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'LA Law' Creator Produces Online Video Series
Steven Bochco, who is known for creating big-time television dramas, has moved online with a 44-clip series of online videos on Metacafe called "Café Confidential," which stars people in their teens and 20s telling short stories about "weird family members, their first sexual experiences, their worst dates, crazy days at work, or embarrassing moments."
An LA Times article about the new series talks about how Bochco views the onlinve video medium, and notes that Metacafe underwrote Bochco's series as part of a push to get more professional video content on the site.
Metacafe is betting that "Cafe Confidential" will spur amateur auteurs into submitting their own versions. "The idea is that this becomes an electronic online campfire around which we sit and tell stories," Bochco said. "I'm the camp counselor."
Bochco has TV nailed, but he's trying to learn what makes a good online video.
One of his early favorites in "Cafe Confidential" features an attractive young blond recounting the time she was traveling abroad and couldn't find a bathroom. She relieved herself in a tucked-away spot in a parking lot, but a family with small children caught her in the act.
"A good anecdote is like a good joke in terms of length, structure and punch line," Bochco said. "Here I am in the most embarrassing moment of my life -- that's the punch line. A lot of people don't know when to stop. Find the punch line and go out with that."
