Editor's Corner

The big picture for mobile video became a lot clearer this week in the wake of two major developments. Tuesday brought news of Verizon Wireless' pending content deal with Internet video clip site YouTube; a day later came word Robert Redford's Sundance Institute will launch a series of short films produced expressly for handset viewing and directed by some of the more respected voices in American independent film.

At first blush, the two stories don't seem to have a great deal in common. YouTube content is by design a grab bag of music videos, talk show clips and amateur home movie footage--everything from the Zapruder film to a dude using the urinal trough at Chicago's Wrigley Field as a Slip'N'Slide. Movies produced and branded under the Sundance banner and screened at its annual festival are expressions of the American independent filmmaking spirit--they're the kinds of motion pictures that win awards and critical acclaim, and while not always box-office blockbusters, they typically possess a sophistication and intelligence all too rare in the popular culture.

What unites YouTube and Sundance is the idea that quality will ultimately win out. YouTube clips don't become viral phenomena unless they are enormously entertaining--sometimes the picture quality is fuzzy, and sometimes the events that unfold are uncomfortable or even painful to watch, but when a friend recommends something he saw on YouTube, you know it's going to be good. Time Magazine just named YouTube its Invention of the Year, and Google just ponied up $1.65 billion to acquire the service. And the best part is YouTube content was made for mobile distribution: Its whole consumer model pivots on short clips made on the cheap that still look good on a small screen. While very different in terms of content and scope, Sundance operates on similar principles: Only the most promising ideas are made into films, only the most promising films are screened at the festival, and only the best of the best win jury prizes and studio distribution deals. One anticipates its mobile films will be subject to the same criteria.

So forget about what kinds of video content will thrive on mobile networks--it doesn't matter if it's original content, repurposed content, live content, archival content, professional content or amateur content. To paraphrase the famous Duke Ellington quote, there are only two kinds of mobile video: good and bad. YouTube and Sundance legitimize mobile video like few brands before them because in the minds of consumers, both are trademarks of quality--and there are precious few of those to go around. - Jason