The New York Times today reports that Steven Spielberg will join forces with Mark Burnett to find the “American Idol” of unknown movie directors. According to Burnett, the FOX reality TV show, “In the Lot,” will “take advantage of the enormous number of self-made video and film shorts all over the Internet.” Here’s an idea. We—and by “we” I mean Wieden + Kennedy—should do the same for the ad biz.
They’ve already got Wieden + Kennedy 12, an experimental ad school that not only provides aspiring creatives the opportunity to work for actual W+K clients, but that lets W+K produce more work for less money. (In fact, I think the 12 interns actually pay the agency 10K+ for the privilege of working there).
An advertiser-supported reality Web show based on W+K 12 could add an additional revenue stream to the cash cow program. Plus, we’d get to see the trials and tribulations of people doing what so many of us daydream about doing: namely, take an enormous personal and financial risk in hopes of landing a job at the greatest agency ever, making 40K a year and working between 70-80 hours a day.