ATAS Panel Report: The User Generated Content Craze

When the user generated video craze spawned by You Tube and similar sites took center stage Saturday during a TV Next panel at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Rob Bennett, general manager of entertainment and video services for MSN, related the story of a Los Angeles resident whose neighborhood gets used frequently for filming due to its Midwestern feel.

“The guy pulls out of his driveway one day and, as he starts driving down the street, he sees all of the typical massive production vehicles and rigs set up—clearly a big, major budget film being produced,” Bennett says. “And then he drives further and sees three 7- or 8-year-old kids with (digital video cameras) filming by their little lemonade stand.The thing that finally occurred to him is that 10 years ago, you would have never questioned which one of those two things would have been viewed by more people and would be more profitable.”

Nervous laughter ensued. 

By  Jim Benson