Jamie Curry's internet TV show Jamie's World boasts a legion of fans.
Jamie Curry's internet TV show Jamie's World boasts a legion of fans.
Web Fest chance for our best online video makers to take a bow.
Recently I acquired my first stalker. It felt like something of an achievement. I've been doing this a while now, I look decent in my photo up there, and it's always nice to have your work recognised.
My stalker was female, definitely my stalker gender of choice. And she was persistent, which I consider one of - if not the most - important traits for a stalker to have.
First came a Facebook friend request. I ignored it. I see more than enough baby photos, rehashed memes and inspirational quotes from the people that I do know so I'll be damned if I'm opening those floodgates to the people that I don't.
No, Twitter is my platform of choice for interacting with randos, weirdos, associates and close friends. So I wasn't hugely surprised when she started tweeting messages at me. What did surprise was that they were asking me to check my damn emails.
Dutifully I dusted off the ol' inbox and had a look. Disappointingly I hadn't been being stalked at all. It was something much better.
Turns out my non-stalker was the brains behind NZ Web Fest. I hadn't heard of it. But as it sounded like something the nerds in Big Bang Theory would obsess over, I reached for the delete button. However right before sending the email into the digital abyss, my eye was caught by an intriguing proposition; "would you like to be a judge?".
Would I? You betcha. Being somewhat of a contrarian and entirely a jerk I'm always passing judgements; this show's great, that movie's terrible, this album rules, that shirt's a crime, this chick's annoying, that dude's an asshat. This was the chance to legitimise those judgments. I was on board. NZ Web Fest is a one-day event being held in central Auckland this Saturday. As the name suggests it's all about the interwebs, but specifically it's all about the brave new world of online video. Essentially, the Fest is for our local web series and video content creators and the peeps interested in the indie digital entertainment revolution that's going on right now.
Web series like Flat 3 may be unknown to most oldies but have a following among younger, more digital media-savvy audiences.
All the big names are going to be there, such as Jamie Curry of Jamie's World, Roseanne Liang of Flat 3 and Peter Haynes of AFK among many others. They'll be giving talks about their various web shows, YouTube channels and online TV series and at the end of the day there's a fancy awards ceremony.
Now, I say "big names" but chances are you won't recognise bugger all of the people speaking or any of their shows. Hopefully things like NZ Web Fest will begin to change that.
Because while they may not be household names, these people are all teenage names. By which I mean they're down with the kids.
Watching TV is what oldies do. Teens are sitting in their rooms watching other teens on YouTube sitting in their rooms talking about what it's like to be a teen.
Sure, it sounds silly but it's serious stuff. All of the speakers can boast a staggering numbers of subscribers, ranging from almost 1.5 million people at the top end right through to dedicated fanbases of around 50,000.
These are not easily ignorable numbers. My numbers were lower: four categories, 20 shows to watch, 20 shows to judge. I took the responsibility seriously. I made a cup of tea and prepared to pass judgement. I watched a dude take a run at becoming NZ's John Oliver, I watched micro-docos on graf artists and sheep shearers, I watched a sitcom about an airport worker and a dramedy about an old fella living in a caravan.
I watched a guy play a videogame, I watched another guy talk really fast and I watched a couple of girls apply makeup. Some productions were clearly armed with nothing more than a webcam and a can-do attitude. Others were more professional, complete with high production values, tweaked scripts and superb full casts. One show even had scene-setting aerial drone shots.
I didn't like everything I watched. A couple got themselves a new subscriber. But no matter what I thought of their video wares, I still admired them all for creating something and putting it out there.
I suggest watching at least a couple of the nominated shows. Because the funny thing is these YouTube personalities aren't the future mainstream stars of tomorrow. In a very real sense they're the stars of right now.
