HBO and Showtime are both catching on to this whole “internet” fad far better than a lot of other broadcasters. One is buying up content made online while the other is generating content online.

HBO has purchased a machinima video made entirely in Second Life. The video was originally conceived to be sold to broadcasters, but things went great quickly when the first episode was released online by accident. A bidding war commenced and clearly HBO won.

New World Notes, a site dedicated to Second Life, covers the story and they interviewed the creator:

Because of all this and Gayeton’s relations in the film industry (more on those later), the HBO deal might very well be a disruptive one, transforming SL machinima into an accepted tool for established filmmakers.

On the other hand, Showtime is promoting their show Weeds online by asking fans to submit an introduction to the show. Ever episode of Weeds begins with a different artist performing the song “Little Boxes”. Artists such as Regina Spektor and Death Cab for Cutie have done their reditions of the song. Now they want homegrown stuff, that is they want you to make your own rendition of “Little Boxes”.

When it comes to the user generated intros, the one inspired by Daft Punk is the best.

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