Business Insider ventures into long-form videos

Sahil Patel of Digiday writes Thursday about Business Insider’s foray into long-form videos.

Patel writes, “With BI Films still in its infancy and its first project only a few weeks old, Hansen is cautious about the company’s immediate path forward in long-form. Right now, ‘League of Millions’ is airing on a custom player on Tech Insider as well as through YouTube. This will be the model for future projects, too, as BI Films bulks up its library — and nurtures an audience for video on Business Insider sites — before thinking about ‘distribution and redistribution,’ said Hansen. ‘It doesn’t really matter if you create great work if no one is interested in it. If we are able to produce great work and are able to commercialize it in some way, then we are going to go nuts and do what we can.’

“‘We used to do what you could only really call bad CNBC,’ said Hansen. ‘It was two talking heads sitting around a table. CNBC does a great job with that; we didn’t. It was painful, and we quickly learned some lessons.’

“Today, Business Insider has a studio in New York and pricey equipment.

“It also has an actual short-form video strategy, which is focused on six different types of content: straight news (most of which is licensed from AP and Reuters, though the company produces some); reporting from the field; spotlights on personalities and brands like Dos Equis spokesman Jonathan Goldsmith; green-screen interviews with popular figures like Bill Nye; how-to and explainer videos (learn how to arrange your fridge, for instance) ; and relevant viral clips it licenses.”

Read more here.