This is a fairly obscure piece of news, but one that is significant to marketers everywhere. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded the first ever Emmy to a web series this year (see video of the award ceremony here), marking the first time ever that this institution has officially recognized a web production and given it the nod over regular television programming. The winning web series was created by an indie crew of filmmakers from Chicago and a bunch of collaborators.

Indie filmmakers have recently benefited from the democratization of high quality video with the advent of digital SLRs with excellent HD video capability and affordable pro-level video editing suites. As a result, we will continue to see even more quality short films and even ‘television’ series from these mavericks of the film world. As TV departs from the model we’ve been familiar with (large studios producing big budget shows, hoping to score a hit here and there) to a nimbler approach, marketers should pay heed to the shift and imagine the possibilities that are inherent in this new source of content. Creating product/brand videos (akin to the BMW Films ‘The Hire’ series) can be a whole lot cheaper. Product placement opportunities will become more numerous. Small and mid-sized companies will be able to afford quality promotional videos because they’ll be working with filmmakers and crews that don’t suffer from bloated SG&A expenses and gargantuan capital costs.

That old web adage of “Content is king” is no less relevant today, and the emergence of the indie filmmaker will enable companies to produce great content without destroying their marketing budgets. I’ve included links to some of my favourite indie videos below to offer proof that a new era of video is upon us, and as marketers, we should take heed.

Last Minutes with Oden

RDS 2010 lowbrain movie

IRC Dance Movement

Dark Side of the Lens