Rich Fiscus
15 Jul 2007 20:43
Sony's Grouper, a video sharing site older than YouTube which Sony bought last year to promote their home video equipment has been re-launched as Crackle.
Unlike Grouper, which focused on amateur video, Crackle will feature videos by aspiring professionals, including some funded by Sony. Among other things, Sony hopes this will attract advertisers who weren't particularly enthused by the idea of amateur video.
In order to jump start the service, Sony has even set up "Crackle Studios" which has 15 employees who will produce segments for the site. They'll also be accepting submissions from the public, although they won't be paying for them.
Sony hopes to use the service to find a new generation of filmmakers, and will be accepting proposals, which if accepted will be funded by the company.
Viewers that either don't know about Crackle or simply don't visit the site will still have a chance to see the videos on sites like AOL, MySpace, and FaceBook.
Source: International Herald Tribune