Break.com's Andy Signore: Web Video, Award Winning Spoofs & Hot Chicks [Interview]

Break.com is one of the top comedy websites for guys, brimming over with inappropriate humor, hot chicks, epic FAIL videos, college humor, games and, of course, girls galore. Break recently took on seasoned web video producer Andy Signore as Lead Creative of Original Content to help take their online video content to the next level. I had the opportunity to ask Andy a few questions about how he got his start in the web video biz, how he got involved with Break Media, and what advice he would give to hopefuls looking to follow in his footsteps and break into the online video industry (no pun intended!). Before I get into my interview with Andy, take a look at his 2010 Director's Reel. The reel is from December 2009 and he's done a lot of great work since, but it will give you a good idea of the type of work Andy does, and of his humor. We'll take a look at more of his work below. And now...on to the interview! Megan at Social Times: How did you get into web video? Andy Signore: I've been making short form content for a long time, but several years back I created Secret Sauce TV with some friends. We started churning out spoofs and skits, beginning with these two silly projects - a "Snakes on a Plane" spoof entitled "Snakes on Clair Danes" and a super popular Justin Timberlake spoof entitled "Hairy Back". They both did really well so I kept making more. [Note from Megan: You can check out more on the Secret Sauce TV YouTube channel, including 'Little Miss Jackass', 'Ocean's 11-Year-Olds', 'Hot Chicks In Black & White Flicks', 'Interactive Hot Tub Girl' and more. 'Interactive Hot Tub' girl has appeared on two Social Times lists - Top 10 Interactive Games and Top 10 Choose Your Own Adventure Videos.] Megan: Is there one particular video that really boosted your online video career? Andy: Absolutely. My first major digital claim to fame was "United 300", which won me an MTV Movie Award in 2007 [Best Movie Spoof, awarded by Samuel L. Jackson]. A buddy of mine at the time pitched me the idea of three hundred Spartans on a plane taking down terrorists, never thinking I'd actually run with it. But I jumped at the challenge of pulling it off on a zero budget and walking that fine line of mixing "300" with "United 93" with respect and comedy. I'll never forget Mark Burnett, who produced the Movie Awards that year, coming up to me before I won the award and telling me something along the lines of, "I'm putting my neck on the line by showing this thing on air - if you win, you better not go up there and do something f***ing stupid." It was quite an awesomely surreal moment (and no, I didn't do anything stupid during my acceptance speech). The clip received hundreds of thousands of online views, won me that award, and opened up a lot of doors for me. Megan: How did you come to get involved with Break Media? Andy: Break Media had purchased a few of my projects over the years - they acquire user-generated content for their digital video library - so I was very familiar with them. I was working as a producer at Disney's Interactive Media Group when they approached me and asked me to join their original programming team, known as the Break Media Creative Lab. The idea of producing high-quality original content with a "Break" edge really excited me. I always knew Break.com was popular, but until I started here, I never really grasped how large the Break Media network is - it's quite remarkable. Megan: Can you tell us a little bit about what you're doing at Break and any upcoming projects we can look forward to? Andy: Right now we're very busy producing a line-up of original content. Over the past six months, we've had some major success with original one-offs: TRON: Jeremy, a Katy Perry Music Video spoof, and Geek & Gamer Girls. The overall goal is to continue to make content that's really funny, engaging, and generates a "Wow" reaction from the Break audience. We'll also continue to work with some fantastic celebrities - in the past few months alone I've worked with everyone from Seth Green, David Faustino and Rob Cordry, to FreddieW with Michelle and Robert Rodriguez. In the coming months, we'll be ramping up with more original one-offs and developing several new web series. It's all very exciting! To keep up to date, the best bet is to "Like" our Facebook page. Megan: Finally, what advice would you offer to someone who wants to break into the online video arena? Andy: My advice is really very simple - keep making great content all the time. For me, the key to long-term success is to be able to mix fantastic quality with the perfect online marketing plan. Success online doesn't only have to do with the quality - marketing and placement are equally as important.

Social Pro Daily

Break.com's Andy Signore: Web Video, Award Winning Spoofs & Hot Chicks [Interview]

Andy Signore, Lead Creative of Original Content at Break.com, talks about how he got his start in web video, how he got involved with Break Media, and what advice he would give to people trying to break into the biz.

Megan O'Neill

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Megan O'Neill