Everybody Digital: A New Platform for Short Films

Film and television actor writer and producer Allen Maldonado pictured below was on the panel titled amp8220Distribute Meamp8221 and spoke about Everybody Digital his new app for filmmakers to stream their short films and shortform media to reach a wider audience beyond the film festival circuit Maldonado has appeared in the films Dope and Straight Outta Compton and ABCamp8217s blackish and will be seen opposite Tracy Morgan in TBSamp8217 upcoming sitcom The Last OG amp160He also serves as a writer on Starzamp8217 Survivoramp8217s Remorse and has written produced and directed several short films a particular passion of hisamp160amp8220Everybody Digital was created out of heartbreakamp8221 he told the audienceamp160 amp8220Any filmmaker out there knows that when you make a short film you basically take a wad of money and throw it in a firequotYou just light that thing upamp8221 he said jokingly as many of the young filmmakers and actors in the audience nodded in agreementamp8220Iamp8217ve had success in film festivals Iamp8217ve won several awards with them but after that 1215 month span I could go nowhere else with my short filmsamp8221 he continuedamp160 amp8220There was no home for themamp160 I found that many other filmmakers were dealing with that same issue and heartbreakamp8221amp160Pictured above left to right Maldonado with fellow panelistsamp160Edwin Mejia Head of Content at The Vladar Company and CoFounder of Generation Ironamp160Natalia Saavedra CMO of Driven Society entrepreneur and investor John Henry and Kathleen Bedoya cocreator and producer of Hulu39s East Los Highamp160Other than YouTube and Vimeo there is no other platform of note for filmmakers to upload their original content to be seen by a wide audience and they are continuously increasing the requirements for creators to monetize their videos amp160For example Maldonado said YouTube channels are required to have more than 10000 lifetime views before they have the option to monetize their videos amp160This is particularly difficult for a channel thatamp8217s just starting to create original content and depends on monetization earnings to continue creatingamp8220I wanted to create a platform for not only audiences to view them but also for filmmakers to make money off of their short filmsamp8221 Maldonado explainedamp160 amp8220We want to resurrect short filmsamp160 Some are ten years old some are Academy Awardwinners but theyamp8217ve just been sitting on someoneamp8217s computer for ten yearsamp8221Maldonado hopes that Everybody Digital not only peaks the interest of filmmakers actors and writers but also the general public to see new original and quality content that has otherwise only been seen by a limited audience amp160amp8220We want to reintroduce short films to the massesamp8221 he saidamp160 amp8220They used to play in theaters before feature films would play but for a long time now theyamp8217ve been replaced by trailers and previewsamp8221Maldonado went on to explain that most film festival attendees are already in the industry assuring a smallish audience for short films amp160This was further proven later Wednesday night when potential TV pilots and short films were screened at NYLFF for a public audience but the majority of people watching were directly involved in the projects or friends or family of those involved or press or employees and volunteers of the festivalamp8220With mobile devices itamp8217s makes new media such as short films easier to consumeamp8221 Maldonado said Though the Everybody Digital app launched just a couple of weeks ago the team has been curating submissions for over a year going through every project that filmmakers have submitted Currently ten new productions will be available on the app every monthamp160 That number will increase as it gains in popularityMaldonado told me that although the app is adfree he foresees monetization options for filmmakers future licensing agreements to pay filmmakers to create their films much how Netflix Hulu and Amazon Prime have their own exclusive series and films and advertising opportunities for companies to reach target audiences and key demos amp160amp8220For the past year weamp8217ve been partnering up with film festivals like NYLFF and others across the countryamp8221 he saidamp160 But they are about to go much broaderamp160 amp8220We have some marketing campaigns coming up early next year along with my new show with Tracy Morgan weamp8217ll be piggybacking off of that and some big promotions we have with TBS and TNT during the NBA AllStar Games and March Madnessamp8220This all came about two years agoamp8221 he recalledamp160 amp8220I remember walking a friend home and halfway there I suddenly thought to myself amp8216I wanna make a platform for short filmsamp8217 amp160Then I just walked off and forgot I was walking her homeamp8221 he added with a laughamp8220We started building up the catalog of projects to feature as soon as we launched and weamp8217re still getting submissions every dayamp8221 he continuedamp160 amp8220I want to create a new industry for short films that hasnamp8217t been done yetamp160 Everyone really enjoys their snacksize content right now and itamp8217s really excelling in new media amp160Short films are seen as a steppingstone rather than an actual career so we have structured Everybody Digital in a way that the filmmaking community can come together in one place while also putting it in the hands of the average consumeramp8220You know you go to McDonaldamp8217s and know youamp8217re gonna get a Big Mac amp160When you go to Everybody Digital you know youamp8217re gonna get some great short films amp160We want to bring notoriety back to short filmsamp8221 he concludedEverybody Digital is now available on iOS and will be made available for Android users next monthPhoto of Maldonado by JP DollyClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Everybody Digital: A New Platform for Short Films

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Juan Ayala

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