Return Of The Online Video Of The Living Dead

Over on his blog today, Kent Nichols of Ask A Ninja asks the all important question- "Is Online Video Dead?"

It's true that the real successes of web video series can be counted on one hand. But then we're still very early on in the game. The things people are trying now are different from what they were trying a year ago, or two years ago. It's a field that's still evolving, month by month. Different models come and go. Just because most of what's been tried hasn't worked doesn't mean that nothing can work.

In my opinion, the major problem is that most models aren't bold enough. No one is trying the full-on assault yet, everything is either aimed at being under the radar weird or boring mainstream. The same categories we've been with for years. Until we get new models that break out of those paradigms, we can't even proclaim the birth of online video, much less its death.

For me, the key thing to realize is that it's more than just production and distribution that have been democratized, it's the whole shebang. And the big success will come from a model that incorporates all aspects of the filmmaking business process, not just one or two.

Of course, that's really, really hard to do. Therein lies the adventure.