Exclusive Interview: Can Pullup.TV pull off its Web Content Play ?

We got an exclusive internet with Akil Strachan the founder of PullUp.TV. His venture is in the Web Content space which seems to be getting increased attention these past months and more Jamaicans pour online and unto social networks and while they are indeed global citizens with a global appetite, there’s nothing like seeing yourself, who looks and sounds like you in video and online. Pullup.tv has pointed its shoes in that direction, let’s see how they plan to pull it off.

SC:What’s the mission of PullUp.tv ?
AS: The mission of pullup.tv in one sentence. To be the centre of Jamaican (and eventually Caribbean) Quality Video entertainment.

SC: What are you trying to achieve? What Problem are you’re working to solve?
AS: I’m trying to create a platform for people both locally and internationally to access quality Caribbean entertainment anytime, anywhere, on any device. A place for both young and established content creators to expose their content to the world.

The problems I’m trying to solve are the following. As of right now.
1. There is no central place focused on JAMAICA that people can go to watch OUR content. Yes there is Youtube, but finding good wholesome Jamaican content on Youtube is like finding a single drop of rain in the middle of a storm….We need a platform for US.

2. If you want to watch the finals of a singing/DJing competition, this VERY minute, how do you do it? If you want to watch the talk show that got extra heated last night, how do you do it? If you’re in the UK and you want to watch the latest play from your favorite comedian, or last night’s episode of your favorite Jamaican soap opera, how do you do it? You can’t! As of right now, there’s no way to do all the above, much less do all the above from ONE place. PullUp.tv aims to solve this problem by BEING that place that allows you to watch the shows you know and love, the shows you don’t yet know, but will love, and to do it all at your convenience.

3. As of right now, Jamaican content creators are ‘giving away’ their content. Whether they like it or not, people are recording stuff and posting it on sites like Youtube, Vimeo, Forums, Torrents, etc. It is inevitable that quality content that is in demand will find it’s way online to satisfy that demand. Its a problem Hollywood faces, American tv studios face, and even independent film makers face. The solution for them was and IS to embrace the internet and find ways to satisfy demand while maximizing the earning potential of content. As of right now, our content creators aren’t maximizing the potential of their hard work. PullUp.tv aims to provide content creators with the opportunity to satisfy the demand for their creations, both locally AND internationally, and make money while doing so.

SC: What prompted you to take this on?
AS: I love to laugh. I feel that we (i.e. Jamaicans, and Caribbean people on a whole) produce some of the funniest most entertaining content out there (don’t believe me? just do a search for “Laugh Jamaica – Rapunzel on Youtube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2H6JGJ7DMg]). About 2 years ago, I was at a play by Centerstage, and I was laughing so hard tears were welling up in my eyes. I thought to myself, these guys have to go on tour in the US. Everybody needs to see this. But even then, there are so many people who would love to be able to experience what I’m experiencing right now in my seat, but they simply can’t. So with that thought, the idea of putting plays online was born in my head, and then it expanded to comedy shows, and then I figured, there are way more Jamaicans living outside of Jamaica than are currently living here, why not give them a chance to experience not just plays and comedy shows, but all the content that comes from Jamaica & Jamaicans….. and well, one thing led to another, and PullUp.tv was born.

SC: Can PullUp.tv pull it off?
AS: In short, we believe strongly in the idea and we’re going to do our best to make it happen. The idea, the site and the company has behind it, passion, enthusiasm, and individuals determined to ensure that the site becomes the platform we want it to be. It may take a while to get content creators to embrace it, but I am optimistic.

Other content sites have tended to focus on music videos. There’s NO denying that Jamaica is a musical juggernaut, producing more music per capita than almost anywhere else in the world, it is however important to us that we do MORE than just music videos. We want to do plays, TV shows, events, anything and everything that entertains! Additionally, we strongly believe in working WITH media houses and content creators. We’re not looking to replace TVJ or CVM, we’re aiming to be a complementary service allowing them to further monetize the content they’re already producing. For the content creators that weren’t able to get their stuff on air with the big media houses, we’ll offer an alternative, with an audience just as large and just as engaged.

SC: How do we plan on making money ?
AS: We’ve got several monetization plans in the works. The most obvious is advertising. Right now if you search youtube, for random videos from Jamaican TV, or created by Jamaicans, you’ll see views ranging from a few hundred, to a million or more. Funny content tends to be engaging and sticky – meaning people love to laugh, so they tend to keep coming back for more. That’s one of the reasons that sites like Funnyordie.com and break.com have done so well – despite YouTube and Vimeo dominating the US based video markets. People like to laugh. Which company wouldn’t want to showcase their product or service to an audience of several hundred thousand or more viewers already fully engaged in the content they’re watching?  However, We realize that

1. Advertising can’t be the sole revenue generator,

2. Advertising can get plain annoying. So we want to be very careful about how we approach advertising. We want to work with our advertisers to create ads that people will want to engage with. Not just re-purpose TV ads for the internet. But create original material tailored to the medium. As an example, Digicel has put extended ‘video ads’ online [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIQNiPDBnz4]

We do have a number of other revenue streams that we’re thinking about, but for now, what’s most important is that we get the content creators to embrace the idea of putting their content online through PullUp.tv and cementing PullUp.tv as THE place to go to to watch Jamaican content. We need to get the people watching and talking, and the creators creating.