Last month we wrote about the unique episode of Conan O’Brien’s show, ‘Occupy Conan,’ which consisted entirely of fan-submitted videos recreating segments from past broadcasts. Some of the videos submitted were extremely creative, and others were downright ridiculous – a fitting description of Conan and his fans. The show featured cameos by Tina Fey, Fred Armisen, Adam Scott, and more, and can be seen here.
The episode wouldn’t have been possible without Team Coco – Conan’s digital team that has enabled him to be at the forefront of social TV. We caught up with John Wooden, GM and Executive Producer of Team Coco Digital, to ask him about the episode:
Lost Remote: How big of a risk was it to air an entirely crowdsourced episode?
John Wooden: There is always an element of risk when you have a program that is dependent on user-generated material. But our track record with our fan base has been fantastic. They are the most creative fans, and when we have done previous contests, they have managed to come through creatively each time.
LR: How many videos were submitted and how many were featured in the actual episode?
Wooden: While I can’t disclose the number of videos submitted, Occupy Conan featured clips from 200 submitted videos.
LR: How does one get to be GM of an entity called Team Coco?
Wooden: I’m pure digital media trash. I’ve been in various digital media roles since 1995, starting on the agency side. Among other things that I’ve run are Maxim Online, jokes.com (part of Comedy Central), and then for Turner Broadcasting.