The winner of our Valentine’s Day Sweepstakes — and a new camcorder — is producer Fabio Barbon (aka vegas171) of Las Vegas, Nevada. He was randomly selected from all the entries in the contest. And his “Magic Potionâ€? video was definitely the weirdest of them all. (We love weird!)

Here’s what he had to say about Metacafe:

I’ve been a musician for 10 years now, and just last year I decided to work with videos. I found out about Metacafe looking for videos over the Net, when Producer Rewards was about couple months old and I decided to give it try.

I uploaded a few videos to PR to see if Metacafe was for real, and it was! I had problems with 2 supposed ineligible videos, but it was quickly solved. I was very impressed with the costumer support and because of that I started to upload more videos. Now I spend more time on Metacafe than any other website.

And then, I won the Valentine’s Day contest…

The funny thing is that the weirdest video that I have ever made won the camera. My wife is the one who made me think about making a Valentine’s Day video and we tried to come up with an idea for the most unconventional (maybe weird is a better word) video.

I shot it using some sheets as a bluescreen for the chroma key and that worked fair well. The thin we are drinking is a Brazilian beverage called “Terere”, it’s just tea with cold water. I edited all the images using After Effects and Sony Vegas, and for the music I recorded with a MIDI Keyboard Controller, my guitar and edited on Sonar5.

I’m very excited about Metacafe but I’m not quitting my day time job right now. I believe the time for producers over the Net will come and we will no longer fight for space with copyrighted material taken from the big media. I just hope I’m not wrong.

Thanks to all the camcorder cupids who submitted videos to the Valentine’s Day contest. Stay tuned for more contests to come!

The winning video:

Magic Potion - For more funny videos, click here

Hi guys,

Last week we began posting banners about Caf̩ Confidential without giving much detail. Today we officially launched it Рand the response has been great, with tons of press coverage around the world.

I’d like to point out a contest we have going on in honor of the initial launch: You, too, can be part of this special channel. Just submit a video that fits one of the topics, and maybe you could win a shopping spree at American Apparel with some of your friends. Videos are also eligible for Producer Rewards, so make sure you check out the rules of the program.

So what is Cafe Confidential? It’s a whole new section of Metacafe. And it’s all about storytelling – the girl next door and the guy across hall telling you about their craziest experiences, with no scripts, no sets and no special effects.
 
Café Confidential was conceived by Hollywood producer Steven Bochco. After creating such hit television series as “NYPD Blue� and “L.A. Law,� Bochco wanted to find a new generation of storytellers - but not another screenwriter. His Café Confidential team scouted the streets and malls of L.A. in search of interesting young men and women.

These “amateur� storytellers weren’t afraid to get personal as they described their dates, their jobs and their families. Bochco then selected the best of the stories for Metacafe, which is what you’ll find at Café Confidential right now.
 
But the search for the best storytellers continues - we want you to submit your stories to Café Confidential, with all submissions eligible for Producer Rewards, and the best ones winning prizes from American Apparel. So start thinking about the craziest experiences in your life… and ‘fess up!

In my never-ending quest to post as many updates as possible in a 24-hour period – with another one coming later for sure – I forgot to post also that now screennames in the comments are now clickable, meaning when someone leaves a comment on your video, you can now see their video page as well.

A small change, but a cool one. Thanks, ZackScott, for the suggestion!

Hi guys,

My bad! I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about another big change we’ve made to Producer Rewards.

You can now remove any video you have uploaded to Producer Rewards as long as it has not yet been accepted into the program.

I know this is something many of you have been waiting for for quite a while, so there you go. Thanks to everyone for their patience.

Hi all!

I promised we would be making some changes – and here are the first few. First, we have now divided all the vidoes on the site into categories. You have 15 to choose from, and you can browse them by clicking on the categories drop-down menu on any of our front pages:

(more…)

Hi guys,

About a month ago, we changed Metacafe and personalized it for you so that you could also watch videos in your own language and from your own country. The feedback we’ve been getting from all of you has been great, so we wanted to give you an extra little something.

You no longer need to be logged in to change your country and language settings. At the top of the page, click on the flag (the default will be the country you are in)

and you will see a drop-down menu. Just choose the country whose homepage you’d like to see, and you can see what Metacafe looks like around the world.

(more…)

That Cafe Confidential teaser you see on our site is all about you. Or more exactly, your stories.

Metacafe and Hollywood producer Steven Bochco are seeking the next generation of storytellers, with cash and prizes for the best ones.

So get your strange-but-true stories together and your camcorder battery charged up.

Cafe Confidential will open for business this Monday, March 19th…

Check out this great article published last week in Zack Scott’s hometown newspaper in Oklahoma. Zack is one of our top 10 producers who has already earned over $12,000 in a few months.

(more…)

Okay, I know not a lot of people can say that. I realize I’m very lucky to enjoy the people I work with AND the work I do. I’ve had my share of don’t-want-to-get-up-in-the-morning, how-many-sick-days-do-I-have-left? jobs, but this definitely isn’t one of them.

As most of you know, I spend my days (and nights) trying to get feedback from all of you about Metacafe, what works, what doesn’t, and any problems you may encounter. We work hard here to solve any problems that may come up, so sometimes we feel the need to let ‘er rip.

So we did.

Last week we had a party, and we were all required to come dressed up, preferably in drag. Almost everyone did. After the show, we had karaoke, and before the regular Joes such as myself could get on stage, all of our upper management got up and sang a well-known song.

Among the managers, in no partciluar order since they don’t want you to recognize them by their titles, are our Direcor of Finances, JVP of Marketing, JVP of Content and Community, QA Manager, VP of Sales, Product Director, Content Director, General Manager, Human Resources, and Development Manager.

Yours truly is the voice laughing uncontrollably behind the camera. Enjoy!

Metacafe Managerial Staff - In Drag - Click here for this week’s top video clips