News in Color: A Brief History
Some kids watched cartoons. I watched CNN.
By the time I was nine-years old, I was certain that I wanted to be President of the United States. Indeed, by that point I’d memorized every single U.S. President by heart, along with dozens of random presidential facts — from who was the youngest elected president (Theodore Roosevelt) to which president had the shortest term in office (William Henry Harrison, who died of a cold 32 days after his Inauguration — talk about bad luck).
Along with my budding presidential aspirations, I also developed a passion for acting and make-believe. Growing up an only child, I often amused myself by creating all kinds of characters and one-man plays. The first play I ever wrote, inspired by my favorite show at the time, was entitled: “Batman: The Play.” I’m still hopeful that one day it’ll make its off-off-Broadway debut.
Little did I know that years later, these two passions of mine — politics and make-believe — would converge in the form of News in Color.
I started making News in Color episodes back in 2006. By then, I’d gotten my B.A. from Yale and my Master’s from USC film school, had let go of my presidential aspirations, and was pursuing a professional career in screenwriting. I was working outside “the biz” at the time, and although I continued to write scripts in my off-hours, I decided I needed another creative outlet – one that didn’t involve massive writer’s block, emotional roller coasters, and second-act plot points.
News in Color was my first foray into the world of Internet video, and I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t really know what the hell I was doing. I believe my guiding principle at the time was: I’ll just do what John Stewart does…but blacker.
It sort of worked. Sort of. You can be the judge. But after a few episodes, I decided to call it quits and focus on writing screenplays again.
By 2007, I was in total life and career limbo. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that after a demoralizing day at a temp job, I found myself at a Barnes & Noble purchasing an LSAT study guide, ready to apply to law school. Ready to abandon my creative dreams.
Thankfully, several friends and mentors, including my “Big Brother” Adam Schiff (a U.S. Congressman and Harvard-trained lawyer), advised me not to apply to law school just yet.
So I put the LSAT book away. And after stewing for awhile and watching all 12 hours of Ken Burns’ Jazz, I started making videos again and posting them on YouTube.
First I made this video, a tongue-in-cheek video resumé aimed at TV producers, giving them reasons why they should hire me to write for them. It got a write-up in the L.A. Times, and even landed me a few job interviews. But alas, it didn’t land me a writing job.
Then, on June 23rd, 2007, I decided to relaunch News in Color. I abandoned the “Daily Show” format and decided to make it more of a political variety show, one that featured not only my own opinions, but those of several slightly outrageous alter-egos. Professor Clifton East was one of the first of these alter-egos to appear on the show, and while I did feel slightly ridiculous during the shoot, I also couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much fun. Other characters soon appeared: Eli Samuels, Myron Angelou, Addison Crenshaw, and a personal favorite of mine, Prescott Ellison, the Blind Black Republican.
Within a few weeks, my videos had caught the attention of a couple YouTube celebs, including James Kotecki (whom I later teamed up with to create a separate YouTube channel, Kotecki & McMillan).
Then one day, I got an email from Steve Grove, Head of News & Politics at YouTube. He said he dug my videos, and extended a special invite to attend the first-ever CNN/YouTube Democratic Debates that were happening in South Carolina in late July. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance! All told, it was an incredible couple days — I got to meet some great YouTubers in-person (including James and the brilliantly provocative Davis Fleetwood), interview some of the presidential candidates, and even hang out with Anderson Cooper!
I didn’t attend the CNN/YouTube Republican Debates that happened later that summer. But I was there in spirit, since the video question I submitted was actually shown during the televised debate. Judge for yourself how the candidates answered it.
In the midst of the 2007 WGA Strike, I applied for a job at YouTube, and by the end of the year, I became the second member of YouTube’s News & Politics team. Steve Grove, one of my first fans, was now my boss. (And just for the record: I’m a big fan of his too!)
I continued to make News & Color videos throughout most of 2008, and I began to connect and collaborate with more YouTubers, including the always hilarious Lisa Nova. However, since I was now working for YouTube in an official capacity, I had to be a little careful about the views I expressed in my videos. My job brought me into daily contact with politicians from all sides of the aisle, so while I was allowed to keep making videos, they couldn’t be quite as politically biased as this one.
But I didn’t complain. My job at YouTube gave me a front-row seat to the most exciting presidential election in my lifetime, took me to both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, and ended with me attending Barack Obama’s historic Inauguration in 2009.
The kid who started out memorizing presidential history had suddenly become a part of it.
For most of 2009, I took a breather from politics and the News in Color. The presidential election had totally consumed both my personal and professional life for well over a year, and I felt I just needed a break from it all. So I went back to writing screenplays, began developing a one-man show, even tried doing a little stand-up.
But when 2010 rolled around — with the economy nearly tanking and the health care reform debate still raging — I started “feeling the itch” to make videos and get back in the game. So in early February I revived the News in Color once again — much to the elation of at least a dozen people. (Just kidding. But only slightly.)
I’ll be honest: it’s not always easy finding the time or the energy to make videos (the average News in Color video takes between 6-8 hours to produce, from script to post). However, I’ve come to realize that no matter what projects I may do in the off-line world — and no matter how many people are paying attention — I will always have to keep doing News in Color. It allows me to channel my creative energies, combine my passion for politics and make-believe, and connect with intelligent, thoughtful people I might never get to connect with otherwise. It also give me a legitimate excuse to dress in drag.
News in Color is just who I am. And like the saying goes, “I’ve got to be me” — even if “me” consists of multiple alter-egos who occasionally contradict themselves.
Oh, well. Nobody’s perfect.
By the way, I still occasionally watch CNN. But these days, I prefer to get my news in color.
I hope you do too.
