Mike Farah and Chris Farah have the most unusual stories about "breaking into Hollywood." Not only did Chris and Mike study other subjects than film in college, but also did not take a normal route into film. Mike, once finance major, and Chris, once journalist, decided to make videos online to get their name out there (and to have fun). According to both of them, the Internet is probably the easiest route to become "known" in the film industry. New media outlets have not yet found a way to become like corporate Hollywood and thus the creators still control the media. The Farah brothers started making short videos to put on YouTube.com and soon found work as Internet filmmakers. As a film student who is interested in writing, producing short viral videos is probably the best way to show the world my skills since, as Chris said, "everyone in LA has a script." If a screenwriter has a visual example of their material and it become popular, producers are more likely to read the writer's screenplays. The Internet is a medium to market film skills easily because you are your distributor. One thing Mike said is when "Funny or Die" becomes less independent and more commercial, his team will have less freedom as creators. Mike plans to leave the company when commercialism takes over. Besides the hostility Mike has towards TBS, "Funny or Die" started doing more traditional media, including an HBO special which shows the power of the Internet video. I think the best thing about "Funny or Die" is the accessibility for the users to make/watch content. In a way the users own it. Also the fact the videos are usually about 4 minutes or less means the chances of people watching viral video content is much higher thus a great way to market yourself online.
Let the YouTube channel begin!
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