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–Company Commissions its First Film

Babelgum–a company that operates a service it describes as an
“interactive Web TV portal” featuring ” only professionally produced
content spanning film, news, sports, documentaries, music videos,
concerts, lifestyle and trends, animation and scripted programs”–last
month launched a new version of its platform that includes a
completely redesigned interface and various Web 2.0 features and
social-networking tools. The new version is also now compatible with
the Mac OS, as well as with the Windows XP and Vista OS’s.

Babelgum’s service now invites viewers to join a series of
“communities” (note: the first three to launch were “Films & Festivals,”
“Motorcycling” and “Nature & Conservation”), each of which includes
videoclips, an interactive message board, and links to custom profiles
of other members who share an interest in the community’s eponymous
subject area. In addition, the service now allows viewers to create and
manage new niche communities, as well as customize their own
profiles, save their favorites and create their own personal video
playlists. “At Babelgum we are committed to giving our viewers the
best experience possible,” Babelgum CEO, Valerio Zingarelli, said in a
prepared statement. “The new site sophistication, along with an ever-
burgeoning content library, certainly ensures we are giving our users
what they want and when they want to view it, but with much greater
ease and enjoyment.” Babelgum claims that the introduction of
communities allows its service to make “content available to users in
the widest and most meaningful way possible to them.” The service’s
content is also still accessible through traditional genre or branded
channels within a channel directory; via a search engine; via “smart
channels” (created by each user and personalized according to their
interests); and via a list of most-watched videos.

Babelgum’s revamp of its Web TV service also sees it offering the
following features:

• an advanced search function provides an automatic selection of
  keyword options as users type in search terms, and allows them to
  search by best-rated and most-watched.

• titles now receive the service’s “most popular” designation as the
  result of what the company describes as “an enhanced collaborative
  filtering that ranks video on the basis of implicit (most watched) as well
  as explicit (most positively rated) choices.”

• users can now share content with their friends and embed video on
  personal Web sites, blogs and in social networks such as MySpace and
  Facebook.

• the service now offers a content-management system that Babelgum
  claims makes it easier for content-owners to manage and monetize their
  assets. The system includes a video preview function; allows
  content-owners to modify their clips when they have already been
  published on the service, without having to remove them and re-upload
  them; allows content-owners to tag their content for discovery
  purposes; and also allows them to schedule the simultaneous upload of
  multiple pieces of content.

In other Babelgum news: Earlier this month, the company announced
the commissioning of the first film from its “Digital Studio Initiative”
(note: the latter is a 10-million-Euro fund through which the company
is investing in the development of exclusive content for its platform).
The film, which will be shown within its service’s “Nature and
Conservation Community,” is being produced by Insomnia Media
Group, Emmy-winning producer, Philip Alberstat, and Emmy nominee,
Randy Bradshaw, and directed by Oscar nominee, Leslie Iwerks. It will
showcase the impact on the aboriginal people of northern Alberta of the
oil industry’s attempts to harness the natural resources of the Athabasca
Oil Sands region. It will be over 80 minutes long, Babelgum says, and
will be released in 15 to 20-minute segments. “This documentary
represents several firsts for Babelgum,” the company’s director of
content, Mark Cranwell, said in a prepared statement. “It is the first
high-profile program for our Nature and Conservation Community
which is intended to raise awareness of major environmental issues. It
is our first original production that serves as beacon programming to
complement our library of licensed programs. And finally, it is our first
effort to demonstrate the initial and ongoing value of programs released
first, and exclusively, on the Internet. It challenges the traditional way
of windowing content and we are extremely excited and hope that this
is the first of many original productions for Babelgum.”