Tyler Gibb – Writer, Director, Editor, Filmmaker

I like names. Specifically the etymology of names. Maybe it’s name envy. Perhaps being someone saddled with a given name that is derived from the profession of laying roof shingles or tiles is responsible for this.

For this reason I usually have a hard time labeling a character that I’m creating without attaching some form of significance to their name. Ironically I usually hate it when writer’s do this because if I can quickly root the etymology of a character’s name while I’m reading or watching the story unfold, it usually pulls me right out of the action. That said, I can’t really help myself. I think I’d rather have an audience snicker at a metaphorical name than be bored by another hackneyed hero named Jack.

One of my favourite resources for researching names is website BehindTheName.com. I can spend hours there.

On a particularly trying (self-imposed) assignment, I was looking to name a husband and wife couple for a script I was writing. The thematic nature of the script teamed with the roles of these principal characters had me looking for monikers that would signify that these two were hosts, proprietors, stewards of a home which served as the main set piece of the story. That led me to my first name, Stewart, a derivation of steward. For my female lead I found a name that embodies the mistress of a house, Marta, which led me to its English derivation, Martha. Perfect names for my domestic couple.

However, my own domestic partner was no more than ten pages into the script when she chuckled uncertainly and called out to me, “Martha Stewart? Is that supposed to be a joke?”

Yup. Wrote ninety pages without realizing it. Fortunately this was an easy fix but none the less left me feeling a little silly. Names are fun, but there are obviously some perils if you’re not being careful.

Now… Is anybody else more than a little struck by the fact that domesticity guru Martha Stewart‘s name actually echos her professional calling as perfectly as if it had been written for the screen? Could I be wrong about this whole entertainment thing? Maybe there’s a roof out there not getting tiled because I’ve been deluding myself!

Nearly eleven years ago I launched Boneland.com and this year it may have to shut down forever… Unless, you can think of another solution?

In its heyday, Boneland was my raison d’être. The bullhorn through which I broadcast my whims and the source of my fortune – and lets not mince about; back in the day the web was a printing press for money.

Then came the pop. The fizzle. The return to reality.

I boarded up the Boneland homestead and launched a new pursuit, a new career. I fully expected to watch Boneland.com succumb to the fate of all things left untended. To become outdated, overgrown, derelict… Forgotten. At least, however, it would always be there.

But lo!

A decade has passed and Boneland.com’s traffic remains incredibly strong. Barring a couple ill advised attempts at resurrection the site has not received any new content for years yet still the people come. In 2010, the site saw an average of eight to ten thousand unique visitors a day; an average of 11,000 page views.

Why, Tyler, you must be living like a king after all these years of steady traffic visiting your ad supported website that you alone own and operate!

You’d think that wouldn’t you…

Sadly however, Boneland’s revenue stream has been on decline for as long as its content has remained strong. This has been unfortunate for many years, but expected, so I wasn’t crying in my beer over it. But recently the unfortunate has turned into an actual cause for concern. For a long while now, Boneland has only been breaking even where its hosting costs are concerned. And 2010 saw the site finally fall into the red. You see, Boneland has always run into a rather unique problem: Too much traffic to be welcome on an affordable shared server and too little revenue to occupy a dedicated server.

A little technical for the uninitiated but sufficed to say, without more revenue to keep the lights on Boneland.com may very well have to shut down despite an audience of thousands of people a day.

I recently asked my primary ad broker how I could improve upon this situation. I was told I could add more ads to the site. Brilliant. That’s why Boneland.com now looks – design wise – like a pile of garbage (have your pop up blockers armed and ready). Unfortunately even this abominable solution isn’t really cutting it, which is why I have turned to you, world.

What can be done about Boneland.com?

I’m open to suggestions – and, I’ll just put this out there – if you’ve got something, say a YouTube video you want rocketed into rev-sharing numbers within a week in a completely legitimate way, I’ve got a homepage for rent.

Get in touch if you have any ideas. Oh, and happy 2011! It’s going to be a special one, can you feel it?