- Title: AOC’s digital gurus launch ‘post-capitalist’ streaming site
- Date: 7th March 2020
- Summary: DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES (MARCH 6, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NICK HAYES, CO-FOUNDER OF MEANS TV, SAYING: "We got reached out to by numerous Hollywood executive types and they were all very excited about the AOC video and about a woman taking office, or whatever, but when we talked to them about this idea of creating a sort of post capitalist anti-capitalist streaming service, they all basically laughed at us and told us we were, you know, silly and that that was a bad idea, you know, we feel like we've proved them wrong already and certainly they are - they don't know anything." (LAUGHS) BURTON AND HAYES DRINKING COFFEE IN LIVING ROOM TIGHT SHOT OF MEANS TV POSTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) NAOMI BURTON, CO-FOUNDER OF MEANS TV, ON WHAT SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS WOULD THINK OF MEANS TV: "I think he [Senator Bernie Sanders] would love it. I hope he would love it. You know, he really is - he's the reason we're here. He's the reason we started Means of Production. He's the reason we did the AOC video. He's the reason that we believe that we could do any of this. So, I hope he sees Means TV. I hope he watches it at some point, and yeah, we're creating this to support the movement that he really helped ignite in 2016." TIGHT SHOT "BERNIE" PIN ON BURTON'S COAT VARIOUS OF BURTON AND HAYES STANDING OUTSIDE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD
- Embargoed: 21st March 2020 13:22
- Keywords: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Bernie Sanders Hulu Means TV Michigan primary Naomi Burton Netflix Nick Hayes post-capitalist streaming site working class
- Location: DETROIT, MICHIGAN + LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA + NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
- City: DETROIT, MICHIGAN + LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA + NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
- Country: USA
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA007C41XNWN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS PROFANITY IN SHOT 9
The Detroit-based filmmakers behind Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's 2018 viral campaign ad are now channeling their leftist activism into Means TV, the first "post-capitalist, worker-owned" streaming service.
The site, founded by 30-year-old Naomi Burton and 22-year-old Nick Hayes, eschews corporate backers or venture capital in favor of a user-based subscription model, with the aim of elevating stories about the working class.
Subscribers pay $10 a month to access a trove of documentaries, films, animations and a live, weekly news program from Washington.
Means TV officially launched in Detroit last month and has since notched some 2,500 members.
Hayes said the fact they are not financially beholden to advertisers means they can explore controversial topics more openly - such as the conflict between Israel and Palestinians - and tell stories that resonate with average workers, whose representation, he feels, is sorely lacking on other streaming services, such as Netflix and Hulu.
"Our proposition to people is: don't you want entertainment that's created democratically and that is focused not on perpetuating the same culture we have of capitalism but about exploring new ideas and different things?" Hayes said.
In one short comedy video on Means TV, a comedian asks people on Venice Beach in California how much more they think they're worth than what they get paid at their job.
"I'm worth more than working at McDonalds, you know what I mean?" One man replied. Another said he worked hard but did not receive any healthcare benefits.
Means TV was quite a leap for Hayes and Burton, who work together out of their home in an impoverished neighborhood of Detroit - near the long-defunct Packard Automotive Plant, which has become a symbol of the city's decline.
Burton spent nearly a decade working in public relations for Fortune 500 companies, including the city's famed automotive businesses.
Hayes made a living producing commercial films.
But the results of the 2016 presidential election - and the ascendance of Senator Bernie Sanders's more progressive ideas - made them completely rethink their path.
"After the 2016 election when my Democratic Party lost what we felt like was the easiest to win election of all time, we really felt like we needed to put our skills to this movement," said Burton.
The self-described Democratic Socialists decided to quit their jobs and instead apply their skills to progressive causes.
They started Means of Production and soon thereafter landed the job of producing the campaign ad for a little-known U.S. House candidate from the Bronx: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The ad went viral and helped catapult "AOC" to a shocking victory over a prominent incumbent Democrat.
"It was incredibly validating that even if they have money, we have people, and that these ideas when you can get them out to people and when you can really articulate them to people the way that she did, that there's a ton of power in that," said Burton.
The main target for Means TV is young people, since they tend to be more receptive to their "post-capitalist" agenda, added Hayes.
Indeed, 51 percent of U.S. young people ages 18-29 have a positive view of socialism, compared with 30 percent of those 50-64, according to a 2018 Gallup poll.
While some Hollywood executives dismissed their premise of a "post-capitalist" streaming service, according to Hayes, he is confident it will find an audience.
The launch of Means TV comes as the popularity of some of its ideas get put to the test in the Democratic presidential primary election, with Michigan voting on Tuesday (March 10).
But even if Bernie Sanders doesn't ultimately clinch the nomination, they hope his messages about inequality can continue to gain traction through their site.
"I think he would love it. I hope he would love it," Burton smiled. "He's the reason that we believe that we could do any of this."
(Production: Vanessa Johnston, Sandra Stojanovic) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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