Hollywood Exec David Beebe - Using Social Media to Promote Your Show

The digital world has created new experiences and endless opportunities. As a result more people are using social media to promote their company, build brands and create jobs. One such person has made a successful career out of digital media by growing with technology and understanding how to use it.

David Beebe is the Vice President and General Manager, Digital Studios of Fishbowl Worldwide Media. Prior to joining Fishbowl Media David was Vice President, Disney ABC Television Group Digital, a group which he founded. Beebe has always had a strong interest and passion for technology. His love for technology started at an early age. Never in his wildest dream did he think that his interest in technology would be the destiny for his career.

David shares how he got into technology and how you can use social media to promote yourself, your show, your company and your brand. Learn all the factors to consider when developing your digital concept. He also explains why the digital world was a factor in the success of their online programming 'Ultimate Proposal' and 'Cute Win Fail.'

How and when did the digital world peak your interest as a career?
I've always been interested in and passionate about technology. I was fortunate before I went to school and even in elementary school that we all had computers. I went to a great school that had computer programs where you just did basic Doss programs where you enter something in and the screen would spit something back out at you. That type of technology I've always been a geek at even as a kid. I'd go and hang out at Radio Shack and buy those kits where you get directions on how to put stuff together. I was very fascinated about how things worked and why they worked that way. I was never really a directions person because I wanted to try and build it on my own. I was always building gadgets and stuff. As a kid I had my entire bedroom wired with all kinds of stuff that my parents hated.

After high school I went into the United States Coast Guard. That's where I went into Communications School there and got into technology being around computers, data systems and the way information transferred around the world via radio and computers. That's where I think technology and content sort of came together for me. Even then no one had email, we did have it but it was very basic.

After the Coast Guard one of my friends said this person had called them about this company and they were some sort of satellite company. He suggested that I call them because it seemed like it would be a good match for me. It happened to be DIRECTV. DIRECTV at that time was probably only 3 or 4 years old. I was hired with them at their Long Beach facility. I really got in and was able to learn about the technology part and got exposed to broadcast operations and exposed to the content through programming that DIRECTV produced such as in-house promos, on-air promotional channels and original programming to drive people from channel to channel. So that's where I learned about production, post-production and the content world. I moved to the broadcast center in Marina Del Rey which was a brand new center they were building so I was part of that launch team. Still then I got into some of the programming, scheduling, and then the last 3 years at DIRECTV I spent at the corporate headquarters. I got into digital DIRECTV.com and that's where it all came together with technology, digital and content.

It seems like fate has put you in your career?
Yeah, people always ask how I started doing what I do. I say it's a very unique path. It's not like anything else. It's like everyone in digital has a unique path to how they got into it compared to what they're doing now because it is so new. It's not like a lawyer where you do this and you have 3 years of school and an internship. It just doesn't work that way. It's kind of a 100 ways into it. You have to be entrepreneurial about it and the type of person that gets up in the morning and you do not need direction and you kind of figure it out and drive yourself which is key. If you have that skill set you get into navigating yourself around and figuring out all the pieces, how to connect them and the people you need to know.

The digital world has created new experiences and opportunities. What are some of the avenues available to the average Joe to get their digital ideas on the web?
If you're starting out in your career and thinking what should I study in college, there are specialized schools and certificate programs. There is a school in Colorado (Boulder) that has a 3-month certificate program run by some great people in the industry. So there are all these specialized educational type things you can do. I'm starting to see digital degrees now pop up. That's the education part. As far as getting content out there, you're seeing a lot of organizations pop up for independent producers. The International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) and The Emmys has been very active in having their interactive peer group.

Is YouTube the best or Vimeo to get your ideas on the web?
I don't think there is one way; it's very specific to the content one is producing. Again it goes back to how you get into it. There is not one straight answer that works for everybody. Content creators tend to think that it is easier because it is the web, but it is actually harder.

Why is it harder?
Because there is so much content out there, it's so fragmented and the attention spans are so short. There are utterly if you were to look at it like a traditional TV or cable box, there are 1000's of channels and platforms and different sites to go to. There is so much content that it is harder to get your stuff seen by people, that's one part of it. Also people think that if they just throw something up on YouTube it will become a big hit over night. It's doesn't mean that the content isn't good. People think it's easy to get on the web because it's their project and they care about it and they are passionate about it. You do have to have passion about what you're creating, but that doesn't mean that everyone else cares. I have 30-40 ideas that I would love to do and that I could execute them, but at the end of the day they're not going to work on digital, TV or whatever. It's going to be me and my mom or whomever viewing it and that's it. Digital is the balance of having passion about what you're creating and looking at it from a global level. If you want to do scripted, unscripted or lifestyle you need to find your vertical and then find out the type of programming that works on the internet and look at what other people are doing in video programming. But also look at non-video stuff too and see what works on the internet and what people are reading and sharing with their friends and how to take that and develop it into video programming.

In our partnership with YouTube we are constantly on YouTube looking for the next big talent out there that hasn't broken yet. Whether it's producing type talent that is making good content or a comedian doing comedy stuff, musician or whatever it is. You have to spend a significant amount of time randomly finding people like any other development job. You go with your gut instinct if you think they are creative for whatever reason and meet with them.

Is it better to upload your own content on channels like YouTube where you have more autonomy over content and tone or is better to be featured on other bigger outlets where they set the agenda?
I think it depends on what your ultimate goal is. One of the great things about YouTube and creating your own channel and putting your stuff up is that you have 100% control of it. It's a model where you are the head of your network and you make all of the creative decisions, marketing decisions and everything else that goes along with that. That is the thing that people don't think about. They think hey, I've got a great idea and I'm going to create a web series and put it up on YouTube and then they go write it, shoot it, and then they go wait, I've got to edit this? Then they edit and upload it and they don't get that many views and they become frustrated. They forget that if you're watching your channel and doing it on your own, you're the CEO of that company and you have to run every division from programming, production development, PR, marketing everything and the social aspects of it. It's a lot of work so I think if you want 100% control and you're doing it for passion or whatever reason to slowly build an audience and you're not doing it for the money, sure do it on your own. But, if you're looking to do something bigger and reach more people because you think that you can make a difference on YouTube then of course partnering with other distribution partners or platforms, getting or making a deal with a production company that has existing YouTube stars that they can bring into the fold and help promote to you and vice versa like the maker studio model are options. The more you do that the more you give away. It's not easy because if it were every channel would be a success.

YouTube is such a fascinating world. The people who are making it they didn't do it overnight, they've been there for a long time. They spent time building an audience so they got in early. They had the opportunity to come up with a plan and make changes as they went along. They were the very early adopters and now they have that audience and reach.

Even with us the show 'Cute, Win Fail' was a hit and it started on YouTube with Toby Turner. Sometimes it's not for everybody, but people launch stuff on YouTube with the intent to get it on TV or get it discovered. If they do become hits on YouTube and they start to look at the economics of it and how much control they have over it versus what they would have if they had a TV production development deal, a lot of the YouTubers stay on YouTube for that reason. Because once they're a big hit they want to shoot their 2 videos a day and they want to do it when they want to do it and as long as they are uploading on a schedule and engaging with their audience they are done. They don't have 20 people giving them notes. We've had YouTubers who we've dealt with who had other shows that people wanted to take to TV and people say, they want to stay in YouTube world. It's their world and they know it and frankly they're making a lot more money.

In terms of what networks and production companies are looking for, what are the main differences between a show made for TV versus a show made for the internet with regards to content, format, hosts etc.?
With digital we're always looking for not just the story and the creative but how are users engaging with us, how are they making it their own and how can they participate with it. Is there a voting element in the programming and if so how are they driving the elements? The web is not just a lean back experience and that's a mistake a lot of people make. They say hey, I've got a movie or a scripted show I'm going to launch and its great creative, its 20 minutes long and it's going to be on the web and it's going to be a hit. It's a different audience, it's a different platform. User behavior on the web is different. You've got your computer on, you've got 20 windows up and you're doing things. Your attention span is even shorter. So the more the content relates to the viewer you're going to get them to stick around longer and the more emotion it has, obviously you're going to pull people in that way. They're going to want to share it with their friends rather than just watching it.

When we looked at 'Ultimate Proposal' that's why it works. It's a show that is about a moment in life that most people can relate to, getting or wanting to be proposed to. It's a common theme in life. One of life's big moments. We brought in all the right pieces to make this show a hit. When we looked for a host we looked for a host that had a built in audience with women, since it is targeted for women. That's why we went to Cameron Mathison. 'All My Children' had a big female audience, he's involved in social, he's engaging people online, and he's a perfect fit for that show.

This show is all about capturing the girls' raw emotion because everything is hidden camera and they don't know what's going on obviously. People relate to it because it's that show that is a part of life, it grabs that emotion, especially the women and they want to share it with their friends. Where other programming out there, while great programming; for instance if I look at a cooking show I say great I learned how to make something new but it's not something that triggers any emotional connection or anything that is like "Oh my gosh, I have to share this with my friends!" You might but not at the high level like an engagement would with 'Ultimate Proposal.' It's not just the fact that so many people are watching these episodes, but they are also commenting and taking the time to leave messages on the message board is huge.

You have to be engaging and that's what we look for when people come in to FishBowl Media to pitch concepts. Here's my creative, here's my 5 minute show, here are the three acts (beginning, middle and end) and here's how the first 12 episodes are going to look. But also I've thought about what this presence is on Facebook, Twitter and the whole social media plan for it and by the way I can also do something for it offline too. Whatever it is you're bringing, bring the whole thing. That's the approach we take when we talk to a Yahoo! for example. We take the time when we're producing the content, we're managing the Facebook and Twitter accounts, we're taking the social media team here and they're online everyday if people like an episode. They're returning the comments on the message boards on Facebook and asking them to submit their proposal video, and they're doing pulls and stuff and it's that constant two-way dialogue. Not just here's a great show watch it.

Are digital shows just a feeder to become TV shows or has digital shows grown enough to where they can stand on their own?
I think they're growing so they can stand on their own. I think the internet is a great way to test creative and see how people respond and potentially make it to TV. I think people make it with that intent thinking this is my way to make it to TV. I think that's the wrong approach because the show is not going to be better just because you got it to TV. We've seen that most shows that have gone from internet to TV have failed. For example, the show "$#*! My Dad Says." It doesn't mean that it was a bad show, it was appropriate for the platform. So I always tell people to produce for the platform that you intend to put this on. If you're going to do web digital programming produce for the internet. Make it 3-5 minutes, make it engaging, have an emotion, have a connection and be done with it. Don't walk in and pitch it and say here's my web idea and when this is on TV next year. It doesn't work because obviously some stuff is not big enough for TV and vice versa. Some things that get pitched for the TV group is not right for digital. It's big enough for digital and there's 10 ways people can engage with it.

TV right now is still a one-way stream. As we see more TVs come out in 2012 that will be internet capable and technology converging especially if these rumors about Apple TV are true then I think TV will start to become more of a two-way interactive experience. That will be very interesting how programming changes. We've all seen everyone try interactive TV in the past and it failed. It's a behavior thing I think. We are very much trained to turn on the big screen and it's a communal experience and you lean back and enjoy it. You want to chill out, enjoy it and escape your world and look into other people's world. On the other hand the internet is your world and you're creating the world and you're going to choose what you are watching and engaging with while viewing 20 things at a time. So for someone to get your attention it had better be really good and it had better be really relatable.

'Cute Win Fail' has garnered over 75 million views and you have more slated. It seems like an updated version of 'America's Funniest Home Videos.' How did the idea of 'Cute Win Fail' come to your attention?
We developed it here at FishBowl and the reason it feels the same as 'America's Funniest Home Video' (AFV) is because it is produced by the same people, Vin Di Bona. FishBowl is Vin Di Bona's company. The unique thing that makes Fishbowl Worldwide Media so different from other production companies is that we walk into the door with an existing library of content that we own that is cleared for any platform worldwide. So the smart thing that Vin did when he started 'AFV' is that we own all the content that he submitted to the show. So we have a library of over 800,000 clips over the last 22 years. That's a massive library of UGC content (user generated content) so it's really YouTube before YouTube and it's the world's largest curated UGC content library. We're in the process of it all being digitized, tagged, metadata and everything and we developed 'Cute Win Fail' knowing that this library here we can develop content around it. So what do we create and not just a show for YouTube but how do we create a show around YouTube that gets the users to engage with us.

Each episode gets around 30,000 user comments of people commenting on the clips. It's in its 3rd season and it's a YouTube show, its fast, and its cut like that and we brought in Toby Turner (host) back when he was just starting on YouTube and he's become a great YouTube star and he's doing a lot of stuff now and people just love it. We just walk in the door now and we are in a very unique position. Other sites out there are trying to build distribution networks, where they have the network or the audience they don't have the content. That's what makes us better positioned because people are out there trying to build distribution networks. They have the network or the content but they don't have the audience. So that's what makes us unique. We can create content from an existing library. Not everything has to be a green screen with a clip screen host. There's other ways to create content around those clips. For example, there are other original series you can create from those clips; you can use those clips to drive others to your site. 'Ultimate Proposal' we developed in-house as well and sold it to Yahoo!. We said by the way we're making 12 episodes of 'Ultimate Proposal' for you, but by the way but we're also going to supply you with one clip a week from our library of proposals clips that we have. You can use that as material that is really short 20-30 seconds and promote on your site and get people to laugh and use it to drive to your original series.

Congratulations on 'U-Proposal?' Do you see that show going to network at some point?
It was a show we originally developed for TV and we didn't sell it so we said let's develop it into a web show and scale it down. The TV version was much larger, it had a host in the field, a team of experts, you're doing a lot more storytelling and it was just bigger. Same format just larger. The thing that the TV version wouldn't have was the engagement that we're getting. Could it go to TV? Absolutely. Is it the right thing to do, we don't know. We didn't develop it with the intent to make it back into a TV show. So I don't think that once you get something, because so few things work on the internet right now, once you get something working why not spend the time, spend a couple of years really developing it and refining it and growing a huge audience rather than rushing and getting all excited and saying we've got millions of views now let's make it into a TV show. You have to spend the time cultivating it. (Remember '$#*! My Dad Says'). Could it be a TV show? Absolutely, but we're not in a rush to make it into a TV show.