AFI BLOG: Media and Technology

Advertising Age

At Microsoft Advance ‘08: Strong Content Also Needs Interactivity, Community

According to Michael Eisner, story-driven online content is the next big app. “YouTube is to the internet what a nickelodeon is to the movies. It’s the preliminary installment of what is to come,” he said So what is to come? “Great, creative storytelling.”

He continued: “YouTube is filed with stories. … It’s the encyclopedia of everything moving.” And while some are wonderful, he said, the vast majority are skateboarding cats or high-school antics. What’s missing is creative storytelling that capitalizes on a unique aspect of the internet, such as interactivity or community. He said that’s because video search is unsatisfactory, and advertisers tend to be timid when it comes to risks.

‘Risky business’
Mr. Eisner recounted getting egged by protesters as he announced the much-vaunted opening of Euro Disney in the 1990s, when he was CEO of Walt Disney Co. “It was not exactly the reception we had hoped for. … Creativity is a risky business, but it is nearly always worth the risk it takes.”

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