1 minute read
08 Social media-tainment
Social media-tainment
Plots that develop entirely on profiles, dramas that unfold in feeds, and fictional characters who chat with their followers. Is this the next big thing in entertainment?
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FourFront is “revolutionizing TV through TikTok,” Fast Company reported. FourFront, which secured $1.5 million in seed funding in October 2021, is a new kind of content studio. It produces scripted narratives on social media that have the look and feel of regular posts, featuring fictional characters who have their own storylines, social media pages, and interact with followers organically. As of October 2021, FourFront had reportedly garnered 1.9 million followers and 281 million views across its characters’ TikTok accounts. “We’re blurring the line between reality and storytelling,” Ilan Benjamin, FourFront cofounder and CEO, told Fast Company.
This could point to a new kind of social media-based interactive entertainment format. “Not only have we been creating this universe of characters on TikTok, we’ve also been iterating with a new interactive format,” Benjamin said. “There’s an evolution in entertainment happening from motion pictures, where audiences can engage in what we call living pictures with characters who feel alive, who
live in our world, who are on social media, and react in real time to audience engagements. That fourth wall is completely broken.”
Invisible Universe is another startup scripting entertainment specifically for social media. CEO Tricia Biggio, a former senior VP of unscripted television at MGM, calls it “the Pixar of the internet.” With the mission of creating what the company calls “the next 100-year animated franchise,” Invisible Universe develops original animated characters on social media in partnership with highprofile celebrities, influencers and brands. Founded in August 2021 by former Snap executive John Brennan and launched with $8 million in funding, Invisible Universe has since released characters in partnership with Jennifer Aniston and Serena Williams.
Why it’s interesting Storytelling is evolving, with emerging formats that are tailored for social media feeds. As movie theaters struggle and TV viewership declines, the entertainment industry is rethinking how it reaches and serves audiences.
