Kevin Hart greenlights 10 pitches for his streaming service at Just for Laughs festival
MONTREAL, Canada -- Kevin Hart greenlit ten pitches from up-and-coming comedians for his streaming service at the Just for Laughs festival Thursday.
The pitch session, which followed a Q&A moderated by Mashable, gave 10 finalists the opportunity to showcase their best concepts to Hart for his comedy-geared network, appropriately called Laugh Out Loud.
The Hartbeat Digital and Lionsgate service, which will launch in early 2017, will be home to content curated by Hart, including shows featuring social media stars and up-and-coming comedians like Vine superstar Logan Paul, who was recently on the cover of AdWeek. It will also include original series and stand-up specials from Hart himself.
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The idea to have the untraditional Q&A plus pitch panel came from the Laugh Out Loud festival organizers. Hart, a frequent Just for Laughs guest and performer, immediately agreed. The actor already had plans to partner up with Just for Laughs to film content for the platform while at the festival. He also serves as a judge for Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle, which takes place Thursday and Friday and ends July 31 with a televised finale for Comedy Central.
“I want to see so many people win. I want to see so many people achieve a high level of success,” Hart said during the Q&A. “If I can help you get there, I feel that I’ve put an imprint on what I was supposed to do. I not only came, saw, conquered but I put other people in the position to do the same.”
Pitch participants were selected as finalists after festival organizers reviewed hundreds of submissions. Each of them shook Hart's hand as they walked on the stage. They had exactly two minutes to present their idea, with many utilizing the projector to show clips or images of their concepts.
Hart gave each finalist feedback, and ultimately decided all were worthy of a chance to have programming on his platform (once it's up and running).
"It was Kevin Hart's Oprah moment," Ryan George, who was first to pitch alongside partners Brandon Calder and Samuel Brisson, told Mashable. "Like you get a show! You get a show! And you get a show!"
The trio, all Montreal natives, are known for their YouTube channel Moving Mind Studio. They said they had the idea for their series Campus Law for months, but decided to pitch it to Hart after hearing about the Just for Laughs panel from friends.
"It was pretty nerve wracking," Amish Patel, who pitched his Melting Pot idea, told Mashable. "One of the sad parts of stand up is that when people really kill it in front of you it just stresses you out more. But I feel like it went well and he picked up all of us for his network."
Here's a full list of all the pitches (and soon to be shows) that presented to Hart:
Campus Law - Brandon Calder, Ryan George and Samuel Brisson
Co-Anchor Confidential - Charlie Berens and Zuri Hall
Drunk Eats - Drew Miller
Inhuman Resources - Matt Kelly
Melting Pot - Amish Patel
Mouthpiece - David Merritt II
Off Color - Naomi Steinberg, Ryan Ling, Kara Welker and Nimesh Patel
One Night Only - Jonas Diamond and Jeremy Diamond
The Dating Game - Sterling Scott
The Review — Abdul Butt
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
