Bustling Culver City is home to a number of companies with products and services that bridge the worlds of entertainment and technology.
A perfect example of that hybrid is NeonGrid – a company that recently launched a public beta version of its social-crediting platform, which co-founder John W. Gibbons described as LinkedIn meets IMDb for the video and music industries.
The service lets crew and talent instantly credit themselves for any of their work posted online as well as tag others they’ve worked with on projects including Web videos, music videos and commercials.
The last part is fairly crucial, since it also acts as NeonGrid’s form of verification. Unless someone else on this project confirms your credit, it will remain visible but unverified. Tag notifications are sent by email.
Gibbons used to head monetization at Seattle’s IMDb, which is owned by Amazon.com Inc. He realized there was no similar service for nonfilm and TV work.
“Credits are really the currency that people in the industry use to get more work,” he said.
Gibbons formed NeonGrid with Greg Delson, a former executive at Burbank’s BandMerch, and Tarn Rodewald, co-founder of Roadrunner Circuit Technologies Inc. in Brea. The company received an angel investment in December 2012. Gibbons declined to disclose further investor details, though he said the company expects to close another financing round soon. NeonGrid employs fewer than 10 people.
NeonGrid users can search YouTube,Vimeo and iTunes for their projects within the platform and embed videos or songs on their profile page. They can also search the database for other industry professionals.
The site’s crediting feature will always be free, the co-founders said. NeonGrid plans to make money by offering additional account services such as customizable profiles and higher priority in search results.
Gibbons and Delson said the plan is eventually to charge YouTube multichannel networks such as Machinima Inc. and Big Frame a monthly fee for recruiting services, though they haven’t settled on a price point yet. Machinima and Big Frame already use NeonGrid to credit their talent,
“They need tools to be able to identify content creators they want to reach out to,” Gibbons said. “Professional recruitment and account services is an enormous business.”
Patterson Series
Another Culver City business straddling the divide between tech and content is Collective Digital Studio, a media company that also operates a 600-channel YouTube network.
In an effort to bring the young-adult fantasy crazy to the Web, Collective Digital has optioned the online rights to best-selling author James Patterson’s “Maximum Ride” book series about a group of avian-human hybrids known as the Flock, who escape from a lab facility known as the School.
Several of Patterson’s books featuring detective Alex Cross have been adapted for the big screen, including “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider.”
Gary Binkow, chief content officer at Collective Digital, said he had been following the “Maximum Ride” series as it languished in the lengthy studio development process and he saw that fans in online forums were eager to see it brought to life. When the opportunity arose to option the property, Binkow said Patterson understood that YouTube would be a good fit.
“It’s definitely directed at a millennial audience,” Binkow said.
Collective Digital plans to finance the project itself, though no budget has been set. The idea is to produce between six and 10 serialized webisodes that run no longer than 15 minutes each, though nothing is set in stone.
Binkow said the studio hopes to have the first installment online by fall 2015.
Collective Digital will look to cast YouTube talent in lead roles rather than more established Hollywood actors, which Binkow said is part of the company’s effort to create Internet stars.
“We’re actually looking to cultivate the talent that’s online,” he said.
Rebooting
Culver City’s MiTú, a Latino YouTube network that last month raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Upfront Ventures, has named Daniel Batista its vice president of strategic partnerships and business development; Cesar Martinez vice president of sales and branded entertainment; and Jeff Mayo senior vice president of business and revenue operations. The trio will report to Charlie Echeverry, MiTú’s chief revenue officer. … L.A. pop culture website Ranker has named Glenn Walker chief strategy officer and Stan Holt chief revenue officer. … Glendale’s LegalZoom.com Inc. has named Laura Goldberg chief marketing officer.
Staff reporter Omar Shamout can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.
