The Global Rise of User-Generated Video

Jon Cornwell & Preeya Naul explain how their company, Newsflare, is impacting the digital media & entertainment industry through their online video marketplace.

Smartphones are by far everybody’s most treasured personal item, however these devices cost us money. We pay to use them, we purchase them outright or through an instalment plan and we pay the monthly phone bill.  Hardly anyone ever considers that a smartphone can serve as a tool for making money. And that is where the growing industry of User-Generated Video (UGV) comes in.

User-Generated Video are videos filmed and uploaded by consumers, and the impact they are having on news-gathering, entertainment programming and the production of reality series and documentaries is completely disruptive.  In fact, the burgeoning appeal of UGV among the news and entertainment communities has altered the role of consumers from passive audience to active content providers.  And at the heart of this massive global eyewitness video movement, is Newsflare, a company on a mission to bring trusted and compelling UGV to publishers, producers and broadcasters throughout the world.

[To read more of Jon’s thought leadership click here]

Based in London and Los Angeles, Newsflare has played a key role in helping pioneer the development of the user-generated video industry. Launched in 2011, the company has perfected a robust interactive platform allowing videographers the opportunity to easily upload their videos, while providing content buyers around the world the opportunity to select from a diverse catalogue of over 150,000 videos. 

Newsflare also distributes and licenses its vast content library directly to the company’s impressive roster of media partners that encompasses major websites, social media, advertising agencies, production companies, television news and entertainment broadcasters located throughout the world.  At the same time, Newsflare’s US office is responsible for establishing licensing deals with North American media outlets, as well as the creation of co-development projects with US and Canadian producers.   

California plays a vital role to Newsflare because the state is home to major content production players such as Amazon and Netflix, along with the entertainment divisions of all the major national television networks.

Highly advanced technology drives Newsflare’s online video marketplace, where custom verification and trust algorithms provide content buyers with absolute assurance as to the integrity and copyright of the videos they license from across  multiple categories.  The company’s state-of-the-art digital technology also powers the uploader experience, as aspiring Newsflare contributors simply download the company’s iPhone or Android app and begin recording and submitting videos.  Newsflare’s apps act like an agent, tracking sales and managing payments to their freelance video contributors.  Uploaders are paid half of the revenues generated by the licensing of their videos to Newsflare’s media clients, and in several cases this has translated into tens of thousands of dollars.

Newsflare is at the forefront of the rapid change in the way that news, entertainment, reality and documentary programming is produced.  What may have taken several production crews to capture in the past can now be captured and uploaded by any of over 60,000 Newsflare videographers situated in more than 110 countries throughout the world.  Video content from natural disasters and sports events to political unrest is now being sourced by news organizations from Newsflare’s online marketplace, just as entertainment producers and social publishers turn to the company for its unparalleled array of humorous – and oftentimes outrageous – human interest, ‘viral’ videos. 

[To read more of Preeya’s thought leadership click here]

The universal appeal of User Generated Video serves as another reason for the burgeoning rise in this relatively new content category as people everywhere can appreciate the dog who babysits a cat without having to consider the challenge of language barriers.  For both news and entertainment media clients, User-Generated Video also brings an unmatched familiarity and authenticity.  Moreover, publishers and broadcasters no longer have the bandwidth, budget or manpower to source or clear video features that have long served as a content staple.  The Newsflare platform automates this formerly labor-intensive task. 

Newsflare has helped propel User Generated Video into a worldwide industry, building a global network that connects amateur videographers with top media licensees – and revolutionizing the way entertainment and news media source original content.  So when you’re ready to transform your smartphone into a revenue-generating video production tool, visit Newsflare at www.newsflare.com.

Based in London, Jon Cornwell is CEO of Newsflare.  Preeya Naul, located in Newsflare’s Los Angeles office, serves as General Manager, US.

[For more on Newsflare’s approach to Digital Agency click here]