New York City, NY – COVID-19 has — if nothing else positive — shifted the way numerous creatives craft and deliver content to their audiences. Brandon ’Jinx’ Jenkins, the host of Gimlet Media’s Webby Award-winning Mogul and their new spin-off series The Mogul Mixtapes, is one such mind that is gleaning inspiration from the situation at hand.
“Time of day is all blurred together,” Jinx tells RealStreetRadio. “Especially if you have recording hours and your sleep starts to morph into a college schedule. Some days seem like they leak over into the next one. But, I’m still watching people hold on to the way the world was.”
He notes that one thing that had been keeping him grounded recently was his father’s birthday. He explains how important it is in times like these for creatives to understand the elevated need for escapism.
“My dad just had his birthday yesterday,” he says. “His birthday had been helping me align what day of the week it is. We need to have some landmark or something to look forward to — it helps keep track of the days but also keeps our spirits up.
“I think that’s what every content creator should be thinking. Because right now, consumers are like, ‘What’s the thing that I’m going to check into for a little bit? What’s going to make me feel good?’”
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The state of the world (especially with him and his team working from home) has opened his mind to the future of content creation and the opportunities it presents.
“I think it’s cool to have a community that’s forgiving and understanding of what creativity looks like,” he says, referencing the recent string of Instagram Live experiences. “Creativity is taking something rough and filing the edges down. It takes the shape you want.
“I think we’re in that space right now. We’re going to look back and be like, ‘Oh, this was the birth of something new.’ I don’t know what we’ll call it yet … we usually name it once we get a little bit further away from it,” he laughs.
He points to this unprecedented opportunity for new and old faces to start creating and building audiences within this new landscape (considering the layoffs and shifts in the industry).
“There’s a ton of talent in my field that needs to be celebrated and given a shot … business will usually go where the audience goes,” he explains. “I think smart minds out there will snatch these new audiences up … I hope that my peers can recognize that. I think it’s only going to enrich our space for whatever comes after this.”
Catch new weekly episodes of Mogul’s The Mogul Mixtapes series on Spotify.