Bre Pettis is a History Hacker
Posted on September 5, 2008
I’m not talking the Apple/PC switch. No, he’s jumped from successful web show to Television pilot. That’s right, Bre Pettis - formerly of MAKE’s Weekend Projects, and now with NYC Resistor and Storque - will host History Hacker, a one episode pilot to air on the History Channel on September 26.
While Bre is not the first web celebrity to make it to the big(ger) screen, he certainly has a better shot at making something that has the possibility of being picked up long term. The show is interesting and topical. The host is fun and interesting. The theme will appeal to the channel’s core audience. And it’s being aired on a network with a strong viewership base. If History Channel promotes this right, and we can mobilize the social media sphere, Bre has a good chance of making it.
That’s a heartening thought. Especially since they took what Bre had made with his Weekend Projects series and upped the ante. From his blog:
Besides being a lot of fun to make the show, i’m really satisfied with the look of the show. The director J.P. Balas and director of photography Scott Carrithers basically took my jumpcut style of making videos and pushed it forward into territory that traditional tv shows have never seen before. The look of the show is freaking awesome and the design principles that went into it make for a really fresh look. When folks are couch surfing, I predict they’ll have to stop and watch this show because it just looks that different.
I’m looking forward to the show. I’ve met Bre in person - played frisbee with him actually - and he’s a great guy with a lot of personality. Just the right person to host a TV show. However, TV is a different beast than the web, and it’s a lot more difficult to get a following there. Whereas on the web you have myriad different ways to spread the word, promote to, and interact with an audience, TV is very passive, in that you have to rely on the luck of the draw and the mood of the audience.
So this is a call to action. Let’s make another one of our own a success story. Watch Bre and make the dream come true!
History Hacker
Friday, September 26, 2008
9PM
The History Channel