How A Youtube Sensation Leapfrogged the Audition Process
How a Youtube Sensation Leapfrogged the Audition Process
He looks like a clone of Tom Cruise, has a Harvard education, and is single handedly reinventing the Hollywood dream. And it all started from being afraid.
Miles Fisher ironically admits that his greatest fear as an aspiring actor was standing in front of a casting director. Can you blame him? Hollywood can qualify for Dante’s tenth circle of hell, a purgatory for thousands of servers and bartenders waiting for a break that will likely never come.
Conventional wisdom tells us to lower our heads and confront our fears. Miles had a better idea. Why not save time and energy and avoid them altogether?
Appearing on Mashable’s Revolution with Brian Solis, the Harvard grad breaks down how he used the ubiquitous nature of social media to broadcast his music and get his face recognized. The strategy has resulted in roles on shows such as Mad Men and Gossip Girl, as well as, a meaty supporting role in Final Destination 5, an unforgettable Tom Cruise impersonation in Superhero Movie, and a chance to work with Clint Eastwood in the upcoming J Edgar.
Miles treats his career as a brand ( a notion that may not endear him to his more snobbish “acting should be pure “ contemporaries), and he understands that the best products (or talent) don’t always get the most exposure because modern humans are drowning in content. As a result, time is a currency worth more than gold, and to get people to invest it, you have to “prove that you’re worth watching.”
His take on the Talking Heads classic “This Must be the Place” molds the song’s lyrics into a parody of American Psycho, with Miles doing a spot on Patrick Bateman impersonation. Its production value is more polished than the standard viral content most people produce; consequently, the videos are released less frequently but create a buzz of anticipation, making them an “event.”
Below is a promotional video for Final Destination 5 funded by Warner Brothers after Miles convinced them of its potential to reach a new audience for the franchise. They rebuilt the entire set from Saved by the Bell, a nineties classic many Youtubers may not even remember, and got the entire cast from the movie to play different characters from the show. What follows is a laugh out loud parody of pandemonious gore to the tune of Fisher’s own “New Romance. “ This video gets it. It exploits the potential of viral marketing and demonstrates that simply putting your film’s trailer on Youtube is already considered an archaic marketing strategy.
In a world where everyone can create content, the trick is to engage the creators.
That’s right kids: Never let your parents tell you that Youtube is a waste of time. It can make you a star. Viral is the wild west and as Miles says “ In any emerging platform, it’s really important to not only take risks but be an awesome consumer. Know the conversation and what other people are talking about.”
The entire interview is a bit lengthy, but worth the watch as it is filled with great revelations on the direction of film, media, and human culture.
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