Bloom in Tech David Bloom

I moderated a panel this past week for streaming-video trade organization OTT.X as part of a free mini-conference designed to provide nascent streaming services in Latin America with tips, best practices, lessons learned and more from a range of streaming services, OEMs, platform operators with their own AVOD/FAST offering, and other corners of the ecosystem.

Among the lessons: be a good partner with your distribution platforms; experiment a lot; leverage your data smartly think of it as audiences rather than specific programs or channels; and keep your  ad loads low so ad prices can remain high premium. And don’t forget the immortal line, “Make me a vegetable,” the cry of frustrated steaming viewers wanting a simpler, easier experience than the industry is giving them now.  Sometimes, even 50-year-old shows such as Bob Ross’ old PBS painting series have found loyal and long-lived audiences in the FAST world.


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I sat down to talk with Adweek CEO Juliette Morris and Sr. Producer Al Mannarino about their new podcast network and what it means for the trade publication going forward, the state of podcasting and advertising, and more. And I have some thoughts about the future of Apple as it ventures in live sports streaming with Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV Plus, alongside a bunch of big new advertising partners. Will this change Apple's approach to streaming, privacy, advertising and other not-so-little subjects? Stay tuned. 


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There's been a whole lot of talk about That Slap, but I'm more interested in what happens to the Oscar broadcast now that the Motion Picture Academy has embraced streaming enough to hand out awards for Best Picture, Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and other major categories for projects that were mostly or solely online. How long will Oscar remain a broadcast event, rather than one that is mostly streamed online? And what more can you do once the event is online? I have a few ideas. I also talk with Andrew Walraven, CEO and founder of a very interesting free mobile app called Topico, that allows you to create a very different kind of newsfeed than the one on social media that's been so problematic. Topico focuses on, yes, topics rather than the people or outlets posting the story, and relies on only vetted real news sources, with no user-generated content, memes, videos, etc. It's an intriguing approach to one of journalism's worst problems, and I quite like it. Give a listen. 


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Netflix alone has 10 films with at least one Oscar nomination, part of a phalanx of top contenders for the movie business's most glamorous awards. Which streaming-first or streaming-mostly projects are lining up for a big night in Sunday's Oscars? Will Netflix flex The Power of the Dog? Has Apple TV Plus cracked the CODA for success? Can Disney Plus exclusive Encanto enchant Oscar voters as much as viewers? Bloom in Tech looks at the chances for the many streaming-connected films filling this year's Oscar brackets. 


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The 2022 Oscars are fast approaching, and films that mostly or solely appeared on streaming services are set for a big night. Bloom in Tech looks at which streaming-first films are likely to take home a Little Gold Man or six as the Oscar broadcast unfolds. Netflix has 10 films with nominations, and several other services have at least one or two. It's going to be quite a night. 


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South African-born writer-director Neill Blomkamp has been using tech in smart ways to create thoughtful, groundbreaking movies ever since his first feature, District 9, a smart sci-fi take on apartheid, arrived in 2009, and grabbed an Oscar nomination for its visual effects. Since then, he's directed two more science-fiction features, with far bigger budgets: Elysium, with Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, and Chappie. Blomkamp's newest project, Demonic, arrives this week in theaters this week from IFC Films. It's a smart, small horror/sci-fi film about possible demonic possession, and uses the relatively new production technique of volumetric capture to create a purposely glitchy digital dream world within the movie. Blomkamp talks about what he was trying to achieve with the technology, what prompted him to make a low-budget horror film during the pandemic, and what his next projects will be. Along the way, Blomkamp has continued to make short films, often in a science-fiction realm, including for video games Anthem and Halo, as well as his own projects such as Rakka, which featured Sigourney Weaver. Blomkamp also is working with Gunzilla Games to design a multiplayer shooter, an outgrowth of his sporadic involvements as a gamer. We covered a lot of ground. Give a listen. 


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