New CBC show, website seek Internet auteurs

Billed as edgier version of “Canadian Idol,” for YouTube geeks

JERED STUFFCO
Canadian Press

TORONTO — Last Sunday, Chris Herbert, 23, and his friends grabbed a video camera and a few props and went to work shooting a short movie about war, death and barbecued ribs.

Two days later, the resulting seven-minute comedy short, which started as an inside joke about a soldier cooking ribs under heavy fire during the Second World War, was already attracting viewers from across the country, thanks to Exposure, a new online venture by the CBC.

If Herbert is lucky, his clip, titled, All Tasty on the Western Front will soon be seen on TV screens across the country when the CBC premieres the broadcast version of Exposure on Sunday.

"The Internet is such a big place, it's hard to get exposure," said Herbert, who along with his friends started Disappointed People, a Kamloops, B.C.-based co-operative that produces short video clips for the web.

Exposure, set to air every Sunday until Labour Day, aims to discover the country's best Internet-based filmmakers. Think of it as an edgier version of Canadian Idol, for YouTube geeks.

Anyone can post a video on the website. Producers will pick the best videos to air during the show's five-week run.

Each week, viewers will vote on their favourite video, and the ultimate winner will get $25,000 to work on a new series for the CBC.

The idea for Exposure started with CBC producers Sean Embury and Kevin Teichroeb, who were looking to combine Internet-based content with TV after the network cancelled the arts and variety program ZeD Television.

"It's putting the tools in the hands of the artists," said Embury, who added that the website has 800 featured videos and 2,000 registered users since launching five weeks ago.

Still, while the site is similar to YouTube because it allows creators to post their own content, Embury is quick to point out that Exposure isn't about random video clips.

"We don't want last night's ball game, or someone lip synching to the Spice Girls," he said. "We want you to tell a story."

Herbert said the contest could be a major boost for his fledgling production team.

While Herbert and his friends have a loyal fan base of about 300 subscribers on MySpace and YouTube, they have yet to get a main-page feature on the sites, which guarantees massive exposure.

"I think it's pretty much luck," he said, referring to the clips like Lonelygirl15 that make huge waves on YouTube and become news events in themselves.

To help the venture get maximum exposure in the wired world, the CBC hired online filmmaker Billy Reid to co-host the show.

Reid, whose comedy shorts garner millions of views on YouTube, said the time was right for a TV show based on Internet-generated content.

Even two years ago, Reid said the idea for a show like Exposure would have been too radical.

"More and more, I think people are getting comfortable with seeing independent video shorts," he said.