Will Smith is no stranger to the big screen, but now he is looking to dominate a whole new platform in Snapchat. Smith is chronicling his self-isolation in a new original series on Snapchat titled Will From Home, and the first episode dropped earlier this morning (via THR). The series will as its name implies follow Smith hanging out in his garage during the coronavirus pandemic, and while he will be by himself at times, he will interact with his family during the show and will even have special guests on from time to time, including Tyra Banks and others who are all practicing social distancing at the moment. The guest appearances will all be recorded from their own homes of course.
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Head of original content for Snapchat Sean Mills revealed that the idea for the show came about thanks to a conversation between the social media platform and Westbrook Media, Smith’s production company, a conversation that discussed how the constraints of the global shutdown would also birth “new forms of creativity and new ways to tell stories.”
Will From Home is one part of Snapchat’s reaction to the coronavirus, which has also included posting news and updates from CNN, NBC News, and The Wall Street Journal in a dedicated section of its app, which over 68 million users have viewed and engaged with.
“Our first reaction was to shore up the news coverage and really deliver on that,” Mills says. “But after a week-and-a-half or so, we started to see a huge surge in interest in entertainment content, especially humor and comedy. The kinds of things that the community wants are things that are positive, that feel empowering. It’s not just about escapism but it’s about actually what is the good that can come of a challenging moment in time. Will From Home fits perfectly with that.”
It also worked out well for Smith, who Mills said: “was feeling a lot of pent-up creative energy and was excited to do something with it in a new and different way.”
Smith has already made shows for YouTube and Facebook and is also producing a new stand up comedy show This Joka for Quibi, so he is quite familiar with engaging an audience on social media, and we imagine Will From Home will be no different.
New episodes of Will From Home will stream on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
