By David Jenkin

A collection of digitally-minded content creators made up the bulk of the audience at the Funny or Die Samsung Roadshow, held in Rivonia, Johannesburg. It was an opportunity to hear about the exciting developments taking place in the world of online content production, and to glean some valuable insights from the company which has risen to staggering heights since being founded by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy in 2007.

Dry wit was the order of the day, in true Funny or Die style, with Cape Town-based comic musicians Derick Watts and the Sunday Blues opening the event with a light-hearted exchange. They were followed by a presentation by Craige Fleischer, head of integrated mobility at Samsung Electronics South Africa, on the topic of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). He spoke about the enormous range of applications for these technologies, and how they, coupled with smartphones (the ‘Swiss army knife’ of the modern age), are creating immersive experiences in user-generated content, affording many new creative opportunities.

Christian Heuer, Funny or Die’s global head of video, and Dashiell Driscol, Funny or Die’s head of social media, answered questions put to them by master of ceremonies and tech journalist, Toby Shapshak. They spoke at length about the development of the company, from the very first viral video to their most recent, an episode of Between Two Ferns hosted by Zach Galifianakis with guest Hillary Clinton - their most popular video yet, hitting 30-million views in 24 hours.

Driscol described Funny or Die as being born from the traditional Hollywood approach to media combined with the internet, and it offers would-be directors and comedy writers a birthing place of sorts. They don’t pay celebrities to appear in their videos, rather they offer them a platform for promotion.

On what makes for popular content, Heuer said that finding a topical subject means racing the news cycle, and other comedy programmes, but it was important to follow an idea with quick action – “if you have the idea just make it, put it out there. If nobody sees it, who cares? But a lot of people might see it. Having a huge distribution platform on social helps, but a good thing put in front of the right audience can blow up real quick.”

He added; “And sometimes you don’t need a video, just a good tweet, or a nice picture on the ground can really get the joke across. We think about what is the best vehicle for the joke and if we really want to move fast we can get things done within an hour, it’s really remarkable.”

On their success with social media, Driscol said they started with a straight-forward approach, using social media channels to distribute their videos. “Over time, we realised that talking with people is better than talking at people, so we just started to be more conversational and fun and join what’s going on with Twitter, and be a part of what’s going on rather than just running out onto a busy freeway which is what Twitter feels like if you’ve got a dozen followers.” He added that they try to be consistent, and try to make things unique for every platform.

They also touched on VR and AR content and the wealth of opportunities in that field. Funny or Die became the first to experiment with 360-degree comedy and created what was essentially an immersive fart joke, titled Interrogation, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The recurring message, echoed again by Nic Smal and Gareth Allison of Derick Watts and the Sunday Blues in their closing remarks, was to take the approach of simply producing content and getting it out there – it doesn’t need to be perfect to be successful, reach an audience and start building a following.

For more information, visit www.funnyordie.com. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram using the #360DegreesOfFunny hashtag.