Twitter in TV deal

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Twitter confirms that it has a development deal with Reveille Productions and Brillstein Entertainment for a potential reality TV show. However, Twitter insists that it is a “lightweight, non-exclusive” deal.


As you would expect, Twitter’s idea of a news release is to post something resembling Tweets on its blog page.

“Twitter Goes Hollywood?

The web is abuzz today with talk of a “Twitter TV show.” I’m even getting folks asking me if they can audition. Indeed, there are a lot of interesting developments happening in the television space — MTV, G4, CNN, E! and various independent production companies are all leveraging Twitter for fun new projects. There are probably a bunch we don’t even know about yet.

Is There An Official Twitter Show?

There is no official Twitter TV show — although if there were it would be fun to cast! In dealing with networks and production companies we sometimes have simple agreements. Regarding the Reveille and Brillstein project reported today, we have a lightweight, non-exclusive, agreement with the producers which helps them move forward more freely.”

That came after Variety reported late Monday that Reveille Productions and Brillstein Entertainment had partnered with Twitter to develop a reality series described as “putting ordinary people on the trail of celebrities in a revolutionary competitive format.” The concept for the series was credited to Amy Ephron.

The whole idea was getting so much attention that the official blogger at Twitter later added this:

“We’re Not Making A TV Show

Just to be clear, Twitter is not making a television show. Some Hollywood folks are developing something that leverages Twitter and they are extremely enthusiastic as evidenced by all the media hubbub yesterday and today. We have little to do with their efforts but we wish them success.

Like the thousands of apps being built around Twitter, there is a growing interest from the entertainment and news industry. We see these projects and others as yet another way the ecosystem is enriched for everyone who uses Twitter.”

RBR/TVBR observation: As fast as Internet fads change, we would wonder whether Twitter will be relevant long enough for a TV series to be developed, shot and aired.