When Netflix launched the streaming era it had a simple promise: One place for everything. But when entertainment studios launched their own services, suddenly every major company wanted to be The Streamer, racing to fill their platforms with the most content possible to beat out competitors.<\/p>\n
Amid the chaos of the 2010s streaming wars Dropout \u2014 a streaming service launched by comedy internet-video giant College Humor in 2018 \u2014 was born. The platform specializes in unscripted comedy shows bolstered by its large cast of comedians from the world of improv.<\/p>\n
\u201cDropout has to differentiate itself,\u201d says the company\u2019s Chief Executive Sam Reich about developing the streamer\u2019s brand. \u201cI\u2019m interested in, \u2018If you\u2019re gonna do comedy right now, what does that mean?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
After College Humor\u2019s parent company InterActiveCorp was dissatisfied with the streaming service\u2019s subscriber numbers in 2019, it became apparent that a sale was on the way. Then-chief creative officer Reich pitched a radical alternative to selling the service to a major media company: have Reich take control of College Humor in exchange for IAC maintaining a minority stake in the company. According to Reich, the deal was approved in less than two months.<\/p>\n
To keep the company afloat, College Humor laid off the majority of its more than 100-person staff in early 2020. Reich and Chief Operating Officer David Kerns whittled the company down to seven full-time employees. The company shifted the business\u2019 focus to making content for its streaming service and later rebranded from College Humor to Dropout.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed to be profitable the moment that we took over the company,\u201d Kerns explains. And despite a global pandemic that brought major entertainment studios heavy losses, in 2020 Dropout succeeded in making a minor profit in its first year under Reich\u2019s ownership.<\/p>\n
The key to Dropout\u2019s success was its streamlined approach to developing shows for the platform. The team focused on what was most successful on the service before Reich\u2019s acquisition. \u201cI believed you could boil Dropout down to just its most celebrated programming, and it would survive well enough on that,\u201d says Reich.<\/p>\n
Those shows now include \u2018Dimension 20\u2019 \u2014 a series depicting comedians playing \u2018Dungeons & Dragons\u2019 campaigns \u2014 that is in its 26th season. There\u2019s also \u201cGame Changers,\u201d a game show where the game changes every episode that is hosted by Reich; \u201cMake Some Noise,\u201d where players attempt short improv challenges; and \u201cUm, Actually,\u201d a game show where guests prove their knowledge on niche and nerdy topics.<\/p>\n
Dropout CEO Sam Reich has a background in sketch comedy.<\/p>\n
(Anthony Avellano \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n
\u201cWe are doing loosely scripted, improvisational content. And this can be batch recorded and batch shot,\u201d says Brennan Lee Mulligan on the common thread between Dropout\u2019s shows that made \u201cDimension 20\u201d appealing to the company as it was being relaunched. Mulligan, creator of \u201cDimension 20,\u201d has a background in improv and is a minority owner in Dropout.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s development process varies from each show. For something like \u201cGame Changer,\u201d which Dropout\u2019s supervising producer Ebony Elaine Hardin describes as \u201cself-contained chaos,\u201d the show is in constant development. Hardin says the team debriefs after each season to discuss what worked as they develop the next installment. Director of development Paul Robalino says that rather than traditional writers rooms in TV development, \u201cGame Changer\u201d is more \u201cassignment-based\u201d: a collection of 10 writers are given a week to write for an episode.<\/p>\n
Reich\u2019s involvement in \u201cGame Changer\u201d is not only as host. With a background in sketch comedy, Reich is also involved in its development and production, describing his time spent as 30% on Dropout shows and 70% on the company. \u201cI took the classic actor to director to producer to internet executive to CEO to game show host pipeline,\u201d Reich says. \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing \u2018Game Changer\u2019 is as popular as it is or I would never be able to justify the amount of my job that\u2019s putting that show together.\u201d<\/p>\n
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