A Clubhouse for Entertainment
Where’s Hollywood at?
With disease and WallStreetBets throwing the world in a frenzy, I thought it was important to cut through all the noise — with more noise. Clubhouse, a social media audio app where users can “drop-in” to chat rooms, has skyrocketed recently, amassing over 2 million users with a billion dollar valuation. The biggest chat rooms are often with massive influential people such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Marc Andreesen, but I’ve found myself dipping in and out of rooms with ordinary people just talking endlessly. Though it’s still in its early stages and commonly criticized for having too many rooms that are merely “tech bro” echo chambers around VC investments, Robinhood, and Bitcoin, it’s definitely evolving for the better.
With an emphasis on shedding the spotlight on more diverse voices and two founders who appear to have a strong vision on how they can expand its community, I see the app really growing its base in 2021 to include creative people beyond Silicon Valley and more in Hollywood.
When I was at USC, the film school would often (like every other day) have Q&As with directors, producers, editors, casting agents, actors, etc. where students would ask questions and even get to walk up to them at the end. And these events also organically promoted whatever film they were a part of.
Hollywood should be quick to jump on Clubhouse for the same reason. The industry should join in and help transform the app from a tech bro vibe to a space where creative artists in Hollywood (both established and upcoming) can talk about their upcoming projects. It could be a highly effective way for studios to market upcoming movies by having actors, producers, and directors just talk about cool stories on set or their creative process (all that jazz that people like me love). If Elon Musk can easily get 5,000 listeners, I’m sure Jon Favreau or Gal Gadot could get up there too. And with Netflix coming out with a new movie every week this year, imagine having different creatives go on consistently to talk about their movies as part of an ongoing Netflix roundtable.
Clubhouse already hosted a massive performance with a Lion King musical similar to how TikTok had one for Ratatouille, and creatives are gradually looking into it as a platform for entertainment (though I’m aware that its moderation issues make some nervous). That’s great, but I’m unsure about whether people will tune-in to audio musicals next year (after all, this whole app may only be successful because of the pandemic). But, for now, its user base is promising and everyone is sitting at home eager to try anything, so talent agencies should partner with Clubhouse early to help cultivate that community of creatives the founders are seeking, and in turn, give their talent some publicity.
If actors can make Cameos for a few hundred bucks, they can talk about themselves and their movies or TV shows for an hour, especially considering that Clubhouse plans to have a tipping feature for creatives and issue tickets to rooms down the road. Rather than being a missed opportunity for entertainment (Hollywood was slow to get with YouTube, but TikTok seems to be working), this audio-only app could be a huge marketing tactic for the at-home rollouts of movies and shows.
In a world where everything is less theatrical and more mobile, it’s time to get the ball rolling on this…
