Apparently there is a new movie coming out called "Electus" and it looks like it stars Ben Silverman. 

This afternoon, I thought I would do a little checking up on Ben's $100 million dollar company and discovered that, unlike the way the website looked a month ago, there is actually some content now. 

Content starring Ben Silverman.

The content is a $100 million dollar sizzle reel with flying headlines glorifying the accomplishments of...  Ben Silverman. 

I stared at the video, with its horrible techno-pop / Eurotrash soundtrack (though fitting), in amazement.  Is this what revolution looks like?

I then went to the other page (yes, there is one other page on the site, you can't expect too much in one year) and discovered a chart. 

A chart that even a freakin' moron can understand. 

How can something that looks so simple (so elegant) and so "old media" change the world in such a profound way? 

I'm still trying to process how great it all is.  I'm seriously at a loss for words.

There is only one person on the planet that knows what the future of media looks like.  His name is Ben Silverman but he can't talk right now - he has an early morning call on the set of another sizzle reel he is starring in titled "Managing Expectations".

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

Sorry geeks.  Sorry freaks.  Gone are the dreams and dancing (well, not really 'dancing' - I forgot who I was writing about).  Comic-Con is dead.

And I know right now there are hundreds of Dr. Who and Stargate Universe marathons going on in anticipation of this or that panel discussion, but, face it, it's over.  The cool dorks know it's true.  The rest will find out soon enough.

And it's not really your fault that Comic-Con is dead.  Unlike the whacked out kids in "Final Destination", you DIDN'T see it coming.  Hollywood, with its truckloads of swag and sizzle reels, just steamrolled you and took control of YOUR EVENT (this includes my own parent company - Manka Bros. Studios - The World's Largest Media Company and Manka Bros. Publishing's MC Comics). 

It's really sad but your beautiful 'Woodstock of Geekdom' has been crushed by the evil empire of big media. 

I know you thought you dictated the terms and still think Hollywood needs your approval before going forward with a new comic book movie or TV show but, the truth is, you need Hollywood more than they need you. 

It's sort of like how you thought you and the cheerleader in high school would start dating because she was nice while you helped her get ready for a test.  After the test was over, and she passed, it was right back to the quarterback and she didn't even remember your name.  The cheerleader is Hollywood.

The problem is, the cheerleader knows that all she has to do is smile and you will be right back on board - helping her with the next test. 

Don't take the bait anymore geeks!  Rise up and stop helping the cheerleader with HER homework! 

If Hollywood thinks it can get a good write up on your blog because they send Jessica Alba down to do body shots with you - they have another thing coming!

So here's what needs to be done.  Kill Comic-Con and go back to the church basement (or wherever) to whence it started and, like the best of the comic book origin stories, begin again.  Rebirth. 

Start your little A/V club from scratch and this time DON'T INVITE THE CHEERLEADERS!  They don't want to be there anyway.  It's totally messing up their summer vacations.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

Being a member of the fringe press, I have no idea how many people attended the Herb Allen Sun Valley Retreat last week and I certainly don't know a complete gender breakdown - but from everything I've seen in the press (including from the blogs written by my mogul boss, Khan Manka, Jr., from inside the event), there were very very very few women represented.

By my count, there were three (and two were from Xerox - Ursula Burns and Anne Mulcahy [retired]) and only one, Sheryl Sandberg got any sort of attention at all. 

And, no, mogul wives don't count.

[If Allen & Co. can please email me an invited guest list, I'll be happy to post an update with other names.]

Yes, Facebook is the hot company of the moment with a giant spotlight on senior management, but (and we all know this is a Hollywood / New York / Silicon Valley problem and not a Herb Allen problem) this was a pretty pathetic effort no matter the situation. 

This is not to slight the accomplishments of Sheryl Sandberg.  I have a great admiration for her (even though I think she's on a sinking ship).

"The Women In Technology" panel (moderated by Tom Brokaw) must have been fascinating.  Perhaps it was set up as a way to inform the white male moguls that there are 'Women in Technology'.  Who knew?

Here's hoping that next year I can report on "The WOMEN of Sun Valley".

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

Salacious headline?  Yes.  True?  Also yes. 

This is not a slam against the EXTREME popularity and unprecedented GROWTH story that is Facebook.  This is a reality check of an unsustainable business model. 

Much like a homeowner who can no longer afford an overinflated house purchased during the height of the bubble and decides to walk away, Facebook (with claims that it will hit ONE BILLION users in the not too distant future) has given it all away for free for far to long to change. 

But change it must or Facebook Is Worthless.

Imagine the cable networks at their inception (especially premium channels like HBO) giving the channel to anyone for free at the beginning and then trying to convince customers to pay down the line.  It's a daunting task.  One that Hulu is going through now - but they made the hard decision, and even though traffic and video streams will certainly fall, it will soon be profitable because it wasn't too late to right the ship.

Imagine Disney/Pixar putting out Toy Story 3 for free in theaters and trying to make up their costs by throwing up billboards along the walls.  What kind of idiot would do that?  It would never be considered. 

People love (and some actually depend on) Facebook, but it is too late to right the ship - and not just because no one cares or pays any attention to the banner ads that are thrown up against everyone's status updates.  It's because people are starting to get really bored with it. 

There are some late adapters that are still in the ecstasy phase of seeing their old high school friends as they look today (Facebook has ruined surprise factor of high school reunions forever, but I digress), but for the most part - at least in my case - most of my Facebook friends have stopped participating.  They will pop on once a day or so just to see if anyone has posted any new drunken pictures or family photos of the new baby, but that's about it.

My Facebook experience now is basically the same five people posting the same boring crap.
 

• The Bored Office Worker who posts about "needing coffee" - and "can't wait for Happy Hour!"

• The Super Mom who claims every morning - "Went to 8 museums and made banana bread all before 10am!  My kids are awesome and sooooo funny!"

• The Quoter who searches quotation websites looking for some daily affirmation that will get about 15 "Likes" and a few "I'm going to use that!" replies.
  

• The Reviewer who writes stuff like "Smoke Monster?  Shit Monster if you ask me!"

• The Pissed Off Traveler with daily pearls like "10 hours on the tarmac!" and "Yet another delay, thank you American Airlines!"

And that's about it.  Every day, the same five people and I have over 300 Facebook friends (even though I only see about three friends actually in person in any given month).

The valuation on Facebook is so high that no one could possibly acquire it now (not even my employer, the insanely deep-pocketed Manka Bros. Studios) especially considering there is really no monetary growth story. 

As it becomes more of a digital dumping ground, costs continue to rise.  It has peaked as a global fascination.  Check the value of Bebo, Myspace, Friendster, etc. and you'll see the future of Facebook.  Even though Mark Zuckerberg claims he's different than all the others.

So here's what Facebook needs to do - start charging every current or new user $0.99/month.  Just ninety-nine cents per user per month to use all the features they currently use.  New services may make it possible to bump that up to a premium fee down the line. 

Millions will leave and start some "Facebook Should Be Free" movement, but other millions (like my five daily posters who feel they need to be heard) will definitely pay.  Because $0.99 is nothing.  It's the purchase price of a pig on Farmville.  There will still be advertising and cross-promotional opportunities and corporate sponsorships, etc. - multi revenue streams. 

But the free culture has to change or Facebook is Worthless. 

Deep down, at least to me, this seems to be the reason the IPO hasn't happened.  Zuckerberg says he's not interested and will delay the IPO as long as possible.  Yeah, because it's a $15 billion company (so they say) with costs that exceed revenue - and no signs of that ever changing. 

I wouldn't be interested in an IPO either. 

Someone enlighten me and correct my ignorance.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

OK, online media publishers - enough with the freakin' slideshows!  They're nothing but a waste of time to those who click through all those pages of The World's Top 10 Shellfish and the Best Tasting Fruits You've Never Tasted.  What's the real reason for these time suckages?  Page views and ad impressions - the life force of online media (yes, I admit, my humble blog also depends on these metrics).  And what's the best way to rack up page views and ad impressions?  Slideshows with one image and, on average, three ads per page.  Multiply that by the Top 50 Female Insurance Industry Executives - and you get the idea.

But you didn't come to this page for my rant against Slideshows - you came to see 10 SLIDESHOWS YOU MUST SEE RIGHT NOW!  Let's get to it!  (Note: I have mercifully avoided the obvious and did not put this in Slideshow format.)

10 Unbelievable, Unlikely Animal Friendships

 























What Booze Looks Like Under A Microscope

 

Who cares?  He's a celebrity and celebrities win.  Deal with it.  No one would care if the Pope or Rupert Murdoch was moved to the front of the line.

I think the 'booing' was more because of the Orbit Gum Commercial Jason produced for DumbDumb and Electus than for getting special treatment by a store manager.

I also heard a rumor that at the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York, once it was discovered that Ben Silverman was standing in line like a common schmuck, people in front of him laid on the ground.  Police then ordered Ben to step over and on their bodies to get to the front.  Ben did gladly and was able to get the last phone in stock (which was promptly comped to him by the store because of who he was).

And in Queens, New York, Ricky Van Veen waited in line for over 24 hours and still didn't get a phone and wasn't allowed to cut.  He also still hasn't been able to get tickets to Twilight Eclipse.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

I see Ben got the message (though the horse and buggy logo doesn't inspire "future of entertainment").

"Coming Soon" is a step in the right direction, I suppose.  Just be sure and have a "Thanks for the Memories" logo ready once the money is gone.

By the way, I enjoyed the Orbit Commercial.  Jason Bateman and Will Arnett are perfect in those commercials.  They really made gum chewing cool.  

Most gum commercials don't get a launch party.  But most gum commercials aren't made by Ben Silverman's company.  And with the death of independent film, celebrity parties to show gum commercials just may be the new normal.  (The key words here are "gum" and "commercials".)

Perhaps the next step is for Electus or Notional to come up with an Award that it can give the gum commercial so that Ben can call it "Award Winning" at his next corporate presentation.

And, maybe, down the line, those five minute "gumisodes" can be trimmed down to 30 seconds and shown on regular television - then you'll really sell some gum.  But the fellows at DumbDumb may not think that's as cool.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

So, after my very long vacation, I decided to check in on my old friend Ben Silverman's new company - Electus.  Now, I've been pretty tough on Electus and Ben Silverman since this venture was announced 11 months ago(!) - so, I went to Electus.com with new hope and got nothing... just an error message.

So I went to the IAC Corporate site and got a blurb on Electus - which gave me a link to this... more nothing:

Look, Ben, I realize Electus.com isn't going to be the final destination for all the brilliant content you produce (I mean, you did create "The Office" - didn't you?  Ricky Gervais owes you big time!), but how about a basic Corporate site with a little information? 

Even Notional.com put up a logo - but, then again, Ricky Van Veen is a freakin' genius.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

Now THAT'S what I call a month off. 

As many of you have noticed, I haven't been around for the past month (replies to your emails are coming).  Where have I been?  CLIMBING MT. KILIMANJARO! 

I was told MK is considered one of the easiest of the BIG mountains to climb and would require very little training. 

After assigning myself the difficult task of bringing down big media buffoons such as Ben Silverman, Meredith Whitney and Jeff Zucker, I don't have the time to train to climb mountains.  And, yet, with only a few hours logged on the Stairmaster, somehow - I MADE IT!  More pics and stories to come on that later - but this isn't a travel blog and I'm sure you can find much more interesting Mt. Kilimanjaro tidbits elsewhere.

As I have been "off the grid" for a month - I was very happy to hear about Jeff Zucker's potential exit from NBC Universal after the merger.  I was very unhappy to hear he may receive upwards of $40 million when he leaves.  I was hoping his exit package would only include one big kick in the ass on his way out the door.

I would love to see a Jeff Zucker / Ben Silverman reunion over at the ill-fated Electus.com before it runs out of Barry Diller's money and shuts its doors for good sometime next year.

Oh, well, a girl can dream, can't she?  It's great to back.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea

While today was an insane day on Wall Street with no one seeming to know anything about why there was so much volatility (Crisis in Greece, Banking Reform, etc.), there was one person who knew all along what would happen.  If we would have just listened to her years ago, all of today's anxiety could have been prevented. 

That person?  Meredith Whitney. 

The brilliant Nostrodamus of Wall Street knew years ago this would happen (as evidenced by the dated quote on today's stock chart). 

Now, I've been pretty tough on Ms. Whitney over the past few months (i.e., here and here) - but this is undeniable proof that she really does know what she's talking about and we're all idiots for doubting her. 

From now on, whatever she says - no matter how ridiculous -should be writ in stone.

Jill Kennedy - OnMedea