Brothers, they hired her again to develop and write FREE WILLY: ESCAPE FROM PIRATES COVE which will be released in March of 2010.
Hollywood Pitch Contest on vBroadcast on Facebook
I got my first big break by winning the 2003 ABC Disney Feature Screenwriting Fellowship, where Disney moved me to Los Angeles and paid me a salary for a year to write a script for them. It wasn’t until I won what was basically a contest, that I finally broke into the world I had dreamed of being a part of. From there I’ve sold seven projects and have remained, sometimes by the skin of my teeth, in the world. For so many aspiring screenwriters, living where those doors are just isn’t possible. There are so many talented people all over the world who could and should be successful in Hollywood, but the miles between them and Los Angeles are too vast and if you’re not where the action is, how in the heck do you get noticed. Contest, that’s the answer.
This is why I was thrilled to help put together a screenwriting contest for the Facebook Application company; Vpype. I was given the opportunity to help open doors for aspiring writers from all over the world. The contest was not only free to the public, but very simple. All that was required was a Facebook account, a webcam, and an idea for a feature film. They just had to record their own pitch using their webcam and Vpype’s broadcasting application, vBroadcast.
I found industry professionals who loved the idea of opening doors from major Hollywood Studios, Production Companies and Agencies to review the pitches. We carefully choose a top ten out of four hundred plus entries from writers across the globe. We had an action adventure pitched from Italy, a very dramatic period piece from the UK, an alien thriller from Israel, a love story from Argentina, a sexy detective story from Arkansas and many many more great ideas! It was so exciting for me every day to open up the application and find another entry from another unique voice.
The top ten then had the chance to pitch their ideas live using vBroadcast, which allows users to broadcast live straight from their Facebook Page. The panel of judges watched the live pitches and used the “chatting” mechanism within the app where they could critique each individual pitch. Here, writers were given whatever aspiring writer dreams of – access. They had the opportunity to pitch their movie to studio executives, producers, agents and managers. Prior to the live top ten finals, I did live vBroadcasts with the writers where I offered my own advice for pitching their scripts. It was really fun to connect personally with these writers from all over the world.
We had the final event where all ten did terrific and took full advantage of this opportunity. Even though we only had one winner, they all impressed the judges. In fact, many of the top ten were contacted by judges and are now developing their scripts with them.
The other exciting thing to come out of this contest was the community of writers on the contest’s group page. Even though the contest has been over for several months, the page has been a “water cooler” of sorts for the nine-hundred plus writers to post questions, offer advice, hold their own live vBroadcasts discussing where they are in their own projects, and most importantly to know that where ever they are in the world that they’re not alone anymore and not so far from Hollywood.
Check out our group The Hollywood VPYPE Pitch Contest
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=259144206323&ref=ts
Tags:cindy mccreery, Facebook, hollywood, julie richardson, live video, movie free willy, movie soccer mom, shoieb yunus, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, social web, Vpype, vpype hollywood pitch contest, vpype live
Posted in Facebook, hollywood, hollywood scriptwriting, internet, movies, social media, social networking, social tv, social video, technology, video | Leave a Comment »
July 21, 2010
At the Tiger Temple, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
This summer is becoming one of those where I am moving forward on several fronts and embracing creativity, connections and parallel processing.
All this was augmented by my family’s recent and splendid vacation in Thailand and watching my children have no fear as they approached tigers at the sanctuary we visited (Tiger Temple – a 2 hour drive from Bangkok). This break really inspired me and got my creative juices going. I plan to squeeze time for my passion – film projects, continue to work to inspire new Vpype users, look into how we can connect with social gaming experts and write more about social video.
At the Bridge on the River Kwai, Thailand
I attended a two-day workshop on specific filmmaking techniques and was thrilled to learn my daughter is also doing the same this summer. So now, I am really jazzed to share and spend some time on one of my passions – filmmaking, and start another film project … soon. My other films are “Two Mothers” and “Cemetery of the Lost Tribe”.
San Francisco Film Society
Some of the tenets and principals discussed in the film class really fit with what our best Vpype broadcasters are doing or can do. The best shows have a plan, tell a story, share a point of view, are authentic and solicit real time, interactive feedback. For example, check out this recently recorded show – click here.
To date, I have completed one year of blogging about the power of Social Video. If you have any thoughts on this subject, please let me know.
Tags:Facebook, Human Behavior, live video, shoieb yunus, social media, social tv, social video, thailand, tiger temple, Vpype, vpype live
Posted in Facebook, Human Behavior, humanties, interactive tv, internet, social networking, social tv, social video, technology, video | Leave a Comment »
