Twitter, Conan, and Alternative Distribution

It’s funny how the internet works. As soon as I finished Tryon’s book, I opened a Word document to begin my blog response. For once, I didn’t have any clue as to what I would respond to. Great book, but nothing inspired me outright in this set of readings. I thought, “I could write about my friend’s group organized live-tweeting of the first season of Buffy,” or “I could write about that funny Jaws trailer I just found.” But I wasn’t sold on any idea.

As I stared at a blank Word document, a friend of mine tweeted:

Curious, I did what anyone might do in this situation. I Googled. A quick search brings up a number of relevant hits, including bloggers' reviews, news stories, and articles regarding the film's unique distribution. YouTube provides clips and interviews with Conan and the director, Rodman Flender.



As an incredibly devout fan of Conan O’Brien, I was hooked. There's no doubt that his attention to the Millennials' use of social media has fostered my admiration, as well as the admiration of Team Coco (a nice example of fan culture). Furthermore, according to Hollywood Reporter: "In a unique multiparty, multiplatform arrangement. . . Conan O'Brien Can't Stop will be distributed by AT&T, Abramorama and Magnolia Home Entertainment." For me, this means I'll be able to watch the film via AT&T U-Verse and I could not be more geeked about that prospect. I am a media savvy Millennial as well as a fan, and I know I'm not the only one. Conan is practically putting this film into my hands. Thanks, Coco.

What a perfect example of everything Tryon discusses. Here is an independent documentary that has not been distributed en masse but saw a premiere at SXSW and is reaching potential audiences word-of-mouth via Twitter, blogs, and YouTube. It is as though everything I had just read came to fruition as the result of a single tweet.