NEWS x MUSE Hannah Fletcher talks with the Head of Programming for Viral Nation, Paul Telner about his career and what Viral Nation is look for when it comes to the expansion of creators content to other platforms.
Paul Telner is one of the original YouTube stars known for his viral comedy videos which garnered millions of views and caught the attention of ABC’s The View, MTV, GQ Magazine, National Post, and landed him his own national comedy series called The Paul Telner Project on MuchMusic(Bell Media) as well as a deal in the US on cable network G4TV.
After many years of starring and producing his own series, Paul stepped behind the scenes and became the comedy blogger for the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival (2011) and then served as Unscripted Development Executive at Emmy Award Winning Galafilm.
Paul then became Director of Unscripted Development at LA-based Studio71 (Red Arrow). Paul helped build the unscripted department and developed, produced and sold multiple digital and television projects for buyers such as Facebook Watch (The Text Committee, I Want My Stuff Back, What Just Happened!?), Comcast Watchable (Logan Paul Vs), MTV (Comedy Prank pilot Ownage Pranks etc.), YouTube Originals (Emmy nominated Roman Atwood’s Day Dreams), Food Network US (Made from Scratch), truTV (FALSE ADVERTISING starring The Kloons, produced over 25 shorts Rachel Dratch’s Late Night Snack etc.) and more. Paul has worked closely with top digital and traditional stars Logan Paul, Lilly Singh, Rhett and Link, Roman Atwood, J.B. Smoove, Epic Mealtime, Macy Gray, and helped launch the YouTube channel for superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Paul also co-wrote and developed the first ever Super Bowl Half-Time show (sponsored by Google).
In 2018, Paul took on his new role as creative director for BBTV whose duties include overseeing all original content and Branded Entertainment. Paul also works closely with major digital talent to create value adds on the content side, brand side and beyond.
At BBTV, Paul has sold multiple projects to NBC UNIVERSAL, SNAPCHAT, WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY etc. Paul has also created a slate of co-production deals with the likes of Howie Mandel, Mike Tyson, T-Pain, J.B. Smoove, Priscilla Presley, Fremantle Global, Naked Productions, Stick Figure Productions and many more.
In 2019, Paul’s comedy dating series I Want My Stuff Back (Facebook Watch Original) won OUTSTANDING DIGITAL REALITY SERIES OF THE YEAR at American Reality Awards.
Paul has also spoken at major media events/panels such as IBM/ADOBE CIO DESIGN RETREAT / CREATIVE JAM, served as host and speaker for the inspirational series SevenX7, was a panelist representing Studio71 at the Hollywood Diversity Association (LA) and spoke to his alma mater Algonquin College (Ottawa) four times.
Learn more about Viral Nation at https://www.viralnation.com
