LA Company Records 350 Million Video Views… in December

TechCrunch.com contributor Sarah Lacy shares the genesis of her latest item within that very same article. Turns out her piece today about Machinima.com, an LA based aggregator of video game derived entertainment, began in the corridors of Silicon Valley. She writes:

If you haven’t heard of Machinima– don’t feel bad. I hadn’t either before a week ago, when I found myself camped out in Redpoint Ventures’ office and told partner Geoff Yang I wouldn’t leave without a good story tip. Finally he whispered, “Machinima’s December numbers” and I had to ask him to pronounce Machinima a few times, and spell it before I even knew what he was saying.

Machinima.com registered 350 million video views in December to bring the year-end close to a staggering total of 2.3 billion. The most ingenious aspect of the company, which has 90 employees, is the fact that it streams its content entirely through YouTube.

The only problem with Lacy’s story, at least from a feel-good predictive point of view, is the seemingly wink-wink headline TechCrunch tacked on: “Machinima: The Most Impressive LA Tech Company Since Myspace.” Meanwhile, the reporter is taking some heat in the comments section from readers for not having long ago heard of machinima.com and thus presenting her take as new when the phenomenon of “machine + cinema” has been transpiring on the Net for years.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.