Catching Up with Kent Speakman

By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com

Jake’s Take is proud to present an exclusive interview with one of Hollywood’s super entrepreneurs: Kent Speakman.

The last time he came onto the blog, Kent revealed that he is working on Fameus, a social media network that will change the entertainment industry, which will be launching very soon!

In this edition of Catching Up, the Fameus Chief Operating Officer talked about the similarities and differences that the new social media network has between rival social media networks and how you can join Kent at the Fameus launch party in Hollywood.

Jacob Elyachar: Could you please describe Fameus’ origin story to my readers? Kent Speakman: Certainly! I guess it started back in the 1980s, when three boys were going to school together… Kidding, sort of.  I have three partners in Fameus and they have been friends since they were very young, Mike Kahn our CEO, Brandt Wiesman our CCO, and Jason Stecker co-founder.  One evening, the guys were going to a baseball game and throwing some ideas around for apps. Jason came up with an idea to create an app that helps musicians find each other to create bands, and post jobs for bands as his brother is a drummer. The guys called me from the baseball game as they knew I had been producing web and mobile apps and as they were explaining the idea BOOM! A home run! We sat down the next day at a cafe on Sunset Boulevard and expanded on the idea to create an app that encompassed the entire entertainment industry, from musicians, models, actors, hair and make-up, casting, photographers and so on. I had finished another app and with my experience producing in the film and TV arena. I approached the guys to come on as a partner in the company and help them produce the app as well as the campaigns to get it to market.

JE: How long was the research process? What were your target audiences?

KS: The fun thing with technology is that the research process is always ongoing. We are always listening to our users and gathering data on what they want, how we can improve and make things better. We spent the first few months looking at all the ways people across the industry were connecting with one another. From Facebook to Model Mayhem, Casting Forums to Craigslist. Lots of places, lots of poor user experiences, and all lacking a strong mobile app to empower entertainers on the go.

We were in a private beta phase from March ’12 until October, and had a few hundred testers from across most of our target users. It was really interesting to get feedback from and see what people found most valuable to each segment. We learned that for YouTube celebrities, they really are excited for a way to connect with their audiences in a direct way. The TV and Film celebrities see it as a great way to promote Tune In on their shows, or when a film release is coming. Musicians are promoting album and single releases and everyone loves the Job functionality. People are posting work opportunities across all genres of the industry…. from PA jobs to casting calls, hair and makeup artists.

JE: What are some of the similarities and differences between Fameus and other networking sites such as LinkedIn and IMBD?

KS: Well, to start with lets look at the similarities, all three of the companies allow users to post work experience. LinkedIn and Fameus are both social networks, which allows users to make personal connections with each other and share social content. They all allow for job postings and all three have mobile apps.

For the differences, LinkedIn has a focus on the business professional, and that is certainly not the user base that fameus is going after, with the exception of producers and entertainment marketers. If you ask most musicians to “Connect on LinkedIn,” they will look at you like a three-headed-dragon. I had a well know actress tell me “LinkedIn is for Suits, Fameus is for Creatives” – so that is a good summary of how the users perceive the companies.

IMDb is strictly film and TV based, and isn’t a social platform to foster collaboration and sharing of personal entertainment updates outside of the Hollywood system. It is much more of a reference guide.

 

JE: What do you think will be the biggest challenges that Fameus will face?

KS: With anything new, it will be about getting the word out, so the initial launch and building the momentum for a new app is always a challenge. We are in the middle of this right now but the feedback and word of mouth as new people discover Fameus, and invite their friends, has been great!

With any technology platform, making it simple for everyone to use is a big challenge. We have been lucky to have spent so much time testing and getting feedback to make the app extremely user-friendly – even adding in a welcome tour to help people set up their portfolio. We have invited our users to give us feedback right from the app and this is one of the ways we will stay on top of always making it better!

People think they are already on enough social media platforms. When we did our research going into this, we looked at over 30 different sites to see how people were connecting across the industry. There are job sites, submission sites, producer sites, reference/database sites and on and on… people in the industry have to go so many places to keep up with everything that getting started on a new platform sometimes feels like a burden. So for us, the first challenge was to build something that would solve many of these problems and let them go to one central hub to not only build out a portfolio, but also make connections, find jobs and update their other social media sites from one central place – the Fameus app.

The second part of the challenge is getting them to understand how powerful and useful a tool that Fameus is for them, and how much time it can and will save them… And that it puts them in control of their future by having the app and access to job postings and work opportunities wherever they are, running between auditions or in between serving tables trying to get their first gig.

JE: What has been the Hollywood community’s reaction to Fameus? Have you thought about how you are going to convince them to join?

KS: A lot of the ways we are reaching out to let people know in Hollywood is through personal relationships and word of mouth. Its been growing organically here as more people are updating fameus on photo shoots, on set for their film/TV shows, and in the studio making music or shooting a video. The users are telling one another about it and its been pretty exciting to watch people discover fameus, from Academy Award-winning actors to Billboard chart topping musicians.

The thing with Fameus is it is not only for people in Hollywood, it is a place for everyone in the entertainment industry, and getting into the entertainment industry. It is a platform for up-and-coming artists across the nation to showcase their talents. We have added fame points onto everyone’s profile, so as people start to like an artist they will essentially “Get Fameus” – and people posting jobs or searching for the next undiscovered musician can easily see what the community is essentially voting for. The people who get on first will get the best shot at popularity out of the gate, and getting the biggest following. Every person waiting in a lineup for a shot at American Idol or the Voice should be setting up a profile right now and taking their destiny literally into their own hands.

JE: What are some of the goals for Fameus’s first year?

KS: The first goal was to build an app that would be valuable enough to our users that they would want to use it. We are there now and have a lot of new stuff coming for them too.

The next goal is to get the word out to the masses, and we just announced a sweepstakes where the grand prize is a Fameus Hollywood Experience for 3 people. We are working with an amazing sweepstakes technology called Spriza to get the word out. If any of your readers would like to have a weekend filled with fun in Hollywood, they can enter at www.Spriza.com/GetFameus – we are also giving everyone a free song download of “I Will Be Yours” by our Featured by Fameus friend Brittney Bouchard.

The main goal of Fameus is creating success stories. Getting actors that role that they have always wanted… Musicians the big break… The first runway show or big print job for a model… These are the things that we are passionate about and we will know Fameus is a success when these stories are happening every day.

For more information about Fameus, visit the company’s website: http://fameus.me/

You can also connect with them on their Facebook & Twitter channels.