A slice of Vice on HBO

July 3, 2012 10:16 AM

Bringing VICE to HBO: To win over the cable network, the Vice team assembled a “best of” reel that included stories on North Korean labor camps, Liberia and the gun markets of Pakistan and later produced a pilot that included stories about Afghan suicide bombers and underground heroin clinics.

Audio interview (mp3) with VICE founder Shane Smith, from the Joe Rogan podcast.

posted by thisisdrew (22 comments total)

previously .. previously .. previously
posted by thisisdrew at 10:29 AM on July 3, 2012

Oh Shane Smith, I remember when you were just a skater on drugs, and now you are... a skater on drugs with a media empire.

Well done, sir.
posted by Theta States at 10:37 AM on July 3, 2012 [6 favorites]

I am really looking forward to this.
posted by eas98 at 10:47 AM on July 3, 2012

"A fascinating profile of a drug dealer in New York..."
posted by kliuless at 10:56 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I understand how this partnership strengthens both brands but

“Gen Y has the largest amount of disposable income, so we should be making media for them, and yet we don’t and especially we don’t for news,” says Smith, who serves as CEO and spokesperson for Vice Media.

serious question - is Generation Y going to go to HBO for its news? That seems like quite a leap.
posted by roger ackroyd at 11:31 AM on July 3, 2012

“Gen Y has the largest amount of disposable income..."

Wait, I thought Gen Y was unemployed, drowning in debt, and living in their parent's basement?
posted by spilon at 11:57 AM on July 3, 2012 [4 favorites]

serious question - is Generation Y going to go to HBO for its news? That seems like quite a leap.


Yes they are. But--it's hbogo.com, and it's with their friend's borrowed login.
posted by mullingitover at 11:57 AM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]

I'd like to see the reel, so I could put it on Facebook.
posted by Balok at 1:17 PM on July 3, 2012

Wait, I thought Gen Y was unemployed, drowning in debt, and living in their parent's basement?

You know how much money you save mooching off your folks? That's a lot of disposable income.
posted by porpoise at 3:37 PM on July 3, 2012

As much as I hate the Vice magazine feel (Just feels like its trying so hard, reminds me of panties and makes me feel dirty just holding it) The 'Vice Guide to....' series are the best stuff out there.
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 4:41 PM on July 3, 2012

is Generation Y going to go to HBO for its news?

No, they go to The Daily Show for news. HBO is for current affairs.
posted by WhackyparseThis at 5:06 PM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]

I've nearly linked to several Vice documentary things here on the Blue, but then I watch them a second time to make sure I want to, and in the end they feel just.. off somehow. Maybe it's the slice of what they offer that I tend to watch, but they felt less like they were covering a real story and more like they were someone's video diary of trying to find a story to cover.
posted by hippybear at 6:52 PM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

I remember when Vice was a magazine that made fun of Canadians with fanny packs. Now this, this I can be fascinated by.
posted by Brocktoon at 8:36 PM on July 3, 2012

Not sure why Vice gets so much hate. They've made some really good documentaries in an age where network and cable news are basically un-watchable.
posted by bardic at 9:38 PM on July 3, 2012

I don't hate Vice... I just have a hard time recommending it to others because what I've seen has had an odd twist which moves it away from being a documentary and more toward being a document about wanting to make a documentary.

If that makes any sense.
posted by hippybear at 9:43 PM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]

Vice will, forever and always to me, be the guys who got screamed at by David Carr in the New York Times documentary "Page One" and had their asses handed back to them.
posted by jscott at 10:13 PM on July 3, 2012

I really enjoyed the Vice Guide to North Korea, and admired their determination, persistance and brass balls in finding a way into the North.

They made it sound like a massively hardcore mission through a secret back door from China, because tourists weren't allowed in. Going where no man has gone before.

Then I found out about sites like:
Koryo Tours of North Korea
New Korea Tours
Korea Discovery
etc. etc...

When they hyped that part up so much, it got me wondering about the veracity of the rest of their 'journalism'.
posted by panaceanot at 10:36 PM on July 3, 2012

Man, I just watched that David Carr video, and while I have some similar critiques of Vice, David Carr is just such an ass.

I will never forgive him for his piece of shit book.
posted by broadway bill at 11:27 PM on July 3, 2012

Yeah, I read the clip differently as well. More like "aging, self-important David Carr gets huffy when he realizes that 'real' journalism is pretty much shit no matter how great he thinks the NYT is. Also, Judy Miller."
posted by bardic at 2:28 AM on July 4, 2012

I don't hate Vice... I just have a hard time recommending it to others because what I've seen has had an odd twist which moves it away from being a documentary and more toward being a document about wanting to make a documentary.

Sure. The VICE films tend to seem like "We tried to do X, here's what happened" In a way, to me at least it seems "more honest" because they're showing you what actually happened, the result of the experiment. With more traditional news clips they go somewhere, they don't tell you what actually happened.

I really enjoyed the Vice Guide to North Korea, and admired their determination, persistance and brass balls in finding a way into the North.

They made it sound like a massively hardcore mission through a secret back door from China, because tourists weren't allowed in. Going where no man has gone before.

It's much, much more difficult to get in if you're an American or South Korean. I think the guy doing the documentary might have been Canadian, I don't remember. But if you know anything about North Korea you know they can and do give people tours, which is what this guy did. It's not impossible, but it's not super easy either. I didn't get from the piece that they were claiming to have done something unprecedented.
posted by delmoi at 2:43 AM on July 4, 2012

David Carr is just such an ass.

I agree, he was such an uncritical little cheerleader for the Times and it's a shame he took up such a large part of Page One because it could have been such an interesting film.
posted by beerbajay at 6:55 AM on July 4, 2012

But if you know anything about North Korea you know they can and do give people tours, which is what this guy did. It's not impossible, but it's not super easy either.

Also, the guy had to have permission for his cameras. And even then he filmed in places he wasn't supposed to.
posted by Theta States at 9:48 AM on July 4, 2012