I remember sitting in Stu Sjouwerman’s office with Perry Carpenter and myself being pitched a drama series about cyber security by Jim Shields (Creative Director - Twist & Shout) and Rob McCollum (Writer/Co-Director - Twist & Shout).
At the time, we were looking at their back catalog that included the hit comedy series Restricted Intelligence. We either wanted to buy the rights to it or acquire them. Perry was into this new project right away, coming up with ideas and jumping in with suggestions during their pitch. Stu had a few key questions and I remember him saying this was worth a shot, and for the cost of this kind of production (a record at the time for us, that we have since blown out of the water) it was a pretty big bet.
I provided information about how this could best work on our platform and what we would need to do for accessibility, internationalization, as well as other technical aspects. I was very skeptical though that this would be anything other than an experiment that we would learn from in one way or another.
I was, and still am to a certain extent, a believer in the power of interactivity in eLearning. Video had its place but short vignettes as stand alone or part of a module with knowledge checks and quizzes was the gold standard. Games, assessments, and other highly interactive eLearning was where the industry was headed - and we have since done our fair share of those. I subscribed to the conventional knowledge that, “We cannot compete for people’s attention with Hollywood because they spend tens of millions to make productions…and most of them still fail.”
After season one was produced and I did my final review, I was blown away. I wouldn’t say I was convinced yet but I could tell that Perry, Jim, and Rob (with Stu’s backing) were onto something. The storytelling, the production quality, and yes, the ability to change security culture through engagement.
Fast forward nearly five years later and I am sitting in the world famous Odeon Cinema Leicester Square with over 250 people watching the winner of the “biggest fan” of The Inside Man be selected from our three finalists. Then watching a playlist of the episodes of the new Season 5 of The Inside Man with everyone clapping after each episode. I had read it three times, seen rough cuts twice, and I was still blown away again like I was after the first year - only this time it was another leap forward with higher production quality and great lessons built in. I was still engaged and enjoying it as I had been the first time I read it!
The Inside Man has now won countless awards and been seen by millions. It continues to get unsolicited online feedback from fans all over the world. It has also proved to me the value of a series like this - from skeptic to fan (and executive producer).
We went on to acquire the Twist & Shout team in 2019. Since then they have developed other hit videos for us such as Security Snapshots. Their newest video series is another attempt at disruption though short videos for our Compliance Plus library. They aim to start conversations and/or provide reinforcement of tough issues in the area of compliance. Perspectives brings the talents of the great team at Twist & Shout to these topics that are often delivered in a very dry and unengaging way by the industry.
This time, I’m a believer right from the start. Jim has an amazing team and Rob is one of the best writers I have ever worked with. I’m looking forward to feedback on the fifth season of The Inside Man as well as a new season of Perspectives coming later this year!
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