Canon is giving the public a chance to direct in “Project Imaginat10n.” Helmed by Ron Howard and daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, filmmakers of all skill levels can join five celebrity directors—Eva Longoria, Jamie Foxx, Biz Stone, Georgina Chapman and James Murphy—in directing short films inspired by 91 Project Imaginat10n winning photographs. 

The third annual program found inspiration after it charged Howard to use crowdsourced photos for a short film project, when you find me, which was directed by his daughter. This year, aspiring directors can submit photographs that fit into 10 themes, including character, mood, backstory and obstacle. The contest is the brand's latest installment in its Long Live Imagination campaign.

Howard is no stranger to marketing, as the famous director has often expressed his appreciation for the industry and its tendency to be "wide open" to creative ideas. For a brand like Canon, the marriage between producing traditional films in an untraditional way is helping it set itself apart from its digital competitors.Continue reading...

It used to be that publications kept their editorial and business sides as separate entities, also known as keeping "Church and State" separate in many a newsroom. With the way business and advertising has been evolving in recent years, though, some media outlets have found ways to find leverage a little content from its business relationships.

Sunglasses brand Oakley and espnW, ESPN's female-centric sports news website that launched in Dec. 2010, have announced an “innovative new content collaboration focused on serving the female fan and celebrating female athletes,” which is already evident (see above) on the espnW website.Continue reading...

A Day in the Life of Gawker Media - FINAL from source/record on Vimeo.

The much ballyhooed Gawker.com redesign rolled out on Monday, with Gawker Media czar Nick Denton saving his flagship website for last as he rolled out the redesign across his other sites first.

More than just a a simple change in the look of the blog, Gawker's new format has been billed as an outright battle over the future of media strategy. It has already claimed several top Gawker personnel, including his head of ad sales, not to mention some of the site's regular readers and commenters.

The redesigned sites, which started going live across the Gawker Media family in early February, have become embattled islands of complaints, with Denton fighting back and defending his new format. When Gawker.com relaunched the day after the Super Bowl, there were tech hiccups — to be expected in the wake of its recent hacking, perhaps — such as the new design losing its Google News status.

In further defense of his choices, Denton posted the above video. It was the final straw for many of the site's loyal readers — whose wit and commentary drove more pageviews and return visits than Denton may realize.Continue reading...

Oprah Winfrey, arguably the best-known personal brand in media, now OWN’s even more of the cultural pie. Yesterday, the queen of daytime announced she will be going prime time next year.

OWN, her own cable channel, is backed by Harpo Productions and Discovery Communications, and fittingly “Oprah’s Next Chapter” will be her next on-air gig. This time, however, she’ll be out of the studio, trotting the globe with friends and celebrities to... well, anywhere she pleases. And the new show will only air two or three days a week, as Oprah forgoes her rigorous daily programming routine.

“Next Chapter,” according to an OWN press release will follow Oprah “From the Taj Mahal to her beloved oak tree, the Great Wall to her own teahouse, it’s a whole new kind of Oprah show.”Continue reading...

For almost 20 years as a late night talk show host, Conan O'Brien beamed his particular brand of humor directly to audiences via television broadcast. However, now that O'Brien's parting deal with NBC includes a cause banning the funny man from hosting a show until after September 1, O'Brien is faced with a new career challenge. How to keep his brand fresh and relevant without the TV.

The answer, of course, is the Internet. Wisely, after leaving The Tonight Show, O'Brien immediately picked up communicating with his fans on the Web. His first problem? ConanOBrien.com is not his domain. It is currently held captive by a squatter. Plan B? TeamCoco.com. Continue reading...

Google has announced plans to add social media-esque updates to its Gmail program. Currently, Gmail users can update their availability through the Gmail chat feature, but it simply consists of “available” or “busy” settings, along with the ability to add a custom message.

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Google products YouTube and Picasa will also be part of the status update stream. The new feature will allegedly allow individuals to see status updates, much like Facebook and Twitter. But, the big question is: will the new features include Twitter and Facebook updates as an aggregate or will they rival the two?Continue reading...

Billions of search queries are typed into YouTube each month -- but users don't always find what they are looking for. That, according to the brand, is about to change.

Market research firm comScore, reports that about 20 hours of video are uploaded onto YouTube each minute. With such a staggering amount of video available, organizing and prioritizing YouTube's video library is a daunting task.

Hunter Walk, director of product management at YouTube, has compiled a team of engineers, designers, and project managers to streamline the brand's search function and encourage viewers to spend more time on the site. The key is providing viewers with additional content related to their original queries.Continue reading...

Less than five years after declaring his move to satellite radio a "Revolution," Howard Stern just said, "I don't think I'm going to be re-signing." My how things change. The radio personality whose brand was the epitome of lacking humility looks to be ready for some humble pie.

It is difficult to express just how disastrous Stern's move to SIRIUS satellite radio was to the Stern brand. Before the move, Stern was a regular fixture in the national consciousness, debating important matters, riling government communications officials and generally considered a hero by millions in his listening audience.Continue reading...