Leesa Dean Gives Thumbs Down to ‘Thumbs Down’

Adventures in Digital Series Land – #112
by Leesa Dean

Been so so busy I haven’t had time to do anything, which is why this post is late. Aside from everything else going on (animating/production work on new series, promos and writing a pilot), I just signed a deal with fledgling streaming VOD company Kweli TV.  They fell in love with Chilltown and now it will be on their platform in HD!! So I’ve been redoing all the episodes in preparation for the launch. A ton of work.

But something really big is brewing in the digital media world and I felt I had to address it.  That’s right, Facebook is planning on adding a dislike button (thumbs down) and people are going berserk.  And for a good reason. Given all the trolls, schadenfreude-mongers, ill-wishers and general sh*theads that populate an average timeline, people are bracing themselves for their videos to get tons of thumbs down. To make things worse, Facebook says it’s planning on DELETING any video that has more than 10 dislikes.  Talk about pressure.

When I first read about this I had, what can only be described as, a social-media take on the classic comedian’s nightmare: I dreamed I posted my latest radio show segment and all the hosts from one of the radio stations that carries the segment gave it a thumbs down.  Not only by clicking the button, but also by posting a huge image of the FB thumbs down.  To be fair, that joke did kind of suck.

Calming elements in this equation? Well, this has been happening on YouTube since forever and usually, trolls seem to want more attention so will post nasty venomous comments vs just clicking dislike. They normally want to interact.  Plus, on Facebook everybody can see who’s clicking the dislike button which probably will rule out your schadenfreude-loving friends. Hopefully. Plus videos that go viral (and I’m hoping or being delusional here) get shared a ton on Facebook. Which can work in your favor. Or not.

So I’m voting a distinct “thumbs down” for the upcoming dislike button.

Finally, tonight I’m going to the New York premiere of Chilltown star Victor Cruz’s NEW MOVIE, The Stockroom!!! To say I’m excited would be an understatement.  It’s being featured at the Urbanworld Film Festival and Victor not only stars in it, he wrote and directed it. Plus, Gil T, another Chilltown star is also in it. The movie just screened at the LA Indie Film Fest and won three awards (Best Screenplay, Best Feature and Best Actor!!!)  I’ll write all the deets in my next post.

Leesa Dean is the creator of CHILLTOWN TV, a digital series to reckon with. Learn more about Leesa and the series HERE

Author: ChilltownTV

I'm primarily a writer. Sold a few series to tv networks and production companies but never had anything get on the air. So I taught myself how to animate and completed 3 digital series, launching two. The first, Chilltown has been named one of "Five Web Series That Should Be on Your Radar" by ABCNews/Univision and a "Show to Watch" by Tubefilter. The second, Lele's Ratchet Advice Show, garnered a fanatic cult following. As a result, I now do Lele's 60 Second Wrap Up, a weekly comedic entertainment report (which I write & perform) that airs on urban radio stations Rhythm 105.9fm and the Just Wake Up Morning Show on WWRNfm. View all posts by ChilltownTV