Indie video producers have been waiting for the moment when they could eliminate the middleman and market and distribute direct to their fans.

Digital media startup Pivotshare, which just closed $1 million dollars in Series A funding, offers the next step in disintermediating audio and video distribution, filling a gap in the market between free services relying on advertising and expensive online platforms.

“The media landscape is evolving and advances in technology are creating new opportunities to distribute and monetize content. Pivotshare is focused on providing a complete solution that enables anyone to maximize the value of their digital media” says Pivotshare founder Adam Mosam. “We’re excited to work with both seasoned and emerging content creators and help them launch their media businesses online.”

Pivotshare’s self-service digital streaming media platform describes itself as a “complete media business-in-a-box,” handling all aspects of infrastructure, support and payments. Offering no startup costs or monthly fees for in-depth analytics, publishers can monitor total income in real-time, know which media is the most popular, and use their own branding and design elements. Continue reading...

In its latest social spending salvo, American Express has launched a mobile offer engine, a “spend graph”  for U.S. cardmembers that recommends and ranks local merchant offers real-time based on spending history and location.

“We developed our mobile offer engine with three key points of differentiation in mind: relevance, convenience and value,” stated Josh Silverman, president of the U.S. Consumer Services Group at American Express. 

Piloted via the "My Offers" feature on the American Express iPhone app, local offer recommendations will be concentrated in Los Angeles and New York City with an overlay of nationwide merchants such as Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin' Donuts.  

“My Offers” leverages the Smart Offer technology that powers the company's card sync programs with Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare connecting merchants and Cardmembers.

"In an increasingly crowded marketplace, where consumers are bombarded with daily deals, we saw an opportunity to help our Cardmembers save time as well as money by curating meaningful offers for them," added Silverman.

Users can download or update the iPhone app to see "Offers Available for You," along with a dashboard that shows offers added to their card, expiration dates, and savings delivered via a statement credit within three to five days. The brand has also enhanced its Go Social entry tool for SMB’s.Continue reading...

American Express has tapped comedian and uber-tweeter Aziz Ansari for brand's first Twitter Sync TV campaign, which breaks tonight. Check out the :15 version of the commercial below, along with other headlines this hour.Continue reading...

Kobe Bryant's mock personal motivation commercial for his latest shoe — the Kobe VII System — for Nike: "Where do you go from the top? You go over the top. The #KobeSystem: Success for the Successful is Kobe's winning, results-oriented philosophy on how to adapt to succeed. You're Welcome."

Celebrity cameos include comedian/actor Aziz Ansari, Hope Solo, LeBron James, Jerry Rice, Landon Donovan, Tony Robbins, Serena Williams, Kanye West,  and Richard Branson.

Find out more (on a more serious note) about the Kobe VII System shoe (Correction: "It isn't a shoe, but a system that adapts with you and allows you to elevate your game," says Nike) below.Continue reading...

Celebrating the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray, George Lucas via his Lucasfilm studio is collaborating with the non-profit Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) on the aptly titled "Use The Force For Good." Of course, "good" means driving donations to the Stand Up To Cancer website, where all proceeds go to cancer research.

Any celebrities promoting this? Only Aziz Ansari, Zach Galifianakis, Bill Hader, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, Jaime King, Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg, Emma Stone and even Star Wars alum Samuel L. Jackson. In the video, they each "Use the Force for Good" as they reenact classic Star Wars scenes to raise awareness, and funds, for cancer research.Continue reading...