This documentary by the BBC was first released three years ago.  I've embedded here the first of a four part series.  Each part read like a thriller for me exploring one avenue only to open up another just before it ended. Before I knew it, I had spent four thought provoking and thoroughly well invested hours.

This is from the very end of the movie - an interview recorded in 1990.? Just after Soderbergh had won the Palm d'Or as a small US indie director, but before El Mariachi, DV, Premiere/FCP - in technology and distribution, the world was a very different place, and it's taken a long time to get even close to catching up to his vision.? Not that he was a lone voice even then, but it's the way he says it?

'To me the great hope is that now these little 8mm video recorders and stuff have come out, some... just people who normally wouldn't make movies are going to be making them, and - you know - suddenly, one day, some little fat girl in Ohio is going to be the new Mozart - you know - and? make a beautiful film with her little father's camera...corder - and for once the so-called professionalism about movies will be destroyed.? Forever.? And it will really become an art form. ?

That's my opinion.'

Source: Fatgirlinohio

My good people at GEN247 tackled the world's fastest growing criminal activity, identity theft, with the Webby Award winning interactive web thriller, DELETED: THE GAME.  The web show told half the story and the interactive game story told the other half.  Personally, I think the balance was a little off making the web show a little hard to follow watching it on its own without playing the game.  The team will address this in the sequel which is coming very soon ;-)

Also, look to them to tackle the second fastest growing criminal activity, human trafficking, with a collaborative work working titled Matchbook.  I'm particularly moved by this project and its the kind of work I'd like to do more off.  I know some of you would be interested to get involved, the team is in sponsorship raising mode so this would be the most helpful kind of input at this stage.  Watch out for details of how else to contribute down the road.

Finally, the team plans to tackle the third fastest growing criminal activity, counterfeiting, with a tongue-in-cheek interactive docu-drama with a working title named Full Price.  It explores the demand side of the equation and I'm sure you'll agree will provide excellent grounds for character study.

HERE'S A RECAP OF DELETED: SEASON ONE

Myth 1: YouTube is limited to short-form user-generated content.

YouTube was built on short-form user-generated content. This much is true. Otherwise we’d have never seen those cute pets doing crazy things, or people falling over in ever more obtuse ways. But Google has moved the site on from that somewhat, and although UGC is still the main thrust of YouTube, there is also a range of long-form, professionally made, or premium content available.

Myth 2: YouTube videos are grainy and of poor quality.

Again, this a myth that’s built on the early days of the site when, let’s face it, the quality of the videos on the site was quite poor. Video quality has been improving as the quality of the products used to shoot the video has improved. Then at the back end of 2008, YouTube unveiled its HD video offerings, and the quality hasn’t looked back since.

Myth 3: Traffic, growth, uploads are bad for YouTube’s bottom line.

This is one of the trickiest YouTube myths to prove or disprove because YouTube doesn’t reveal its balance sheets. There has been intense speculation over how much money the site will lose this year, but until YouTube decides to reveal all then no one knows for sure. YouTube is claiming that, at the very least, growth is good for the company rather than bad. Which means it’s still welcoming more uploaded video.

Myth 4: Advertisers are afraid of YouTube.

It’s long been assumed that advertisers are somewhat cautious about advertising on YouTube due to the random nature of which clips their ads could end up appearing on. But YouTube is quick to point out that 70 percent of Ad Age Top 100 marketers ran campaigns on the site during 2008. What’s more, YouTube is now actively developing tools designed to help advertisers have better control over where their ads appear on the site.

Myth 5: YouTube is only monetizing 3-5% of the site.

This is another huge myth that YouTube is keen to debunk. A figure of 4 percent has long been bandied about when describing how many of the videos on the site can actually be monetized due to copyright concerns etc. YouTube doesn’t refute the percentage claim, and doesn’t either discuss the true figure, but it claims to have tripled the number of monetized views in the past year, and to be generating revenue from more views than any other video site has total views. Which is impressive.

Source: Youtube biz blog