Be Bold: Mark Malkoff

July 25, 2007

There are 171 Starbucks stores in Manhattan. Mark Malkoff made it his mission to visit all of them within a 24 hours. This makes one heck of a viral video.

To pull of a 10 minute online video, it better be freakin’ awesome. This vid kept me glued from start to finish. There’s humor, adventure, and a cameo by Mark Linn-Baker (of Perfect Strangers fame).

But this isn’t Mark Malkoff’s only online video. He boldly asked several Broadway stars to join him on the Toys-R-Us ferris wheel in one video and decided to have a prom in Times Square in another. Turns out, he never went to his high school prom. Neither did I! Perhaps I should have my prom in Bright Leaf Square in Durham. Hmph. Don’t think it would be quite the same.

These videos are reminiscent of Jay Leno Man on the Street clips as well as correspondents on the Daily Show. That’s the beauty of the internet. Why wait for a hard-to-get gig on a TV network? The web is extending opportunity to more people than ever. And with 84 million Americans watching online vids, who needs TV anymore? (Ok, I do because I love The Office and Grey’s Anatomy.)

Hollywood is recognizing the trend and looking for talent in all the new places. Last year, Charlie Todd and his Improv Everywhere project was pursued by NBC during pilot season. He’s been doing mass improv missions all over New York City for years and reporting about them on the web. (Disclaimer: I have seen Charlie Todd perform with his Upright Citizens Brigade troupe Reuben Williams perform and they are hilarious.)

Recently, screenwriter Jane Espenson informed her blog readers that aspiring tv and film writers are being encouraged to showcase their work through short films on the internet. This is a trend that is becoming more and more popular with studio execs (written script specs mixed with relocation to L.A. has been the standard for decades).

But entertainment isn’t the only arena where online videos are making waves. Companies are using it more and more as part of their social media and overall online marketing strategies. The possibilies are endless, from e-learning to product launches, online videos are where it’s at.

The question is - is that where your company is at? If not, you should be.

Technorati Tags: online video, social media