Author: Todd Spangler / Source: Variety
thinks it’s figured out how to make short-form TV shows that sync with the smartphone-as-first-screen generation — and the company is about to unleash more than a dozen new original series for this fall, including its first slate of scripted programming.
The new serialized shows span drama, mystery, horror, comedy, and docu-series, and they’re all produced exclusively for . also has animation, romance and additional young-adult drama series in the pipeline, building on what to date has largely been a lineup of unscripted news and lifestyle shows. It’s now referring to all its show as Snap Originals.
“We’re building real relationships with viewers,” said Sean Mills, Snap’s head of original content. “To me, that looks a lot more like television than other what other tech platforms, which are tuned around ‘here’s a video that has an abnormal amount of views’” — a not-so-veiled reference to the way YouTube and Instagram have algorithmically promoted video content.
The newest Snap Originals come from producers including Bunim/Murray Productions, the Duplass Brothers, Brad Weston’s Makeready, and Mark Boal (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Hurt Locker”), with writers from shows like “Riverdale” and “Friday Night Lights.” The company is highlighting the new slate Wednesday at the IAB’s NewFronts West event in L.A.
What’s the same with the new serialized shows as with the existing Snapchat Shows: They’re all designed for Snapchat, shot in vertical format with episodes of around 5 minutes each, and include graphics, split screens, and quick cuts optimized for smartphone viewing.
“We’ve thought deeply about how stories are told on mobile,” Mills said. “It’s not like we’re bidding for shows being shopped around town.”
New episodes in each serialized Original Show will be released daily, a decision based on the success Snap’s content team has seen with shows that have become a daily habit for users. “We see [a daily episode release cycle] mapping to Snapchatters’ behavior,” Mills said. Each original serialized show will run 8-12 episodes, and as they conclude Snap will launch new shows.
For Snap, generating more ad dollars through original programming has become part of the company’s business imperative: CEO Evan Spiegel, in an internal memo that leaked out last week, set a target of becoming profitable in 2019. Even so, investors have grown increasingly disillusioned with Snap’s strategy, pushing the stock to new lows. Wall Street analyst Michael Nathanson wrote in research note Tuesday that Snap is “quickly running out of money” and that “Our math suggests a capital raise is needed in the middle to end of 2019.”
The expanded set of Snap Originals are part of the company’s efforts to boost revenue from its youth-skewing user base. Snap recently began running 6-second, unskippable ads in its shows, which will become a standard format for Snap Originals. Until now, Snapchat Shows mostly have included the swipe-able Snap Ads, which are skippable. Snap sells ads through its direct sales team and through auctions; some partners like NBCU also have the ability to sell ad inventory.
Three new Snap Originals will debut on Oct 10: The previously announced docu-drama “Endless Summer” starring teen YouTube creator Summer Mckeen and her boyfriend, Dylan Jordan; drama “Class of Lies,” produced by Makeready, which showcases young women using STEM skills to solve crimes; and college-set drama “Co-Ed,” produced by the Duplass brothers’ DBP Donut, features a cast and crew that is a majority LGBTQ-inclusive.
Snap has focused on building a programming slate from a diverse array of creators and talent, Mills noted. The upcoming original “Dead Girls Detective Agency,” produced by Indigo Development and Entertainment Arts — the joint venture Snap and NBCUniversal formed earlier this year — features a predominantly female cast and crew. And the docuseries “Growing Up Is a Drag,” produced by Bunim/Murray, follows the coming of age of teen drag stars.
With the move into scripted and docu-series formats, Snap is making a key change to the Snapchat…
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