Facebook Enters Video Programming Biz with ‘Humans of New York’ Series

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Famed photographer Brandon Stanton‘s popular blog “Humans of New York” is coming to Facebook’s new video platform, The Watch, next week.

For 12 episodes, viewers who tune in will see Stanton bring to life in video form the subjects similar to those he profiled in his famous Facebook series. He will feature candid, intimate, first-hand accounts of conversations he had had strangers on the streets of New York City.

The half-hour series will also be executive produced by Julie Goldman, the Oscar-nominated documentary producer behind such films as Life, Animated and Weiner. Stanton began working on the project about four years ago and has, over 400 days of filming, interviewed more than 1,200 people.

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Stanton began “Humans of New York” in 2010 and has featured portraits and interviews of nearly 10,000 New Yorkers in the seven years since. The blog has also expanded into two New York Times best-selling books and a multiplatform social media presence. On Facebook alone, Humans of New York has more than 18 million followers. It also has a large Instagram presence, with 7 million followers.

“Humans of New York” is one of the handful of shows that Facebook is funding for its new Watch video tab, which it announced earlier this month. Watch is currently rolling out to Facebook’s 2 billion users and features a mix of short-form content — produced by video publishers such as Group Nine‘s Thrillist and The Dodo and Vox Media — as well a handful of signature, funded projects that are longer in length. These include a competition series, Last State Standing, from American Ninja Warriors producer A. Smith and Co. and others.

According to reportsapproximately 40 shows will be included in the first stage of programming scheduled to debut on Aug. 28. Furthermore, the cheaper shows that will exclusively launch on Facebook Watch will be permitted to be shown outside after their respective debuts.

“Humans of New York” will be available next week. New episodes will be released weekly. The Watch platform continues to roll out to users. Here is a sneak peek!