R.L. Terry is a YouTube content maker and producer at OCC Multimedia, a company that is up and coming in producing original content for the new wave of how people are now consuming media. In this interview he talks about “Swaggapuss Gets a Job,” an independent YouTube sitcom.
How has YouTube influenced the way you interact with the world?
YouTube is the easiest way for people to reach our content. That’s the greatest advantage of potentially being seen by the most people in a social network friendly way. The disadvantage is that it’s a place where there are massive amounts of content to compete with for people’s attention. As a matter of fact, people don’t have much of an attention span on YouTube. Not longer than 5 minutes. Even myself, when I watch other content, I find myself restless if it is a long video and don’t often finish. YouTube also isn’t the place to produce revenue which is needed to fund the show. It is working for us now to get the name of the show out there but we hope to be on more serious platforms where people come to actually watch full length material and not a quick video.
What is the concept behind the Swaggapuss show?
Swaggapuss Gets a Job is about the main character Swaggapuss trying to survive in the real world. Swaggapuss is kicked out from his home with Mommapuss because of her being tired of him being an irresponsible adult. He asks his cousin R.L. if he could move in with him. R.L. feeling like he doesn’t have a choice allows him only if he gets a job. Swaggapuss gets into awkward adventures trying to be accepted in the real world as a cat that carries himself like a human. He is largely influenced by his best friend Chips who doesn’t always have the best interest for Swaggapuss in mind. Swaggapuss has a rival Cleroy (a dog) who spends his time being jealous of Swaggapuss.
Who are the performers behind the cat costume?
Prior to the show, Swaggapuss used to appear at local music shows while acts played music. The suit has been worn by at least 6 other guys including myself. We finally had casted Malik Sims as the primary person to play as Swaggapuss for the show. He plays Swaggapuss and Mommapuss.
What message are you trying to convey?
Well, most people right off call Swaggapuss a cartoon before viewing the show. My goal is to teach adults that it is ok to still have an imagination and appreciate some adult humor. Most people right off try to pawn the show off to their kids which in turn makes us write more edgy material for not paying attention. The content of the show isn’t supremely clever. It’s there to catch people off guard when a giant cat is randomly doing stuff in the community.
How was the pilot episode received?
It was received good. We had a ton of supporters prior who made the release extra special. It still blows my mind when I’m out and about and someone quotes lines from the show. There were a couple issues that are being worked as far as better quality sound. Also Mommapuss was as well received as we thought she would be. Looking back we saw the cliché “Madea” type character we created and made some slight changes in episode 2 with voice and appearance.
Tell us about the changes that have occurred at OCC Multimedia.
The company has went from more than just doing local photography and video services. We had a wedding clientele and now are growing into a production company. Those services are still offered but we are able to provide a lot more due to upgrades from the show. The website is turning to the home for Swaggapuss as we build around him now as our current franchise for the company.
What are your plans for the future?
We will have a 6-episode pilot season with a bonus 7th episode for bloopers. We plan on having DVD’s and merchandise. We have a summer music tour being planned for meet and greet with Swaggapuss along with music bands playing called “The #Smurtour”. From there we plan on shopping the show to bigger platforms and change our status from independent to being picked up. Beyond Swaggapuss, I and OCC, have a serious of book, comics, and films in the works titled “Heroes Eventually Die”. It’s a concept and universe where the ability to produce music is actually more than what it seems as the average human can’t, giving musicians, artist and so forth “advanced” human like abilities. It goes into the big influence of music and the secret war of the good and bad ideology behind its use. The project has a more serious undertone than Swaggapuss.
Enjoy watching episode 2:
