Can Data Help Maker Studios Guarantee a Hit for The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman?

In a heated exchange before a judge, YouTuber Commander Holly (real name: Holly Conrad) faces off against actress Tina Huang. The issue at hand is one that has divided many a Trekkie: William Riker, yay or nay? Welcome to Nerd Court, where arguments that one might normally witness at a comic book store instead are heard in a "court of law," à la The People's Court or Judge Judy. (Other raging debates include Star Wars vs. Star Trek, and which film series features better magic, The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter.) The six-episode Web series, which premiered March 4, is a passion project of Maker Labs, a division of Disney-owned multichannel network Maker Studios, and Skybound Entertainment, the media company owned by Robert Kirkman, executive producer of AMC's hit zombie thriller The Walking Dead and creator of the comic book series on which the show is based. "It's a whole tongue-in-cheek show, but it's a lot of fun," says Kirkman. The combination of Kirkman, the creative force behind one of television's top series, and Maker Studios—which, with more than 11 billion monthly views, is the largest content distributor on YouTube—pretty much ensures Nerd Court will attract a degree of viewership. And yet neither side wants to leave that to chance. The Maker Labs model will give Skybound, on whose YouTube channel the show runs, an expansive layer of data based on social media insights to inform its creative decisions. Maker believes that formula will enable Kirkman's... Continue reading at 'AdWeek'

[ AdWeek | 2015-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #news outlets #death knell #media agency #important thing

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Mass Market Paperback: Not Dead Yet

When sales of ebooks doubled in 2011 over 2010, it seemed as if the mass market paperback format might quickly sink into oblivion. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bon Appetit Editor Explains Why Data Tastes So Good

In June, Bon Appetit magazine and IBM created an unlikely alliance: The Conde Nast publication tapped the IBM supercomputer Watson to inform a web-based cooking app called Chef Watson. The app combines the computer's information on food with Bon Appetit's more than 9,000 recipes to kick out a... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Al Jazeera Web Comic Looks at Big Data and the Future of Privacy

Al Jazeera America has released Terms of Service, an online graphic novel that is the part of the network’s strategy of tapping into new forms of storytelling.  Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adobe begins encrypting user data collected from Digital Editions app

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[ PC World | 2014-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: Picoult Hits #2

'Leaving Time,' the latest from Jodi Picoult, came in at #2 on Apple’s iBooks bestseller list for the week ended October 20. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How News UK Digs Into Data to Build its Subscriber Base

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[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-10-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audio Hits the Road

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Wimpy Kid Series to Hit 150M in Print

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canadian Authors Hit by Hachette-Amazon War

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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CONTEC Conference 2014: Big Data’s Crystal Ball

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Minecraft maker talks movies, YouTube and why it's not making birthday cakes

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[ The Guardian | 2014-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook's location-based ads can pitch you on the store you just walked by

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[ PC World | 2014-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook, armed with data, helps others show mobile ads

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[ PC World | 2014-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: 'Killing Patton' Hits #2

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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MPA Subs Audience Data for Ad Pages

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[ Folio Magazine | 2014-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Biteback buys Trierweiler's hit memoir

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[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook Serves Up User Data to Measure Ads on Others' Sites, Apps

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[ Advertising Age | 2014-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stephen Fry seeking digital makers for global YourFry storytelling project

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[ The Guardian | 2014-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As Genre Shows Go Mainstream, TV Execs Are Looking to Novelists for the Next Hit

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[ AdWeek | 2014-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JukePop Hits Kickstarter for Funding

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-09-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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