Small, nimble and industrious. That's how Stoplight started in May. Focus on the Family Action's Stuart Shepard set out to make a "roughly two-minute, roughly edited, roughly humorous video commentary."
Roughly six months later, Stoplight has gone viral — meaning hundreds of thousands of viewers are sharing it with their friends. It's even shown up in Taiwan.
CitizenLink Editor Tom Hess gets credit for the genesis — not that he would admit it. As he watched bloopers from Shepard's days as a TV meteorologist in
"I called Stuart at home on a Friday evening in January, expressing fanatical enthusiasm and pitching him the idea of some sort of online video," Hess said. "After much brainstorming, discussion and cajoling, Stuart agreed to shoot an inaugural video in May."
Then he made another. And another. On Nov. 1, cameraman Andrew McCauley and Shepard shot an episode that would reserve them a place in Focus on the Family Action history: As of Dec. 19, Merry Tossmas has been viewed about 2 million times.
Gary Schneeberger, vice president for media relations at Focus on the Family Action, said he isn't surprised by the success.
"When Dr. Dobson started Focus on the Family 30 years ago, there was no YouTube, no blogs, no Internet," he said. "As technology has changed, we've been intentional about adapting our content to new media. Stoplight is just one example of how we're creatively retooling our information about the importance of Christian citizenship to influence a new generation."
This week, Schneeberger promoted Shepard from managing editor of CitizenLink to director of digital media for the ministry's Government and Public Policy division — which means more Stoplight videos for you, and plans for a daily video Webcast early next year.
"Moving Stuart to a position where he can focus on developing other innovative digital content underscores the ministry's commitment to reaching our existing audience, and hopefully new audiences, in relevant ways," Schneeberger said. "We've really only scratched the surface in terms of how we use digital media to get our message out. It's going to be exciting to see what Stuart comes up with."
Shepard said he's just applying "the gifts God dropped on" him, and that the numbers say more about the people who view the features, including CitizenLink readers, than the person who creates them.
"Our goal is to present the issues we care about in a fresh, accessible way, and especially to get the attention of people who aren't particularly interested in public policy," he said. "But all we can do is throw it out there. It's up to individuals to decide whether it's something they feel strongly enough about to forward it on to a friend or two. And it's humbling to learn that Stoplight viewers apparently have a lot of like-minded friends."
WATCH THEM ALL
Pull up a chair and enjoy all 23 episodes of Stuart Shepard's Stoplight. Then share them with your friends and family. And play them at your family gatherings later this month; they are sure to be a bigger hit than Uncle Bill's corny jokes.
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