Webisodes are the New Startups to Watch

Organizational structure and behavior are pretty well mapped out in corporate America. Employees are split into departments,assigned specialized functions, and manage the pretty much the same tasks day in and day out. From the Chief Financial Officer to the lowly office assistant, everyone knows their place and purpose. At a start-up, however, this hierarchy structure gets tossed aside for something more malleable. The CEO is just as likely to bring in coffee and bagels or lock-up the office at night as the rookie intern out of college intern is.

In this blog we like to take a look at different shows like The Office and Undercover Boss to examine organizational behavior, and mentoring and success strategies as they relate to the entertainment industry. Television shows produced by the top networks are almost an exact microcosm of the companies that spawned them. They have all the aforementioned hierarchies and structures in place. Every employee involved, from the director to the key grip is a specialist in their niche.

This, however, is definitely not the case in the emerging webisode industry. Like any other start-up company, webisodes ask employees to be more varied and excel in multiple functions. The director is also a producer, show runner and production assistant. Check out the links to the two very different webisodes below. The first is from a show called Epic Meal Time. The show has an enormous following, but a format structured specifically for ten minute web videos. The is taken from Live from Daryl’s House. In this show Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates fame invites musicians to his country house to hangout and perform. The success of this show has led to it being picked up for network television.

My question to you is this: How do you think mentoring and success strategies play a role in Epic Meal Time where hierarchy and specialization have yet to take root? And do you think a more corporate approach as seen in Live from Daryl’s House improves or diminishes the webisodes authenticity?

Looking forward to hearing your take on this!

Epic Meal Time: Ultimate Pizza Sandwich

Live from Daryl’s House: Episode 54 – Butch Walker

Image Credit: EpicMealTime.com