MaxyArt lets Indonesian brands crowdsource videos from its creative community

2015 could be the “year of the video” for Indonesia’s tech scene, with internet speeds increasing and 4G networks becoming more sophisticated. In the past, we covered live-streaming startups like Zeemi.tv and CliponYu with great interest, but we didn’t really dive into what video can mean for local brands seeking a more nuanced way to market.

Enter Paulus Ganesha Aryo Prakoso, a Budi Luhur University graduate with more than five years of experience as a developer. Paulus was born with a hearing disability, and as such is smitten with the visual experience of video. Paulus’s startup is called MaxyArt, and serves as a way for brands and creative filmmakers to find one another.

“We are a crowdsourcing video platform that connects to anyone who wants a promotional video, animation, clip, explainer, or advertising video,” says Paulus, founder and CEO of MaxyArt. “We help them to get creative ideas for their videos by connecting them with talented professionals, creators, and a creative [video-oriented] community.”

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Giving more options to brands

The site just came out of beta in November. But Paulus says the idea for MaxyArt came to him about two years ago. He realized that a lot of people complain about making videos because it takes a long time and many revisions are necessary to make a good one. To make an exceptional brand video, the cost can be quite expensive, says Paulus. Problems often arise when clients are unable to articulate their specifications and overall vision to the filmmakers they’re paired up with.

According to Paulus, MaxyArt has two key types of users, the creators and the brands. On the service, a brand makes a public brief, outlining the specifications of the video it needs. It specifies the amount it will pay for the video that best matches its vision. From there, the community of filmmakers on MaxyArt can join a 30-day contest in which they create the video as per the brand’s brief. After that, the brand has two weeks to decide on the winner. The filmmaker whose video is selected then receives the prize money.

As firms like Eyeka or Zooppa are not targeting Indonesia exclusively, Paulus says there is no other website like his in the archipelago. He lists Vidio and Kreavi as indirect competitors, but believes MaxyArt is different because the other two sites are geared more toward sharing instead of purely crowdsourcing.

Note however that both Kreavi and Vidio do have crowdsourcing contest areas in their websites. Other indirect competitors in Indonesia could include sites like GetCRAFT or Freelancer.co.id.

MaxyArt is still a brand new company, and as such doesn’t have as much traction as the more established competitors. Paulus says MaxyArt now has more than 200 filmmakers registered on the site, which include freelancers and agencies alike. Although MaxyArt has held less than five contests so far, Paulus remains optimistic that his idea is set to boom in Indonesia. Paulus says that before he launched the site, he met with several companies that are already keen on MaxyArt’s value proposition. “They are very interested to organize a video contest with us that will be promoted,” he adds.