The viral video “Too Many Cooks” has been viewed by over 7 million people, so it was inevitable that others would try to replicate the success of Adult Swim’s internet sensation. Little did we know that the digital team behind CNN Politics would jump on the opportunity to spoof the many, many people trying to get involved in the 2016 Presidential Election.
As the videos catch phrase says: “It takes a lot to make an election stew.”
TVNewser spoke with CNN senior digital correspondent Chris Moody about how the project came together. It started when CNN digital producer Eric Weisbrod had an idea to incorporate the upcoming election into a humorous video that could potentially go viral. His idea paid off, with nearly 18K views in less than 24 hours – all driven through social media, as the video is not prominently displayed on the CNN website and hasn’t been aired on the network… yet.
The project took several months to complete, with the CNN digital team working on it, on and off, during down time. The goal was simple: stay true to the original format and find the right clips to tell the story, while profiling potential candidates who viewers would recognize.
“CNN will continue to focus on news, but the internet is a nice space to experiment with new ways of storytelling,” Moody said. “We thought it would be a creative way to tell the story.”
It was a true collaborative process, with associate producers Alex Rosen doing the bulk of editing and Brenna Williams pulling clips. Meanwhile, CNN politics managing editor Zach Wolf oversaw the project and executive editor Rachel Smolkin offered guidance. Moody and Rosen spent hours getting the final product just right.
“I’m really pleased with it,” Moody said. “I’m thrilled to work with a team of editors who will allow us to try new things.”
Check it out below: