I’m Sam Reich From CollegeHumor, and This Is How I Work

CollegeHumor Videos have set the standard for high-budget internet videos since the mid-2000s, poking fun at things likefonts ,comment sections ,cleansing ,“second puberty,”failing tests ,eating with rich friends ,guys playing guitar. fuck and embarrassing google searches . Their breakout series include Jake and Amir , Hardly Working , Prank War , Troopers, and Adam Ruins Everything .

From the outset, Sam Reich directed the show as head of the site’s video section. We spoke to Sam about how his work grew as CollegeHumor expanded into television and launched additional projects, and how he built a larger and larger team.

Name: Sam Reich Location: Los Angeles, California Current Job: Chief Creative Officer, CH Media Current Computer: iMac Current Mobile Device: iPhone X One word that best describes the way you work: Calm

First of all, tell us a little about your past and how you got where you are now.

I dropped out of school when I was 16 and immediately took up art. In 2003 I started filming videos with my comedy group, which was pretty unusual at the time. For example, there was no flash video.

In 2006, CollegeHumor was looking for someone to start its own video division, and since there weren’t many specialists in this area, I got the job. At first I was a one-man orchestra – I wrote, produced, directed and edited everything mostly myself – but slowly but surely we added staff after staff, and now we are a team of 40+ people.

In 2013, we moved our video department from New York to Los Angeles to begin promoting and selling TV shows. We had early success with Adam Ruins Everything and this allowed us to sell other shows on MTV, Pop TV, Freeform and digital platforms like Go90, YouTube Premium and Facebook Watch.

More recently, we took notice of our new subscription platform, from which we directly reach out to our audience with premium shows. This is called LOSS . Do you see which circle is closed?

Tell us about a recent work day.

• Wake up, shower, brush your teeth, listen to NPR, worry about the world.
• Eat eggs and toast, and drink too much cold drink.
• Drive to work, listen to cold electronics. I love it when my car feels like an H&M.
• Make 30 minutes of community: YouTube comments, Discord, etc.
• Monthly check with my production manager.
• Discussion of a strategy for changing YouTube splash screens.
• Contact the East Coast team and tell us about the new series they are developing.
• Lunch: grilled chicken, fried vegetables, a piece of bread that I try and can’t resist.
• Session on budget strategy for 2019 with CEO and CFO.
• Call the CEO of another similar company to exchange notes.
• Birthday claps for my VP of Creativity (see the definition of “birthday claps” below).
• 3 hours of tasks, emails and Slack messages.
• Drive home and listen to the Hidden Brain NPR podcast.
• Dine, watch RuPaul’s Drag Race . I love Trixie, but Shangela got robbed.
• Take a long walk with my partner and dog.
• Take a bath and look at the cuts. I haven’t dropped my phone in the bathtub yet.
• Meditate for 20 minutes, checking the time twice.
• Go to bed.

What apps, gadgets or tools can’t you live without?

• Todoist. I’m a “get results” fanatic.
• Weakness. We implemented it 4 years ago and it has increased our productivity by 50%.
• Reddit. r / news and r / wholesomemes balance each other out.
• My Beats Wireless Headphones. I know audiophiles are snobbish about Beats, but I’m simple.
• My Backpack and Luggage Away .

How is your workplace arranged?

iMac, dark gray walls, dim lighting. I try to keep it Zen. I couldn’t do comedy in a stressful environment. I don’t know how some of the stress shows do it.

What’s your best life hack?

All day I listen to the sound of rain on RainyMood.com to keep my focus.

Tell us about an interesting, unusual, or challenging process you have at work.

On their birthday we give them a “birthday”: we start clapping our hands, then we gather around them, then we sing “happy birthday”, then we repeat the “speech”, and then – at the moment when they start talking – interrupt them with applause. This exact tradition has been around since 2006.

How do you keep track of what you need to do?

I use a combination of Todoist and the Getting Started method: I collect tasks in my Inbox and then organize them by date and priority. This way I wake up every day knowing what to do in what order. I recently added the hashtag #timely to differentiate between urgent and important. The magic of GTD is that it brings things from my head to the system so I can stay in the moment.

At any given time, I have four tabs open: Todoist, Gmail, Google Calendar, and Slack. My calendar is the first priority, my tasks are the second priority, Slack (internal communication) is the third priority, and email (external communication) is my last priority. These days, I often don’t email until 3pm. I usually try to leave 15-6 hours free for Slacks and email so that I can focus on my appointments and activities in the morning. Since I am working PST and our New York office closes at 6:00 PM ET, this works well.

All of this, plus people yelling at me.

How to recharge or relax?

All kinds of ways: a cup of tea, a 5-minute meditation, walking around the block, playing the guitar, wandering around the office and distracting my teammates. On weekends, I sometimes go to a Korean spa and alternate hot tub and cold bath just to shock my body.

What’s your favorite side project?

I make silly videos on social media . The tools on Snapchat and Insta Stories are great for fooling around. Making comedy is easier than ever before. Ultimately, it could take my job.

What are you reading now or what do you recommend?

Three books that changed my life: The 80/20 Principle , 10% Happier and The Complete Reverse .

Who else would you like to see to answer these questions?

Anyone from Netflix’s programming department; Gary Larson from The Far Side. What is he doing these days?

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

From my high school drama teacher Mark Lindbergh: “It’s not how much you want something; it’s how long you want it. “

What problem are you still trying to solve?

Usually my best ideas and discoveries come to me when I’m bored. I would like to be bored more, but now there is no time.