Women in Film Reel News (June 1994):

By Jeannie Novak, Kaleidospace

The Internet: New Promotion & Distribution Tool for the Entertainment Industry

There is a new way for filmmakers, performers, writers, musicians and artists to showcase their work to an international audience of 20 million. The Internet, long-time realm of the academic and corporate arenas, has been overflowing into the artistic community. One of the primary reasons for this rapid growth is due to a multimedia platform on the Internet called world wide web that integrates text, graphics, movies and sounds into one document.

In the process of putting together my CD, and after experiencing the web firsthand early this year, I decided to build a site on the Internet to help showcase independent artists. My partner, Pete Markiewicz, and I formed a company called Kaleidospace. Artists on our site display short excerpts of their work (e.g., film, music, still images, text), along with other promotional material -- such as bios, publicity photos, press clippings, interview footage and tour/screening schedules -- to an audience in 127 countries. Artists who want to sell their products (such as CDs or videos) may use our service as a distribution and online ordering system. Those who want to get "discovered" may use it as an electronic press kit or "virtual audition."

We chose the Internet over online services such as CompuServe and America Online for several reasons. The Internet is very large -- at least 10 times the size of other services -- and it is doubling in size every seven months. Unlike other online services, the Internet reaches a truly international audience. (In fact, we have recently made arrangements with a sculptor in Croatia to display his work on our site. With us, he will have an international audience.) Transmission speeds are also much higher on the Internet, making the transmission of multimedia information practical. The software necessary to use our service (Mosaic) is free to users and is readily available online. In addition, there is no central governing body for the Internet. Therefore, there is no censorship of artistic content. (In the past, there have been several cases of censorship on online services such as Prodigy.) Finally, the Internet is economical. For a flat fee of under $20/month, one can access over 5 million computers all over the world.

Our company has another side to it which is committed to helping the Internet audience continue to grow: We consult with individuals and groups to get hooked up to the Internet -- and we even help to build their own sites. One of our major goals is to get the L.A. entertainment community on the Internet. Once the industry is online, an amazing amount of information will be at its disposal. For example, agents could use the Internet as a database to search for new talent. By viewing a performer's clips, bio, photos and contact information in an integrated area, the search is much more organized and efficient (not to mention decreasing the paper load). The Internet is an incredible storehouse of information, larger than all the commercial databases combined. Often, it is possible to find information that would cost hundreds of dollars to obtain otherwise. New programs like Archie and WAIS allow users to search millions of Internet computers for files or even specific words or phrases in a file -- which will contribute to a new level of niche marketing. Collaborative "virtual" entities within the entertainment community may also be created, allowing for swift exchange of information.

If you are an independent artist, Kaleidospace can provide a new opportunity for promoting and distributing your work. If you are a director, agent, producer, publicist or any other member of the entertainment community, Kaleidospace can help you connect to the 'net and see what the online artists are doing.

Jeannie Novak