Jun 2007

Geeking out over content

Yes, I’m one of those people – one who was wicked excited about the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars last month. (Lani asked me if there was any chance she might come home unexpectedly to find me practicing with my son’s lightsaber in front of a mirror. The answer’s “No,” so I must not be that into it.)

In the midst of all the hoopla, the thing that caught my attention most is a new initiative: Star Wars MashUps. According to Lucasfilm’s Director of Content Management Steve Sansweet, Star Wars is developing a YouTube-ish community where they’re letting fans download assets (scenes, special effects, music) for use in fan-generated videos.

Think of it … a company that’s generated more than $20 billion in revenue in the past 30 years, so they must know a thing or two about business success. To continue their growth, one of their latest strategies is to take elements of their most prized possession – their intellectual property – and put it into the hands of the fans.

If that doesn’t give you some confidence about sharing freely at least some of the basics of your knowledge and expertise, I don’t know what else could.

http://www.epiphaniesinc.com Content Lover

And to think, Allen — you already declared 2007 as the Year of the Mashup! (http://www.epiphaniesinc.com/blog/2007/02/14/2007-is-the-year-of-the-mashup/)

I guess Stevie Sansweet was paying attention to you, dear. You’ve obviously inspired this astounding course of action.

Seriously, I think this bold content-sharing move is going to be HUGE for the Star Wars brand, as if the brand wasn’t huge enough already. It’s a version of Open Source Creativity. Very smart on their part. I’m glad they’ve stopped suing their biggest fans for using their assets, and started empowering them to become part of their unpaid team of creative evangelists.

-Wifey