From Digital Coast Daily (http://www.digitalcoastdaily.com)
Septempter 12, 2000 

Nibblebox Hungry for Content   


by Anna Dorfman

Santa Monica-based Nibblebox, an online destination for episodic shows, or entertainment bytes, and college radio, thinks it's onto something big. This week, the college-bound outfit offered previews for its upcoming programming, which is set to debut alongside the site's official launch on September 18.

Former NBC Studios helmer Dave Bartis, one of Nibblebox's three co-founders and CEOs, along with director Doug Liman and entrepreneur Liz Hamburg, explained the company arose out of a desire to "take advantage of new media" to feed traditional entertainment channels. The Internet offers a unique opportunity, Bartis elaborated, "to tap into real grass roots connections" in order to "discover and incubate talent." He added that, unlike traditional media, the Web inspires "an appetite for risk-taking," which is critical for innovation.

The focus of Nibblebox is to provide a "free form atmosphere" for college students, who Bartis characterized as "idealistic [and] protective of their creativity, uncompromising," to pursue their projects. Hamburg added that Nibblebox does not subscribe to a "dot-com get rich quick mentality." The value is placed on the process, "a development process [which is] about getting in pretty raw [material] and getting better and better," said Bartis.

This process starts with submissions, all of which are reviewed by Nibblebox staffers. These gatekeepers are looking for "smart, innovative and irreverent" ideas, the credo of Nibblebox, stated Bartis. He stressed that selected entries need to represent the company's brand so, "like the WB," viewers know exactly what to expect when they log on--and, alternately, Nibblebox can express "exactly who its core audience is." Finally, submissions have to be episodic and interactive, presenting a model that will engage fans to return weekly.
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The focus of Nibblebox is to provide a "free form atmosphere" for college students, who Bartis characterized as "idealistic [and] protective of their creativity, uncompromising," to pursue their projects. Hamburg added that Nibblebox does not subscribe to a "dot-com get rich quick mentality." The value is placed on the process, "a development process [which is] about getting in pretty raw [material] and getting better and better," said Bartis.
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Nibblebox's program roster includes Virtual Rob, "a program that invites you into Rob's apartment and makes you a master of his actions," described a company release. Watchers can click on various parts of Rob's pad, or on objects there, and see Rob's special brand of physical comedy, whether he's dancing, on a date or beating up a pesky neighbor. Another interesting series is PopVox; this program shows bold lyrics swimming around a screen, next to their respective music videos. The words are meant take on a life of their own as viewers navigate through them, while listening to favorite music.

Hamburg emphasized that the key to Nibblebox's content is "filtering." Bartis added, too much "accessibility [the promise of the Web] can produce crap." He said Nibblebox carefully selects the projects it wants to develop. So far, this has translated into 10 series out of 400 entries since April.

Once projects are earmarked, Nibblebox provides students, and other aspiring young filmmakers, with the equipment they need and, to "add a layer of value," related Bartis, an industry professional to mentor them. Bartis explained he and his staff go to the major talent agencies, which gladly offer up their clients as possible mentors. He noted that entertainment professionals who get involved tend to be very passionate about their art, and desire to "maintain contact with [their] core content"--in other words, to keep it real despite a removed Hollywood sensibility.

In return, the agencies get rights to package Nibblebox content which makes it offline, as well as establish access to potential future talent. Nibblebox does not require exclusivity or specific time commitments of its mentors. To date, mentors have included Kate and Minnie Driver, Amy Heckerling, John Leguizamo, Steven Soderbergh, Wim Wenders and Peyton Reed, whose movie Bring It On topped box office charts this past week.

Nibblebox attracts talent through mailing campaigns and targeted advertising via affiliates in over 100 college campuses across the country. The affiliates are various student groups and organizations which promote the Nibblebox brand in their backyards. The company also plans to have 50 affiliate college radio stations, called "tastemaker stations," attached to it by launch time. These stations are given streaming equipment and websites so that their broadcasts can be accessed through the Nibblebox site.

Bartis and Hamburg explained that the revenue model for Nibblebox is "multitiered":
Including advertising and sponsorship opportunities, syndication, licensing and development prospects into offline properties, "where the big payoff comes into play," and interstitial commercials, which can capitalize on product placement for the "very coveted college market." They also stressed the quality of their content, and the fact that this content is carefully honed and nurtured with the right technical resources and the expert advice of mentors.

The company raised $5.5 million in February, from investors such as Knowledge Universe, Windsor Media, Entertaiment Media Ventures and guru Esther Dyson. Bartis boasted that Nibblebox's beta site was up by April 15.

The outfit currently has 35 full-time employees between its New York and Los Angeles offices; 12 of whom are based in L.A. Bartis and Hamburg said the company is poised for growth, and plans to move into larger digs soon. The New York office has already relocated to an 11,000 square foot building. Hamburg stressed that the company is "very conscious of funds." So, don't expect a launch party, only some compelling content, according to her.

Bartis believes that Nibblebox has few competitors, though Eveo's launch of a new talent incubation program for young filmmakers certainly seems to present a direct threat. He mentioned TheRomp, Icebox, Entertaindom and Wirebreak as important players in the online entertainment space, but stressed that while the college audience is "only a subset of a bigger focus" for those outfits, it's the whole kit and kaboodle for Nibblebox.