iFilm
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| URL | http://iFilm.com |
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| Commercial? | Yes |
| Type of site | Video hosting service |
| Registration | Not required |
| Owner | MTV Networks / Viacom |
| Created by | Rodger Raderman - Founder Luke McDonough - Co-Founder Kevin Wendle - Co-Founder |
| Current status | inactive |
ifilm.com was a popular online interactive film and media archive, originally specializing in independent films. Ifilm.com was founded in 1998 by new media entrepreneurs Roger Raderman and Luke McDonough. Greg Deocampo, the founding CTO, developed the core engineering team, encoding network, presentation engine, and ad serving network.
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[edit] Company History
The original intent of iFilm was to make short, independent films available online. It rejected home movies and pornography, but was open to all other film types. By August 1999, the site had over 450 movies, offices in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and employed 40+ people. Also during the summer of 1999, film editor Andrew Hindes and former sales and marketing head of Variety (magazine) Coco Jones joined the iFilm team. “If the consumer thinks ‘films,’ we want them to come to iFilm as their first point of entry,” said founder Rodger Raderman. “We see ourselves as the portal – the first stop on the web for all things film-related.”
iFilm had many high-profile investors, such as Axiom Ventures, Inc., Eastman Kodak, Liberty Digital, Rainbow Media (Now AMC Networks, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Vulcan Inc., and Yahoo!.
iFilm suffered serious losses in 2000 as a result of the dot-com bubble bust and rebounded a few years later with a new focus on Viral video. Prior to 2005, when YouTube did not yet exist, iFilm was the destination for online viral videos.
[edit] Acquisition
On October 15, 2005, iFilm was purchased by Viacom for $49 million, with the hopes of creating their own user-generated YouTube rival.[1] Instead, in December 2006, iFilm was bundled with MTV Networks' entertainment group. iFilm had a brief life with MTV Networks. On January 13, 2006, a television series presented as a collaboration between iFilm and VH1 entitled Web Junk 20 debuted on VH1.[2] The show was marginally popular, airing for 3 seasons.
[edit] Rebranding
Erik Flannigan, MTV Network's VP of digital media, suggested that the core audience of iFilms, primarily young males, aligned perfectly with Viacom's Spike (TV channel). During the first quarter of 2008, the two brands were merged. The iFilm brand was no more, forever re-branded and re-purposed as Spike.com.[3] The content of Spike.com was set to be composed of Spike (TV channel) programming, Comedy Central clips, GameTrailers and MTV videos.
[edit] Investors
iFilm had many high-profile investors, such as Axiom Ventures, Inc., Eastman Kodak, Liberty Digital, Rainbow Media (Now AMC Networks, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Vulcan Inc., and Yahoo!.
[edit] Features
In 1999, the iFilm player used an Adobe Flash Generator to create an Adobe Flash-based video player which integrated and streamed RealPlayer, QuickTime and Windows Media. The player was far ahead of its time, and many users reported that the film quality was jerky and grainy - especially when paired with common, low-speed, dial-up internet service.
[edit] References
- ^ Ben Fritz (13 October 2005). "Viacom goes online for $49 mil". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117930924?refCatId=1009. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "Week In Review Digest". AllBusiness. http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4907854-1.html. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ Andrew Hampp (11 September 2007). "Once Considered a YouTube Rival, MTV Does Away With IFilm.com". AdAge. http://adage.com/article/digital/considered-a-youtube-rival-mtv-ifilm/120354/. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- Rodger Raderman's iFilm Tumbler
- AdAge: Once considered a YouTube rival, MTV does away with iFilm
- iMedia Connection: iFilm's Fisk explores new digital landscape
- PaidContent.org: After being merged with Spike TV's site, MTV to remove iFilm brand next year
- Variety: Viacom goes online for $49 million
- The Independent: iFilm Network
- New York Times: Film's digital potential has Hollywood on edge
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[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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