So there I was, living the dream. I set sail to Los Angeles
in May of 2012 with one dream – to work in web entertainment. After weeks of
letdowns and rejections, I finally got an internship with The Fine Brothers, a
duo that may as well YouTube royalty. I was on location as a production
assistant as they shot the last episode of their current sitcom series, “MyMusic.”
I was surrounded by Internet celebrities and soaking it all up.
Interestingly, I seemed to be one of the few on the project
that was a certified web video geek. I had been watching The Fine Brothers for
years, and I was pretty much tripping over myself in the presence of Jack
Douglass, a web celebrity who has a leading role on MyMusic. Other people on
the production were asking me questions about who these people were that were
making me so starstruck and giddy.
I started to notice, along with a fellow P.A., that people
kept walking up to Benny Fine and congratulating him. Congratulations,
congratulations, way to go, awesome, go you. I was a little embarrassed that I
didn’t know why, being that I had painted myself as super-mega-fan. Even the
second P.A. turned to me expecting answers. I had none.
After the shoot, I discovered this.
The Fine Brothers had been presented an AOL-sponsored award at the Daytime Emmy Awards
for “best viral video series” for “Kids React.” I can’t even begin to tell you
the humiliation I feel for not being “in the know.”
The article linked above discusses the interesting
possibility of the show moving to television. What’s interesting is how every
traditional media industry has to approach the pressures to move onto the web,
while the web is pressured to move into traditional media.
What makes “Kids React” (and for that matter, “MyMusic”) so
special is its use of interactivity. Both projects nurture a sense of
connectivity between people, and the Internet is the perfect platform for that.
However, if television can get “Kids React” further outreach, more people will
be engaged.
I leave this article wondering, should “Kids React” go to
television? Or should we try to build stronger and wider audiences on the web?
Some people think that web is the TV killer, but in reality, will the cultural
hold of the “idiot box” be too great a match for the budding web entertainment
industry? Would Kids React moving to television be like The Fine Brothers
closing the curtain on web growth?
I don’t think so. It seems like at the end of the day, we’re
all going to have to work together. Web, film, music, and television, all
working apart and together, creating a vast space of entertainment for everyone
to enjoy.
Links:
·
MyMusic
