STORYTELLER
As Goalcast moved into original productions - partnering with amazing people that had truly inspiring stories to tell - it was up to us to create a viral video from scratch.
How do you make a viral video from scratch?
Story, story, story. Dig, ask questions, research, storyboard, structure, write, interview, re-write, ask more questions, dig more, re-arrange, re-structure. And then write it all over again.
I've worked on dozens on original productions for Goalcast. First as Scriptwriter, Interviewer, and Story Editor in charge of narrative, and then as Creative Director and Producer, guiding a team to craft stories designed for maximum impact, reach and engagement.
by the numbers
Here is a small sample of some of the dozens of stories I wrote and/or story edited into viral hits. Many more lie in the 1+ to 5+ Million Views range.
Crafting Viral Stories
The main challenge with original productions is to make a person who is relatively unknown go viral. No easy feat, given the volume of new content posted daily around the web. Guided by the convictions that great stories will always be shareable, and that everyone has a great story somewhere in their life, I set out to find exactly what will be their own unique story that will be the most viral.
1. The first step involved hours of initial phone interviews, where I would ask questions about a person's life in order to get a sense of their lived experience.
2. Stacks of interview notes in hand, after this was a process of refinement, here I would hone in on those stories I felt had the most viral potential and would resonate with our audience.
3. Then comes a narrative "restructuring", where I'd re-arrange the various elements of the best stories in such a way that it follows a narrative arc that is guaranteed to elicit certain emotions.
4. Once the story was tightened, I'd coach the partners on the flow of the narrative and how to deliver their story in an effective, emotional way.
5. Filming day, and working with our AV team, we'd plan shot lists, set up the cameras and I'd direct on the set design and the lightning and the general feel I was looking for.
6. Cameras rolling, and I'd either be behind the camera directing the shoot or interviewing the partner and guiding the questions in a way that followed the narrative arc I had written.
7. We usually ended up with one to two hours of footage, which then had to be watched and re-watched to continually tighten up the script, removing digressive or superfluous elements.
8. At that point, the script was handed over to a video editor, who would progressively make shorter and tighter versions, each I oversaw, with the final objective of creating the most impactful, relatable and shareable 4-8 minute video that was guaranteed to go viral.
