Positively Cleveland has chosen the winners of the Hastily Made Video contest, its response to Mike Polk's ridiculously viral Cleveland-mocking YouTube clips.
The two videos, picked by Polk himself and four other judges, didn't try to fight humor with humor. They're low-fi, cinema-verite sweeps through the best parts of the city set to poignant music. (one uses "Cleveland" by Jewel, the other an original song).
I like how the first video starts with an appearance by Vinyl, the black cat at Music Saves in Collinwood.
The winners are Marissa DeSantis & Kevin Hornsby, who are both local singer-songwriters (different Kevin than the co-owner of Music Saves), and "OHMommy," aka Pauline K. of the Classy Chaos blog, who seems to have cast herself and her three kids in the video as well as her blog. They get pretty cool prize packages.
Showing posts with label Positively Cleveland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Positively Cleveland. Show all posts
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Mike Polk to judge hastily made Positively Cleveland contest he inspired
Positively Cleveland has picked five judges for its Hastily Made Tourism Video contest -- and one of them is Mike Polk, the comedian whose YouTube rips into Cleveland inspired the competition.
Polk's hilarious faux-tourism videos spread across the Web as virally as swine flu this spring, attracting 1.2 million views between them. Their focus on our city's poverty, job loss, drifters, seagulls, dead fish, and cloud cover surely convinced an unknown number of those viewers to never visit, no matter what Drew Carey once told them. So our city's actual tourism bureau, acting on the optimism embedded in its name, came up with a contest -- first revealed on this blog! -- to attract funny, clever videos that might actually convince someone to vacation here.
Polk, proving he can take and make a joke, has agreed to judge the finalists. The other four judges are Plain Dealer reporter and Tipoff funnyman Mike McIntyre, Marcie Goodman of the Cleveland International Film Festival, Ivan Schwarz of the Cleveland Film Commission, and Rick Batyko of the Cleveland Plus Marketing Alliance.
The public will choose the finalists by rating and commenting on their favorite contest videos at this YouTube site. The contest has 22 entries -- visit the site today and tomorrow to check them out.
The two winners will be announced Thursday at 2 pm.
Polk's hilarious faux-tourism videos spread across the Web as virally as swine flu this spring, attracting 1.2 million views between them. Their focus on our city's poverty, job loss, drifters, seagulls, dead fish, and cloud cover surely convinced an unknown number of those viewers to never visit, no matter what Drew Carey once told them. So our city's actual tourism bureau, acting on the optimism embedded in its name, came up with a contest -- first revealed on this blog! -- to attract funny, clever videos that might actually convince someone to vacation here.
Polk, proving he can take and make a joke, has agreed to judge the finalists. The other four judges are Plain Dealer reporter and Tipoff funnyman Mike McIntyre, Marcie Goodman of the Cleveland International Film Festival, Ivan Schwarz of the Cleveland Film Commission, and Rick Batyko of the Cleveland Plus Marketing Alliance.
The public will choose the finalists by rating and commenting on their favorite contest videos at this YouTube site. The contest has 22 entries -- visit the site today and tomorrow to check them out.
The two winners will be announced Thursday at 2 pm.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Mike Polk on his Hastily Made videos, Positively Cleveland's contest, and haters
Fox 8 must be following us on Twitter! They got Mike Polk to talk about his Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Videos. "If we can all laugh at each other and with each other, I think it's rather cathartic," says the comedian and viral video creator.
He reacts to Positively Cleveland's competing video contest, which we reported on yesterday. "That's exciting," Polk says. "I hope that some people really submit some good things. And I hope that it's effective and everybody moves back [to Cleveland]."
Reporter Suzanne Stratford takes a laptop with her to get man-on-the-street reactions to Polk's videos. A guy at the Barking Spider says you ought to be able to make fun of your hometown. A guy on East 4th Street disagrees. "It's almost like a hate video," he says. "It's a travesty that someone who lives here would think that way."
Polk, tastefully clad in a wife-beater T-shirt, picks up on the hate theme. "I've actually gotten some death threats," he says.
He reacts to Positively Cleveland's competing video contest, which we reported on yesterday. "That's exciting," Polk says. "I hope that some people really submit some good things. And I hope that it's effective and everybody moves back [to Cleveland]."
Reporter Suzanne Stratford takes a laptop with her to get man-on-the-street reactions to Polk's videos. A guy at the Barking Spider says you ought to be able to make fun of your hometown. A guy on East 4th Street disagrees. "It's almost like a hate video," he says. "It's a travesty that someone who lives here would think that way."
Polk, tastefully clad in a wife-beater T-shirt, picks up on the hate theme. "I've actually gotten some death threats," he says.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Positively Cleveland vs. Negatively Cleveland: a hastily made contest
Have you seen these "Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Videos" by local comedian Mike Polk? They're huge YouTube hits, and they've been flying across the Net for a couple of weeks now. Funny stuff. (If you're offended when comedians drop F-bombs, don't watch the first one.)
There's just one problem with the videos. A former intern for the magazine writes from Ohio University: "All of my roommates are from out of state and have told me that this has solidified their gut feelings to never come to Cleveland, ever."
So yesterday, while I was talking with staffers at Positively Cleveland, our ever-optimistic convention and visitors bureau, I asked what they thought of Polk's work.
"Clevelanders, that’s our sense of humor," says Positively Cleveland's communications director, Samantha Fryberger — "to poke fun at ourselves and have sort of a chip on our shoulder: ‘Why would anybody want to come here?'"
However, "The thing that frustrates us slightly is that outsiders, outside of this region, they’re only seeing the negative, funny part that we’re portraying."
So Positively Cleveland is launching a contest, online at positivelycleveland.com/hastilymade.
"We are going to ask Clevelanders to make a video that’s no more than two minutes long, spend no more than $2, and do it in no more than two weeks," Fryberger says -- "to use their cell phones, flip video cameras, and photography to make a fun, quirky, but slightly more positive tourism video for the region." The contest will run May 13 to 27, though the earlier a video gets posted, the more time it has to catch on online. Makers of the best videos will get prize packages that include hotel suites, dinners at restaurants, Beachland Ballroom tickets, and Indians tickets near home plate.
Positively Cleveland has been under a lot of stress lately, not sure if some of its funding, which comes from a tax on hotel stays, will be diverted to the Medical Mart. (See the magazine's politics blog, here and here.) "If our budget is cut, this could be the only way we can get our message out!" Fryberger joked.
There's just one problem with the videos. A former intern for the magazine writes from Ohio University: "All of my roommates are from out of state and have told me that this has solidified their gut feelings to never come to Cleveland, ever."
So yesterday, while I was talking with staffers at Positively Cleveland, our ever-optimistic convention and visitors bureau, I asked what they thought of Polk's work.
"Clevelanders, that’s our sense of humor," says Positively Cleveland's communications director, Samantha Fryberger — "to poke fun at ourselves and have sort of a chip on our shoulder: ‘Why would anybody want to come here?'"
However, "The thing that frustrates us slightly is that outsiders, outside of this region, they’re only seeing the negative, funny part that we’re portraying."
So Positively Cleveland is launching a contest, online at positivelycleveland.com/hastilymade.
"We are going to ask Clevelanders to make a video that’s no more than two minutes long, spend no more than $2, and do it in no more than two weeks," Fryberger says -- "to use their cell phones, flip video cameras, and photography to make a fun, quirky, but slightly more positive tourism video for the region." The contest will run May 13 to 27, though the earlier a video gets posted, the more time it has to catch on online. Makers of the best videos will get prize packages that include hotel suites, dinners at restaurants, Beachland Ballroom tickets, and Indians tickets near home plate.
Positively Cleveland has been under a lot of stress lately, not sure if some of its funding, which comes from a tax on hotel stays, will be diverted to the Medical Mart. (See the magazine's politics blog, here and here.) "If our budget is cut, this could be the only way we can get our message out!" Fryberger joked.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Pack your lunch Friday
As someone who has a top eight favorite places to see the city skyline (The magazine revealed its favorite view during last year's Best Of Cleveland issue), I was intrigued when I heard about Positively Cleveland's latest selection for its lunchtime DVD Series.
The film's tagline: "If you think you know Northeast Ohio...Think again" has me jonesing to find out more hidden gems that I haven't found yet. Sites Unseen will be aired at noon and 1 p.m. on Friday in their downtown offices, where Higbees used to be in Tower City.
The film's tagline: "If you think you know Northeast Ohio...Think again" has me jonesing to find out more hidden gems that I haven't found yet. Sites Unseen will be aired at noon and 1 p.m. on Friday in their downtown offices, where Higbees used to be in Tower City.
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