Comedian and founder of InCrowd Entertainment, Bubba Ginnetty sits down with Chelsie Overocker from AfterBuzz TV to discuss why InCrowd is the future for entertainment.
InCrowd Entertainment is an interactive stage where performers including comedians and artists can interact with the audience/fans from an actual stage through Zoom. The curved LED screen can feature up to 300 VIP wall participants and 50,00 general admission participants who can view the show.
Before Covid-19 took place Bubba was already creating ideas about InCrowd but with the pandemic, that pushed him and his team to move quickly and launch their production in May.
“We had ideas for this. We didn’t really act on it until the shelter in place took effect and all of the events got canceled which caused us to pivot quickly. We started with music and then we wanted to create something that separated us from the pack. I knew that stand up was in dire need and comedy really needs that engagement ,and now we know it can be with all genres.”
Even though live events were getting canceled due to the coronavirus Bubba still had hesitations if InCrowd was going to work.
“We were not sure if this was going to work at first and experiencing errors with technologies. We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy road. We continue to grow daily and the way InCrowd looks and sounds.”
Bubba has done many productions before InCrowd. He has worked closely with music artists including DJ Snake, French Montana, Zeds Dead, and recently did a show for Tyler Rich.”
“We have done productions for Coachella festivals in the music industry. For InCrowd, they hired us specifically for improv but we just did a show with Tyler Rich and it was cool having viewers from Australia and Japan.”
What makes InCrowd unique is the fans get the opportunity to interact with the artists and the talent gets a close view of their audience.
“Everyone wants to use the word virtual but it comes across as a detached word. I like human interaction because it’s more intimate. You never see your audience this closely then when you are at a festival stage.”
“One on one with an artist at a festival or live event is pretty slim. InCrowd events are built on those memories when we are at a concert and we caught the t-shirt. We take those life memory experiences you would get at a live event and have our audience experience those same feelings through our production.”
As InCrowd continues to grow Bubba mentions that there is more work when running a digital production company and trying to create memories that an audience member would get from a live show.
“We are not only running this production company at a high level but we are also handling the ticket marketing. Plus we are creating this world to be displayed on stage taking the memories in the traditional form and applying them in a new way.”
The benefits of an artist performing on an interactive stage is they get to create what they want their digital scene to look like and be engaging with their fans. Instead of seeing them far away at a venue they get to watch them in their living rooms as they connect with artists performance.
“We create 3D and 2D content in house and work with the artist’s vision to get it down. They decide what the digital scenic world is going to look like and the color scheme is going to look like. We can do a lot of cool things with advertising and backgrounds. In a split second we can focus on one person and have control with the audience. We have the capability of pulling an audience member who is ruining the show for our other attendees. We don’t eliminate them from the show but we can mute them if they are being disrespectful. We want to have a good audience. There are people who make signs and hang it on their living room walls and wear merch from old tours. You don’t have to buy an individual ticket; you have the capability of watching it with a family, friends, and a spouse.”
Each live virtual event can hold up to 50,000 general admission attendees and 300 VIP wall participants. Bubba explains how the show would like for an attendee.
“With general admission they get to view the experience and watch the show with high quality production. For VIP attendees they are watching the same thing as the general admission but we are cutting to camera angles that have you in it. The artist sees you on the wall and interacts with you. We can hear you and see you and the artist play off of that.”
At first the talent was a little intimidated being surrounded closely with their audience but they discovered the perks of having the luxury of seeing your audience and being able to communicate with the participants. This concept works really well for comedians while they are performing and Bubba being a comedian himself helped him create this intimate atmosphere.
“Stand up comedians like myself knew this idea was great. I knew it had to feel real for these kinds of performances. They have to feel inspired and I knew we were onto something special. The talent was slightly overwhelmed at first and it’s intimidating.. but once you are on stage you see everything that’s going on with your audience. You can even see someone’s nose hair [laughs] and performers get excited being able to connect with their fans. With comedians this concept helps them with ideas and getting feedback as a performer. You see everyone’s facial expressions and know what works and what doesn’t.”
InCrowd has already reached over 7.5 million impressions and Bubba is planning on expanding his production.
“We have talked about TV shows doing viewing parties and reunions from BET and MTV. We have deals with comedians, speaking engagements, and TED talks. We are right now doing improv but we are just getting started.”
Due to InCrowd’s high success, talent agents are reaching out to the production company and are interested in collaborating.
“We do a lot of things through personal relationships and agencies and representatives. It’s a snowball effect, some people DM us and they are huge show runners. We’re open for any collaboration.”
Bubba explains that this is the new form of entertainment that allows attendees to have the ultimate experience when watching their favorite artists perform.
“Our ideas have visioned for us to go in this direction. Even before all of this stuff happened with the pandemic but after Covid that was the fast forward button for us to take the next step. This is a different experience and the prices are more affordable. Our goal is to have this be its own streaming content.”
We are sure we will be hearing more about InCrowd Entertainment and Bubba thank you for giving us the insights on your production company. Afterbuzz TV wishes you the best success.
“Nice talking with you as well and thank you.”
Make sure to check out InCrowd Entertainment to see if any of your favorite comedians or music artists are performing.
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