A few weeks ago, I was asked by Lisa Lacy on behalf of ClickZ why MTV’s Jersey Shore has become so popular through social media and conditions for the “perfect storm”.
The show’s basic premise is similar to over 20 preceding seasons in MTV’s Real World franchise, yet Snooki, Vinny and the rest of the gang have reached an unprecedented level of cultural saturation. According to Nielsen, 1.4 million viewers tuned in to the premiere on December 4. And numbers have steadily risen since then, culminating in 3.6 million viewers tuning in on January 14.
That’s thanks in part to MTV’s efforts to harness organic buzz and create branded content. The company has launched a Twitter integration, exclusive online videos, and is preparing new features such as a character generator and an iPhone app.
Last Fall, Mass Animation’s Yair Landau, former president of Sony Pictures Digital, partnered with Intel on a Facebook-hosted competition to create an animated film.
The result of that competition is the 5-minute short film Live Music, which will premiere on November 20th as a short before TriStar Pictures’ film Planet 51.
Artists were invited to install a Facebook application which would allow them to download creative materials and assets, including music from guitarist Steve Vai and violinist Ann Marie Calhoun, use Maya to animate shots, and then submit them back for post production. Three separate deadlines were used to keep content contributions coming.
The Facebook application contained a sequence viewer and classified material as Easy, Medium and Hard.
The prizing included $500 per shot used in the final cut, as well as Dell computers. Users were invited to vote on their favorites and the Facebook community determined the winners.
KML was out to support Leslie Gornstein’s recent book signing event at The Grove to promoteThe A List Playbook - How to Survive Any Crisis While Remaining Wealthy, Famous, and Most Importantly, Skinny.
For anyone who doesn’t know by now, Leslie is E! Online’s Answer B!tch, who answers fans questions and reveals some of Hollywood’s dirtiest little secrets. Want to find out how Beyonce and Britney Spears stay at the top? Does Eva Longoria really use store bought hair color? Do stars really eat anything they want and remain thin? You can find out all about it in Leslie’s book.
While Leslie has mastered the art of developing on online presence via E! Online and her popular blog AListPlaybook.com, it’s interesting to note that she has also embraced print publication as another means to satisfy the appetite of fans hoping to get juicy secrets on their favorite celebs. In recent months, we’ve also seen Perez Hilton expand from the blogosphere with his book Red Carpet Suicide.
So what does this tell us?
While the masses seem to be gathering their Hollywood dirt across thousands of gossip sites (the choices are becoming limitless), it’s important to remember people are also feeding their interests the old fashioned way- in print. Which proves that people like choices about media - whether it’s online or traditional. The key is to keep those media choices in mind with getting your content into your fans’ hands. Which is exactly what Leslie did and it’s paying off.
When actor Michael Cera got his hair blown out by Jersey Shore’s DJ Pauly D in a cross-promotional effort for Cera’s new film, Youth in Revolt, it was a new high for MTV’s hit reality show.
Last Fall, Mass Animation’s Yair Landau, former president of Sony Pictures Digital, partnered with Intel on a 
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