Leveraging Your Media Assets Off

Regarding Captain Fred’s earlier post on Google’s transforming digital to analog, another lesson can be learned for content creators, especially those of the video/audio persuasion.

Sometimes, a peak inside the production can itself become another story to be told. The entire production can be an asset to be mined for additional content. For me, the behind-the-scenes action can be just as fascinating as the final deliverable.

We’ve all become accustomed to watching the EPK—the electronic press kit—in our latest Hollywood blockbuster DVD purchase, rental, stream, or download. Making-of shorts and special effects breakdowns even seem to be popping up on cable TV too.

Different aspects of the production can be highlighted depending on the target audience. For instance, a video magazine could focus on the camera equipment used, or a prop makers blog can talk more about the set design.

Peter Jackson has done the same thing recently with his Hobbit production videos. The blog posts act as extended trailers, whetting every fangeek’s appetite for a return trip to Middle Earth. One of my favorite TV shows, “Leverage,” also did a quick show ‘n’ tell with the making of one of those wide canvas slo-mo freeze-frame TNT promo shots.