As YouTube continues to encourage creators across genres to continue honing their craft, it seems as though the homegrown cooking star genre is very ripe in fact it’s really heating up for some break out stars… (Please no tomato hurling.)

We’ve seen cover song artists, vloggers of course, and make up tutors really pop in terms of popularity… (among other genres) but the next YouTube bred cook has yet to be discovered.  Unless of course we’re missing somebody great, please let us know.

There are Vegan Zombies, Vegan Black Metal Chefs, girls who booze and cook, dudes that booze and cook… And more copycats who jump on the same schtick.  But who’s really compelling and makes great stuff???  That’s TBD IMHO.

While we’re not the first to scoop this trend, there are several ‘traditional’ media outlets covering this simmering story, including the LA Times and Time… Consider us first to cover the fact that it’s getting covered.

Epic Meal Time’s popularity is a little lost on me to be honest.  After the novelty of the ridiculous heart attack inducing recipe joke is had, seems to be a one trick pony.

After I mentioned this trend to my dad, he thought he’d take matters into his own hands and hired a high school student with a camera to help bring his vision to life.  He’s actually an incredible cook… And his iniativie has inspired me to help support his cause.  We’re gonna build his YouTube channel… so keep your eyes peeled, as we get SERIOUS!

Barry Good Food Tumblr / Barry Good Food YouTube Channel

In the meantime, check out the Creator Playbook, a streamlined, and very helpful guide to all creators looking to leverage the platform.  The second edition came out last week.

I first met our friend and one-time collaborator, Nathan Marshall, at an independent TV conference when web video was really just budding.  Fast forward 4 or so years, and Nathan has co-written and directed an ambitious TV 1/2 hour pilot, “about a couple in LA who are so underwater on their mortgage that they can’t afford to break up.”

The teaser is funny, and looks nothing short of broadcast quality (though they’re seeking finishing funds on their kickstarter, where you can gain more info.)  The cast is impressive, (includes Rachel Nichols (Criminal Minds, GI Joe), Brooke Nevin (Breakout Kings, The 4400) and Barry Bostwick (Spin City, Cougartown). We can’t wait to see a full series, fingers crossed, and definitely check out their KS page.

We sat with Nathan to ask a few questions as they relate to his self-produced pilot and the broader world of video.

UC: Producing your own pilot is a bold, ambitious, and really gangster move… Have their been any past examples of people funding and shooting their own pilot, and it resulting in being picked up, produced, financed? What prompted this?

NM:  That’s me—totally gangster! No, you know, it was a choice that came out of my background as a commercial director and before that as a film student. In both cases, I’ve learned how to make sure that dollars spent show up on screen. With a great script and great actors we’re in a time now when professional quality TV production is truly within reach at a lower cost than it’s ever been before… My writing partner Michael Traynor and I came up with an idea that felt doable—and with the right cast we knew we could create a competitive show. They’re still the exception, but indy pilots have been shot and sold and aired before, including Party Down, Louie, Partners, Greg & Donny and the kid’s show Imagination Movers. There’s also a rich history of spec pilots being sold then re-shot, such as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia—and of course South Park.

UC: Understand if you can’t speak to this, but you have some big name working actors featured… are they contractually attached to the show should it get picked up?

NM: Michael and I spent a lot of time crafting roles that we thought actors would enjoy playing. Every character has laugh lines and story arcs… Every character spends a fair amount of time on screen. Just to be blunt about it—we knew the only way we were gonna get the show made was to first attach actors who would mean something to investors. We essentially adapted the indy film model to a TV pilot, then went out to our dream cast and managed to attach almost all of them, including Rachel Nichols, Brooke Nevin, Barry Bostwick, Jude Angelini, Chris Wylde and Jacory Gums. Everyone essentially donated their time because they loved the writing—but no, we were not able to contractually attach them to the series should it be picked up. Everyone’s behind the show, though, and knows we’d be producing it at a lower-than-average budget. If we can’t work out terms with these folks, I suppose their character might experience an untimely death?! In seriousness, that’s a hurdle yet to cross—but this cast will get our pilot seen by everyone in town and we’ve all talked about taking this group with us into series.

UC: What cameras did you shoot on?

NM: Canon 5Ds with spectacular lenses… Except for our underwater title sequence which we shot on a GoPro.

UC: Do you think you’ve proven that network television should and could be produced for a fraction of the cost (save for talent fees of course)?

Yes and no. Most of the cost of network shows (beyond talent fees) come with the speed of their production… We definitely could not have written, shot, edited, scored and screened Underwater in a few weeks or even a couple months on this budget—which is the normal schedule for most network and cable shows. I do think, however, that in the hands of a good director and producer, talking-heavy shows like comedies can be made for much, much less than they are now. And that wave is coming…

UC: What has been your biggest learning thus far on Underwater?

NM: A TV pilot is not a movie! That sounds obvious, but particularly in editing, there’s a whole extra batch of choices to be made about tone, character backgrounds and story reveals that you don’t have to consider in a film. You’re not only creatingthis episode—you’re setting up a potential season of episodes, and the choices you make now are things you could still be dealing with narratively a year from now. The tone is particularly important in a pilot. In our show, we’ve had to be very specific in choosing the right balance between comedy and drama.

UC: What are your thoughts on the YouTube Premium Channel strategy?

NM:  I love it. More channels producing more high-end programming mean more opportunities for show creators. We’d be proud to have Underwater picked up by a premium internet channel. The bottom line is getting to make the show we want to make… The internet is obviously the future of TV. The fact that we look on one LCD screen for one service and a second LCD screen for another service already seems antiquated.

UC: Do you think the scripted webisode world will continue to grow? Any thoughts on the landscape there?

NM:  I think people’s attention spans are growing shorter, and that creates opportunity for well-made webisodes. I think serialized webisodes will almost certainly vanish, while the demand for funny, compelling 1-5 minute stand-alone content will probably go way up. Movies will continue to decline, however.

UC: What’s next on your plate?

NM: First up is finishing Underwater! Another miracle of the modern age is Kickstarter, and it’s allowed us to go directly to sponsors and fans as we try to close out our finishing costs for the show. We’ve got some great rewards—including scripts, posters, dinner parties and baby name giveways—so hopefully people will click through our project page and help support the show. After that, I’m directing three comedy webisodes in March, then shooting a smaller-scale film this summer. I’m really looking forward to what’s coming next for Underwater, however—and am thrilled to get a chance to share it with Urgensia!

As content creators ourselves, we understand what a long journey it can be to develop your own original ideas into successful projects. And we know how important it is to have the right forms of support along the way. There are not many organizations out there who are dedicated to helping emerging artists.

The Alliance for Family Entertainment who have been involved with getting such shows as “Gilmore Girls”, “Everybody Hates Chris” and “Friday Night Lights” on the air are sponsoring a FREE contest. (Full Disclosure: UC is involved with this project! YAY!) They’re looking for comedy screenplays having to do with the modern American family.

The winner will receive $5000, guidance and input from John Wells, whose work includes ER, Third Watch and The West Wing.

Dust off that :30 minute screenplay you polished last year or finish up on the one you started a couple weeks ago. THIS IS WIDE OPEN AND READY FOR THE TAKING!!!!

Submit and additional details here: ComedyWriterContest.com

DEADLINE: October 28th at 11:59 am ET.

I won’t go too much into Coops incredible MC/rythme spittin’ prowess, as that’s not so much the tip he and the group are on anymore, but trust, Kid has flow.  Here’s a link to a gem of a mix tape collabo i’d say i EP’d, mixed by my man Mister Best…. killer flow.

Ok, so fast forward, Steve has an evolved sound, that since I’m not so well versed in the rock genre I can’t make deft comparisons, but rest assured, their live show is guaranteed to have you tapping your foot, shaking your body, and feeling the tunes.  There are a lot of cool tweaked electronic Rhodes sounds, a tempo and pace that is high energy, (they can slow it down too on the grown and sexy tip), and incredible instrumentation all around.

its that kind of futuristic rock n roll that  a hip hop/electronic head can get with.  Dare I say, Radiohead, with faster tempos, more Americana vibed out.  I attended a show 2 nights ago at the Electric Bowery, a dungeony war bunker of a venue, and they tore it down.  Do yourself a favor, plug into Spirit Animal’s digital world and go see a show, I promise you won’t regret it.

Oh and the dude is straight comedy too.  Huge star in the making, mark my blog post. http://twitter.com/#!/thecostofliving

If you’re a hip hop head, having grown up in the 90′s listening to the likes of Tribe, De La, Jungle Bros., then this is a a film for you.   As much as the film documents the origins of one of the  most influential hip hop groups ever, their rise, inter personal issues, and eventual break up… this film is much bigger than them.  It’s really an ode to an era of hip hop, and tells the story of innocence and growth beyond where anybody ever expected it to go.  Tribe is merely a vehicle in my opinion here.

There are the expected cliched stories of egos (or perceived) run amuck, but the purity of the Native Tongues movement still comes through.  Rapaport does a great job of sticking to the script so to speak, of telling the story he, and I think a lot of people want to see.  A straight forward and sober portrait of a group that was instrumental in not only elevating a genre, but I’d argue, preceded and paved the way for the likes of Black Eyed Peas to make fun party jams that all races could get down together on.  The interesting thing is that ATCQ was really afrocentric in their whole persona, and at the same time, all about peace and love.  They don’t get enough props for that.

Big up, go see the film, big up to Michael Rapaport for clearly pouring his heart into a small doc that is an important piece of history… Now as Rapaport said in the Q&A, who’s going to do the WU doc?   “It would take like 7 directors and they’d all lose their minds.”

LETS DO IT!

Our Creative Consigliere Max Joseph helmed this fantastic video we created for TOMS Shoes, which really embodies the spirit of PLAY. We worked with a fantastic choreographer, and dance troop, all genuine TOMS fans, which really brought the whole concept to life.

I remember sitting at Jones on sm blvd, with K$, Hank, and Max, discussing the concept about 6 months ago. Took some time, but here it is.

Ok, we know, we’ve been pretty quiet lately in the megaphone social broadcasting about ourselves sense that is. We’ve been hard at work on a new video series that’s set to launch with GOOD and Ford called “Reinventing the Outdoors” which we’re really proud of. It’s been a ton of work, and in the coming week we’ll be posting the stuff.

So that said, we’re gearing up for a little European holiday/meet the creators tour. I’m going to be doing my best Chev Chase, while trying to stay out of trouble.

We’ll be in the following spots, and we’re looking to connect with creators, be you a blogger, a digital enthusiast, what have you in every city.

Tel Aviv
Jerusalem
Budapest
Berlin
Istanbul
Amsterdam
London
Belgrade

STAND UP!!! Dates to come, looking forward to buying ya’ll a round of drinks. If anybody has recommendations for good pub type spots, please feel free to ping me direct.

I found this fun article on the front page of the LA Times today to be especially relevant.  Apparently, it’s getting tougher for “reality” shows to cast “real” and “authentic” people who will play the desired part/role in the show, but are doing so genuinely.    At UC, we all have docu/non-fiction backgrounds when it comes to content creation, and that seeps into our approach to advertising and marketing.  Genuine fans and ‘brand advocates’ are people we have attuned our skills towards identifying.  And while we don’t go about in the same way the subjects in this article do, (hanging out at bars not in LA or NY… don’t get me wrong, we do that when off the clock)… we know how to spot a phoney.

What’s interesting is that audiences seem to be getting more savvy when it comes to both reality tv programming and advertising.  As wannabes clamor for the spotlight, casting directors, and the like, have to search harder for those people who will not only be entertaining, but are also the real deal.   We do the same.  We’re currently in pre-production on a commercial spot for a brand whose fans are true advocates, and we sold the client on featuring them in the spot.  They loved the idea.  Now the tough part, finding those people who will be natural on camera and at the same time are authentic in their enthusiasm.  They exist! Believe it or not, but this is where the curation comes in.

Cool to see audiences demand the real deal.

This video always makes me laugh, it’s like the people in it learned in the reality coaching school mentioned in the article this lesson “i’m not here to make friends” on day 3 of class.  HAHA!

Oh, also, a related article in Ad Week we wrote on authenticity.  Enjoy!

The article then goes on to explain that Carino’s is holding a contest for the chain’s employees to formally submit ideas for commercials, and from there Carino’s will tap into its agency to produce the chosen one.

The opening frame of the spot has a shot of Lindsay, the employee who suggested the cheesy (sorry) let it snow spot.  And states “Carino’s awards our unique and creative team members”… huh?  How is she being rewarded?  While I commend the spirit for what they’re attempting here, tapping the pool of insight and ideas at the company, an attempt at authenticity to convey that spirit, and then execution… this is a shoehorned half baked execution of employee-sourcing and authenticity.  It would be cool to see a BTS of Lindsay passionately explaining her concept, and why she thinks it’s cool maybe.  Then to see it come to life.  It will be cool if Carino’s let’s the outside see the ideas its employees submits when they run their employee only contest.  The ideas may be good, or plain out bad, but at the very least, it will help personalize the Carino’s experience. TBD