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Emmy Award-winning writer Steven Bochco has become the latest Hollywood leader to embrace the Internet, teaming with a video site to produce a series of confessional short videos on such topics as “my first time” and “my weird family.”
The man behind such hits as “Hill Street Blues” and “L.A. Law” has joined with Metacafe.com, a site that hosts user-generated content, to launch “Cafe Confidential.”
The unscripted videos, which don’t feature professional actors, are designed to provoke responses from viewers. Those whose posts attract the largest audience are eligible for payment – and might just catch the eyes of starmakers.
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(Streven) Bochco says he views the Web as a medium best suited for snippets of entertainment that can be consumed between tasks, something he calls a “mental shower.”
“I think people go to the Internet, particularly younger people, assuming they’re not going for information, for a distraction between tasks,” Bochco said.
Bochco worked with Palo Alto-based Metacafe to produce 44 “episodes” featuring people found on the street and in shopping malls. The clips on topics such as “my most embarrassing moment” are aimed at 18-to-30-year-olds.
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Forbes.com: Internet video started out as mostly short clips, but now we’re seeing more long-form video appearing on the Web, produced by both professionals and amateurs. Which form do you think works best online?
Bochco: Right now, I think the shorter, the more successful. The Internet is accessed by most young people in between other tasks, whether it’s taking a break from work or school assignments or waiting at a bus stop or whatever it is. Regardless of how big your screen might be, the video you’re going to actually be watching is like two inches, so that kind of limits concentration and commitment. It also limits the value of production.
Read the rest of this interview here.
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I think the nature of distraction is temporary and brief. If that’s a valid perception, then designing entertainment for the Internet requires that you think of the kinds of things that you can provide for the user that are of very short duration … which then took me to a consideration of what young users are almost universally obsessed with. The answer to that is sex.
Read the rest of this exclusive interview here.
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Bochco simply lets the young adults talk. They chat about their first sexual experience, their weird families, the times they had too much to drink, and how they’ve screwed up at work.
“When we were making these things, and I was sitting in the editing bay–we probably shot about 120 of them–I would sit there laughing,” he said. “We didn’t steer these [people] or censor them. I thought they were amazing, bizarre and funny. These people were so comfortable in their own skin.”
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“A good anecdote is like a good joke in terms of length, structure and punch line,” Bochco said. “Here I am in the most embarrassing moment of my life — that’s the punch line. A lot of people don’t know when to stop. Find the punch line and go out with that.”
Bochco knows what he’s talking about. The 63-year-old, silver-haired producer won 10 Emmy Awards for his television work — six for “Hill Street Blues,” three for “L.A. Law” and one for “NYPD Blue.”
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From 
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Bochco worked with Palo Alto-based Metacafe Inc. to produce 44 “episodes” featuring people found on the street and in shopping malls. The clips on topics such as “my most embarrassing moment” are aimed at 18-to-30-year-olds.
“The analogy I have used is that of an electronic campfire,” Bochco said. “I’m the camp counselor, and my job is to tell a couple of really nifty little stories that will inspire everybody else around the campfire to start sharing their stories, and once that generates its own momentum, get the hell out of the way and let everybody have a good time.”
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New channel for online video confessionals encourages audience participation
in the creative process and rewards viewers for sharing their own stories
Palo Alto, CA – March 19, 2007 – Metacafe, one of the world’s largest video sites, today launched Café Confidential at www.metacafe.com/cc. The new video confessional channel, which is created by acclaimed Hollywood producer Steven Bochco, features short videos of twentysomethings sharing highly personal experiences such as My First Time, My Weird Family or Most Embarrassing Moment. The unscripted content is designed to encourage viewers to respond by posting their own video stories, which are immediately eligible for cash payment through Metacafe’s Producer Rewards program.
“Online video provides an extraordinary forum for intimate, personal storytelling,” said Steven Bochco, whose numerous television successes include Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue and LA Law. “Instead of dictating an entertainment experience, Hollywood can now have a dialogue with an online audience and transform the narrative in partnership with them. I’m excited to create a community of new storytellers who are using the Web to share their experiences.”
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Metacafe joins Joost, Bebo, Slide and other Web 2.0 innovators in annual list of startups that stand out from the crowd
Palo Alto, CA – March 5, 2007 – Metacafe, one of the world’s largest video sites, today announced it has been named to Business 2.0 Magazine’s Next Net 25. The Next Net 25 picks out the top technology companies that are best positioned to succeed in 2007. Last year’s winners include Digg, Technorati and YouTube, among others. Metacafe was the only video entertainment destination selected for this year’s list.
“Metacafe has built a tremendous reputation among viewers and producers as the best place to watch and distribute video content on the web,” said Metacafe CEO Erick Hachenburg. “We are pleased that Business 2.0 highlighted Metacafe as a company to watch in 2007, and we will continue to focus on partnering with producers to find the best video content on the Web.”
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