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| Genre | Crowdsourcing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founder | James DeJulio, Rob Salvatore, Mark Burrell |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Film and other production projects |
Number of employees | 50+(2014)[1] |
| Website | tongal |
Tongal is a platform for content creation, used by studios, brands and talent worldwide. Founded in New York City in 2009,"[2] Tongal is now based inSanta Monica, California.[3] The company maintains an online platform that connects businesses in need of creative work with an online community of writers, directors, and production companies.[2]
Tongal contributors earn money when their pitches are greenlit by clients. Tongal's original methodology for completing projects allows anyone to contribute at any of the steps along the way — from ideation through the production of content.[2] Tongal's creative community creates TV commercials, original content, digital advertising, and instructional videos.[4] Beyond projects for organizations such asSundance, Tongal's other clients have includedLEGO,Mattel,Procter & Gamble,Unilever,Johnson & Johnson andNASA.[5]
Tongal was founded by James DeJulio, Rob Salvatore, and Mark Burrell, who first began developing the business model after a conversation in June 2007.[1] Initially formed in 2009 "in a New York hotel room,"[2] Tongal went live and launched its first video project, related to Comedy.com, on May 20, 2009.[1] Tongal hired its first employee in October 2009, and two months later the community had 1,000 members.[1]
As acrowdsourcing company for creative work, Tongal states that its mission is to "bring the world's creative work to the world's creative talent."[2] The founders selected the name Tongal as ananagram of "Galton," referring to the social scientistSir Francis Galton. He had been highlighted inJames Surowiecki's bookThe Wisdom of Crowds, which posits that a diverse collection of people is likely to make certain decisions and predictions better than individuals or even experts.[6] The opening anecdote relates Galton's surprise when a crowd at market tried to guess the weight of an ox, and their averaged guesses proved accurate. The story would inspire Tongal's ox logo.[2]
The "pitch phase" of Tongal debuted on March 16, 2010, and marked the first "tournament style" project for the company.[1] In September 2010, the company was named to thePepsiCo10[7] for being one of "the 10 most innovative start ups in social media."[1] Among other projects, in August 2011 the Tongal video "Stuck on Duck Video Project" by David Brashear wentviral, and for a time was the tenth most viewed video onVimeo.[1]
In early 2012, the company launched its 100th project[1] and shortly after, in February 2012 Tongal began a long-term partnership withLEGO.[1] The following month Tongal began working withPringles andP&G,[1] and in April 2012 Tongal relocated toMarina del Rey inSanta Monica, California.[1] In December 2012, Tongal raised funds fromInsight Venture Partners.[1]
Tongal notably aired aSpeed Stick commercial on February 3, 2013 during theSuper Bowl. Titled "Unattended Laundry" and a part of Speed Stick's "Handle It Campaign," it was listed at No. 12 on a ranking of the top 2013 Super Bowl ads byThe Kellogg School of Management.[1] On May 4, 2013, Tongal opened a new headquarters in Santa Monica.[1] In October 2013, a Tongal office was opened in theUnited Kingdom.[1] A New York City office opened in January 2014.[1]
Tongal was listed 205th in theInc 500 for 2014, which lists the fastest growing companies in the United States.[8] It also won a Gold Medal at the 2014Edison Awards for Collaboration and Knowledge Management.[9] As of 2014, Tongal handled approximately 200 projects annually.[10] From 2010 to 2015, Tongal's revenue had doubled five times.[11]
Tongal first held the Tongies, an awards ceremony for Tongal community members, in April 2014.[1] As of 2015, Tongal has a global community of more than 70,000 writers, directors and filmmakers in 140+ countries.[12] In 2015, it had seven films in theSundance Film Festival, and 41 of its 70,000 workers earned salaries of over six figures.[13]
Tongal projects are open to anyone with a good idea and any filmmakers with the experience to execute it.[2] Typically, each project is posted onto the website and broken up into three phases — "idea," "pitch" and "video," with all stages allowing contribution from anyone.[14]
Tongal's clients have included large companies such asFacebook,Volvo Cars[16]LEGO,[5]Mattel,Procter & Gamble,Unilever,Johnson & Johnson andNASA, with videos often developed for particular brands and subsidiaries.[5]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 "Stuck On Duck Video Project" (August 2011) |
An example of Tongal's crowdsourcing approach for ads can be seen withDuck Products' 2011 "Stuck On Duck Video Project",[17][18] which featuredJay Maynard akaTron Guy.[1] The video, which advertises a brand of ducktape, was featured inWired Magazine as a "genius idea," and doesn't use any special effects.[19]
An early example of Tongal's[1] work is a video under the demo section ofKiva's French website.[20] Tongal was used to source the video, which serves to "explain the process and clarify what we're doing and what our mission is."[21] In late 2012 Tongal did its first Spanish language project forSuavitel,[1] and also by that time the company had worked withPepsi on short video pieces about Brisk Tea, with Tongal facilitating a contest for the best film pitches.[22]
Tongal has also done video for theCare Bears andStrawberry Shortcake franchises throughAmerican Greetings Properties.[23]Lucasfilm andPringles also jointly commissioned Tongal for a commercial,[24] with a total of $75,000 in prize money distributed to seven finalists.[25] In 2012 a Tongal ad forSpeed Stick was featured during the live broadcast of theSuper Bowl.[25]
A website started by Tongal andThe Lego Group in 2020 where users can create pitches for future Lego properties.
Bands such asThe Who andUmphrey's McGee have had music video contests through Tongal, as well asBob Marley's estate for a 2014 fan-made video of "One Love/People Get Ready."[26]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
| "One Love" by Bob Marley – Official Music Video (December 4, 2014) | |
| "California Feelin'" by The Beach Boys – Official Music Video (December 9, 2014) |
To promote the 2011Beach Boys box setThe Smile Sessions, music video concepts for "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains" were submitted through Tongal, with the concepts then voted on and ultimately selected by other fans.[27][28] A similar project was undertaken in 2013 for the Beach Boys box setMade in California, with fans contributing via Tongal to the production of a music video[29] for the previously unreleased track "California Feelin'."[30] Tongal users were also given a chance to submit a lead guitar track for "Going to the Beach,"[31] with the winner's performance mixed into the song byMark Linett andAlan Boyd.[32]
In April 2014,Gene Simmons launched a Tongal project to celebrate the 40th anniversary ofKiss. The project was part of a new Tongal service titled Left Field, which utilizes social media and short project descriptions.[33]
Tongal has also had several projects to create original content. Tongal teamed up withSundance Institute and theBill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create "unique, compelling, and personal short films exploring an empowering person or an optimistic story about individuals and communities who are overcoming poverty and hunger, combating disease, or improving health."[34] The winners each received $10,000 and their films premiered at 2015Sundance Film Festival.[citation needed]
Tongal has also partnered withLionsgate, Women in Film (WIF), and the author of theTwilight booksStephenie Meyer to create short films set in theTwilight universe in 2014.[16] Other projects involvedSpitfire Pictures.[35]
DirecTV announced it was partnering with Tongal onThe Next Great American Documentary in 2015, a 60-minute film meant to air in 2015 on DirecTV’sAudience Network channel. The project started with a subject phase open to anyone 13 years or older in the United States, and has a $50,000 budget production budget.[36]
| The Tongies | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | 13 categories of production related to Tongal projects |
| Country | United States  |
| Presented by | Tongies Nominating Committee |
| First award | 2014–present |
| Website | Tongies |
The Tongies is an annualawards ceremony put on by Tongal since 2014.[10] The purpose of the Tongies is to recognize the Tongal community by awarding work done on Tongal during the previous calendar year.[10] Work is nominated by the Tongies Nominating Committee, with the nominated material then posted online for the community to vote on.[37] The various category winners are awarded a Tongie, a metal statuette fashioned as a head with a half-smile, half-frown and a lightning bolt on top.[10]
The first Tongies awards ceremony was held April 2, 2014[1] at theEl Rey Theatre inLos Angeles. Thirteen Tongies were awarded,[37] with categories such as Best Comedy, Best Broadcast Spot, Best Animation and Video of The Year.[38]Kiss frontmanGene Simmons andThe Pointer Sisters performed,[37] with Simmons awarding the Best Original Song category.[33] The second annual Tongies was held March 5, 2015 at theAvalon Theater inHollywood.[citation needed]
| Year | Award | Nominee | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Edison Awards | Tongal | Collaboration & Knowledge Management[9] | Won |
