Chapter 11

Beyond MTV, Food as Art, Digital Magazines

The digital television revolution has touched every strata of creativity: art, music, photography, fashion, literature, and cuisine. Here we present some of the freshest, most innovative approaches to the classic music TV channel, the venerable magazine rack and the ubiquitous cooking show.

Hitrecord on TV with Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Pivot

An “open collaborative production company,” HitRecord is the brainchild of brothers Dan “BurningdAN” Gordon-Levitt and actor/writer/producer/director Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The two began an early iteration back in 2005, through their website where they would upload their videos to solicit honest feedback. It evolved into a crowd-sourcing platform where fellow creatives can make things together: upload, download, rework, re-mash up and find likeminded collaborators. In their own words, HitRecord—officially launched in 2010 and stylized as “hitRECord”—is open as “anyone can contribute text, images, audio and video”; collaborative because everyone “can download and remix any record on the site”; and a production company because “together, we produce art and media of all kinds.”¹ Artists get paid for their “hit records”—that is, if their good work grows to be successful and HitRecord can monetize the material. Your crowd-sourced contributions could end up on HitRecord on TV, or as part of a short film anthology, even part of a book or an album. HitRecord splits profits 50–50 with its contributors. It’s a fairer take on crowd-sourcing.

Dan tragically died (of an alleged drug overdose in 2010), but Joseph forged ahead, publicly stating his brother’s wish would have been to “absolutely positively insist that we not let this bad news deter us on our collective mission … that said, I might not feel up to it for a while.” Everything about HitRecord speaks transparency and honesty. That year, Joseph—stylized as RegularJOE on the platform—started hosting regular live, HitRecord variety-style evenings. The live show began appearing at prominent festivals—Sundance, SXSW, Toronto—all opening with the call, “We would like to remind you at this time to please turn on all recording devices,” emphasizing the collective’s open approach to creating. The “anti” antipiracy. You record RegularJOE while he records you; you both record the evening and everyone uploads afterwards. The often sold out shows are an exhilarating mix of live recording/performance/screening/mash-up, and no doubt benefiting from Gordon-Levitt’s high profile; he’s also just so damn likeable and lives up to his reputation. As it can take a long time for TV shows to reach profit, Gordon-Levitt ensures that $50,000 of the budget of each episode of HitRecord on TV is put aside to pay its contributors, all of whom are individually credited. At press time, since HitRecord’s inception, its collaborators have received a total of $1.3 million, and counting.

HitRecord on TV was born in 2014 on Pivot (see my interview with Jennie Morris, Pivot Senior Vice-President, Acquisitions and Operations in Chapter 1). It’s a series of 8, fast-moving episodes, structured around Gordon-Levitt MC’ing to a live audience in that variety show style, and captures the spirit and energy of that live show, featuring a broad range of contributions from the global HitRecord community: film clips, animation, music (Gordon-Levitt is a pro level musician and singer), live performances, documentary, narrative and storytelling that blurs the lines. Most contributions are reworked and repurposed to startling effect for use on the show, with strange and charming live action/animation hybrids playing over crowd-sourced soundtracks with Gordon-Levitt singing lyrics (that he contributed) live on stage … Season 1 is available on Netflix, and to purchase on Amazon and iTunes, and Pivot picked up a second season that aired in 2015. Each, deftly edited, probing episode starts with a general theme that quickly zeroes in to its essence, which relates to the social conscience and consciousness: from money, to gun control to debilitating illness and the fleeting beauty of life captured by those suffering. Above all, the show is highly original—and won the Primetime Emmy for Creative Achievement in Interactive Media for Social TV Experience in 2014.

At a deeper level, HitRecord on TV— and the wider HitRecord movement itself—is about connecting its global pool of collaborators, who express sheer joy in finding each other: their fellow creative rebels and disruptors. The buzz of creative collaboration and mutual respect grow addictive: “More than a company, it’s like a family … the mafia of art … you join, you learn how it works, you start RECording, and when you’re done, you can’t leave,”² contributor DeeAsHerself explains. And their sincere feedback is priceless, as RegularJOE himself describes: “Rather than just exhibiting and admiring each other’s work as isolated individuals, we gather here to work on projects together … Having someone take creative liberty with what I’ve done, it’s just fascinating. It’s like, ‘Wow they really got it.’ Or they didn’t get it. You can really tell, based on the art that they make. Much more than what the box office was.”³ It’s one of the future directions of the storytelling: the mafia of art on TV.

Revolt TV

In October 2013, Sean Combs, an entrepreneur with almost as many monikers (Diddy, P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, Puffy) as he has business ventures (record company, clothing line, liquor line, restaurateur, reality TV, and of course, hip hop mogul) poured tens of millions of his Forbes-estimated $550 million (today it’s estimated at $735 million) into the launch of Revolt TV, a multi-platform, multi-genre music network targeting the 18–34-year-old Millennials, or as Combs prefers to call them, the “young people” because “that name … isn’t cool enough for them. At Revolt, we call them young men and young women; young people—it’s more personal.”⁴

He may change names, but his vision for his music network is set in stone. “We want to be the #1 music brand. Currently, music doesn’t have one central headquarters. We don’t have our ESPN of music, our CNN of music, our Golf Channel of music. We want to be a home for artists who are now homeless.”⁵ What does it mean for him as an artist? Combs describes it as an “evolution … Honestly, I think I will personally be putting out less music and I’ll be going into that phase of empowering the next artists.”⁶

Despite the fact that Millennials (I mean, “young people”) and Gen Z’ers consume much of their music and TV primarily on devices other than cable-connected flat screens, and are becoming as likely to buy a traditional cable package as they are likely to buy a land line telephone package, Combs was confident that he could reach these “cord-nots” and grow his network by connecting with them via social media, enticing them to Revolt TV, which he touted as “the first launch in the era of social media.”⁷ And, being the king of name changers, at his network’s 2014 gala bash before the “Upfronts,” Combs suggested that the event’s name be changed to the “Omnifront” since Revolt TV was created with both digital platforms and TV in mind.⁸

Revolt TV is accessible 24/7 and boasts a mix of music videos, artist interviews breaking music news, exclusive performances and original programming. “We need people to know we play all types of music,” stated Combs. “I come from a world of hip-hop, but I love all types of music and that’s what Revolt will reflect. It will be home to electronic dance music, pop, hip-hop. I have a mission to bring back rock ‘n roll. Everyone is welcome.”⁹

Combs seized the opportunity to create Revolt TV when Comcast, as part of its FCC agreement to acquire NBC Universal in 2011, voluntarily committed to help launch and carry minority-owned channels, as did Time Warner Cable, both of which became charter carriers of Revolt TV.

When announcing his new network via YouTube, Combs noted that, “When I was growing up, I was watching television all the time—I used to wonder, ‘Why don’t those people look like me, or talk like me, or walk like me?’ So thank you Comcast; my hat goes off to you for being the first to step up.”

Despite Revolt TV being a minority-owned channel, Combs did not create it as a channel for minorities alone. “There’s a perception that because I am from the world of hip-hop and African-American, that’s what Revolt will be. But really Revolt is about a level of excellence.”¹⁰

By 2014, the fledgling network was reaching 25 million pay TV homes. But ironically, the mega-mergers that facilitated his network’s creation were stalling its growth, as the proposed merger between Time Warner Cable and Comcast would drastically increase consolidation in the cable industry.

However, one of the many things Combs’ music network had going for it, besides its charismatic founder, was its highly desired demographic. In July 2015, Revolt TV signed an agreement with AT&T U-verse, giving U-verse customers unlimited access to the music network including on-demand video and content on the go.

“Music is very healthy,” stated Keith Clinkscales, CEO of Revolt TV and former president/CEO of VIBE, which he helped launch with Quincy Jones. “To have a place that can be the center of that—we would like to earn that position by reaching our fans well.”¹¹

As his network gains momentum and grows in the marketplace, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Revolt TV is reaching those fans, (over 50 million now) and might just be on its way to making Combs’ vision—the “ESPN for Music”—a reality.

Playing it Forward on Crackle

Playing It Forward, Crackle’s original music series, is a special documentary-style music series produced by Team Downey, an entertainment company founded by Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey, as well as veteran music producer/composer Tony Berg and Kevin Lake. The Playing It Forward music movement showcases surprise street performances by some of the world’s biggest artists in unplanned, unexpected environments across the country benefiting music education and charities of the artists’ choice. In addition to creating unforgettable content, Playing It Forward is committed to changing lives and supporting organizations dedicated to preserving music education. Crackle donates $100,000 per episode to the charity of the artists’ choice. In one episode of Playing It Forward featuring Imagine Dragons, the band’s vocalist, Dan Reynolds, will benefit music education programs in 4 Las Vegas schools, including his alma mater.¹²

“Our band wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for skilled, patient music teachers and every kid deserves that chance. We’re grateful that Playing It Forward is working to fund music education at some of the schools here in our hometown that need it most.”

“Playing It Forward is an opportunity to raise awareness and money for music education and it’s an honor to be joining forces with such incredible talent,” said Executive Vice President of Digital Networks at Sony Pictures Television and GM of Crackle, Eric Berger.

∙ Food as Art ∙

Chef’s Table on Netflix

Celebrated food critic Faith Willinger (from Food & Wine magazine) perhaps sums up best what Netflix’s documentary series Chef’s Table is all about, when she describes world-renowned chef Massimo Bottura’s approach to cuisine:

Each extraordinary episode focuses on one celebrated chef with a holistic approach to how he or she runs an award-winning restaurant. Massimo’s Osteria Francesecana in Modena, Italy, winner of 3 Michelin stars (!), is featured in the first episode, with subsequent editions focusing on chefs in New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Melbourne and Jarpen, Sweden.

Created by David Gelb, Chef’s Table transcends every cooking show I’ve ever watched by transporting us to the location and giving us an intimate look into the lives of the world’s leading chefs. We go with them to the market, to the farm, into the kitchen and get to know their friends, colleagues and loved ones. You can vicariously eat your way through some of the best restaurants in the world, lick the plate, and come back for more. This show brings new meaning to the concept of “binge viewing.”

∙ Conde Nast Magazines Go Streaming ∙

Digital Vogue, Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair

Michael L. Klein:
Conde Nast Entertainment Group (CNEG)

As Executive Vice President of Programming & Content Strategy, Digital Channels for CNEG since 2013, Michael L. Klein oversees 14 channels for the company’s iconic brands such as Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, and Wired, including TheScene.com, which presents premium, digital first content.

Klein was previously CNEG’s Executive Vice President of Alternative Television, and prior to that, he was Sundance Channel’s Senior Vice President for Programming and Development. He launched the Sundance Channel’s largest slate to date, where he was responsible for shows such as Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys, All on the Line with Joe Zee and Push Girls. Klein was also Senior Vice President of Content for Travel Channel, where he boosted audience ratings and broke prime time records with the Emmy Award winning Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and other original series such as Man v. Food and Ghost Adventures. Before that, Klein was Vice President of Lifestyle Programming at Discovery Communications and Vice President of Program Production at TLC, where he oversaw the hit series What Not to Wear, Miami Ink and Little People, Big World.

Klein has received numerous honors for his work, including a Television Academy Honors Award in 2014 for Screw You Cancer on CNEG’s Glamour channel, and several Emmy nominations.

Neil Landau: Conde Nast is embracing digital programming and streaming versions of its venerable magazine content. Is this additive, or is the plan for digital to eventually supersede your print publications?

Michael Klein: 3 years ago, Conde Nast Entertainment was formed with the intent of taking iconic brands and this library—that has been amassed over 100 years—and taking it to other platforms like feature films, TV, and digital channels. To date, over the last 2 years, we’ve launched 18 digital channels based on the brand. It’s available on any enabled device. And they really are an extension of the source Conde Nast brand whether Wired, Vogue or Vanity Fair, expressly targeting Millennials, leveraging the great access and authenticity of Conde Nast and bringing that storytelling to video.

NL: In a lot of ways it’s a double-edged sword. When you read long-form articles you get a deeper dive. In this case for Millennials, it’s being dramatized so they’re getting more interviews and perspectives. Do you find that there’s a different approach to telling the story visually than what you’d do in print? Or is it the same approach?

MK: It depends on the content. We look at it from what the consumers need. Reading a book or a magazine can be a more luxurious experience. You can lean back, absorb. With digital video, you have to be enticed to push play. You have to factor that into the experience you’re making for the audience. But more importantly: on which platform are they experiencing it? You know better than anybody about the migration from TV to digital platforms and how people are consuming content. People aren’t waiting week to week. They’re binging. What we found is the way our audience consumes digital content is motivated by finding a video that will put them in the mood to which they aspire. They want to be inspired, to escape, to be smarter. And we put that at the core of our programming strategy.

NL: You’re also able to add dimensions. Normally if I’m going to read a magazine, I’m going to play my own music. When you’ve created a digital program it’s your music and you’re transporting me to the world. There’s always a travel element to it.

MK: It’s telling stories with sight, sound, and emotion. Being immersive and authentic. It can be additive as well. A long-form article in one magazine can be worked to have a companion video or documentary series to take it further for the consumer.

NL: While I think of it as nonfiction, where you are creating an exciting, digital visual representation of a magazine article, I can see it as a mini-documentary, as a high quality reality show. You guys also have a movie division and a scripted TV division. How might that transfer into content? Are there going to be scripted fictional narrative TV shows and movies?

MK: Yes, we have 18 feature films set up at all the major studios. Our first 2 features are in production right now. One is called Army of One, based on a GQ article, starring Nicolas Cage. It’s about a vigilante who claims to have received a message from God to hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden. It’s pretty hilarious. There’s actually no script. It’s Nicolas Cage being directed by Larry Charles (Borat). Then we have a second feature, a documentary, about the Met Gala.

NL: So basically, one of your magazines will publish an article and you’ll see its potential as a great movie idea or TV series, so you expand it?

MK: Exactly. There have been countless articles from Conde Nast that have become feature films—Argo from Wired; Eat, Pray, Love in Allure. It’s extraordinary. It’s a rich pipeline for us to tap into.

NL: In the past, a studio would read an article then contact you to acquire the rights and make the movie. Now you have this whole other arm of development. They’re doing the production, but this is the shift where you are more actively involved in development and production.

MK: Right. Rather than being passive, or not participating at all, we are able to drive it.

NL: And depending on the idea and its sustainability, you decide where a particular story is best suited (movie vs. TV) and where’s the most heat in terms of who wants to develop it?

MK: It’s a team effort. In fact, I have oversight of all of our digital channels and producing 2,500 videos a year, and work closely with my colleagues who oversee scripted TV, non-scripted TV and feature films. We are always sharing ideas to see if there’s something that could make sense on another platform. Maybe it starts as a shorter form doc series and then moves to become a feature or a non-scripted TV series. The platforms start to blur after a while.

NL: Unlike an “unscripted” documentary series, when you’re producing a feature film or a high budget TV series, do you need a strategic partner?

MK: Yes, that’s why we have the features set up at the studios, and a number of TV projects set up at networks and cable. We look to all of them. The advantage we have is a deep pipeline of original ideas.

NL: Do you anticipate there being a production arm of Conde Nast?

MK: On the digital side, we have our own studio that we’ve built out. We don’t produce everything, but do make a large percentage of the content on our digital channels. We recently announced our first, longer form scripted digital series. We are partnering with Fox and Lonely Island. The show is called The Tyler Zone starring Danny Pudi (Community). We also have The New Yorker Presents, which we produced for and airs on Amazon.

NL: At the moment your network is AVOD, which seems to be complementary to selling ad space in your magazines. Has there been talk of shifting to a full subscription model?

MK: It would have to depend on the brand and the content. We have such a variety and we are serving so many audiences. It’s something we’re looking at.

NL: I would imagine it’s something that’s evolving day to day. TV is changing so fast.

MK: Look at the New-Fronts this year. There was a 100% increase in people presenting, 1 week to 2 weeks. 5 presentations a day. It’s unbelievable, the players that have moved into the digital content business.

NL: And it’s going to continue, to the point where there won’t be “TV shows” anymore. It’ll all just be content.

MK: That box on the wall in living rooms around America won’t go away, but the relationship consumers have with it will dramatically change and continue to change.

NL: The viewers are now in charge of where, when, how and why they watch. The question now is how to cut through the noise and wed content with its target audience. Are we in a content bubble?

MK: There’s no question that we now have more content than any of us can consume in a lifetime—the choice is there. The question is going to be, is it engaging content? Is it personalized and authentic? Can it attract its own community of loyal viewers to sustain it?

NL: I find younger viewers are much more agnostic and less loyal to a brand. They just want to watch the show they want to watch. With Conde Nast your brand is ubiquitous. There’s trust with your brand for quality, luxury, beauty and style. A lot of other brands are going to have a tough time breaking through the noise.

MK: I agree. For us, we can take that access, that authority, and make sure we are creating experiences that speak to that digital consumer. And speak in that voice—what we call a “digital dialect.” That’s different from traditional TV. I often use the example of the talk show. In the past, if a celebrity had a project to promote, he/she would go on a late night talk show and engage in witty banter with the host. That doesn’t work on a digital platform. So we created a series on our Vogue channel called 73 Questions. Rather than a host sitting with celebrity, the celebrity invites us into their home and answers 73 questions looking directly down the barrel of the camera. For the audience, they’re having a conversation. And it’s all done in one take. The first was with Sarah Jessica Parker and immediately went viral. We did one with Reese Witherspoon at the time Wild and Gone Girl were out. She didn’t talk about either film; in the course of those 73 questions you learned more about her than you would ever get from her sitting on the couch. She was authentic; she was in her space; she gave insight into her personal life through a fun concept. That series has taken off and the Today show now premieres every new episode. That’s an interesting example of how you take the platform and the audience need and evolve your programming to fit that need.

NL: And by seeing celebrities in their authentic worlds, it builds our interest in wanting to see whatever they are promoting.

MK: It builds trust as well. These consumers can smell authenticity a mile away, and they’ll quickly reject something that isn’t. The relationship with the audience of digital platforms is so fascinating to me. You have a conversation with them and they’ll let you know if they love it or hate it very quickly. It’s a conversation you don’t have with linear TV. We always talk about second screenings. Why have a second screening? It’s the nature of digital and the way this audience consumes content. Sharing video is as much a reflection of their personal brand as it is the content that sells. It demonstrates what they like—that aspirational piece. Finding something before anyone else and sharing it has real currency.

NL: It’s almost like these cultural touchstones give us our identities. It becomes integrated into our lives. It helps define the subsets of people who are fans of certain shows—how people participate, how it becomes part of who they are and what they talk about. It gets integrated and related into their lives and lifestyle. I can see how that ties beautifully into the Conde Nast brand. Thank you; I feel enlightened.

MK: [laughs] That’s my job.In October 2015, Conde Nast acquired Pitchfork, further expanding their digital business by adding a music vertical to their portfolio of desirable brands.