One True Media's CEO Speaks on Web-Based Video Editing and the Online Family Network
I've become increasingly absorbed by watching and creating online video, and speculated in March that we'd soon see a web-based video editing software emerge.

At the time I didn't really dig down to see if there was anything out there, which there obviously was, and I forgot what I had "predicted" until I read about OneTrueMedia in Mark Fletcher's leaving-Ask announcement.

So my brain pretty much blew up. It doesn't take much.

I dashed off an email interview to One True Media's CEO and co-founder, Mark Moore, who was kind enough to answer despite my questions' repeated badgering for a One True Media video editing API (a piece I think YouTube et al is sorely lacking).

Key Mark Moore Quotes:

• [a web-based video editing] API might be very useful for building the next generation of community sites.
• it might be a little early [for One True Media] to start licensing code :(
• YouTube for instance is just one interesting way to see mostly humourous videos and that has obviously exploded. There will be others and I believe we may see some of these from the big 3 [Google/Yahoo/AOL].
• We really think the family network is important when dealing with personal content and have some great things on the drawing board.
• We have evolved a lot of the XP ideas and continue to do make upgrades frequently. We love customer feedback and it really drives a lot of what we are doing.
• We spend a lot of time thinking about the convergence of web-technologies/community/video
• it’s really too early to think about an exit.

In hindsight I realize I didn't ask a single question regarding video retrieval. I'll shoot another question off to Moore :)

A quick note on why I'm writing about One True Media in SearchEngineLowdown, as opposed to, say WebBasedVideoEditingLowdown.

1) I think one powerful, future channel of entertainment will be "indie/no-budget" material created and distributed online. See Channel101, Soup of the Day, Puppet Tom and the YouTube channel I'm building.

2) I think search marketers should experiment with AdSense video ads, and spear-head the anti-TV-Ad-Repurposing movement.

3) Understanding UGM tools + how these intersect with social networking will better prepare you for shifts in online usage, which will better prepare you for reaching client goals.

4) I'm completely and utterly obsessed. I apologize if this interview is irrelevant to you :)

Also, not long after I sent my email interview off to Moore I bumped into an article that prompted the post FIVE Free Web Based Video Editing Services Available!!

Without any more ado, here's One True Media's CEO and co-founder Mark Moore:

1. What in your professional background best prepared you for the challenges at One True Media?
I was fortunate to be involved in the early days of ITV while working at Oracle in 1994/1995. At that time, a lot of people were first talking about delivering video over computer networks (ADSL was just becoming available). We learned a lot about consumer behavior and spent a lot of time brainstorming about video on demand. Here we are 10 years later and now we are seeing mass adoption but in ways I would have never guessed.

2. Why did 330k people sign up for One True Media in the first six months - what was your marketing like?
Our marketing was very simple – create a great product and then let the people on the web decide. We ran some search advertising to help seed the process but most of our spread has been through word of mouth (web). It has been very rewarding to see bloggers talk about "just how easy it is to create a video."

3. If you suddenly came to run YouTube, how would you monetize it?
That’s a great question. YouTube has really ushered in the era of television on the web. There are a lot of ideas on how to monetize but whatever they do it has to include the copyright holders.

For example, I think there are many types of TV show promotions which would work great if combined with a promotion on YouTube.

4. Why didn't I hear about One True Media until Mark Fletcher posted about it in his blog last week?
Not really sure. We have really depended on the web to spread the service and most of the attention has been on the video sharing sites and not the video creation sites. I think this will change as more people look to make their own videos.

5. Will you ever have a developer API? I want you to set that web-based video editor free ;)
It’s very possible. The web is really at an interesting stage. MySpace has opened sharing and syndication in completely new ways. For example, you can have web content in the form of flash components from several vendors all on the same page.

This opens all kinds of possibilities and an API might be very useful for building the next generation of community sites.

6. Do you have any plans to license your web-based video editor?
We don’t have any plans currently because it is very early and there is still a lot to build. We have plans for several major functional additions and it might be a little early to start licensing code.

7. I hear your service being called a "walled content garden." Why are people saying this?
I saw that on the TechCrunch article. I think the author was implying that we don’t have a wide-open viewing area where all videos can be seen. For our service, it is up to the creator how broadly (or private) they want to keep their content.

8. Do you think this characterization is accurate?
Today, I can see why people would consider our service walled simply because it seems everything is being shared so openly. I’m not sure all people are comfortable with their personal content being seen by everyone.

I do like the idea of a garden because many different types of video creations are springing up within the service every day.

9. Is YouTube a competitor in any way? Why or why not?
I don’t really see YouTube as a competitor.

Their service is really about viewing and not so much the process of creating. Also, our content tends to be very personal and emotional while most of the hits on Youtube are funny outakes. So, the focus is quite different.

10. How is (or isn't) Google/AOL/Yahoo competition?
There’s a lot going on in each of these companies to bring video to the consumer. My guess is that there are 10-20 different and interesting ways consumers will want to utilize video while they are online.

Google/AOL/Yahoo will be experimenting with many of these in the upcoming year. It will be very interesting to see which ones take hold and which ones fail.

YouTube for instance is just one interesting way to see mostly humourous videos and that has obviously exploded. There will be others and I believe we may see some of these from the big 3.

11. How is or isn't Flikr a competitor?
Flickr is a great online photo sharing and viewing service. I think they probably compete more with Youtube and the other video sharing sites because they have a large community who is mostly just posting and viewing.

12. What kinds of social networking elements do you foresee working into your site (or exist already)?
We are working with several social networking sites today and will continue to partner with sites who wish to bring video creation and viewing to their customers.

We have some basic community sharing elements and those features are focused on the family network. For instance, we have a "my shared" area where you can privately share your videos with personal friends and family. I also really like the idea of group/community editing which is now possible with our web technologies.

Customers have also been requesting advances in this area.

13. I've often longed for a *family networking* site - do you see One True Media moving in this direction so that I'll never forget my Mom's birthday again?
Yes, this is a great idea. We really think the family network is important when dealing with personal content and have some great things on the drawing board.

14. What about a Vox partnership? (http://www.sixapart.com/vox/ I would really like to see this from you guys; license that dang video editor!!!)
I can’t really comment on Vox right now. It is due to be fully released later this year and we’ll have to see then.

15. Do you see a model at all in enabling 3rd party no-budget entertainment production (such as licensing your video editor?)?
It’s possible.

Right now I don’t believe the video editing is powerful enough to support an entertainment production but then again I saw an online movie the other day which was shot completely with cell phones. (Moore's referencing Movies shot entirely using the cell phone via senior Fawkes -G)

So, I guess you really never know.

16. Do you believe in/subscribe to the agile development programming ethic?
Sure do.

We have evolved a lot of the XP ideas and continue to do make upgrades frequently. We love customer feedback and it really drives a lot of what we are doing.

We like to keep our customers interested by giving them changes rapidly.

17. Can you talk some about the future of media? Where would you like to push things? What is your longer term vision for One True Media?
These are the early days for video and I believe we are in the first inning. We will continue to focus on providing consumers the easiest way to create great content to share with their friends, family and others on the web.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the convergence of web-technologies/community/video and there are all kinds of ideas which have yet to be explored.

18. What are the investors' cash making strategy? Are you going to sell or go public?
Whoa! Well, let’s just take it one step at a time. We are focused on making a great service for the web. Beyond that, it’s really too early to think about an exit.

Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |