The most important viral videos of 2009 were few and far between but I did mange to pick 5 videos that for one reason or another brought real value to the independent production and distribution of web video.

5th – Do You Want to Date My Avatar

This year the brilliant and talented Felicia Day (Creator / Star of The Guild and Stream Award Winner) proved that you could give away 6 Million views of an independent music video for free and still sell electronic downloads of the video and the song as well as market and promote your web video series and DVDs.

4th – JK Wedding Entrance Dance

This viral video wasn’t important because it got over 35 Million views this year. It was significant because it didn’t make any money for the content creators to begin with but it did prompt YouTube to change policy and then it became a boon to YouTube’s “click to buy ads” program.

Social Media Site Mashable said the JK Wedding Entrance Dance was the, “antithesis of the Susan Boyle video explosion, where YouTube and ITV were unable to work out any sort of deal, and hundreds of millions of video views went unmonetized.”

3rd – The Bannen Way Trailer

Actor, co-writer and executive producer, Mark Gantt teamed up with writer, director and executive producer, Jesse Warren to create The Bannen Way (Launching Jan 6th, 2010 on Sony’s Crackle) but before they sold their idea to Sony they created a online trailer and “Pitch Site” that created buzz, got them a fancy Hollywood agent at ICM, helped then sell their show idea to Sony and they got to act, write and direct their project. The studio didn’t take Mark and Jesse’s football away from them and give it to someone else, Sony let them play quarterback and wide receiver. It has been fantasy filmmaking at it’s best and if The Bannen Way does well next month when they launch the first episode (on the same day that you can buy the feature length film on iTunes via electronic sell through) which I think it will, there will be a new working business model for web video and those of us who have been pushing this online video rock up the hill for so long will be jumping for joy.

Now I know the Original trailer for The Bannen Way came out on Saturday August 23th 2008 but I’m excited for these webisodes to become an online web series hit that will become a household name that sends mainstream America to the web to watch video they way they started texting after Ryan Seacrest told people to text in their votes on American Idol.

2nd – Ataque de Pánico! (Panic Attack!) 2009

More than any other video this year this online video goes to show you the power of web video for independent filmmakers.

Federico “Fede” Alvarez made a short film of robots invading the capital city of Uruguay for $300. He now has a CAA agent and a multi-million dollar movie deal with A-list Hollywood “Spider-Man” director Sam Raimi.

According to Patrick Goldstein of the LA Times, “After seeing his short film, which depicts an invasion of Montevideo by a battalion of giant robots, Mandate Pictures agreed to bankroll a $30-million upcoming film for Alvarez, with the filmmaker getting a cool $1 million director’s fee.”

1st – Iran, Tehran: wounded girl dying in front of camera, Her name was Neda

Neda Agha Soltan was shot to death on 20.06.2009 by security forces during a protest (against Iranian Presidential Election 2009) in IRAN. Her name quickly became a rallying cry for the opposition who protested against Islamic Dictatorship.

This video stands to remind us that without the freedom of speech to show videos that are real news and not fluff or propaganda we will be in the same boat as Iran. We need to make sure that the Internet remains open and gets even more open for people who don’t yet have access to the democracy of online video.

If you are interested in keeping the Internet Video and Entertainment open please visit the Open Entertainment Alliance

At the All Things Digital conference Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher interview Mark Cuban about web video and how Google (GOOG) has messed if up for you by subsidizing bandwidth and not monetizing YouTube.

Cuban says that Hulu may very well set the standard for online video monetization.

What do you think?

Is Google the reason you are not making money with your online video business or is it something else?

If you are making money and YouTube were to start charging for bandwidth would you be out of business?

I run into a lot of great people at the web video, new media and social media events I go to but by far my favorite ones to run into besides the people with free drink coupons are those people who are making a living creating original Internet videos.

Just like independent film web video has its share of people making product only to lose money so it’s always nice to see nice guys like Erik Beck of Indy Mogul making a living with online video.

Are you making a living or better with web video?

Tell us about it.

From lonelygirl15 to the Dark Night online stories are emerging that blur the lines between fact and fiction by using every and all media possible including video. In some cases like LG15 these Alternate Reality Games or “ARGs” are original narrative content and in other cases they are work for hire marketing efforts. Steve Peters is a freelance ARG experience designer and consultant while at 42 Entertainment he worked on some of the biggest ARGs the internet has seen. From “Why So Serious” for The Dark Knight to Year Zero for Nine Inch Nails Steve has been part of some big ARG teams that have marketed big names like Microsoft and Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man’s Chest through these online meets real world games that invade players lives while marketing products in an extremely emotionally engaging and immersive way.

If you are attending SXSW you can see Steve Peters speak about ARGs.

Cinematographers / Directors of Photography have been using Internet video to market their services for years but now many web companies are using video to explain the benefits and features of their products and services with web video including web sites for still photographers.

liveBooks builds award-winning websites that feature innovative marketing tools to help professional photographers grow their businesses and build successful careers. As an active participant in the photo community, liveBooks provides educational content through its blog, webinars and seminars. Additionally, its philanthropy supports organizations and individuals who seek to drive social change through photography.

In addition to that livebooks has a video series. Once a month they bring you behind the imagery straight to the heart of what makes leading photographers tick. “Each video uniquely portrays the personality of the featured photographer so much so that these photographers have all said “wow that is really who I am.” You may love some and hate others, the goal is that you enjoy the series overall.”

What does it take to really capture those unique authentic moments in life? Michael Jang is known for just that. Watch and listen as this San Francisco based photographer takes you through a journey of his career and reveals how he feels he has uniquely defined himself and his work.

Are you using video to market your company’s products and services?

I ran into Jessica lonelygirl15 Rose herself at a party the other night and and I almost got her to slip and tell me what her next project is.

Jessica Rose has appeared in LG15, Ask A Ninja, Sorority Forever, Hooking Up, Casanovas, Elevators and Blood Cell.

So what is Jessica Rose’s Next Internet Video Series?

Rob Shore is a paid keynote speaker who speaks to sales teams around the country. He’s also one of my clients and he’s using video to market his service.

Rob asks if, “you or your sales team is drowning in the ’sea of sameness’?” Do you have what it takes to be in the Top 2% of Memorable vs. the 98% of Forgettable?

Well do you?

2009 is going to be a year of marketing with video. Never before has there been an opportunity to make your marketing message available to millions of clients, customers or guests with the magic of video than there is now and if net neutrality holds it’s only going to get better.

MAKE YOUR MARKETING MEMORABLE WITH VIDEO
Not only does web video open the door to memorable marketing it rewards you for it. It used to be that if you saw a cool commercial on TV you could ask a friend or co-worker if they saw it and if they hadn’t you had to explain what the spot was about. Now with Internet video you can just email a link to your friends or post an embed on your blog and the memorable marketing messages that emotionally engaged you is then virally infecting your friends. Plus it lives online forever for search engines to find it and deliver it to people who are actively seeking your marketing message. The only thing you have to do is create that memorable marketing message on video and then post it everywhere you can for FREE.

“That’s great Tim but I’m a video guy everything I do is video.”

Do you have a demo reel posted online?

“No, Tim. I have my own online series. I don’t need a stupid demo reel.”

Do you have a promo or a sales presentation or trailer for your online video show?

People watch movie trailers because they want to know about the types of movies they are interested in and know if they should invest 2 hours of their life. Why wouldn’t you help people find your content by using the tools you already have?

“Well Tim, I work for a large corporation and we have an advertising agency who handles all our video. We would never post a video without running it through them first.”

People search for video content about the subjects they are interested in every second. Large advertising agencies move slow. They are like large aircraft carriers that take a mile to plot a turn. You need to have little fighter jets that turn on a dime – jets that can leave the mother ship and go take care of business when you need it done. Marketing with memorable video is like using a F-117 Nighthawk Stealth Fighter that your competition will never see or hear coming but that your customers clients and guests will experience and become emotionally engaged. You need to take control of your video the way you have control of your email and your desktop publishing. We are now in an age of desktop video production and global distribution. Wake up before your competition wakes your boss up and be memorable.

2009 is not only going to be the year of marketing with video it is going to be the year of marketing with memorable video.

What are you doing to make your marketing memorable with video this year?