About

Catch The Film Concept

Catch The Film is a unique community of filmmakers, curators and viewers interested in quirky, fun and immersive films and videos. We vet all filmmakers and curators, unlike YouTube and Vimeo that accept everyone. Catch The Film is a strong supporter of the ubiquitous broadcaster model (YouTube and Vimeo) but we're also a strong supporter of a focused curation model which is what we're doing and where we think everything is headed.

Our collaborative, content-focused and quick-and-dynamic curation model is unique for a video site today. Filmmaker and curator accounts are very similar however read on to hear how filmmakers and curators each benefit from Catch The Film. And, yes it's free and we market and promote the best content and help you get your channel/s up and running.

Want to join us? The filmmaker and curator registration process is simple and quick: just a little bit of show and tell. Click to register.

Curation is King

Catch The Film is built around a curation model and each user account (curator or filmmaker) has unlimited video channels that can feature unlimited embedded videos. YouTube and Vimeo are currently supported. The video embedding process is simple and quick and uses a pin board paradigm similar to sites like Pinterest and Pinspire. This paradigm helps us achieve a simple and highly-dynamic curation model.

Steven Rosenbaum, Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker, has nailed the significance of curation in his seminal book Curation Nation. In Steven's words: "It used to be we surfed the web. Now the waves of the web are just too big. Curation is the new magic that makes the web work. Bringing the web back to human scale with human filters you trust and love. A powerful mix of passion and context turns noise back into signal." Here's a video of Steven giving a talk about curation.

How do Curators Benefit From This?

When we think of curators, libraries often come to mind. However, curators are also dominant in artwork, collectables, historic items, scientific collections, and of course, film. It's a very creative but disciplined art form and is more prevalent than one might imagine. The best curators are true subject matter experts, are passionate and inspired about what they curate, and can think outside-the-box.

A new breed of "digital curator" is emerging. This is due to the dramatic increase of web content over the last 10 years. Catch The Film's curators can best be described as a new breed of digital curator that is, or aspires to be: part film critic, part film fanatic, and a subject matter expert. They're also passionate and inspired about what they're curating, enjoy sharing their passion, and can think outside-the-box about quirky, fun or immersive films and videos. And that's essentially how our community curators benefit. They get to find, explore, organize, contextualize and share some of their favorite film and video content. Also, Catch The Film selectively promotes/markets curators channels, and the best channels are advanced to the front-page "featured" area.

How do Filmmakers Benefit From This?

The answer depends on the age of the filmmaker and how obsessive he or she is about the craft. We find that the best filmmakers are highly obsessive and very collaborative - and that dynamic and m.o. is very much a part of the film school experience (and the Catch The Film experience). So, usually, the younger the filmmaker the more they see Catch The Film's filmmaker value proposition: a new model to help filmmakers connect with fans, distribution opportunities and other filmmakers.

On an ongoing and selective basis, we market and promote community films and channels that we believe have viral potential; some are filmmakers films and channels. Also, Catch The Film selectively collaborates with filmmakers to market and promote specific videos and advance their channels to the front-page "featured" area.

In the fall of 2013, we intend to announce a premium subscription model (currently in beta), for filmmakers, that will feature viral marketing campaigns with video seeding, distribution and promotion that's focused on video views and fan engagement.

About the Online Video Ecosystem Workgroup

In late 2012, Catch The Film, founded the Online Video Ecosystem Workgroup (OVE). This is a film and video industry professional/trade association organized to help advance the online video ecosystem and economy. Areas that the OVE plans to address include: business models, parity with TV and Film channel economies, production, distribution, funding and rights. Catch The Film's direct role in the OVE is limited to initially organizing, funding, recruiting founding members, and helping to establish an initial mission and agenda. The OVE will thereafter become an autonomous, self-managed, self-funded, not-for-profit organization, autonoumously managed by its membership.

The OVE is currently in its early formation stage. If you or your company would like to participate as one of the founding sponsor members, we would like to talk with you. Click to contact the OVE startup committee for more information. The OVE has founder, senior, junior and student memberships available.