We're in the middle of production on a series for Comedy Central called This Week at the Comedy Cellar (Fridays at 11! Tune in! Or watch it online! Or the app!) and it's interesting to see how the business has and hasn't changed. In addition to ratings, everyone is paying close attention to the popularity of digital clips.
Digital used to be the tail wagging the digital dog (I remember launching bestweekever.blogspot.com back at VH1 in 2005), but now digital and linear are both the tails and the dogs. The business is changing so fast: traditional production behemoths are suddenly hurting for work, while young producers are emerging out of everywhere with 10-episode orders from Netflix. There are hundreds of new sellers, and, amazingly, hundreds of new buyers.
Digital used to be the tail wagging the digital dog (I remember launching bestweekever.blogspot.com back at VH1 in 2005), but now digital and linear are both the tails and the dogs. The business is changing so fast: traditional production behemoths are suddenly hurting for work, while young producers are emerging out of everywhere with 10-episode orders from Netflix. There are hundreds of new sellers, and, amazingly, hundreds of new buyers.
The price points are dropping and, at the same time, exploding. At a recent pitch at a premium cable network, it became clear that not only did the network executive have no interest in my cost-cutting ideas; he didn't have any idea what I was talking about. One thing that hasn't changed: storytelling. That's not going out of style anytime soon.
Michael Hirschorn - Producer & Co-Founder of GreenlightGO
Michael Hirschorn - Producer & Co-Founder of GreenlightGO