Dropout's Sam Reich offers advice for emerging content creators
What does it take to make the Mashable 101? You've got to be a content creator at the top of your game, making videos that are not only viral but vital. And who better than the game masters of Dropout to give advice on how to forge your path to creator excellence?
Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko spoke with Dropout CEO/owner and Game Changer host Sam Reich, Dimension 20 creator Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Very Important People host/producer Vic Michaelis about the comedy streaming platform's rise and unique popularity.
In separate interviews, Reich, Mulligan, and Michaelis reflected on their own journeys as creators and comedians. When asked what path they hoped to lay for those who came next, here's what they had to say.
Sam Reich says you should steal from Dropout
No, seriously. "Anyone is more than welcome to steal Dropout's very obvious business playbook and run with it," he told Mashable, before explicitly laying out the steps to follow.
"Create a subscription platform, maybe using Vimeo or one of the many platforms like it, which are essentially free to get started on," Reich explained.
From there, Reich recommended, "Create a long-form product and then market it using social media. Something we've done in particular that might be a little clever is that each show has its own social channels, not the network's overall channels. That's allowed us to scale on social media in a way that not everyone finds. It also allows us to take advantage of algorithmic consistency, meaning the algorithm loves it when you feed it the same type of thing over and over again, and not when you feed it disparate things."
Reich noted that he partnered with his friend, and fellow Mashable 101 honoree, Catherine McCafferty on her web series, Pretty Gay. "We put a little bit of money into that to help Catherine get it off the ground," he explained, "What we really did hand her was like the social strategy. And Catherine is now absolutely crushing it.
"So that's two, and the third is, don't be a schmuck," Reich warned. For clarity, he expanded on this advice, "It could apply to everything from profit sharing, paying for auditions, inclusivity — you know, basically becoming the teammate of your workforce instead of their antagonist."
Brennan Lee Mulligan and Vic Michaelis offer advice to aspiring content creators
Both Mulligan and Michaelis are Dropout contributors with experience in live improvisational comedy, which has helped both score points and laughs in Reich-hosted shows such as Game Changer and Make Some Noise.
However, Mulligan might be best known for Dimension 20, a long-form series that combines improv comedy with tabletop role-playing games, like Dungeons & Dragons.
Asked what he's learned that he'd pass on to other creators, Mulligan mused, "The world is changing so fast, it feels like it's hard to know how someone could follow in anyone's path, right? Like every five years, it feels like the kaleidoscope shifts and a new reality is out there."
Mulligan offered, "You know who's getting it right? People who come from the heart and do something human. I can't say that doing that will always guarantee a broad connection with a mass market. But I can say that it will make something meaningful. That meaningful thing might connect with five people. It might connect with 5 million. But I guarantee you that the path towards a meaningful life is there. If you are interested in creative fields, your odds are best when you do something that means something to you."
Michaelis echoed this in a separate interview, saying, "If you really follow your voice, commit to whatever your thing is, there will be an opportunity for it to shine and showcase," adding, "There will be a space. There will be an audience. There will be other people who will connect to whatever humanity is in what you're doing."
How to watch: Game Changer, Make Some Noise, Very Important People, and Dimension 20 are all streaming now on Dropout.
Kristy Puchko is the Entertainment Editor at Mashable. Based in New York City, she's an established film critic and entertainment reporter who has traveled the world on assignment, covered a variety of film festivals, co-hosted movie-focused podcasts, and interviewed a wide array of performers and filmmakers.
