PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: DICK GLOVER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, FUNNY OR DIE AND THE OR DIE NETWORK (PUBLIC SHORT VERSION)
Summary
One in a series of events and conversations presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's Media Council series. Held at The Paley Center in New York, this morning's discussion focuses on the background of the website Funny Or Die, which offers comedy videos to be rated for quality by viewers. Mitchell Schneider (television editor, Variety) interviews site president Dick Glover.
The conversation touches on such topics as: the recent upheaval at "The Tonight Show" and ousting of Conan O'Brien in favor of Jay Leno; Funny Or Die's mischievous handling of the issue; the 2007 short film "The Landlord," starring Adam McKay's two-year-old daughter, that launched the website; the website as a "video-serving platform"; inspiration from the rating site Hot Or Not; other "…Or Die" style websites, including "Shred Or Die" for skateboarding-related videos; people's interest in watching "good stuff" rather than random people's uploads; their upcoming HBO show "Funny Or Die Presents," featuring short, inexpensive, unique content; their avoidance of a "traditional" web or television style; their blending of famous and obscure talents; their use of venture capitals and attempt to become self-sustaining; details about licensing fees and "branded entertainment"; product-focused videos, such as an ad for Eclipse gum featuring improv comedians; various "top-tier talents" who are interested in the medium of self-produced Internet videos; the conflict "between commerce and art"; the advertisers' inability to judge what is funny; their three different offices around the country and nontraditional business model; plans to be a bigger content producer and smaller distributor; upcoming series and a 90-minute film; their ability to avoid losing money through low costs; the "DNA" of a company and a story about losing out to Google's superior search engine model; Funny Or Die's "guerilla mentality," dissimilar from that of big studios; and their occasional collaboration with big studios, including a video for the film "The Proposal."
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics: a suggestion from a venture capitalist's son to create the "Hot Or Not of comedy"; the helpfulness and shrewd business planning of Sequoia Capital during the recent stock market crash; venture capitalists' lack of awareness of how they are perceived as being "Sodom and Gomorrah" in Hollywood; reasons why "destination sites" are inefficient, and their surprise at Funny Or Die's success; sharing their "library" on other sites, such as YouTube, for limited amounts of time; the site as "snack food" and the desire to expand and charge for longer content; Glover's praise for the talented site staff and his hands-off methods; a recent video with Tim Allen in which his instructions were to "do whatever you want"; their current lack of association with lawyers and agents while they still do not charge for viewing; and suggestions for O'Brien to join the site after the changes at NBC.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: January 21, 2010 8:15 AM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:40:02
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 100632
- GENRE: Paley Council
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Dick Glover … Guest
- Mitchell Schneider … Moderator
- Tim Allen
- Jay Leno
- Adam McKay
- Conan O'Brien