Instagram Stories Is Getting First Scripted Series: Comedy ‘JoJo Head’ From CW
Instagram Stories, a copycat of Snapchat’s feature for sharing 24-hour posts launched two months ago, is about to get a weekly scripted comedy series from The CW.
On Sunday, Oct. 16, the CW will debut “JoJo Head,” from writer-producer-director-actor Johanna Stein, as an Instagram Story, with new installments weekly. The show, featuring comedic vignettes about Stein’s life, will appear on CW’s Instagram channel and the network’s CW Seed website and apps.
“JoJo Head,” comprising 1- to 2-minute episodes, is shot from a birds-eye view with a GoPro camera on top of Stein’s head, based on her 2014 YouTube viral video “Momhead” (2.7 million views). The 18-episode series is produced by Warner Bros.’ Blue Ribbon Content digital studio. Episodes include “Ways I’ve Tried to Spice Up My Sex Life,” “Things I’ve Pretended Not to Hear” and “Lies I’ve Told This Month.”
“It’s about the life and times of an everyday woman, and we instantly fell in love with it,” said Rick Haskins, the CW’s executive VP of marketing and digital programming. “They’re very relatable, short situations.”
CW isn’t generating any revenue from the show on Facebook-owned Instagram, where it has 583,000 followers. Instead, it’s a promotional play to drive users to CW Seed and download the service’s apps. On Instagram, the “JoJo Head” episodes will be edited down to come in under the service’s 60-second limit for video, with the complete episodes available on CW Seed, Haskins said.
“What we’ve always tried to do with CW Seed is find new, innovative ways to reach the consumer,” Haskins said. “We thought it would be fun way to break through. I think it will be a very shareable product.”
CW plans to run interstitial promos for “JoJo Head” in its primetime lineup, with spots likely to appear in pods for “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Jane the Virgin,” “Supergirl” and new comedy “No Tomorrow.”
The Instagram distribution strategy is aimed at reaching CW’s target demo where they spend a lot of their time, Haskins said, noting that the average age of the network’s online audience is 23. “Rather than having the viewer come to us, we are going to go to them – the single hardest thing to do is have someone watch a new show,” he said.
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