"We're bringing broadcast quality production values to short form web video," said Dean Waters, Founder and CEO of VIMBY. "Our target communities already exist off-line. We're just capturing these subcultures and celebrating them on-line. As the erosion of traditional media continues, the migration of the audience to the web will only intensify and young people are going to demand quality programming that really speaks to them. It is so easy to get lost in the endless sea of user generated content. We are not a passive content site; we are actively programming for our audience."

VIMBY's programming department focuses on the quality and relevance, shooting the majority of its content in HD and super-serving the younger end of the demo. "Everybody claims 18-24 year-olds, but nobody is reaching 18-24," Waters said. "Plain and simple, we are delivering the demo."

VIMBY's success in capturing this elusive audience is their network of young, creative preditors (producer, shooter, editors), in house and around the country. "Relevance and ad consumption go hand and hand. We are purposely selecting filmmakers who are entrenched in our target subcultures," Waters explained. VIMBY provides guidelines to the preditors to ensure the work meets the company's high standards of quality, but allows the filmmakers to infuse their voice as well. "We are empowering these enthusiasts to uncover what is happening in their backyards."

The production model benefits the filmmakers as well as the people and places that VIMBY endorses. "The athletes, bands, and businesses we feature do not pay for the exposure. We only promote people we believe in," said Creative Director Zosimo Maximo. "The preditor filmmakers pitch ideas to VIMBY producers, who greenlight each piece individually and pay the filmmaker per segment. This allows us to build a robust library of content at a low cost and provides these young filmmakers with an outlet to make money while exploring their passions and improving their production skills."

Waters, a veteran with over 16 years experience buying, selling, and implementing media strategies for regional and national advertisers, believes that VIMBY's content has both local and national appeal: "Reaching into backyards across the country but staying core to the audience allows us to ad serve locally but still cater to national advertisers."

"We feel confident that we can pull traditional television dollars to the web," said VIMBY President David Woodcock. Woodcock, who has run major market television stations for such companies as the Walt Disney Company, CBS, and Chris-Craft, explained that VIMBY is a perfect environment for advertisers who are trying to reach a web audience. "Advertisers realize that this demo is harder to reach on television than ever before, but they do not feel comfortable in the on-line space because it is an uncontrolled environment. We can deliver the audience, and because we control our environment, we can guarantee an advertiser that their associations will be safe."

Because VIMBY champions individuals in a way that no one else does, they are ensuring that people will champion them, Waters explained: "When these young people see the way we are celebrating them, they want to share their segment with their networks. Whether we feature a young skater or an emerging band, or publicize a business we endorse, we know that their excitement will drive them to promote our site. We are the average person's paparazzi."

Because VIMBY's video and photo content focuses on passionate and engaged subcultures, the web site engages the user through blogs, calendars, and message boards. "The era of one-way communication on the internet is over," said Woodcock. We are engaging our users to participate in the future of the site. We want to connect people to others who share their passions and allow them to tell us what direction our content should take. We want our users to know that they are a part of VIMBY."

VIMBY is privately funded, and will pursue additional funding in early 2008.