newleftmedia:

On What it Takes to Make an NLM Video
(^click on photos above to view in gallery mode) 

A lot of people assume that NLM is a much larger organization than it actually is (some of the emails we get certainly suggest this). We thought we’d share some photos from the production of our most recent video (Understanding SOPA / PIPA) and some insight on why we want to stay independent and lean despite it sometimes being a challenge.

On The Struggle to Remain Independent

We believe it is important that the capability to produce high quality media not be the exclusive domain of huge media conglomerates. The only stated obligation of these companies is to make as much money as possible, which tilts their coverage toward sensationalism, to attract viewers in a crowded media landscape, and omission, to avoid offending their corporate advertisers. As well, the agendas of their parent companies mean that many issues—like the Comcast-NBCU merger, or SOPA—are scarcely covered, if at all.

While the barriers to producing independent media have fallen dramatically in the digital era, it still takes significant resources to create quality content. In our 2010 fundraiser, we raised enough money to replace the university film equipment we’d been using—the camera alone cost more than $7,000—and to add a few new tools to our arsenal, like a portable “Diva” light (allowing us to do sit-down interviews) and a laptop (to edit on the road, reducing turnaround time on videos).

Making a film requires cameras, yes, but also sound equipment, lighting equipment, tripods and stands, cables and adaptors; to edit: computers, editing and graphics software, monitors, i/o boxes, reference speakers, and hard drives, hard drives, and more hard drives to store terabytes of digital video (in data-redundant setups, in case any one of those drives fail). Then, of course, there is insurance on all of the equipment, to protect against theft or accident.

On top of equipment, there are routine expenses: gasoline, tolls, parking, occasionally plane tickets, though we drive anywhere we can in our aging Corolla (even 16 hours to Maine) and always crash with friends (or sometimes kind strangers). NLM is a full time job, but unfortunately none of us are trust-fund babies or otherwise independently wealthy, so on top of this we all find other work to pay our rent and bills.

It’s true that we could shoot videos on a Flip Cam and edit them in Windows Movie Maker, but the quality of our work would suffer horribly. What I believe separates our videos from others on YouTube is our insistence on quality not just in the content, but in the aesthetics—the shooting, editing, sound mixing, and graphics—as well. I encourage you to review our two most recent videos and compare them to the mainstream media’s coverage of the same issue: #OccupyAmerica and Understanding PIPA / SOPA. Dollar for dollar, we deliver significantly more in quality and substance. Just the amount the cable networks spent chasing the illusory Balloon Boy alone would fund NLM at its present level for a century or more.

Currently, we lose money on every film we make. It might be startling to know that our latest video, which has been viewed by more than 100,000 people, has so far brought us less than $200 in donations and ad-revenue combined, about the cost of gasoline to and from D.C. While we still have enough leftover from our 2010 fundraiser to continue for two or three more videos, NLM cannot subsist without the continued support of our viewers.

Our films are free to watch, but costly to produce. If you think we’re worth it, please help us by contributing today. Every donation, no matter the amount, helps to keep us online. In return, we promise to work to make each film better than the last, and to continue producing in-depth coverage of the issues that go ignored by corporate media.

Thanks for your time.

Best,
Chase, Erick & Liz

Help us make our next video by donating today:
http://donate.newleftmedia.com 

NLM continues to be one of the greatest sources of information on the internets. I hope that everyone has seen the What is SOPA/PIPA video (if not, watch it!) since that fight is far from over. I highly recommend watching their videos, and if you have the spare change, donating to them. 

newleftmedia