Animoto
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 2006 |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Key people | Brad Jefferson, Jason Hsiao, Stevie Clifton, Tom Clifton co-founders |
| Services | software applications |
| Website | http://animoto.com/ |
| Type of site | social networking |
| Available in | English |
| Launched | August 2006 |
| Current status | active |
Animoto is a web application that produces videos from photos, video clips and music.
Animoto analyzes the provided photos, video clips and music to generate a video similar to a trailer. According to the website, the song is analyzed, producing a unique video every time. The site also claims that no two videos are ever the same.[1][2]
By November 2009, 1 million users had registered at Animoto. Their iPhone application has been installed 300,000 times and two million Facebook users have used the Animoto Facebook application.[3] One year prior, in August 2008, 250,000 users in 150 countries had been registered with Animoto.com.[4]
About 10% of users who register at the site end up paying money, so the company has had cash flow since October 2008.[5]
Investors of Animoto include Amazon.com, Spectrum Equity Investors, Bruce Livingstone (the founder of iStockphoto) and Madrona Venture Group.[3]
Some of the founders include former producers at MTV, VH1, Comedy Central & ABC. Animoto utilizes the post-production skills some of the founding team honed while working in television in order to produce online content that is on-par with content found on TV & in film.[2][6]
Contents |
[edit] History
Animoto was founded on August 2006, and launched as a website on August 14, 2007.
Animoto is based in New York, with an office in San Francisco.
While attending the SXSW Interactive Festival in March 2008, Animoto launched their own Facebook application.[7] It became a popular way for users to showcase their photos on the social network.
The Animoto Facebook application experienced so much viral growth in April 2008, that it became one of Amazon Web Services's cloud computing success stories. By mid-April, Animoto's Facebook application had nearly 750,000 people sign up in three days. At the peak, almost 25,000 people tried Animoto in a single hour.[8] Amazon Web Services's ability to meet the demand of Animoto's viral Facebook application resulted in Amazon.com's eventual investment in Animoto. Jeff Bezos includes Animoto in speeches he gives regarding Amazon Web Services.[9]
Along with releasing the Animoto Facebook application in March 2008, Animoto was also a YouTube launch partner for YouTube's API. Animoto was integrated with YouTube, allowing users to export Animoto videos directly to YouTube easily.[10] As of August 2009, nearly 250,000 videos have been uploaded to YouTube.
On June 2008, Animoto introduced DVD-quality upgrades for users, allowing them to watch their videos on a television.
By July 2008, Animoto for Business[11] and Animoto for Education[12] were launched. Animoto for Education gives teachers and students unlimited access to its full-length video making services for free, while Animoto for Business allows for Animoto to be used commercially.
Since an overwhelming number of professional photographers started to use the Animoto for Business product, Animoto for Photography [13] was launched in October 2008 at PhotoPlus in New York City. Since launching, Animoto for Photography has attended every national photography convention, including the Professional Photographers of America's Imaging Conference & WPPI. Animoto for Real Estate is another off-shoot of the commercial product, which officially launched at the Inman Connect Conference in San Francisco in July 2009. Animoto's pro-package is a White-label product.
In June 2009, the Animoto iPhone app was launched,[14] allowing iPhone users to create video using pictures taken on their phone.[15]
In August 2009, Animoto launched the ability to upload video clips, along with still images.[16] This has been the largest advance to the Animoto offering thus far.
In April 2011 the company added functionality for Apple TV and AirPlay users. .[17]
[edit] Awards
Webby Award winner in the "Best Services & Design" category; Webby Award winner - People's Voice Award in the "Best Services & Design" category; SXSW's Interactive Award in the "Best Film/Website" category; BBC's Click "Top Websites of 2008"; PC Magazine's "Top 100 Undiscovered Websites of 2008"; TechCrunch's Crunchies Runner-Up for Best Design [18]
Animoto gained considerable press around the Webby Awards, not only due to their win, but because of their speech. The Huffington Post placed the Animoto acceptance speech in their top 12 moments of the Webby Awards Ceremony.[19] Animoto's CFO, Nathan Meagher, wore a wig & disrobed to leopard skin tights in front of a surprised audience and Webby Awards host, Seth Meyers of SNL fame. Eventually screaming "Thank you, New York.... WOOOOO," (due to the 5 word maximum speech limit at the Webby Awards), Animoto grew considerable attention for the outlandish speech.
[edit] References
- ^ "CNet article on Animoto". http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10111118-2.html.
- ^ a b "Animoto.com Press Page". http://press.animoto.com/about.html.
- ^ a b "Animoto article in USA Today". http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-08-25-online-edit-video_N.html.[dead link]
- ^ "Animoto article in Entrepreneur magazine". http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2009/january/199000.html.
- ^ "Animoto article in TechCrunch". http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/17/animoto-is-already-cash-flow-positive-but-raises-another-round-to-go-to-11/.
- ^ "Animoto.com's "About Us" section". http://animoto.com/company/.
- ^ "Wall Street Journal article on Animoto's Facebook app". The Wall Street Journal. 2008-03-18. http://blogs.wsj.com/buzzwatch/2008/03/18/chart-climbers-a-buzz-boost-for-a-new-way-to-share-your-photos/?mod=googlenews_wsj.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Michael (2008-05-25). "New York Times Article on Animoto & Cloud Computing". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/technology/25proto.html?_r=2&ref=business&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ "Jeff Bezos speech at Startup School 2008". http://www.omnisio.com/v/9ceYTUGdjh9/jeff-bezos-on-animoto.
- ^ "Reuters news link". 2008-08-26. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS132135+26-Aug-2008+PRN20080826.
- ^ "animoto - for business". Business.animoto.com. http://business.animoto.com. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
- ^ "animoto - for education". Education.animoto.com. http://education.animoto.com. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
- ^ "for photography". animoto. http://animoto.com/photography. Retrieved 2010-01-07.
- ^ "LA Times Animoto iPhone article". The Los Angeles Times. 2008-12-23. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2008/12/animoto-iphone.html.
- ^ "CNet Animoto iPhone article". http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10225496-233.html.
- ^ "Mashable Article". http://mashable.com/2009/08/25/animoto-video-clips/.
- ^ "Animoto Adds Even More Features". http://www.digitalnewsreport.com/2011/04/09-animoto_appple_tv_air_play/8552.
- ^ "Animoto's Press page". http://animoto.com/company/buzz/awards.
- ^ Shea, Danny (2009-06-09). "Huffington Post Webby recap slideshow". http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/09/webbys-2009-speeches-biz_n_213063.html?slidenumber=11#slide_image.
