I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Richard Blakeley, Editor-In-Chief of Gawker.TV and co-creator of This Is Why You’re Fat, one of the… no. Excuse me. THE greatest idea in all of history. Richard has won some prestigious awards (the Consumers for Cable Choice Award for New Media, the San Francisco International Festival of Short Films Grand Jury Prize 2007), has been recognized by GQ and Wired, and his films have been featured at festivals across the country. Yeah, cool. I guess. What truly impressed me about this visionary? He earned a lifetime ban from the Consumer Electronic Show after some shenanigans in 2008. Richard Blakeley – 1, the largest trade show in the world – 0. What can I say? Ladies love a bad boy.
BTTV: So… This Is Why You’re Fat… thank you.
RB: No thank you, it couldn’t have happened without the people of the world submitting such amazing such genius feats of food engineering!
BTTV: Hahaha! How the hell did this get started?
RB: There were a few different trends happening online all around the same time, the over the top snack foods, the mega-sized foods and of course, bacon. Thisiswhyyourefat.com was the first place you could find all of the best of the best of all these internet food trends in one place.
BTTV: Wow. Ok, I have to ask this… what is your favorite food?
RB: Many people are floored but this, but I’ve never had a hamburger or a piece of bacon in my life, my parents were Northern California hippy types and just raised me not to eat read meat. But I love desserts, especially ice cream, my favorite type? Coffee flavored.
BTTV: That’s awesome. I prefer the Year of the Triple Bypass, personally, but that’s just me. So, blog to book, how is that going?
RB: Recently This Is Why You’re Fat made the NY Times Bestseller List, only it wasn’t for the blog to book, it was for Bravo star Jackie Warner’s This Is Why You’re Fat (And How To Get Thin Forever). It’s my dream to meet her and have a cook off challenge. If anyone knows her please send her my way.
BTTV: Truly amazing Richard. So, what else have you been up to? I mean tell me a little more about Gawker.TV, it seems to be fairly popular…
RB: Gawker.TV has been a blast, I surrounded by some amazingly talented co-workers and an army of 20 dedicated interns who help find the best video clips from TV and the internet so people at work can waste their time laughing at funny baby and puppy videos. It’s truly the best job in the world and I have no complaints. In just a few days we’re hosting a huge charity ball to help feed hungry New York families. So far we’ve raised over $6,000 for City Harvest’s Skip Lunch, Fight Hunger campaign. It’s call The Webutante Ball and it’s a celebration of the people who make the New York internet scene great. Big thanks to Techies Give Back for helping us pull it off.
BTTV: Very cool. Now, not that I’m stalking you on Facebook or anything, but what the fuck is Neighborhoodr?
RB: The key success behind This Is Why You’re Fat was the user submission form provided on the Tumblr blogging platform. The user submit form allows anyone to quickly and easily submit anything to a Tumblr blog without having to login or register. Clearly This Is Why You’re Fat was a big hit in 2009, but it was also a fad, Neighborhoodr picks up where it left off except instead of getting user submitted over the top food content it’s all about hyper-local news. We have over 50 community moderators in New York City alone and hundreds of user submitted contributions. For more info read this.
BTTV: What is your favorite neighborhood in New York, I’ve never been?
RB: Oh man, that’s a hard question to answer. I’ve been in New York City for eight years now, I’ve lived in Fort Green, Bed-Stuy, Prospect Park South, the East Village, and what I’ve learned is that each one has it’s good things and it’s draw backs. Currently I’m fascinated by the Upper West Side though, it feels so grown up and it’s the first place I visited when I came to the city for the first time. It has this weird pull for me, like as if I was meant to be there… at least for a year or so before I get bored of it and want to explore someplace new.
BTTV: Sounds terrible.
R: I’m going to tell thousands of followers of Neighborhoodr you said that.
BTTV: Whatever. Ok, this is a music and culture mag, so I must ask… who/what are you listening to right now?
RB: I just started getting into Lady Gaga, believe it or not, I’m slow on the uptake. And while I’m getting into her I feel like I understand less about her the more I learn about her, does that even make sense? Does she? Does anyone for that matter? What were we talking about? What was the question?
BTTV: I’ll have to check them out. So, tell me, what is next for you?
RB: THE 2010 WEBUTANTE BALL ON JUNE 8TH AS PART OF INTERNET WEEK NEW YORK. It’s going to a great time for a great cause. For more info visit: http://thewebutanteball.com
BTTV: Seriously?
RB: It’s for helping to feed hungry families in New York City, seriously.
BTTV: Damn it you are hilarious. Alright, I know you’ve got a lot to do, so I suppose we can wrap this up… any final words or thoughts to the Better Than The Van crowd?
RB: I’m a design geek and I love your logo.
BTTV: Awesome. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me Richard. Good luck to you, and here’s to your continued success.
Check out the This is Why You’re Fat Blog and the Book, This is Why You’re Fat: Where Dreams Become Heart Attacks from Harper Studio. You can purchase the book on Amazon, Indie Bound, Barnes and Noble, and Borders.
