True pioneers. bliptv: Matt Hullum Discusses...

1:42 pm - Mon, Nov 14, 2011: 42 notes

True pioneers.

Matt Hullum Discusses Red vs. Blue On the Eve of Its Ninth Season Finale

Matt Hullum, co-creator of the legendary Red vs Blue, takes blip.tv’s Eric Mortensen back to the humble beginnings of this pioneering web series, detailing the journey that led to today’s season finale.

Eric: When did this all begin? When did you have the original idea for the show and when did it come to fruition?

Matt: It started with Burnie, Gus and Jeff tinkering around with a website called drunkgamers. Burnie was the Xbox guy and at this time in 2002 the only thing going on with Xbox was Halo. Huge popularity. Burnie spent most of his time on the website doing stuff with Halo. One day Burnie was trying to capture video footage of Halo which led him to put black bars on the top and bottom of the screen to get rid of the heads up display, which led to the idea. We put out a trailer in 2002 that got picked up in a few places and on April 1, 2003 we put out our first episode and it was received really well and really quickly. A week later a second episode was picked up by Fark, Penny Arcade and Slashdot. Then it broke open. We’ve just been rolling along ever since.

Eric: So it was instant success?

Matt: It was. We had no idea how to monetize it and didn’t realize the ramifications of having to put something out each week that a million people would see. There was nobody else doing online video and trying to serve it to a million people a week out of a spare bedroom.

Eric: Did you have a sense that the audience was potentially that large when you were making it?

Matt: I didn’t have a good gauge on how people would react but I did have two things that made me feel positive about it. One was the first time I saw it – a specific line that was said by one of the characters. It just worked. It felt exactly right to me. The other thing was that Burnie and Gus had made this Mac switch ad parody and they put it online and at the time I was working at a visual effects company in Hollywood. They were in Austin and I was at my job and I had to manage this one guy. Everytime I went to his office he was on the internet and I had to kinda keep him in check. One day I go in and I see a picture of Gus on his screen. I was so confused. How did he know Gus? It turned out it was this Apple switch parody which I hadn’t seen yet because Burnie and Gus had created it only 12 hours before. A lightbulb went on over my head. Right there I realized how quickly something can go viral. I called Burnie immediately and we were like, this means something.

Eric: What was the team’s reaction to the initial success of the show? What came next? What did you have to re-think to be able to move forward?

Matt: A lot of it was questions like, is this a hobby or a business? Is this something we can keep going and doing? Burnie only had six episodes of ideas. But people loved it so much and wanted to see more so we continued to put out more. After the first season, which ended up being 19 episodes, people were still clamoring for it. Eventually, we screened the season two premiere along with all of season one at Lincoln Center in New York. We had people come from all over the world. It was crazy. We realized that this was something serious and that we had to keep going.

Eric: How long was it before you realized this had a life of its own and that there was a career here for you?

Matt: Right around the beginning of season two. We realized there was more to the story that we could tell and people wanted to hear it. Everybody had such enthusiasm for the show and we wanted to continue to create more. There was such a real outpouring and we decided to start supporting it by selling DVDs and t-shirts. It allowed us to start to turn it into more of a business.

Eric: What is the biggest difference between the show then and now. What is the biggest difference between how the show was made then and how it is made now.

Matt: Those two questions kinda go hand in hand. The biggest difference in how we make it and creatively what’s in it. We’ve incorporated a lot more animation into the show. The show used to be entirely machinima which means everything was filmed inside of Halo and was done in the multiplayer. It was all recorded live, essentially. When Microsoft released Halo 3, it had a theatre mode and allowed us to do more and expand. We had an extra level of refinement which we think helped the production level a lot. It allowed us to have more involved lines. Now, the current season is about half animation and half machinima. So I think it’s become a much more complex show and hopefully has new and different kinds of things for people to enjoy. But at its heart it has the same spirit it always had.

Eric: Red vs. Blue is obviously a unique show, as much today as when you started Do you see anybody making web series or TV shows or even film today that is doing anything unique, anything that inspires you guys, and influences or entertains you?

Matt: Yeah. A lot of people are doing fantastic stuff lately. Everyone in the office has their favorite but we all watch Freddie W. A lot of the guys who are big online lately. It’s been fun having us start so long ago and us still being in it, to see all the talent that is around now. We were able to collaborate with Smosh. We are big fans of theirs and it’s fun to see that stuff. There wasn’t much out there when we first started and now we‘ve waited until this kind of community built up around us and its nice to be in the middle of it.

Eric: If you could do this all again, would you be able to prepare for what the show became? Or is it something you had to go out there and take it day by day? Is there a roadmap for creating a 9+ season web series.

Matt: We get this question from our fans and people who want to make their own content. It’s a hard question because our vantage point is unique. We started before online video was established. It’s hard to answer based on our own experience but if I’m starting something brand new today I think consistency is very important. Getting it out to people on a regular basis, not making people wonder if it is this a one off thing. There is no one way to achieve video success online which is apparent from everything that is out there. Stick-to-itiveness. You know you keep at it and you’ll be amazed at what will happen.

Eric: So now that the season is over do you go to an island somewhere and drink pina coladas?

Matt: (laughs) You know I’m always surprised at the end of the season. I turn around and start to put my feet up but then I realize there is stack of papers and work I have to do. Right now we’re gearing up for season 10. It’s going to be even bigger and more outrageous. We’ve got a big project out in front of us. I’ll have to find some time for the tropical island after that.

Watch Red vs. Blue Season 9