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Louis tapped his fingers against his thigh, anxious for the meeting to move along. Pitch days were always anxiety-inducing: the most exciting new ideas pitched by a content creator would get greenlit for production and would be promoted heavily once it was posted to one of the BuzzFactor YouTube channels.
BuzzFactor was the online digital media company owned by Syco Media LLC, which had gained a foothold on YouTube in recent years, expanding into numerous channels such as BuzzFactorNews, BuzzFactorEats, BuzzFactorMysteries, and BuzzFactorTravel. To build up the following of so many new channels, they’d hired a slew of content creators with existing fan bases, offering lucrative contracts in exchange for a guaranteed presence on the new channels.
This whole pitch process was still strange to Louis. With his own channel, he never had to wait for a green light to make his content, and he definitely didn’t have to pitch his ideas to a boss. But, his time as an independent content creator had run its course.
Working for one of the largest media companies offered good benefits and security that his own channel couldn’t match. Louis couldn’t deny that he needed that safety net. However, it was boring work always filming other people’s ideas. It was time that a project of his own design got the coveted green light. Louis was determined to succeed.
He had prepared for this pitch for weeks. Practicing lines, memorizing stats, and anticipating any curveball questions that the content management team or the department’s director, James Corden, might throw his way. His best friend and fellow BuzzFactor coworker, Liam Payne, had spent hours helping him prepare. They’d even made a slide deck. Louis was ready for this. But first, he had to sit through three other presentations.
Corden sat at the head of the conference table, with five other producers around him. The content management team appraised each pitch, taking notes and asking follow-up questions. Then, Corden thanked the creator for their effort before saying “We’ll get back to you.” Louis tried to gauge his mood, though he knew from experience that Corden’s amiable voice did not always mean that he was amenable to the pitches.
When the meeting finally got around to him, Cordon said, “What have you got for us, Tomlinson?”
Louis pulled up his presentation and shared it to the room seamlessly. The slides looked polished and professional projected on the big screen. He put on his most serious corporate voice, and began.
“Thanks for the opportunity to share my idea today. There is a growing trend online that has been gaining traction, and I believe BuzzFactorTravel should hop on right now.”
Louis clicked through to the next slide, featuring a picture of an old converted VW van parked in a forest. Beside it, bold text read #VanLife.
“Road tripping in a converted van has become all the rage these days. It’s all over the short-form video sites, yet it has not featured at all on BuzzFactorTravel. I know historically, the channel has focused on exotic getaways and luxury vacation destinations. However, times and moods are changing. People are looking for a simpler way to travel. I would like to host a new weekly series road-tripping through America in one of these vans. It would be a hit, and the serial structure could increase views as BuzzFactor has seen with other series across the platform.”
Louis showed several slides of data. Bebe, one of the assistant producers, had helped him gather the numbers from the analytics pages she had access to. He’d spent hours staring at the spreadsheet they’d made. He’d gathered as much information as possible from the numbers to show that a regular series was a better investment than his usual one-off shoots.
With his final slide, he added, “We can also play up the sustainability that these van trips promote. You know we’ve been getting an increase in negative comments about how much jet fuel we burn on every trip. In conclusion, this series would draw in new viewers, increase repeat views, and can be a positive example of BuzzFactor’s commitment to sustainable travel.”
The content management team hit him with a round of basic questions like proposed budgets, possible locations, and his desired filming schedule. He answered each with ease.
Corden tapped his fingers on his chin and had that pensive, pinched look he always got when thinking. Louis hated to be on the receiving end, especially as he thought this pitch would be a home run.
“Thanks, Louis. I like where you’re going with this,” Corden said. “We actually had a company reach out to us last week. They proposed a sponsorship with a prominent feature in a series like this. Their buy-in would offset the budget.”
Louis’ pulse raced, everything so far sounded promising, especially if they already had a sponsor that would match his concept and foot the bill. Logos danced in his mind as he guessed who Corden could be referring to: Coleman, REI, LL Bean, or maybe even Volkswagen itself.
“This offer was so tempting, in fact, that Syco Media’s chief executive officer Simon Cowell contacted me personally to recommend we accept their sponsorship. I had my doubts about their proposal; I mean, BuzzFactorTravel is a channel devoted to traveling the world in style, not camping in the backyard. But your presentation was solid, and those numbers don’t lie. And, who am I to go against the recommendation of CEO Simon Cowell? So, we'll accept!”
“That’s great,” Louis said. “So, who’s the sponsor?”
“Arrowhead Tiny Homes.”
Louis couldn’t have heard that right. “Tiny homes?”
Corden ignored Louis’ astonishment and flipped through his notepad while clicking his pen repeatedly. “We’ll have to run some more numbers and get legal to review the sponsorship agreement before we start filming, of course. But, I do think this will be a very exciting opportunity for us, Tomlinson.”
Corden briefed him on the details of the sponsorship deal, a twelve-week series covering life in one of Arrowhead’s newest models of tiny homes. Louis had only a vague idea of the tiny house trend, and was skeptical that it would have quite the same draw as the rugged camper van adventures that he had planned. But at least it would be a weekly series prominently marketed across the country. He could compromise when it mattered. “That sounds great, James.”
“Fantastic! I’ll send over the contract as soon as legal finishes reviewing it.