Be Creative In Public

You might call them 'lucky', but my response would be to look up that old quote about "the harder I work the luckier I get." 

My favorite YouTube.com contributors have just struck a development deal with NBC Universal, making them among one of the first from the site to capitalize on their talent, popularity, and demonstrated ability to generate entertaining content on a consistent basis.

Congratulations obviously goes out to the team of Barats & Bereta, but equal recognition needs to be awarded to NBC Universal for recognizing a good thing when they saw it -- and taking the initiative to DO something about it.

In the wake of the LonelyGirl15 drama of trying to create grassroots interest for a movie project through arguably deceptive means using the film-sharing social website (and I say 'deceptive' only because they were discovered before they unveiled -- the equivalent of setting up a joke only to have some schmo swoop in and blow the punchline), NBC Universal could have easily dropped negotiations for fear of being burned by any fires of controversy still smoldering.

As the line between consumer content and commercial content continues to blur (and merge), the one constant should be the ability for those with talent to rise to the top.  Whether Barats & Bereta end up enjoying 15 minutes or 15 seconds (or 15 years) of fame -- they earned it by being "Creative In Public."

Being "Creative In Public" means they didn't simply sock away their ideas and concepts and then complain after seeing some late night infomercial for a product they thought up years ago. It means they didn't visit YouTube day after day and kvetch about the videos other people were posting and brag about how much better theirs would be if they ever chose to post anything of their own.

Barats & Bereta went out on a limb to create and post original ideas and content about which they were passionate. Content of which they felt proud and confident -- and I'm certain experienced the criticism of those too fearful to put their own creativity on public display -- and they SUCCEEDED.

Kudos to Barats & Bereta on their success, and a thank-you for providing another reminder of how important it is to DO something with an idea.  You two guys truly are smooooth.

Comments

[Colleen Wainwright]

Things that are great about technology:

(1) two talented guys who are passionate about their work can create and share it for very little moolah

(2) you can spread the word of their greatness...from Ohio!

(3) I can consume it all, at my leisure, from California

Great post. I turned the corner on this about four years ago, when I finally realized that the reason I thought my ideas were so rare and precious was because I treated them that way.

Now I'm so transparent, you could watch a movie through me!