Andy Plesser

LOS ANGELES — Independent content creators are finding a balance between artistic expression and building a business with the participation of brands.

Break Media, the Los Angeles-based video producer of original video for young men, has 1.5 million downloads of its App for Apple iOS and Android, says Andy Tu, VP of Marketing.

BrightRoll, the San Francisco-based online video advertising services company, has announced a product which guarantees video advertisers a specified number of impressions to their target audience.

Lloyd Braun, former Chairman of ABC Television, content chief at Yahoo and now co-partner in the Los Angeles-based television studio BraunBerman, shares his views on the economics, strategies and realities of creating original content for the Web in this 20-minute session on Beet.TV.

PARIS — The organizers of the Monaco Media Forum have announced the plans for the three-day, invitation-only digital media summit to be held November 9-11.  

YuMe, the Redwood City-based video advertising technology company, has released a standard interactive pre-roll ad format they announced today.

Reaching mass scale, with 42 million monthly unique visitors, AOL has decided to "double down" on original, premium video programming and announced plans for 15 new series, including one with Jennifer Lopez.

Today, Yahoo announced a revamped video channel and a slate of eight new video series oriented for woman.

"Video could not be more important to our future, and is a personal mission of mine," says Rob Barrett, VP for News and Finance at Yahoo, in this interview with Beet.TV.

Although ABC News clips currently comprise some 20-25 percent of video news on Yahoo News, that percentage will increase with the introduction of new original Web programming, co-branded segments and live streaming on Yahoo, says Joe Ruffolo, SVP for Digital at ABC News, in this interview with Beet.TV.

BMW, perhaps the first brand to present original filmmaking on the Web, has a new series which targets upscale prospects for its new 6 Series.

SAN BRUNO, Calif — While videos uploaded by camera phones to YouTube can be entertaining and authoritative, they can be awfully wobbly. A new tool from the YouTube allows video producers to smooth out the shakiness.

LOS ANGELES — Jane Espenson, veteran television writer of “Buffy” and “Battleship Galactica,” has a new online video series about gay marriage called “Husbands.”

LOS ANGELES — Actress and producer Tanya Ihnen, star and executive producer of “Vampire Zombie Werewolf,” has teamed up with her partner Robb Padgett to launch a sitcom about married couples facing the prospect of parenting called “Life’s Little Ultimatum.”

Metacafe, one of the first major video portals, has been focused primarily in creating specific entertainment and gaming channels. Today it announced the launch of channel for men 18-34 around original, live and aggregated content.

"Audience and data is sexy" and is key to the success of branded content, says Stephanie Sarofian,  Managing Director of Brand Content and EVP at Digitas, in this interview with Beet.TV.

AOL Video has found a growing business around original Web programming, meaning shows which are sponsored by a specific brand, says Karen Cahn, VP for Branded Partnerships.

LOS ANGELES – Brandon Laatsch and Freddie Wong are collaborating on some of the most successful viral video hits, including Gamer Commute, which is nearing 9 million views in just over two weeks.

LOS ANGELES — Video is becoming part of the Huffington Post's "DNA" with a combination of original video and related videos drawn from the 5Min network, the giant AOL-owned syndicator, says Gabe Lewis, Head of Original Video at AOL in this interview with Beet.TV.

CNN's sizable investment in international coverage has paid off with increased television ratings and digital consumption, says Mark Whitaker, EVP and Managing Editor of CNN Worldwide, in this interview with Beet.TV.