• by Greg Smith , September 11, 2012

In considering the future of media, attention must be paid to the much ballyhooed and often maligned concept of video convergence.  Finally, it seems video convergence is becoming a reality. Surprisingly though, it is being driven as much by a growing cadre of Hollywood progressives as it is by anyone in Silicon Valley. 

“Hollywood?” you may ask skeptically. Truly, Tinsel Town is leading the revolution. One that allows for new forms of compelling content distributed in novel ways, which will surely mark the end of an era that has existed since the dawn of cinema, ushering in a new era with video convergence at its core. Not surprisingly, this revolution is being driven by artists -- directors, actors, writers -- as opposed to the studios and the distributors.  

Empowered by the past 25 years of technological advances, some of Hollywood’s top artists are finally breaking the shackles of the old content development, production and distribution models. Rather than navigate the slow, costly and prohibitive path of the traditional studio model to create content in bland and limited formats, these artists are using smaller budgets to create unique content in larger quantities, and taking it directly to consumers through the Internet. From there, viewers consume content on a variety of distribution platforms (YouTube, Vimeo, branded microsites, etc.) on myriad devices, and share/redistribute the content through social media. If that sounds a lot like video convergence, that’s because it is; it’s just not how we imagined we’d get there. Make no mistake -- we are there. Surprisingly, it’s not just struggling or young, innovative Hollywood artists embracing this model. It’s the enlightened old guard as well, from the likes of Ron Howard to Tom Hanks to Jerry Seinfeld. 
So what does this mean for the future of media in general? It’s tough to say definitively, but it does prove the truth behind one old cliché: content is king.  And for those old media properties that have reinvented themselves over the past 10 to 15 years -- not just as distributors of content, but also as creators of compelling content (HBO, AMC, TNT etc.) -- the future looks bright indeed.

Greg Smith, Chief Creative Officer of The VIA Agency, a full-service advertising agency based in Portland, Maine.