NewFronts 2013: Crackle
The last day of the 2013 Digital Content NewFronts was anchored by Crackle, which unveiled a slate of new and returning original series, as well as two original feature-length films.
Programming
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: Season 2 (24 episodes). Debuting this summer, this comedy/interview series (a true show “about nothing” as Larry David famously said in a season 1 episode) is created, written, and produced by Jerry Seinfeld. Guests will include David Letterman, Sarah Silverman, Chris Rock, and Mr. Warmth, Don Rickles.
Chosen: Season 2 (6 episodes). Premiering next February, the second season is currently in development and will begin production in the summer. Starring Milo Ventimiglia as a father who finds a mysterious box that instructs him to kill a stranger within three days, or risk losing his daughter.
The Bannen Way: Season 2 (6 episodes). Scheduled to premiere this year, the second season continues to follow the adventures of a con man whose father is the chief of police and uncle is a mob boss. The first season won a Streamy Award in 2010.
Cleaners: New (6 episodes). Debuting November 2013, with all six episodes being released simultaneously. This half-hour action/comedy is about a pair of attractive female contract killers, who must fend off their boss, his other hired guns, and the FBI after a job goes awry. Starring Emmanuelle Chriqui, Emily Osment, Gina Gershon, David Arquette, and Missi Pyle. Written and directed by Paul Leyden, the series is produced by Sam Worthington and Full Clip Productions.
Play It Forward (wt): Music documentary (6-8 episodes). The show will document a series of spontaneous street performances from top artists to raise support for music education in public schools. The performances will be captured via strategically placed, hidden cameras. The show will be hosted and produced by Robert Downey, Jr. Other producers include Susan Downey, Kevin Lake, and Tony Berg.
Strand Street: New (6 episodes). Debuting sometime next winter, with all six episodes to be released at once. This half-hour action/crime series follows an LAPD informant as he infiltrates his former Venice surf gang, after get in trouble with a ruthless international gang. Directed and produced by Milo Ventimiglia.
Extraction: Feature film (90 minutes). Premiering in September 2013. This action/thriller follows a member of a US Black Ops team, imprisoned during a botched prisoner extraction mission, as he and the targeted prisoner fight their way out of a maximum-security prison in Russia. Starring Danny Glover, Sean Astin, and Vinnie Jones. Written and directed by Tony Giglio, and produced by Ranger 7 Films.
Sequel to “Joe Dirt”: Feature film. Starring David Spade in the title role of a mullet-clad redneck. The project will be written and executive produced by Spade and Fred Wolf, and directed by Wolf.
Marketing, Promotions, and Distribution
Some Crackle stats:
- Available in 22 countries, on four continents, in three languages
- 22 million monthly unique viewers
- Consuming, on average, 100 minutes per month
- 60% male/40% female
- Less than 15% of duplication between Hulu and Crackle’s audiences (the only two ad-supported video services featuring long-form programming)
- Ad completion rate over 90%
cRoll ad unit and campaign with Disney: cRoll is an interactive video ad unit that Crackle launched earlier this year. The unit is available across Crackle apps for the web, iOS and Android devices, connected TVs, gaming consoles. Developed in partnership with Innovid, cRoll was first implemented by Disney for a campaign promoting “Oz: The Great and Powerful.” The interactive unit provided users with more content and information about the film if they chose to interact with it. Crackle revealed some numbers about the Disney/Oz campaign: 98.3% completion rates, 6.7% engagement, and more than 60 seconds of earned media time.
Video Everywhere partnership with comScore: Provides advertisers with unduplicated audience size and demos across all 20 Crackle apps.
Opportunity for Cleaners: James Smith, SVP/Digital Media Sales at Sony Pictures Entertainment, described a nifty little product placement opportunity for brands during the first five minutes of the first episode of Cleaners (in other words, the largest audience for any TV show). Smith described how the show opens with an introduction of Emmanuelle Chriqui’s character: she wakes up, walks around her home, gets ready, and then walks out to her car. This entire time, the camera never shows her face. Smith, showing storyboards of the scene on the screen behind him, described all of the places where brands could integrate their product, including the car.
Curated Watch-lists: Every time Crackle previewed an original program, they also mentioned other films and TV shows in the Crackle library that would appear alongside it in curated, themed watch-lists. These watch-lists are handpicked every week and editorialized about why they were chosen. Earlier in the presentation, Eric Berger, GM of Crackle, spoke about how this made Crackle a content programmer, not a content aggregator. These watch-lists are available for sponsorships.
James Smith also announced how Crackle is offering $1 in media for every $1 in ad spent on the video network, as well as guaranteed views on product placements and guaranteed ad placements for all upfront advertisers.
