As promised a couple of weeks back, Michael Moore’s new documentary, “Slacker Uprising,” is available for viewing (and download) for free as of today at slackeruprising.com.

Touted by Moore as a “gift to his fans” and distributed online by blip.tv, the movie documents Moore’s tour through 62 US cities in swing states during the 2004 U.S. presidential election, in which he rallied youngsters to vote (read: he rooted for the side that didn’t win). Perhaps he’ll have better luck this time.

Blip.tv’s CEO Mike Hudack has an interesting statement about the release:“It is a watershed moment that a film by a major American filmmaker is being put in wide release on the Web - not in theaters, not on television, and not on DVD. The Web is quickly becoming a legitimate means of distribution, and it no longer plays second fiddle to theatres and television. Web-based distribution puts artists in control and prevents any single studio or network boss from giving thumbs up or down to particular productions. Now the market can decide,” he says, and I wholeheartedly agree with the last part - at least when it comes to controversial documentaries. *The download, however, is available only for US and Canada residents, which doesn’t go well with all that freedom of the web thing Mike’s talking about. Thanks to Mirco who noticed this in the comments.

See the long trailer for the movie below, and sign up at slackeruprising.com to see the movie in its entirety.

—Related Articles at Mashable | All That’s New on the Web:Moore Pulls a Radiohead; New Movie to Be Distributed Online for FreeSlacker Gets Off Their Ass; Builds a PlayerSlacker Radio Widget Now Available for MySpaceSlacker’s Punk Station for Spin Magazine Cover StorySlacker Raises Another $40M in Series B FundingSlacker Signs Deals with 3 Major Record LabelsWe7’s Free Music Downloads Gets Michael Moore’s Ad Dollars

As I create more videos and have more discussions with online video talent, the conversation seems to move many times to finding the optimum hosting and distribution structure for video. I want to make sure my viewers never hit a dead end and can easily find other videos to view from the series. Since at least half of my videos are business-oriented, the idea of putting them on YouTube and hoping for the "viral effect" is not attractive. Earlier this year I wrote about the online video market here in NYC and I see it continuing to expand today.

Currently I am using Viddler almost exclusively for my videos. I like Viddler because their player allows for in-stream commenting and their upload function is easy-to-use. I find the uploading function on YouTube to be absolute crap, can’t they even offer an upload status bar?!? For the purposes of this discussion, we will only discuss pre-recorded video content and not live services (Mogulus, Ustream) or mobile video streaming (Kyte, Qik, Flixwagon).

I get the idea behind services like TubeMogul which put your content everywhere and I will probably look at doing this as well. But it’s critical from my standpoint that you select a video sharing/hosting partner to work with in which you can build your video brand. This means that the player that’s used on the video creator’s site remain consistent over time. Some video content creators are being paid to use services and I see this trend continuing as the video creation market expands and hosting networks fight to get out of the commodity business.

There are a number of indie video stars on the scene today. I’ve selected Justine and Gary Vaynerchuk to use as examples with regards to how they use various video hosting networks for their videos and shows. When I check out Justine’s Web site, she seems to use YouTube as her first choice and it’s clear that this strategy has helped her with growing her brand. Justine has over 18,000 subscribers on YouTube. These subscribers drive massive views to her videos. She uses Viddler as well for some videos and all of her videos are distributed there as well. Gary Vaynerchuk at WineLibraryTV uses Viddler for the main player on the site. Gary also has a distribution deal with Revision3 which publishes a shorter wine show on Revision3 and other video hosting providers including YouTube.

There are more options than ever for video hosting - from the most basic YouTube through working with distribution partners like ForYourImagination who can produce, record and package the shows. Viddler, Vimeo, Veoh all sit in the middle and I’d consider blip.tv a "show" distributor.

Below is the setup I have been considering for the videos I create on CN. My goal is to find the best combination of:

• reaching the largest audience
• using the best technology
• using a player with good usability for the viewer
• outside distribution to as many sources as possible
• tracking and analytics
• ability to monetize the videos over time — either with cpm views or finding a sponsor

Business Shows:

These are videos I shoot of product demos and also include our interviews like the one we shot with Dina Kaplan last week. I am looking at using blip.tv for these videos. blip.tv can offer me a gallery player to allow viewers to watch any video they like. blip.tv also has an advertising network and also works with shows to find sponsors. This is very attractive to me - especially in the beginning. blip.tv will also distribute the shows to iTunes which could work relatively well for creating loyal viewers.

Fun Videos:

These videos include the Twitter Song and How to Effectively Quit Blogging. I see continuing to post these videos on Viddler because the interactivity and community there is a perfect fit for these videos.

Conclusion

I’d love some feedback on my thoughts and suggested video network usage for CN. What am I missing in creating the right mix? The next mission is to get a better video setup and move away from my tiny Canon Elph to something a bit more professional.

Editor’s note: I am not paid (nor have I been) for using any video service to-date.

Partner Links
– Free Online Budgeting Software

Today I spent some time at the blip.tv headquarters in NYC. I had an opportunity to interview co-founder and COO Dina Kaplan. Dina gets online video. Check out our discussion in the video below where we discuss a variety of topics including:

• What is blip.tv
• Who is using blip.tv
• blip.tv video stats (they haven’t shared stats yet but Dina did say they are hosting "thousands and thousands and thousands" of shows
• Discussion of the "total potential audience"
• How many shows are actually generating revenue and turning a profit
• Can an indie show generate revenue or are most advertisers going to the broadcast shows like Lost or 24
• Comparisons to other video sharing services incluing Viddler, Vimeo and Brightcove
• Why should I switch from my current video host to blip.tv
• How does blip.tv generate revenue
• Video host exclusivity versus placing the video show content everywhere and anywhere using a service like Tubemogul
• Support for FriendFeed
• Does Dina see a time when video hosting networks like yourself will pay talent a fee to come to their network exclusively
• Where’s online video going over the next year
• What shows are Dina’s favorites

Don’t forget to check out our look at online video in NY. Thanks to Dina for spending the time with us today!

Partner Links
– Free Online Budgeting Software

Last night I started following Noneck Noel on Twitter. Noneck has decided to become a NYC cab driver and is documenting the entire process from the initial inquiries through actually driving the cab. We get into a cab and never wonder what goes on behind the scenes.

I have found the first batch of videos very interesting and a look into an industry that most of us don’t see.

The site is available at TaxiNYC.TV and I’ve embedded the first clip below.

Check out the printer we used for our business cards:

Different VCs take different types of risks. When you are selecting which VC funds to target you should be sure to avoid funds that do not take risks that are still associated with your venture.

The risk categories essentially can be categorized according to the investment criteria that VCs consider. While there are many risks associated with any investment, I have included a short list of risks that typically distinguish one VC investor from another.

• Management Risk: While few VCs will state that they are willing to gamble on a bad management team, some VCs place more importance on the strength of the management team than others. Some believe that an average team can make money with a good idea, others don’t.
• Product Risk: Commonly referred to as ‘technology risk’ in the IT sector, product risk refers to the chance that the product will not be successfully developed. If your product is a highly complex piece of software that has not yet been developed, you are asking a VC to gamble on your team’s ability to get the coding done with a given set of resources. Some VCs will take that risk and others won’t.
• Revenue Model Risk: Revenue risk refers to the potential that your company may not have a model for generating revenue. Not every business plan includes a revenue model and some that do don’t have very good ones. Some VCs are comfortable backing the YouTubes of the world - ideas that will attract lots of users - with the belief that the entrepreneur will figure out how to monetize the service later. Others want to see a plan for generating revenue up front.
• Market Risk: Market risk refers to the risk that the addressable market may not exist. Truly disruptive technologies rely on an assumption of adoption which may not materialize. Furthermore, markets may dissolve if the landscape undergoes unforeseen change. Some VCs require that the market be validated through customer adoption; others don’t.
• Competitive Risk: Competitive risk refers to the potential for a venture to be beaten to market, outperformed or substituted. Competitive risk varies by the competitive landscape, barriers to entry, threat of new entrants and so on. VCs’ aversion to this risk varies.
• Partnership Risk: Partnership risk refers to the risk that key partnership may not be obtained. This significance of this risk is driven by the importance of the partnership to the success of the business, the number of potential partners and the difficulty of obtaining partnerships. As with the other risks, VC tolerance for this varies greatly.

You should honestly evaluate each category of your business when selecting VCs to target. Your time will be better spent if you only pursue VC funds that can accept the risks associated with your business.

Unfortunately, most VCs do not articulate their risk profiles are their websites. As a result, the best way to learn about a VC’s appetite for specific risks before using a favor to get introduced is to both look at their portfolio and ask around.

This column was provided by Mark Davis. Mark is the author of Get Venture, a column designed to help entrepreneurs raise venture capital. In addition to his column, Mark is active in the venture community as an entrepreneur, advisor and venture capitalist. He currently works at DFJ Gotham Ventures, a leading early-stage IT venture capital fund based in NYC. Mark earned his B.A. in Economics with a minor in History at Duke University and is pursuing his MBA at Columbia Business School, where he is the Early Stage President of the Private Equity and Venture Capital Club and the Founder of the Columbia Venture Community .

Source:CenterNetworks -

Episodic video content hosting company Blip.tv COO Dina Kaplan is this week’s guest on nextNYers. Dina speaks with Meghan about her company, the shows they pimp, their revenue model and the rev share options with video content creators. They are working on creating a new form of advertising she says and also working on getting their shows onto the TV set as well as online.

Check out all of the previous nextNYers episodes along with our review of online video in NYC.

Here is her video:

Episodic video content hosting company Blip.tv CEO Dina Kaplan is this week’s guest on nextNYers. Dina speaks with Meghan about her company, the shows they pimp, their revenue model and the rev share options with video content creators. They are working on creating a new form of advertising she says and also working on getting their shows onto the TV set as well as online.

Check out all of the previous nextNYers episodes along with our review of online video in NYC.

Here is her video: