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How 35 Vine Celebrities Discovered Hollywood

This article is more than 8 years old.

Jason Nash has shown the way forward. The Los Angeles based super Viner and former comedian is topping the Vine charts with his 6 second story telling videos. You can see a compilation of his best and funniest Vines here - clearly he’s talented. He has over 1.5 million followers on Vine, but he’s not satisfied.

Facing what the forty year-old describes as his last shot (I had to chuckle at that), Nash is anxious to make a bigger name for himself in long form videos – in fact full length motion pictures. It’s actually his second movie, the first a Comedy Central film called Jason Nash is Married rose to # 3 last summer on the iTunes comedy charts.

In his latest movie, FML: A Social Media Adventure Nash is combining what he learned from his first movie with an all-star cast of over 35 Vine stars. The movie will center on Nash and his co-star Brandon Calvillo, as they travel across the country building a social media following while learning more about themselves. Sounds to me like the social version of the Cannonball Run.

"FML is a comedy about a forty something year-old guy traveling with his friend that is 20 years younger than him. It's a general commentary on what society is going through right now with our phones and social media and people who care more about how many Likes they get than human contact," Nash told me.

You can see the trailer for his latest movie called FML: A Social Media Adventure on his Kickstarter campaign.

Will he and his actors’ Vine channels make FML a viral hit?

Vine alone has 40 Million users, and 100 million people watch vines every month . 1.5 billion loops are played daily and Vine boasts a young demographic with 31.8% of teens using Vine regularly and 25% of all teens use Vine on their mobile phones.  

But just how powerful is the Vine platform for promoting products, services and in this case movies? With a combined following of 40 million followers amongst the cast alone, Nash is betting on a powerful distribution plan that includes 6 second videos from all of the actors. Take a look at one example that has nearly 7 million loops (or plays):

If they are successful, future movies may be financed based on the actors’ combined ability to promote the movie through their social channels.

My own experience with Vine influencers has been mixed. Because you can’t insert hyperlinks directly into the comments of a Vine, you have to get creative about how you promote products and services. Moreover, if you’re not working with an attractive young Vine influencer or a Viner that is funny, your chances of a decent ROI are slim.

But from what I can tell from Nash’s movie, his cast, and how he was able to promote his last movie through Vine, my bet is that he’ll be able to push it to the top of the charts after its release in December 2015.

The Celebrity Vine Cast of FML

The lessons for marketers

If your target demographic are teenagers is twenty somethings, then working with Vine influencers is a good strategy . Vine will eventually figure out how to let brands best advertise on the platform without alienating its users, so experimenting now is a great way to stay ahead of the trend.

Smart marketers will contact influential people like Nash for product placements in their Vines or movies. The placement rates are far below that of traditional TV and Hollywood but they won’t stay there for long. Soon, Vine and other social platforms’ reach will far exceed anything you’ll find on TV or in a theater. The best part, the ROI will be much easier to calculate.