I had the pleasure to sit down with NewTeeVee’s Jackson West last week for his Lunching in LA series. I’m so impressed with how quickly NewTeeVee has become required daily reading for what’s happening in the media space and I was excited to catch up with Jackson. After a week of chatting with media folks and struggling to make some sense out of the collision of new and old media, Jackson was feeling particularly philosophical about the whole thing so we jumped right into the deep end. We talked about creator rights, new advertising models and the future of the Hollywood blockbuster. I think we raised more questions than found answers but we had a good time and I left the meeting filled with optimism for the future. You can check out Jackson’s article here.

Of course, both Micki and I have a vested interest in seeing the business of motion pictures change. If I never see another $150 million “theme park ride” action blockbuster produced, I won’t lose any sleep. On the other hand, I do want to see my friends continue to get paid so that they can continue to work.

In that respect, some of the questions brought up by the people I talked to over the week, Revver seems to be doing a good job of answering. For instance, Revver users can look for more refined metrics to glean feedback on what works and what doesn’t; better ways to add meta-information to their videos so that advertisers can better match up their products to the content; a “video patrol” team that works to keep Revver a safe space for both advertisers and content creators; and an especially intriguing approach to reporting views — but inserting server callbacks into the Quicktime and Flash video falls, even videos that users download to their own machines could report starts, finishes and impressions and clickthroughs.

It was a lot to digest. “We all want to simplify it, but media’s never been one thing,” Micki reassured me. Everyone in the space seems to have sincere enthusiasm mixed with nervous anxiety, a pride in the work they’re doing but the humility not to expect overnight success. Tired, conflicted and trying to come to terms with it all, I made my first visit to the Arclight. The business models are what’s important, I know. But right then, all I wanted to think about was being in Hollywood, surrounded by the magic of the movies.

Thanks for stopping by, Jackson. Be sure to let us know next time you’re in LA!