Why we created OZ

Building a Home for Creators

I’m raised in a creative community in Reykjavik, Iceland. Surrounded with amazingly talented people in art, music and other fields of creativity. I don’t know if it’s the volcanoes, the dark winters or the endless summer nights — but there’s always a buzz of ingenuity in the air up here on this island in the middle of the North-Atlantic.

Before founding OZ, I was living in London and before then I worked for years in Silicon Valley. After the financial collapse in Iceland in 2008 I decided to move back there. I had a feeling that the events at the time would unleash a wave of creativity and inventiveness. That turned out to be the case.

My first step was to found a movement called the Ministry of Ideas. A grassroots-based community with the purpose of innovating on a large scale through social projects. I donated my time, day and night for two years, to build ideas with amazing people to make changes in our society. It was one of the most rewarding times of my life. It was a time to learn, think and grow.

I realized that if you can create a passion to help others within an organization it can serve as an amazing driver of change. That same passion creates drive and joy in those who possess it and in those who benefit from it. This passion to help is the foundation I have strived to build OZ on top of.

Today, we are helping a range of creative teams from around the world make a living from what they love to do. We believe that by giving people access to amazing technology and a fair business model we are promoting creativity in our world.

Video is the Killer App for Storytellers

I have always been fascinated by video as a medium. It’s just a great technology for storytellers. Video is also the killer app of mobile devices. It opens doors for both consumption and creation. Amazing storytelling is not only limited to Hollywood. Some of the most memorable moments in my life are ones I captured on video and I can relive them at my convenience. This is the magic of video as a medium. Hollywood productions are great, but there are so many storytellers out there. My vision is to give these storytellers a platform, because we all have a story to tell.

Video is an extension of how we communicate

I have two teens that are a part of Generation Z. As I’m writing this blog, my teens are cooking brunch with the help of YouTube. They’re learning how to make real American pancakes. The thought never occurred to them to search a text-based medium to find a recipe. Generation Z wants to see things visually and they really know how to utilize the power of video as a medium.

Changing the medium

I often think about the future of television. I’ve always been weary of the ‘one-size fits all’ television environment where some executive at the broadcaster dictates what you should watch and when. Although a curated experience certainly has its place — we all know that more flexibility and options are needed.

I have been nudging this industry for the last 20 years. Taken part in innovation in complex video processing, visualization, media management and the business modeling perspective, because I want change to happen.

To make great products for the masses

I have always been a consumer services guy and at OZ our primary customers are the creators of video. We want to help them reach and service their customers which are the people who want to experience and enjoy their creativity and storytelling through the world of video.

Giving Creators the tools to make a living

Using our Channel Creator tool, any creator can build a video channel with his own work and charge a monthly subscription fee. We handle the rest — everything from delivering the video experience to collecting the subscriptions from a global audience. We then pay the creators monthly what they have earned.

To work with creators and to help them do what they do best is very rewarding to us. That’s really what gets us up in the morning. Helping others is what truly gives a business a purpose. For the team at OZ, this is a core belief.

A team of amazing talent on a mission to realize a vision

I really can’t explain the feeling of pride when you see the outcome of pairing a team of amazingly talented individuals with a vision. We love our journey and it’s amazing to feel our vision become real. We’re learning new things every day, both by failure and success — but with our vision of helping creators we’ve gotten into a habit of overcoming roadblocks.

In our society creativity is a trait that is valued. Unfortunately, creators aren’t getting a lot of value in return for inspiring the rest of us. We believe that those who have a good story to tell, and an audience that wants to watch, should be rewarded. The creator’s imagination can influence many — and with the right medium the audience truly wants to reward the storyteller so that she may continue to create. The storytellers reward and success are a good thing for them — but even more so for all of us.

Thanks for reading,
Gudjon
Founder, OZ

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Cover picture from my friend Gigja Einars