What to watch: the NYC web video scene

This past weekend the NY Times did a story on the active web video scene in New York City (as a part of the geek nightlife world.) Follow the links for the story and a slide show to better understand what I’m talking about, but here’s a bit from the feature:

A debate about what to call the Web video business quickly broke out.

“I look at the term ‘Internet TV’ as the same thing as ‘vegetarian chicken,’ ” said Mr. Smooth, explaining that Web video is a new art form that should not be compared to the stale stuff flowing from television sets.

Someone else suggested “video blogs” or “Web shows.”

“Webcasting!” said another panelist. Standing near the bar during the discussion was Dina Kaplan, a founder of blip.tv, a distributor of Web shows and the organizer of yet another regular gathering, the Founders Club.

“There are different scenes within the scene,” Ms. Kaplan said. “This is the video geek content scene, the crowd that used to be text bloggers.”

I know or at least have met quite a number of the people in the story and slide show. I won’t bother dropping names because most of my readers either know who I’m talking about or won’t recognize them at all.

The NYC web video world is an active and vital one, and the vast majority of the players are friendly, welcoming, and super intelligent people, who are finding a way to combine success with fun.

When I graduated from college a generation ago, communications degree in hand, video editing my skill, the options were limited, and I went in another direction. I thought maybe at some point in the future I’d have the $25,000 to buy my own rig and setup. Who knew it would someday cost under $1000 to produce professional quality video and distribute it over some interweb tube thingies?

Video will probably always be just a hobby for me, but it is such fun to see the vitality and freedom these creators have, out from under corporate control! We’re starting to see the entertainment industry become something completely new, and these are the people making that happen. This is the future of mainstream entertainment.