The rising popularity of user-generated content (UCG) on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat is poised to accelerate as we adapt to the new norms ushered in by the coronavirus.
dot.LA on Tuesday held an online discussion with Jukin Media CEO Jon Skogmo and writer-actress Alyssa Limperis about how stay-at-home orders issued by many states and municipalities are galvanizing a new era of creativity in the entertainment industry.
Life in Quarantine Proves a Bonanza for Funny Online Videos – and Jukin Media Wants Them
As Hollywood productions have ground to a halt and viewers run out of things to watch on Netflix, there's at least one entertainment company that seems to be hitting its groove.
Jonathan Skogmo, founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based Jukin Media Inc., is all about user-generated content. A large part of its business is licensing videos and providing it in its library — now with some 65,000 videos — to major companies, brands and media companies.
Five years ago, "there wasn't a brand that would touch UGC (but) recently our videos were in the Super Bowl," Skogmo said. His company has done a campaign for the Oscars, and recently did one featuring athletes in advance of the Olympics in Tokyo.
But as COVID-19 has pushed the U.S. economy into recession, many businesses that were once viewed as recession-proof — including bars, as well as the media entertainment and production business — no longer appear to be so as officials order residents to avoid crowds that can spread the virus.
"Our prediction is that because physical production is down, whether you're a publisher, a brand, an agency, or television production (because) you can't create content," Skogmo said. "But because we have this really great library, we're an alternative."